"No matter where you go, there you are."

TASMANIA

Monday 29^th January:

Moving day again, Yeh! We slowly packed up and hung around until midday hoping our computer part would arrive so we could fix the laptop. It didn’t come so we hit the road for Melbourne. We called into to see some of Ferg’s relations in Werribee on the way to the boat. Prior to boarding we parked along the esplanade and gave Twistie a romp on the beach. We were driving on board by 7pm. The hardest part was leaving Twistie in her cage while we went up to the comfort of our cabin. After we settled in Ferg and I grabbed a drink and stood on the deck watching the Melbourne skyline disappear. It was a beautiful evening and the ocean was flat. We spent the evening chatting with fellow caravanners.

Tuesday 30^th January:

We awoke at 6am and could see Tassie in the distance. Twistie was very pleased to see us. We disembarked in Devonport and got on the road by 8am. We drove south through the midlands stopping at Ross to check out some of the lovely old sandstone buildings. Ross is also known for its lovely old bridge featuring carved sandstone blocks. We arrived at Bill and June’s place in Bridgewater late in the afternoon and parked the van on the hill overlooking the Derwent River.

Wednesday 31^st January:

We took a drive into Hobart this morning and walked around Constitution Dock and Elizabeth St. Wharf. There were a couple of lovely old boats moored at the dock.

Thursday 1^st February:

We visited the Hobart Botanical Gardens today. The flowers were stunning, we spent several hours wandering around and took heaps of photos. We then took the long and winding drive up to the top of Mt. Wellington. The weather was perfect and we could see for miles. Hobart town was spread out below us.

Friday 2^nd February:

We went bowling at the Sandy Bay Bowls Club this afternoon. Ferg won the comp and come home with a bottle of wine. We went to the movies in the evening with Bill and June to see “De javu”.

Saturday 3^rd February:

We visited the famous Salamanca Markets today. It’s a large market held near the docks and has 100’s of colourful stalls. There were lots of buskers, yummy food stalls and some great craft. We also spent some time in the galleries and bookshops surrounding the market. In the evening we went rock and roll dancing at a local pub with Bill and June.

Sunday 4^th February:

We had a quiet day today, Ferg went for a walk. We picked a bucket of fresh mushrooms from Bill’s garden so I cooked up a stroganoff for dinner.

Monday 5^th February:

Ferg went off with Bill this morning to walk with the “Vegemites”. The Vegemite club was formed by like minded Vietnam vets who wanted to exercise. After their walk they head to the Vietnamese Kitchen in Salamanca for a coffee and chat. I spent the morning checking out the Hobart shops.

Tuesday 6^th February:

We bought a heavy duty box for more storage today. Bill helped Ferg attach it to the bumper of the van. We also got a “Ferg N Jude” sticker for the back of our van. In the afternoon we went bowling at the Buckingham Bowls Club.

Wednesday 7^th February:

We went sightseeing today. We left early and headed south to Kettering to catch the car ferry over to Bruny Island. The island narrows in the middle to a very narrow isthmus. We stopped here and climbed 100’s of steps to get some spectacular views. We drove around the coastline then up into the mountains where we discovered a lovely rainforest walk. The tree ferns were enormous and we found some lovely coloured mushrooms growing in the undergrowth. Back down from the mountains we headed along the coastline again to the lighthouse on the southern most tip of the island. On the way we stopped for a picnic lunch overlooking craggy cliffs and blue, blue ocean. We picked up a dozen fresh oysters from the local oyster farm “Get Shucked” on the way back to the ferry.

Thursday 8^th February:

We spent the day doing the domestics around the van. We all went out for dinner at another local pub.

Friday 9^th February:

Ferg, Twistie and I did a 7km walk along the Derwent River in the morning. We discovered wild apple and plum trees growing along the walk. Also the blackberry bushes are covered in ripe berries. We kept stopping to grab handfuls along the way. We played bowls at the Sandy Bay Club in the afternoon. In the evening we went off with Bill and June to the movies to see “Miss Potter”.

Saturday 10^th February:

We went bowling again today at Sandy Bay. We got there a bit earlier so we could watch Qld and Tas state team play. It was good to watch the professionals.

Sunday 11^th February:

We visited a couple of local markets today. I bought a lovely slab of Tasmanian salmon which we had for dinner.

Monday 12^th February:

Ferg went off with the Vegemites again while I went to the Wooden Boat Show at Constitution Dock. There were lots of beautiful wooden boats, my brother Pete would have been drooling! Ferg helped Bill with his carport and Bill made us a flag holder for the van so now we can fly the Aussie flag.

Tuesday 13^th February:

Played bowls at Buck’s today. It was a glorious day, we really have been lucky with the weather.

Wednesday 14^th February:

We are on the move today. We left Hobart at 2pm heading south down the Huon Valley. We arrived in the little seaside town of Dover late in the afternoon. The drive down was very pretty as we passed many apple orchards with trees covered in rosy red apples.

