www.natashayong.com

2nd day in 2012 and what did you do?

Pretty ironic that the Kite Flying outing at Marina Barrage resulted in NO KITE FLYING pictures! Actually I am sure there are a couple of shots in another DSLR camera. Just don't know whose...

Dinesh has some pretty neat toys and amongst his DSLR cameras, prime lens, bicycles... is a Fish Kite. Kite flying goes back a long way when the 1st generation STYG Youth used to gather and fly our kites in the now defunct Marina South. Well, Marina South is still present... but have under gone numerous transformations. I remembered the place for cheap Eat-All-You-Want Korean BBQ, Bus 400, Victor's Superbowl and a large empty grass field for kite flying.

Kites too have gone a long way. These days, they are huge, equipped with LED lights and have some big-ass reeling system strapped to a body harness. Gone are the days of simple tracing paper kites! In fact, one of my art and craft project in school was to build a kite from "sapulily" broom and tracing paper! Dinesh's Fish Kite was mid-sized but despite good winds, it wasn't all that easy to lift the kite and keep it afloat. Somehow I didn't recall lifting a kite to be difficult previously. There were occasions where the release of the line get entangled and wind turbulence that cause the kite to suddenly drop. I did get the kite flying pretty high at a few stages and am still amazed at how some other kites can be flown waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay up there!

While the rest of the world was committing themselves to 2012 New Year resolutions, I was creating myself a BUCKET LIST. And so on 1 January 2012, I had one :D
I'm still very much well and kicking (thank God) but as I sat down to give what I wanna do before I "kick the bucket"; I came up with the following 51 items.
They largely surround diving, visiting places and watching concerts. I admit the list is incomplete and probably will include a couple of "spiritual" items; of which I must give some serious thought. And than the ultimate question remain... what if I die tomorrow... will I truly regret not having completed any of the items at all?
All that being said, I must remember to get Wendy's template for my Mass Funeral Booklet.

The Bucket List online can be found at
http://www.dayzeroproject.com/user/natashayong/

As of 1 January
1) Scuba dive off Australia's Great Barrier Reef
2) Scuba dive in Palau Micronesia
3) Scuba dive in Bali with the Mola Mola Sun Fish
4) Scuba dive in Manado
5) Scuba dive in Sipadan
6) Scuba dive in a Shark Cage at Cape Town, South Africa
7) Learn Spanish
8) See the Northern Lights
9) Visit Machu Picchu PERU
10) Hike Mount Kilimanjaro TANZANIA
11) Hike the Grand Canyon ARIZONA
12) Visit Las Vegas NEVADA
13) Visit Israel
14) Visit Dubai
15) Visit Angkor Wat CAMBODIA
16) Run a Marathon
17) Watch Tennis Rafael Nadal on Clay
18) Watch Tennis Grand Slam at Wimbledon
19) Watch Tennis Grand Slam Australian Open
20) Build an iPhone app

Happy 2012 at Yello Jello!
This is how we PARTY! Boogieing the New Year away!

Read:
2011: Off to a WILD start
Catching up in the New Year (2010)
Retrospective 2008
Closing up 2007
The First and the Last (2006)
2005
Counting down to 2004

Russell Falls
One of the best joy I get from climbing up to the top of a mount or trekking miles into a dense nature reserve is to discover the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. This treasure is represented in the break of dawn when the horizon is lit by the crack of sunlight or a majestic waterfall. As the waters crashes down from a drop, you cannot help by wonder how far it had traveled to form this spectacle.

Located in eastern boundary of Mt Field National Park, in Tasmania, Australia; lie Russell Falls. They were first named the Browning Falls after the original discoverer, c.1856, but were known as the Russell Falls after 1884, by which time they were already a popular tourist attraction. The Falls Reserve was established to protect them in 1885.


We started the walk through Tall Trees Walk. An easy walk through a mixed forest comprising towering swamp gums, the tallest flowering plant on Earth, and species typical of wet forests and cool temperate rainforests, such as dogwood, musk and myrtle. The tall swamp gums of Mt Field National Park are amongst the tallest trees in Australia.
Towards the falls, the track is framed by stunning tall tree ferns. The falls themselves are impossibly picturesque.


St Columba Falls
St Columba Falls are the tallest falls in Tasmania, a high volume multi tiered waterfall that throws itself 90m down the side of Mt Victoria. Its water cascade over granite ledges, through forests of tree ferns, sassafras and myrtles.
The spectacular St Columba Falls is situated about 30 minutes from St Helens and 12 kilometres from the township of Pyengana. Much of the falls can be viewed from the road and the 20-minute easy return walk.

My first taste of Tasmania's Cradle Mountain was an insanely wet and rough one. While Carl put potatoes to boil and beef to stew, we took a hike down Ronny Creek in search of wildlife. Many hikers start their Overland Track from Ronny Creek Trailhead and hike North to South. It was a fairly simple downhill hike if not for the ridiculous wind and rain. The ponchos were rendered useless and umbrellas were a joke!

Exposed to the wide and wild buttongrass lands, I was walking firm in case the winds pushed me off course. Such weather is common in the west Tasmanian region and considered mild!!! It was an experience to respect how vicious the mountains can be.


Starting our hike downhill


Head South toward the highlands


Wombats and Wallabies can be found within the grassland. I was too engrossed in getting myself out of the rain!

This is as close to Heaven on Earth for me...


Cradle Mountain, the start of the 65-kilometre (40-mile) Overland Track, is the northern end of the 161,000-hectare (397,840-acre) Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Tasmania's highest mountain, 1,617-metre (5,305-foot) Mt Ossa, is in this park, just off the Overland Track, while another beautiful national park, the Walls of Jerusalem, abuts its eastern boundary.
The sheer magnificence of Cradle Mountain inspired Austrian-born Gustav Weindorfer to build a chalet of King Billy pine here in 1912 and work tirelessly for a decade to have the area declared a national park "for the people for all time". His dream was realised in 1922, and today a quarter of all visitors to the state travel here to share his vision.


We spent the good part of the morning doing the simple 6km Dove Lake Circuit track, one of Tasmania’s premier walks. The track took us around Dove Lake and beneath the towering spires of Cradle Mountain. The track is boardwalked for much of the way and would take about 2 hours to complete.


Our track was insanely delightful. Starting out with crazy gusts of winds, drizzles of rain during the walk, falling flakes of snow from the summit of the mountain and warm sunshine toward the end.


Standing, looking up to the magnificence of Cradle Mountain

View Natasha Yong's Travel Map in a larger map

Plotting of my Tasmanian Travel in Oct / Nov 2011.
Despite having spent 9 gorgeous and serene days within the lone island, there is much of Tasmania, especially the great reserves that remain to be explored.
It's an awesome place to be one in nature.