As part of our weekend in Tasmania Xuan and I drove about 70 kilometres out of Hobart to the Huon Valley to experience the Tahune Forest AirWalk which is a 597 metre walk 20 metres above the ground. The highlight of the walk is the cantilever which protrudes out from the main walk structure giving amazing views of the surrounding forest and the junction of the Picton and Huon Rivers. It was a little scary though as the cantilever swayed in the wind and bounced while you walked.

We also did the Huon Pine Walk which took us across two suspension bridges over the Picton and Huon Rivers. You’re supposed to leave a 10 metre gap between walkers for safety while crossing the bridges. The bridges bounced and swayed heaps as you walked on them. Now that was a pretty amazing experience.

Xuan and I headed to headed down to Hobart, Tasmania for the weekend. Neither of us had been there before so we were both quite excited. Our flight arrived late Friday afternoon and we made our way straight to the Barilla Bay Restaurant (1388 Tasman Hwy, Cambridge) for dinner. We shared the oyster platter which was absolutely amazing. About 34 oysters served in about 7 different styles. They were definitely the best oysters I’ve ever eaten.

Our trip was only a short one (our return flight was on Sunday morning) so we didn’t get to visit as many places as we would’ve liked. Some of the places we did visit included the Salamanca Market, Tahune Forest AirWalk in the Huon Valley and Port Arthur. We got to Port Arthur quite late so we didn’t get the chance to do any tours of the historic sites. We’ll have to save that for next time. There are also so many other places in Tasmania that I still want to visit so we’ll be definitely heading back there sometime in the future.

I just had a fantastic holiday in Phuket with a couple of mates, David and Nghia. First we stayed at the Thavorn Beach Hotel which was amazing but a little bit too far from the hustle and bustle of Patong beach (namely the Thaweewong and Bangla Road areas) so moved to the Patong Beach Hotel right in the heart of where the action was. Now we were in walking distance of all the restaurants, bars and shops which was heaps better.

Apart from the boozing and partying at night we also did a few tours. Most of our tours were in and around the Phang Nga area. There we road the ATVs (All terrain vehicles), went white water rafting, elephants treking, sea canoing and we even braved the bungy at World Bungy in Patong Beach. Now that was an experience I’ll never forget! Anyways, here are some of the photos from the trip.

Updated (21 June 2008)
Nghia has just compiled a YouTube video of the Thailand trip. It’s pretty funny.

I was on my way to Thailand to meet David and Nghia who were already holidaying in Phuket. Since I was flying Singapore Airlines to Bangkok from Melbourne I had the usual stopover in Singapore. Transit in Singapore is something I always enjoy since there is so much to do at Changi Airport plus the city is only ever a short 30 minute taxi or train ride away.

Since it was 6:00am in the morning and I had over 4 hours to kill I decided to leave the airport and head to the Mustafa Centre to do a little shopping. The Mustafa Centre is a 24 hour shopping plaza located on Syed Alwi Road in Singapore’s Little India area about 20 minutes from Changi. The centre is famous for it’s big range of jewellery, travel products, electronics and other general household items often at bargain prices.

Now Nha Trang is a place that I’d call paradise. Beautiful beaches, crystal clear waters, great food and friendly people. We all had an amazing time soaking up the sunshine (and getting fairly sunburnt in the process) and cruising around the islands on a hired boat. We even did a bit of snorkelling around a secluded part of one of the islands with some spectacular underwater views of tropical fish and other marine life.