THE END

Today, 3 years and 2 months ago, we set off to see Aus. We told our tenants they had a guaranteed 18 months in our house and they are still there. We'd never owned a caravan or 4 WD and didn't know if we'd enjoy the lifestyle. Now we know we do!

Last night we stopped to fill up with diesel and the man beside us asked where we were off to-Russ said "home" and I nearly started to cry. I'd love to keep going, but if I did, I'd get house sick and want the house. I'm excited to be moving into our new little villa but so sad to be finishing our most amazing journey. I've always loved the reaction we get from someone when they ask "so how long have you been on the road" and somehow feel a bit of a quitter. I've loved watching the kilometres and the months tick over.

However, we will be better able to get to places like the Gulf and Northern Queensland leaving from Victoria. It's hard to travel up and down and around and arrive in the right season for a particular place if you've left somewhere up north at the end of its good season (if you get what I mean).

Lots of people ask us where our favourite place in Australia has been and that's been almost impossible to answer-I love anywhere any of our kids and partners are, I love anywhere the fishing is good (Tasmania, Walpole, Exmouth and Coral Bay (all WA)), Denham because we have wonderful friends who go there every year and the Ningaloo Reef because the water is warm, the fishing is good and the weather is perfect for a few months a year! Litchfield National Park (NT)was great, yabbying on Fairburn Dam (QLD) another highlight, so were the WA goldfields. And the Kimberly and Pilbara in spring was beautiful. In the end though, coming home to Warrnambool to the people we know is really the best of all (especially when we know we can pack the van up and go again!).

I don't think a blog about life in Warrnabool is so very exciting and have decided to finish it now. Thanks to ALL you people who have written or told me how much you enjoyed it;so did I and I was so lucky to be able to go do it!

Easter and 10 nights in Traralgon

Thursday night, we went over to Verity's parents place for a little party for Kobie. It was a nice family one with sausage rolls, little boys, fairy bread and an Iggle Piggle birthday cake. The birthday boy stayed up long enough to have a little to eat, accept his gifts and play in the cake, then he had a spa and was off to bed!



Friday we took a heap of fish and some squid to sister Glenda's to share for lunch. Glenda had also done a lovely smoked trout pate-about 12 of us were there. We ate dinner with Mel and Michael at their cabin in the caravan park that night.



On Saturday it was my birthday. My son Mick had suggested we go out to Chinese-15 of us had a really good night at Traralgon Lion City. On Sunday, Daniel decided a family BBQ/picnic would be fun at Newman Park. It has good BBQs and a great playground so about 20 of us had a fun time there. It's especially fun to watch Kobie enjoying the swings and slides now! We had a couple of quiet nights Sunday and Monday night.





On Wednesday after baby sitting Kobie for the day, we had dinner with old friends Ruth and Bob Duljas. Thursday, we sat Kobie in the morning, then drove to Sale via Maffra, then home along the highway. I used to live in a number of small towns in the area, so I always enjoy a look around. I was rapt to get a couple of replacement pieces for a new dinner set we bought in Tasmania at Sale's Target store (one was missing and one broke being carted all over the place on rough dirt roads). Thursday night we had dinner with another old friend Christine and husband Gary and her two daughters Dee and Shannon and SHannon's husband George. I met Chris at my 21st when the girls were 2 and 6, they are 35 and 39 now. We had dinner at Shannon's beautiful new home and about a million drinks. It was a very late night (morning), a taxi ride home and a very slow day Friday with dinner out at la Porchetta but home to bed by 8.30.

I cooked dinner for the four of us at Glenda and Peter's on Saturday night, then today we drove to Port Fairy stopping for lunch with daughter in law Leah in Melbourne. I'm working for Kirstyn at the B&B in the morning (poor girl has a cold) and dinner out tomorrow night with Paul and Wendy (who we met in Tas).



I was pleasantly suprised with the Park Lane Caravan Park. We've spent an awful lot of time in parks over the last three years and it was one of the very better ones-really clean amenities, nice pool, spa, mini golf, good play ground and good sized sites. I'd be happy to stay there any time.

Now we are hoping the titles come through for our house this week and we can settle up and start moving in.