Thursday 15^th February:

We are off to the bottom most tip of OZ today, well at least as far as the road goes south to Cockle Creek. The bays were very pretty and there were lots of places to free camp. We took a walk along the beach at Cockle Creek and visited the old cemetery. We stopped at Recherche Bay for morning tea and discovered fresh oysters on the rocks. Ferg got his hammer and screwdriver and prized a dozen off the rocks for me. (Yum! Couldn’t get any fresher than that!) And for dessert we picked some blackberries growing wild alond the road. We headed inland on our way north again taking the scenic route through the mountains. One of the roads was an old logging track and only wide enough for our car as the tree ferns bowed across our path. We did an hours walk in the rainforest to Duckhole Lake following a pristine mountain stream. Back in Dover we had a picnic lunch on the beach. In the afternoon we drove further north through Geeveston to the Arve Forest. Here we did a short walk through a magical moss covered forest. We took the scenic route along the Houn River on the way back to Dover. The views were spectacular overlooking the river and we passed a lot of Salmon holding ponds.

Friday 16^th February:

Back to Hobart again today. We had a game of bowls at Sandy Bay in the afternoon. Coming home from bowls we noticed a very large storm head over our way. We got home just in time for an almighty hail storm. Unfortunately our annexe was out and all Ferg and I could do was hold it down while the hail pelted our heads and arms. We eventually got the annexe in without any damage but I can’t say the same for the sides of the van. Thank god for insurance!

Saturday 17^th February:

It’s another scorcher today, 32 degrees!! We spent the day catching up on the domestics and restocking the larder.

Sunday 18^th February:

We are off again today, this time heading for Port Arthur. We are staying at the Eaglehawk Neck Dive Centre. It was a pleasant drive down as the road followed the waters edge of Norfolk Bay. The dive centre is situated on a large property overlooking Pirates Bay and there was plenty of room to park our van. We even had spectacular views across the bay from the van. We spent the afternoon in the dive centre’s pool trialing their 7mm wetsuits and adjusting our weights. We both felt like “Michelen Men” bobbing around the pool like corks. We treated ourselves to a dinner out at a fancy restaurant called “Mussell Boys”.

Monday 19^th February:

It rained all night and our dive gear is soaked. There is no way I was getting into a freezing cold wetsuit then jump into freezing cold water so we cancelled our dive for today. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. Instead we took the opportunity to visit Port Arthur Penal Settlement. We got there early and wandered amongst the ruins. We also had a harbour cruise which was included in our ticket price. We found out that dogs were allowed in the park so we ducked home for lunch and picked up Twistie. We spent another very pleasant hour wandering around the gardens and ruins. On the way home we visited the remarkable caves which in on the southern most tip of the peninsular.

Tuesday 20^th February:

Diving today, weather is better but not great. We were kitted up and on the boat by 9am. Ferg and I were the only divers today so we had lots of room. The boat passed some spectacular cliffs and caves on the way to Waterfall Bay. The dive was good, there was lots of kelp on the bottom and we saw our first weedy sea dragon. Ferg’s camera was playing up (wrong settings!) so he didn’t get any good shots. We only had the one dive as the swell was picking up. In the afternoon we visited the Tasman National Park and took a walk along the cliff tops overlooking Waterfall Bay.

Wednesday 21^st February:

The weather has closed in again today so we decided to give diving a miss. Hopefully we’ll get another chance further up the east coast. We headed back to Hobart via the old town of Richmond. It has the oldest bridge in Australia and the town is full of galleries and cafés.

Thursday 22^nd February:

We did a bit of shopping today, bought ourselves new walking boots. We went out to dinner with Bill, June and friends.

Friday 23^rd February:

We bought some fresh Tassie scallops and trout from the fish markets today and I cooked them up for dinner. Tasmania is a foodies paradise! We played bowls at another club called Rodmans this afternoon. The greens were pretty rough and Ferg got lumbered with a horrible team.

Saturday 24^th February:

We are finally heading up the east coast to Bicheno today. We got away at 10am after washing the car, van and dog! It was a grey old day so the coast road wasn’t as inviting as it could have been. Bicheno reminds me of Maggie Island, there a large granite boulders reaching into the sea.

Sunday 25^th February:

We awoke to an absolutely glorious day, the gods are with us! We are off to the Freycinet National Park to see the famous Wineglass Bay. The walk up to the Wineglass Bay Lookout takes in some 600 rough steps and the path is almost all vertical. It was a hard walk but the payout at the top was worth it. Words can’t describe the beauty and the photos really don’t do it justice. On the way back down we met a very friendly rock wallaby and he finished off my apple core. We drove to Cape Tourville lighthouse to take in some more fantastic views of the rugged cliffs. In the afternoon we visited the Bicheno Dive shop and got some info on the local dive sites. We spoke to some divers along the foreshore who had just finished a shore dive. Hopefully the weather will hold for tomorrow.

Monday 26^th February:

Fantastic day, not a cloud in the sky! We picked up some tanks, weights and 7mm wetsuits from the dive shop and we were in the water by 9am. It’s quite an effort to get kitted up in the 7mm wetsuit and all the extra weights but it was all worth it when we hit the water. The bottom was covered in kelp and there was a lot of sealife. We spotted a pot bellied seahorse, several weedy seadragons and a very friendly octopus. We had an enjoyable 70 minute dive.