Our last days.

We left Longford with Mole Creek our destination and as it was such a short trip we travelled through many back roads and saw interesting places. The scenery was very pretty with an impressive mountain backdrop and as we neared Deloraine we found the paddocks more lush and started to see dairy cows! Some of the roads were familiar as we travelled on them when we were in the area last year. 

We had morning tea at Deloraine near the pretty Meander River.

               

We arrived at the Mole Creek caravan park only to find it full! It was such a disappointment for us that Chris swiped the big bin hidden behind a bush and made a little air conditioning vent in his camper! This is the first time we've been disappointed like this with planned accommodation. After a discussion - and taking into account it was going to be very cold, we came back to Deloraine and are set up here with powered sites. We were very fortunate that we are now only 25 metres from the train line so we thought that at Longford the trains were loud but that had nothing on here!! We have no idea where the trains are from or where they are going but they are very loud and love to toot their horns at the wee hours of the morning! Our electric heaters were quickly out of the box to warm up our campers. We went for a tour around the area yesterday afternoon and found some lovely valleys with lots of dairies which made Chris happy! 🐄🐄. 

The afternoon deteriorated, becoming colder then rain set in, so we utilised the camp kitchen and cooked our BBQ there which was warmer than sitting in an annex. 

We were a little wistful as we heard from family and friends attending the Port V North game as we would have loved to be there. As it was we spent an anxious time listening to the last quarter! 

               

Today we headed out to the caves at Mole Creek and enjoyed a great tour of the cave - very spectacular! It was actually  warmer inside the cave than outside. 

       

           

We then visited a wild life park where Tasmanian Devils are featured and it was interesting to hear about these unusual animals. Seeing 90% of the adult population has been lost due to the facial tumour, places like this that breed Devils are becoming more important.

        

Tonight is pretty freezing and we are in 'our' camp kitchen all huddled around the heaters. We've just watched Dennis's slide show of our trip which enabled us to reminisce and remember all the many things we've seen and done. 

 

Tomorrow is our last day and this time tomorrow night Dennis Tops Darryl and I will be all aboard the Spirit of Tasmania on our trip back across Bass Straight. We hope it's another smooth crossing! ( as an addendum Darryl didn't feel sick at all whilst he was on the Bruny Island Andventure Cruise as the Kwells he took were actually diahorrea tablets!! He hasn't suffered with diahorrea at all!!) 

It's been a great holiday and now we feel we have seen most of this beautiful state. Chris and Merilyn will be spending a day without us as they are booked to go home Tuesday night. 

So this will be our last blog until the next adventure. Love to everyone from the Tassie Travellers!!  😘😘😘

Upper Midlands

We reluctantly left the beautiful Bay of Fires and headed inland. We really enjoyed this area and loved the beach.  

        

The journey across from St Helens to Scottsdale was spectacular. The drive was slow as the road was windy and narrow but the scenes were just beautiful - lovely green lush valleys, mountains and forests, quaint towns and buildings. The day was sunny which made things even better as driving through some of the forested areas could be gloomy on a dull day. We stopped for morning tea at Derby and would have loved to spend more time there as it was a beautifully presented town. It has a rich history of tin mining with a strong Chinese influence. Once we neared Launceston, the countryside wasn't as lush and in fact looks like it needs a good rain. 

We found this lovely caravan park at Longford and have set up on a grassy bank alongside the Macquarie River. We have been fortunate that each camp spot has been great - but a fair bit of research goes into deciding where we are going - Wikii camps and Trip Adviser are great tools. 

             

We ladies were immediately into the laundry here and I really enjoyed sleeping on clean sheets last night! It was lovely and sunny with a bit of wind so everything dried out beautifully. It was rather a touch of luxury to have a hot shower in a real shower and not in a tent from half a bucket of water! 

Our evening meal of fish and chips was rounded off by a much enjoyed apple crumble cooked to perfection by Merilyn. 😋😋

Thismorning was a slower morning but the clever men were very busy and solved Darryls lighting problem - it was a poor connection which blew a fuse! So we will have light again tonight. 

We lashed out and had lunch at the local bakery today then the boys headed off to Launceston to visit the car museum whilst us ladies visited a World heritage estate called Woolmers. 

                    

It is a beautiful old establishment owned by the same family for six generations. The land was initially granted to the first Thomas Archer then much was requisitioned after WW2 for soldier settlements and eventually bequeathed to a trust when the last Thomas Archer died leaving no children. We loved this old wooden  windmill.

       

There were beautiful gardens including a huge formal rose garden enclosed within a stone wall. We had a laugh at the double drop toilet!! Wonder who you'd want to sit and chat to in this sort of establishment??