Narawntapu National Park

Narawntapu National Park is about 35ks from Port Sorell (you look at it across the Rubicon Estuary and the park sits between that and the ocean. We hadn't visited it, but had a couple of hours to kill yesterday (due to high level of organisation packing the day before ;-) )



It (the park) was a former spud farm and is really quite flat and featureless, but it has some nice camping areas, a lot of birds and wild life and is unique in that you can take along horses (there is a large holding yard) and ride on designated trails. The yards have a camping area alongside, so it would be wonderful for horsey people.

We were rapt to see a wombat and her baby grazing on the short grass by the visitor's centre-it's the first time I've ever seen a little on up so close.



Finally we got on the boat and had another super smooth trip across Bass Strait. I forgot and left a glass on the kitchen bench. It was in exactly the same place I left it when we arrived in Traralgon. The boat docked at 5.50 and we were off and on the road by 6.10am. We'd planned to go to Leah's for breakfast, but figured Jan and Russ at 6.15 would be too much for the poor girl and headed to Traralgon. We were at the caravan park by 10.00 after stopping for breakfast in Bunyip. The chatty roadhouse owner somehow got to telling us lots of travellers were passing through eg, the people beside us were from Warrnambool. What a small world. They live on Caramut road and their daughter lives in flats at number 14 Panorama Ave (we live across the road at 15!

We got set up, then went and had lunch with Dan, Verity Kobie (the birthday boy today) my ex Allan and his new lady friend Sue. Tonight we are off to a little party for him at Verity's parents. Kobie cried when he saw us but cheered up when we produced one of his birthday presents (a Koala camping chair) which he really loved.

The Birthday Boy

Is My Face Red?

We were just about packed and ready to leave the caravan park when we decided to check our ferry ticket for the latest we could arrive at the terminal.
I looked and looked again hoping I was wrong, I asked Russ the date, then finally accepted we were booked to sail on Wednesday 8Th NOT Tuesday 7Th like we (I) thought.

Fortunately, we hadn't disconnected the water, power and waste water or wound the legs of the van up. More fortunate, we could stay on this site until 6pm Wednesday night. So out came the TV, antenna and our picnic tea we had made to eat on the boat. Luckily, we were able to change our booking in Traralgon (got that wrong too) and contact my son, my sister and Leah.

Our solicitor rang last night and the title for our villa has finally been lodged, so she thinks we will be able to take possession at the end of April. Hooray! It will be almost two months late, but it really isn't a problem to us.

Cradle Mountain

Pencil Pine Falls Cradle Mountain NP


Cradle mountain is one of Tasmania's most visited National Parks, so we thought we better go see it before we head home tomorrow night.

We had a bit of lunch stuff hanging around, but needed to get some ham at the local supermarket. After forgetting to do that, we drove through Railton to Sheffield (the town of murals) where we stopped for a walk and to get that ham. We found a BBQ pack (containing 3 burgers, 3 snags and 2 small steaks) on a throw out special for $2, so bought it instead. Sheffield has one free public BBQ in the middle of a park in town-by the time we cooked our feast, the day was cold and getting colder, but it was so good! Sheffield has over 50 murals-painted to "save" the town about 20 years ago. It seems to have worked, as the little town was really busy while we were there. Lots of new homes seem to have gone up since we were last in town too.

Sheffield sits at the foot of Mt Roland and the drive to Cradle mountain takes you right out past it. It was very beautiful.

Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake


By now it was getting colder still and when we arrived at the Dove Lake car park it was sleeting. So much for the iconic view of Cradle Mountain reflected in Dove Lake. We did manage a couple of short walks in the area, but had hoped to do a couple more. Even with the rain and cloud, it is a stunning national park and I think we'll come back in a year or two and do it on a nice day.

SNOW! (in April)


We came home via Wilmot and Forth. We stopped and bought some of our favourite Dutch Cream potatoes from a farm gate to bring home with us, plus some local carrots and spray free apples. We were kept entertained spotting mail boxes on a 10k stretch of road out of Wilmot. We spotted Tin Man, dogs, wombats, Ned Kelly, Motorbikes, Cars, Rockets, Horses, you name it we saw it. Dozens of properties have the craziest letter boxes.

