Tasmania cont.

January 27^th cont.

When we arrived back at camp today, there was a new camper set up near us.  Adam from Manitoba in Canada is touring Australia solo. He had intended coming with his mate, but alas for him his mate fell in love, so he had to make the journey on his own. He has family living near Brisbane and his parents joined him for a short while in Hobart before heading home to Winnipeg. We shared our campfire with him tonight and a few drinks and enjoyed an entertaining conversation about life in Canada and Australia. We enjoyed his company very much.

January 28^th

The sun is shining brightly again today, it is warm and after yet another restful night we a happy to start a new day. Greg took Adam for a drive on the beach in the cruiser this morning. Something he has never experienced before, he really loved it and was grateful for the opportunity. When they were driving down the steep sand track that leads down to the beach, his jaw dropped to his knee. He was not only amazed at the view but also the fact you can actually drive on the beach. He was snap happy with camera, so should have a lot of great photos to boast about at home. He headed off around 10.30 am, but we have exchanged details and will become FB friends. Nice meeting you Adam. What we have since found out is that the beach drive we took from Bellingham to Bridport is rate ‘hard’ against all 4WD tracks in Tasmania, so we are very pleased with how the cruiser handled it, and how we handled it.

Greg and I went for a walk in the river bed today at low tide. The tide, when low, allows you to walk all the way across to the other side of the river. It is a very tidal river and low tide and high tide are very extreme.  We waded through the shallows for a couple of kilometres to an island which is only accessible by foot at low tide. We interrupted an army of soldier crabs; it is fascinating to watch them burrow under the sand when they hear our approaching footsteps.

January 29^th to 31^st

We have been very happy the past couple of days just to chill, have a walk along the beach, a swim and a spot of fishing. No luck with the fishing, but we are very relaxed. The weather for this leg of the journey has been warm and sunny, which has been a great start to our Tasmanian adventure. We are both sporting healthy tans and are feeling fantastic.

Today, Monday 31^st January, we packed up camp and headed east to the seaside town of St Helens. The driving was delightful with many beautiful spots along the way. It is hard not to marvel at this beautiful state and what it has to offer. We passed through a little town called Derby, which is a delightful small old mining town. The shops, the pub and some of the houses are all right on the street, with no gutters. If you have ever been to Central Tilba on the south east coast of NSW, this little town is very similar. The drive was very steep up through Bass forest, passing some beautiful rivers, including the Cascade River and the Ringarooma River.

 St Helens is a picturesque fishing port on the beautiful East Coast of Tasmania. From here we have access to the Mt William National Park, some beautiful waterfalls, and the some of the best beaches in the world, including Binalong Bay, which is rated the 2^nd most beautiful beach in the world. I will let you know if that is true, because these are all the areas we will be exploring the in the few days or so. I’m sure it will all live up to our expectations. We are staying in a caravan park this time around near the St Helens point Conservation area on Georges Bay. It is a delightful spot with views across the bay and still with a lot of holiday makers around. Of course we have already made a few friends, and are happy to steal their local knowledge. We can hardly wait to start exploring tomorrow. Cheers until next time.

Tasmania

January 24^th 2011

Our journey on the Spirit of Tasmania.

We have met a lot of nice people who are travelling like us. One particular couple met each other after each was widowed and have been together travelling for about 6 years, but only spend 6 weeks away at a time. They miss their grandchildren too much. I don’t have to worry about that yet, but I will always wonder if their grandchildren won’t travel in the future because they will miss their grandparents too much? Doubt it very much. These days with all the technology available to us, it is so easy to keep in touch, via phone, email, Skype etc.  My opinion only and I know most will not agree.

Anyway they will be here in Tassie for about 4 weeks and I said if we run into each other we can have a wine together, she said “or 6”. I like her style. Kind of reminds me of a few people I know.

The journey was a bit rough at times; the seas were quite heavy and although I only had one or two drinks, could hardly walk to the toilet without falling over. Believe me it was not because of the alcohol. I can hear you all saying now “yeah right”.