Tomorrow we pack up and head off to Mole Creek - a huge 65kms from here!! We are booking into powered sites so we can use our little heaters as the forecast there overnight is rather chilly! Our trip is nearly over as Mole Creek will be the last stop before we head to the ferry.

We'll be thinking of the huge group attending the footy tomorrow night and hope it's a happy outcome for us! 

Till our next blog, we send our best wishes and hope the rain is still falling in Murrabit. ☔️☔️.

xxxxxxxxxx

         

         

Exploring the North East

We've enjoyed pottering around this area as well as appreciating the lovely beach here. Yesterday was a little overcast and cool and we travelled through the Fingal Valley which was reported to be a beautiful valley dotted with gracious old churches and houses. However, we were a little underwhelmed as we didn't see many old nice buildings and the valley was in need of a good rain. We detoured to a mining town Cornwall - we had visions of the town being like Cornwall UK or little Cornwall around Moonta - but how wrong were we!! Asthetically it was very ordinary and the buildings left a lot to be desired! There is a operating coal mine there and the coal is transported to Fingal where it's railed out to ports. It's a spot we really wouldn't want to call home! 

Fingal is a little town that has the potential to become a real historic town like Richmond. We came across a little shop called 'Aladdins Cave' and you'd have to see it to believe it! In a shop smaller than the Murrabit Store was everything you could think of - home grown veges, groceries, ice creams and all sorts of furniture and brick- a- back -mostly junk and all so crowded I came out with dust all over my coat! The owner was however, very proud of his shop! We did buy a wooden chopping board (new) some of his tomatoes and some lollies (pre packed) We had lunch in the park along with many chuckles about Aladdins Cave.

We headed back through St Mary's and boy was this town different. I can't really describe the shops and their wares - all I can say they were very very different!! So were the people! We had a good look at the town then on the way back stopped at The Elephant Pass Pancake shop and enjoyed an afternoon tea there. So if we were to sum up the day we'd say it was unique!!

            

Today was opposite. Firstly the sun was shining and it was quite mild. We headed out on the road to Scottsdale and were surprised to see "The shop in the Bush' along the way so stopped and wow!! This was the complete opposite to Aladdins Cave! 

                 

We've never seen a 2nd hand shop so clean and well laid out. It was spotless and we could have spent hours there. These people sure know how to organise wares to their full potential with everything displayed beautifully. We all came out with a bag of goodies!! From there we found the 'Pub in the Paddock' . How a pub can survive way out in the bush us amazing, but it was very well patronised and seems to be a very busy pub. We were fortunate to see a whole lot of Alvis old fashioned cars at the pub - a delight for Dennis and Chris. 

        

       Here we are enjoying The Pub in The Paddock! 

We walked off our lunch by walking to see the St Columba falls and they were spectacular falling 96 metres - the highest in Tasmania. They've never been known to dry up and it was well worth the walk to see them.

      

This valley was so different to the Fingal valley - lush, green, and so picturesque with a mountain backdrop. Darryl said its the only place he's seen where he could imagine living! It was a beautiful drive.

Tonight we enjoyed a champagne on the rocks - we just love watching the relentless waves!! We'll miss the sound of the waves lulling us to sleep each night. 

            

 Tomorrow unfortunately we have to leave here and travel on - we think to Longford then Mole Creek. 

We were happy to hear the birthday boys had special days - next is Hannah 🎉🎊. Sorry to hear our Macy is not 100% and hope she bounces back for the big footy weekend.

Till later, love from us all. 

Xxxxxx💋💋💋

Bay of Fires

Well, we think we have found the most picturesque spot in Tasmania!  Here at the Bay of Fires, the beaches are pristine white and the sea an amazing turquoise blue - with spectacular rocks. We all would just love to have grandchildren here to enjoy this place. It would be heaven for them! And even better the sun has been shining and it hasn't been freezing! Our last day at Douglas River turned out to be so cold with a nasty wind and at camp we spent a lot of time trying to get out of the wind. (That sounds familiar doesn't it all Beachport campers? 🌀❄️☁️)

We enjoyed the township of Bicheno and found the blowhole - quite by accident really and had the day been sunny and nice, a picnic lunch there would have been perfect!  Instead, we had to go to this lovely restaurant and enjoy a beautiful seafood lunch!! Such a shame!  

         

Dennis was insistent that we enjoy the beach with a glass of champagne (trouble is he only had red wine!) but it was pleasant watching the sunset which was pretty spectacular. 