Mt Roland

Beaconsfield

Mining Heritage Centre

We've had a relaxing few days here in Port Sorell. The park is almost completely empty so is very quiet. We find we've been sleeping really late without the usual early risers and packer upers. It's wonderful.

On ^Tuesday we caught up with our laundry and did a bit of shopping-there is a great little strip of shops at near by Shearwater.

Wednesday, we put the boat in on the estuary. I caught a good sized flatty almost immediately, then only one more just size fish in the following three hours. Russ caught a couple of undersized ones in the same time. On the way home, we stopped near the boat ramp and he caught one more good sized one. When we got back to the boat ramp, both were still very alive and active, so we let them go. There are big tides here and that meant our drifts were probably too fast to catch fish-but it's better to d4rift over flathead than wait for them to come to you. Oh well, there had to have one shitty fishing spot!

On Thursday we drove along the old coast road to Burnie. We haven't been there for about 10 years (since my mate Henry lived there) and it seems to have really gone ahead. The CBD is much nicer and the shops seemed busy. We had lunch in a Chinese restaurant, then bought a new doona set and two new dinner sets for the house, and lastly stopped at the Lactos factory and treated ourselves to some delicious cheese. We had a couple of drinks with Blair at the Devenport airport before he flew home to Melbourne which was great.



Today we drove to Beaconsfield to visit the Mining Heritage Centre. It's a pretty decent museum-well laid out and enough to read without going into overkill. I think the most amazing display is the one that deals with the mine collapse and rescue of Todd Russell and Brant Webb in April/May 2006. There is a replica of the pipe that was eventually laid and the cage they were trapped in for two weeks. It's a dreadful feeling just to pop your head up into the space and try to imagine spending two weeks there!



I was surprised at what a pretty area Beaconsfield, Beauty Point, Kelso and Greens Beach is and how many people live there.

Port Sorell-Our Last Stay in Tassie

Paddymelon by the Van


Yesterday, we were supposed to leave Mt Field NP, but had both had a lousy nights sleep, it was raining and we decided to extend another night. We spent a lazy day, just taking a little walk through the tall trees. After dinner, we rugged up and walked to the falls with our torch to see the glow worms-they were a bit of a non event, but it was still fun.

Tall Trees


We drove from Mt Field NP to Port Sorell today-it's 330ks and about as far as you want to drive in Tassie towing a van. We arrived here after 6 hours of driving (with a quick stop for lunch) feeling like we'd driven double the time. We are staying 8 nights here with a late check out on the last day to keep the freezer plugged in as long as we can before we board the ferry for the trip home. I should mention that we stopped in the inevitable bakery in Ross and had THE best pies ever-Tasmanian Salmon and Brie. We both thought we'd died and gone to pie heaven. When we get into our house, I'm going to have a try at making them.

The caravan park here has 8 tourist sites and all but one have en suites. It was amazingly cheap for the 8 nights-$21.50 a night with the en suite.

We stopped on the way in Longford at the meat works and stocked up so the freezer is full to bursting for the trip home. We find it travels better like that, and good looking whole porterhouse was $9.99 a kg.

I got a lovely e-mail today offering me some work when we get home at one of my long time favourite casual jobs, TAFE canteen. I'm thrilled and it made my day.

Lake Pedder and Gordon River Dam

Today we took a drive to Lake Pedder and the Gordon River Dam. Lake Pedder (actually the little hydro town of Strathgordon is 86 ks from here (Mt Field NP) through some of the most stunning scenery we have seen in Tasmania. Parts of it are declared a world heritage wilderness, parts are state forests and therefore logged, and some are state reserves (not sure what they are!). Strathgordon had 2000 people living there at the height of the dam building. Now it has a handful of people who operate the hydro power station and a couple of touritsty things in town.

All the way, we travelled with ranges on either side of us-big granite mountains everwhere. We tried to take photos, but our camera just can't do it justice (and if I had a better camera, it would be wasted on me). It was quite misty on the way out, but the cloud burned away and it was a beautiful day after lunch.

Lake Pedder is 40km long and drowned the original Lake Pedder (causing quite a lot of controversy 40 years ago). Gordon River Dam wall is the largest of it's type in Australia at 140 metres and was amazing to see, although it was all to high for me. I'd never be able to do some of the maintenance work they are expected to do in some
of the places we saw.

Lake Pedder




Gordon River Dam


We drove 30ks down a dirt road to see the smaller Serpentine and the Scott's Peak Dams both also on Lake Pedder. It had been suggested to Russ by the ranger at the local info desk and was wonderful We drove through a couple of valleys with mountains all around us and at the Red Knoll Lookout, the mountains circled us from 4 to 40ks away.

The Road to Red Knoll


Lake Pedder from Red Knoll Lookout


On the way to Lake Pedder and home, we saw a group of logging protesters living in the forest trying to save the Florentine region from logging. It's a difficult thing when so many in Tassie rely on the logging industry, but the area is so very beautiful and worth saving.

Mt Field National Park

Land of the Giants Caravan Park Mt Field NP

I just sat down to write this when a paddymelon (a small, chunky sort of wallaby) hopped past the door of the van-right under our awning! There are lots of them around the place and heaps of a native Tasmanian bush hen that is very noisy.

We arrived here around lunch time yesterday-it's beautiful. The caravan park within the national park is tiny and there are only about 4 other vans and tents here tonight. Our site backs onto the Falls Creek and Russ has headed over there to catch himself a trout. Hahaha. He bit the bullet and bought himself three wattle grubs at $2 each, so he's pretty serious about it. I had to hold them on the way home and the slippery little suckers kept trying to escape the hanky I had then in. Probably suspected that they might be drowned soon!

Russell Falls


Yesterday after setting up and having lunch, we took a walk to the interpretive centre, then on to the falls. We have been here years ago, but I'd forgotten how pretty the walk to them is and how tall the falls actually are. They come down as a gentle veil of water over three or four tiers and are really beautiful. We walked to the top too (216 steep, slippery steps). While the top isn't so spectacular, we got a great view of the valley with a pretty rainbow over it.

From the Top of Russell Falls


It started to pour rain on the way home, so we sheltered in a hut for a while talking to a nice young WA couple.

Last night I made a really yummy dinner of sausages and cabbage braised in beer and mustard over mash. Russ wasn't too keen on the recipe, but we both loved it and it was perfect for the cold night.


Today we drove up the "steep, winding, narrow, subject to snow, ice and fallen trees" road to the ski fields 16ks from here. The road was one of the better dirt ones we have been on in Tassie and not deserving of all those dire warnings! Maybe it's a different matter in the ski season though!

Lake Dobson



We took a few short walks through the different types of forest and across an alpine peat marshe, then took a walk around the very pretty little Lake Dobson. It was just far enough for fatty boombah me and I especially loved the pandani grove with its old pines growing like gnarly old bonsai off the rocks and the mosses and lichen hanging off the trees. The pandani were suprisingly tall-much more so than we see them in the tropics. We stopped and gave a young Israeli couple a lift to the bottom car park on the way home.

Hops About to be Harvested at Bushy Park


After a lunch of home made soup and toast, we drove back out the way we came yesterday to towards New Norfolk through the hop fields. They are quite vast (the biggest in Aus) and produce tons and tons of hops for beer. There are remains of kilns, oasts, big storage sheds and a water wheel on the River Styx. They were owned by one family originally and 30 houses remain on the properties. The hop farmers also grow black currants, raspberries and sheep.

Right now, Russ is home after drowning one $2 wattle grub and catching no trout (he saw about six "rise" though) but they wouldn't take the bait. He's consoling himself with a glass of wine while he cooks us a green Thai fish curry.

Bruny Island

Monday we took the 11 o'clock ferry to Bruny Island. It's about or 5ks from Kettering across the channel and Russ has wanted to go for years.

I enjoyed the day out but think I was a bit tired of driving after our trip down south the day before. If you were to ask me which of the two days I preferred, I would have to say I got more from going to the end of the road on the Sunday.