       

     

        Darryl's getting good at selfies!!

This morning we were packed up early and on the road for the long 70  kms to St Helens!! It was a lovely drive along the coast. We were looking for a nice spot for morning tea and Darryl, as leader, led everyone into this camp spot and began searching for a table. He however led Chris up the garden path - well a sandy garden path - and Chris promptly got bogged!! But some brilliant man - brains and manouvering got him out and we were right. Dennis was the smart one who packed a snatch strap. Good Boy Scout training! We never had our morning tea there anyway but 6kms down the track found a picnic area right on the roadside with a nice sea view,  toilets, tables, rubbish bins and even drinking water to fill the campers! 

St Helens seems to be a lovely place and Tops and I even spotted a couple of dress shops - we've been 3 weeks and have only been inside supermarkets 😟. There may be some retail therapy coming up! 

         

          

    

Whilst based here we can enjoy the beautiful beach plus there are many drives around so we are sure we can fill in several days quite easily. 

Today our baby boy James turns 2 and tomorrow Lachlan turns 10! Happy birthday to you both and we send hugs and kisses to you and wish we were able to celebrate with you. 

Till our next blog, love from the Tassie Travellers xxxx😘😘😘

Up the east coast

Our last day on Bruny Island was a real tourist day visiting an art gallery, oyster outlet, chocolate and cheese factories. Dennis was the only one to eat fresh oysters so no wonder he reneged on the forest walk and chose to return to camp before us! 😉 

          

We loved the northern part around Dennes as it was particularly picturesque with all the little bays and beaches and great views from the hills. The weather has been kinder to us with some brilliant sunshine and no rain. At the coast, conditions aren't damp and our canvas was dry for packing up thismorning. 

          

          The forest walk was a little bit of a jungle walk - but very pretty! 

Our ferry ride had spectacular views - ha ha!!

         

Once off the ferry we seemed to travel for hours through Hobart and Swansea until we found this farmstay camp spot out of Bicheno. We are bounded by a river and the sea with a mountainous backdrop so it's a pretty spot. There are no facilities at all except water for washing dishes and showers so at long last Dennis's porta loo is out of its box and is proudly sitting in the tent! 

         

Today we headed to the Freycinet Peninsula and enjoyed our morning coffee at Coles Bay. What a pretty place that is and very busy with boats going in and out and tourists enjoying the scenery.

We then called at the National Park information centre before we hit the walking track to Wineglass Bay. Chris and Merilyn walked all the way to the beach (and Chris even had a swim there!)  but we chose the easier option and stopped at the lookout. The walk is very popular and paths very well maintained through scrub and rocks.  It was worth the effort (quite a few steps!) and fortunately the sun was shining for a good view. 

            

     

    The view from the lighthouse walk. Beautiful! 

We had our picnic lunch at Honeymoon Bay 💕 and Darryl was able to fill our container of drinking water. We drove onto the lighthouse and enjoyed the short walk and views there. The sun disappeared and now it's quite cool and windy. 

Would you believe Tops and I are washing? -  the laundromat in Bicheno was closed so Dennis asked at the caravan park if we could use their facilities and here we are!! We are sitting in the camp kitchen as large as life and patrons probably wonder where we are staying! 

We have yet to decide if we are moving  on tomorrow or staying another night. We'll sit around the campfire tonight and work out our options. Hope everyone is well and tonight we are thinking of Murrabit's night footy game and hope it's a successful venture. 

Love from the Tassie travellers.xxxxxx

Bruny Island

We are now complete with Chris and Merilyn now with us after a long trip to get here. So now it's like the trip last year when we all did the west coast together.

             

We left the Huon Bush Retreats and Dennis got down the mountain track no worries. We headed to the best bit of Huonville - the car wash/ laundromat where we washed everything - including Darryls car and camper, then headed over the mountains towards Kettering where the ferry leaves. As we left Huonville, guess what? The rain set in and darn!! - Darryl wasted $8 on the car wash!  We found a sheltered place for lunch then onto the ferry for the short ride to Bruny Island. It was so wet we couldn't see anything (and Dennis and Tops could only see our Ultimate steps anyway!)  so we wondered for a bit what on earth we were doing coming here. However, as it happens in Tasmania, the rain cleared and it turned out quite pleasant so we set up in good conditions. We are in a National Park at a site called 'The Neck'  which is a narrow isthmus between the North and South Bruny Island and we have the sea both sides of us. We are central to all the Island and we are very happy here.    

      

                  This shows the narrow neck - Dennis is climbing up to the lookout.