Bruny Island Light House


Bruny Island has about 100ks of sealed road (and plenty of unsealed stuff) and you get spectacular views of the d'Entrecasteaux channel and Southern Ocean from various lookouts but a number of things (the smokehouse and cheesery were two I wanted to go to) were shut on Mondays and lunch at the White Wallaby Cafe was a bit forgettable.

D'Entrecasteaux Channel from Bruny's Highest Point


Presbyterian Church Bruny Island


We paid $12 for a burger and salad (no chips) and got an un toasted stale roll, a nasty, previously frozen patty and an odd salad with diced carrot in it on the other half of the roll. It filled a hole.

Cloudy Bay Bruny Island



Yesterday we stayed home and went out fishing. We caught 13 flathead (Russ caught most of them) and I caught two squid. Our freezer is full to bursting with fillets now.

Today we went into Hobart as Target were having a home wares sale. We bought some sheets for the new house (if we ever get to move in) and some sandals for Russ. We stopped at Banjos in Margate and had a coffee and a couple of fresh hot cross buns on the house as thanks for taking the time to write and complain about our experience at breakfast on Sunday. We were offered another free breakfast, but don't eat that many cooked breakfasts in one week! The owner spent AGES talking to us about staff and problems with them (and his holiday shack on Bruny!) We had a light lunch in Hobart, then shopped in Kingston before heading home here to Snug.

Tomorrow we are moving to Mt Field National Park for three days and I'm not sure if we will have TV, Internet or phone. We couldn't go today as I'd miss the Farmer Wants a Wife! After that, we plan to spend our last week and a bit on the North coast-Port Sorell perhaps.

South of South!

Tassie has turned the weather on once again; it's been beautiful for the past few days.

Native Oysters in the Snug River (where we launch the boat)

We spent Friday and Saturday fishing. On Saturday we did more touring in the boat leaving here and crossing the bay (about 9km) to Bruny Island then back to Tinderbox and home. Russ estimates we did about 20km. Naturally we stopped to fish and caught ourselves 12 flathead and a barracuda for bait. A seal spent about an hour fishing and sunning himself close by and we were amazed to see him catch something (a squid we think) and play with it like a cat with a mouse as he ate it. We are sure we'd have caught more fish if he hadn't been around.

Yesterday was a really calm day on the water so we boated the 6 ks over to Tinderbox and caught ourselves 9 flathead, one red gurnard perch and I managed to catch us two good sized squid. We have realised the squid here are quite different to SA and WA-much more slender and arrow shaped, with shorter, stubbier tentacles that make better bait. They are tricky little devils to catch as I reckon they are thinking fish! The nature lesson for the day was to see two fairy penguins swimming along across the bay. We both initially thought they were ducks, but quickly realised they were penguins-another amazing sight.

Today we had brunch at Banjos in Margate. We've breakfasted at Banjos before in Latrobe and really, really enjoyed it, but today I don't think they wanted to serve breakfast (only one menu and that was hidden) and the dining room was quite dirty so I wrote to the company tonight! After brunch, we headed down south once again. We've been to Huonville twice just recently but I love the drive through the orchards and wineries and along the river.

Huon River


This time we headed further south. In Ida River, Russ wanted to turn back, but I wanted to go the whole way as we've been to the most westerly and the most easterly points in Australia. Russ gave in and we headed to through Catamaran to Cockle Creek, the most southerly point we can drive to in Australia. We passed such milestones as the most southerly pub, the most southerly caravan park and my favourite, the most southerly B&B. I would love to buy the property on the southern side of that and start my own......

Cockle Creek




At the END OF THE ROAD (Cockle Creek), we visited the tiny tip of the Southwest National Park (a huge NP that covers about a massive amount of Tasmania with much of it designated a wilderness area and world heritage listed). We took a short walk to Fishers Point with its Southern Right Whale calf sculpture.

Fishers Point





Cockle creek was a busy whaling station with a big logging industry until the trees and whales ran out! Now it's biggest claim to fame is being the end of that road. We came home along some wonderful back roads wherever we could for great views of D'entrecasteaux Channel, Bruny Island and Huon River. Leaving Huonville, we hit rain and thick fog (at 5 pm) which made for a slow drive home.

My International Tooth

Last year crossing the Nullabor, my tooth fell to bits. I finally got to see an English dentist in Albany and had it re-built. Up north in WA, it fell to bits again and a delightful Canadian woman fixed it for me back in Perth. Yesterday it fell to bits again so a nice young Kiwi "boy" had a crack at it this afternoon.

It has a pin and huge filling in it now, but it gave him plenty of grief getting it anywhere near to a point we were both happy with! The filling fell to bits the first time he took the metal clamp off and asked me to "bite lightly" on it, so he had to change the filling stuff and refill half of it. It took forever and he said if I wasn't happy to come back. I actually "came back" from reception for him to smooth some more off it.

He had quoted me $230 and only charged me $190 for it all-the receptionist was implying how very lucky I was as it had been a super long consultation-I was sore and snappy and pointed out it was only because the filling disintergrated and we had to do it again that I was getting the discount. I suspect it may fall out again, pin or no pin.

A repeat of last year's wedding anniversary present when I had a trip to the dentist on almost the same day.

We just went and booked four more nights in Snug-bringing the total to 14. It's a lovely place and we still haven't been to Bruny Island, down to Dover and beyond and we haven't toured the rest of the bay. Russ bought me a new fishing reel while I was in the dentist (an anniversary present) so I want to try that out too.

Southern Forests

Arve River Picnic Ground


This morning we drove from here to Sandfly, then on to Huonvale and down the other side of the Huon River (to yesterday's drive). It's a really pretty area with lots of apples, stone fruits and veg growing and being offered for sale in little road side stalls. I think it's the most like the Tasmania many people would imagine. The river has lots of fish farms and a few factories and heaps of yachts moored in the little bays.

At Geeveston, we headed to the Southern Forests. We drove out to a pretty spot called Lookout Lookin for a brief walk through the temperate rain forest with its tall trees, tree ferns and mosses.

It was just on 12 o'clock so we decided to drive the 7 ks back into Geeveston and have lunch so we could actually enjoy the rest of the afternoon. Geeveston is a bit limited for eateries, but as usual, there was a bakery. Today being St Pat's day and the owner of the place being Irish, it and the staff were decked out in green, and Beef and Guinness was the pie of the day. We decided to get into the spirit and order a couple of the pies which were delicious-the best filling in a pie we've had in Tasmania. They were offering green coffees too-but we weren't quite THAT spirited!

Arve River Picnic Ground


After lunch, we went back and stopped next at the Arve River picnic ground where we took another short walk along the river and through the forest.

Hartz NP





Then on to Hartz National Park. It's a beautiful drive up into the Alpine region which we've decided we love in Tasmania. The mountains, rock and plants are more dramatic than the gentler farming land. We took a lovely walk to the Arve River Waterfall across the alpine field; the area is covered with water that gently runs downwards to the Arve, gradually getting bigger and bigger until it rushes and drops 500 metres down from the plateau to once again become the gentle little river at the picnic ground below.

Arve Waterfall (The Top)


For most of the walk to the falls, we were the only ones there. A couple of couples walked in as we were leaving, but I don't think many people visit.

The Big Tree


We stopped at the Big Tree after that. It's the biggest tree by weight in Australia-it's not the tallest and keeps losing its top in wind and storms, but is still a massive thing. I should point out that you can't see about 15 more metres of it in the photo and I think a large family could live in the base of it-the photos just can't show the immense size of it.

We met a couple at the tree who are from near Wonthaggi in Vic and after talking to them about mum and dad coming form there (dad was born in Jetho, they lived in Loch and Wonthaggi) we got onto names. I said dad and mum had bred dogs and it turned out the woman's sister had bought dad's last breeding dog Dooley who just died at a very old age! The man had been a livestock carrier and knew mum and dad's neighbour Allan Bramstedt REALLY well too-it's such a small world.

The Big Butt


We went on the the end of the road and the Sky Walk, but decided not to pay the $22 each so late in the day and headed home. We shopped in Huonvale Woolies for a few things and got home just on 6 pm; what a great day out.

Waratah Lookout