Today we had a lovely day starting quite early with a 9am Adventure Boat Cruise over at Adventure Bay. Unfortunately the sun didn't shine at all so photos are a bit dull but the trip was everything they advertise it to be - amazing scenery, blowholes, Seals, Dolphins, Albatros, and all sorts of sea birds. 

                

              Darryl captured this frolicking dolphin by the other boat - ours was just the same.

The ride took us right out to the Southern Ocean and conditions were a little undulating, but the captain did an excellent job and Darryl didn't even feel squirmish! It was jolly cold and we looked very glamorous in the waterproof gear, beanies and gloves!! 

                  

Tops and I were very sensible and sat behind the plastic but the others braved it and sat out in front of us. We all thought it was a great morning and worth the cost - you'd never see the places we did by land.

We warmed up with freshly cooked scallop pies ( plus a couple ordinary beef pies for you guess who!) from the local store then we toured down south to the lighthouse at the southern point of the island. Tomorrow we all have discussed our wish lists which include a cheese factory, chocolate factory, oyster farm, rain forest walk, and touring the North Island. I never imagined there would be do much to do on this island. 

The sun is glorious today and we are enjoying touring the North Island which is very beautiful. I'll post this while we have service so till next post I'll sign off! Who knows where we'll be set up tomorrow. 

Love to everyone from the 6 travellers. xxxxxxx

         Morning tea at Dennes Point. 

     

Huon Valley

Guess what?? After a beautiful sunny day, it's now raining!! That's Tasmania for you ☀️⛅️☔️. 

So we are sitting in the camp kitchen - sort of around a camp fire - it's too wet to sit right by the fire!

We experienced a very rough night on our last night at 7 Mile Beach and were grateful that we weren't aboard the Spirit of Tasmania! Unfortunately it rained again and packing up was very hurried! Traveling through Hobart was much easier than through Sydney and we found this camp easily but the steep access was a little daunting for Dennis and Tops in the trusty Falcon Ute! They hope it's not too wet on our trip out tomorrow.

              

             

We have enjoyed our time at this retreat - initially we were a little disappointed as we aren't set up together as we usually are and our sites are a little cramped but it's worked out well as we've used the camp kitchen area each night and for the most have had it to ourselves. But we've also become quite sociable and chat away to other campers and have leant quite a lot from them. There is even an avid Port Adelaide supporter here (tho we aren't talking footy!)

There are several forest walks here which are very pretty and provide the leg muscles with a workout! I was fortunate to see and hear a lyre bird just behind our camp but we've learned they are actually introduced into Tasmania and considered feral! We can't believe that as they are one of our favourite birds. 

Good Friday we had a rest day and I even opened my book! (for the first time this holiday!)  We cooked up a beautiful lunch of fish 'n' chips and salad and with a glass of wine it was very sophisticated!! The sun was actually shining which made things very pleasant. 

                        

This Huon Valley is very picturesque especially with the autumn colours now. Apples are grown everywhere and there seems to be so many waterways and contrasting forested areas. It's a lovely area. 

Yesterday we drove to the Tahune Airwalk and had a great day - the walk itself was very good and what made this better than similar air walks was the other walks around, and we enjoyed the swinging bridge walk which was about an hour walk through lovely forests and then over two rivers on these swinging bridges. It's also very interesting seeing how the working forests have regenerated.

          

Today we had another great day - we were so early setting off seeing daylight saving finally ceased. We headed to as far south as you can drive and the little bays and villages were very pretty. There were many little camping and holiday spots and seeing it's Easter Sunday,  of course people were everywhere enjoying the weather and beach.  At the 'end of the road' we walked to a couple of beautiful beaches and felt like we were explorers - except there were other footprints there! 👣

       

       

     Now we've been to the northern most point of Australia and this is as far south as you can drive.  

We hope everyone has had a very happy Easter - Easter Bunny even found us here! - Its a bit funny to be away from the family and we are a little wistful that we are here away from everyone when we hear all the activities. We were sorry to hear that Ben had to be stitched and hope he recovers quickly. On a more positive note it's wonderful baby news from Josh and Jess - and Nick and Erin!! Number 20 grandbaby for us and number 12 and 13 for Dennis and Tops.  We are also very happy with Beth and Dust's purchase of a house in Bendigo and Kristian and MJ's purchase of a property in Kerang. It's all happening in our family! 

Tomorrow we think we might head to Bruny Island then we are looking forward to Chris and Merilyn joining us on Tuesday. 

Here is Dennis on possum duty - they are quite pesky in the kitchen and very resilient! 

   

Till our next blog from Bruny Island, love from the Tassie Travelers xxxxx