We were entertained by a 2 piece band playing from about 2 pm till 5 pm. They were very good, took lots of requests and provided a nice distraction from the rough weather, and when anyone stood up it appeared as though they were dancing. They provided a good mix of music from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’, 90’s and naughties.

As we got closer to Devonport the seas calmed down and the sun was shining. It was a welcome change and a nice way to arrive in Tasmania.

When we finally disembarked, it is a slow process; we headed east out of Devonport to find somewhere to stay for the night. As it was too late to set up the camper, this was always our intention. We drove to a little town called Port Sorell and found a vacancy in a boutique apartment.

Port Sorell is a little coastal town on the Rubicon River on the North Coast of Tasmania about 20 km’s east of Devonport and is a popular destination for holiday makers and fisherman. The Sails Boutique Apartments is run by Keith and Sue, who originally came from Darwin for a lifestyle change.  They run a beautiful, clean establishment which was a pleasure to stay in. I would highly recommend a visit there.

January 25^th.

After a pleasant rest and loading up with fresh food and Diesel, we left Port Sorell to find our first camp destination. Our first stop was the nearby Narawntapu National Park and although it was very pretty, the camping spots were not what we were looking for. We headed further east towards Beaconsfield, which was the site of the mine disaster and is located in the Tamar Valley.  The mine is amazingly close to the town centre and houses a museum now.   We drove up the east coast of the Tamar River to Greens beach and then back down, across the river, and north to Georgetown, which claims to be the oldest town in Australia. The Tamar Valley region is so pretty, lots of farmland which forms a patchwork of crops, shrubs and grass, dotted with cows, horses, dams and farmhouses. We then headed east again to find our camping spot in Bellingham on the North coast. Bellingham lies on the mouth of Pipers River in Bass Strait. We set up camp on the coastal reserve just near the surf beach, tucked between sand dunes and coastal scrub, which offers us good protection from the wind. After setting up, around 5 pm, we sat down and relaxed to the sounds of music through our iPod in the cruiser and the odd drink or 2 before retiring for our first night’s sleep in the camper trailer.

January 26^th

Happy Australia Day everyone. OMG, well aren’t we the lazy ones. We both slept for over 10 hours last night. That’s a first. When we woke the Tasmanian sky was bright blue and the morning sun was warming the tent for us. God I love the bed in the camper, it is so very comfortable.

Today we went for a walk along the beach at low tide which was really nice, such a pretty place. We rode our bikes around the little township of Bellingham, although you can hardly call it a town, as it only has beach and holiday houses. There isn’t a shop in sight. We then drove onto the beach and drove along the beach to the river, but couldn’t cross it as the tide was too high. What an amazing experience. I took some great photos and a video of Greg driving along the beach.

Of course at beer o’clock it was time to sit around the campfire and as we cooked a beautiful meal in the camp oven we had a few beverages for Australia Day. Cheers!

January 27^th

Today we again woke to a beautiful sunny morning after another 10 hrs sleep. Can’t believe we can sleep so well. It surely must have to do with the fresh air and exercise.

We took the cruiser again along the beach, but this time for a 3 hr drive towards the seaside town of Bridport. The drive was amazing. We crossed the river at low tide, well Greg actually drove across and I walked across to the other side and took a video of him crossing in the cruiser. The water wasn’t too deep so it went well.

The rest of the journey was fantastic as we came across some other 4 wheel drivers and they took us up into the sand dunes. Now that was an experience. It is amazing where a 4 wheel drive can take you. I can’t begin to tell how beautiful it is to be driving on the sand, with sand dunes to the right and the sparkling ocean on the left. Freedom.

When we arrived at the spot to take us into the township of Bridport, it was another 1 hr drive through sand dunes, some small, some quite large to get into the town. Bridport is a beautiful seaside village, and clearly very popular. There is a wonderful caravan park, camping ground right on the beach and fantastic walking tracks along the beach front.

Where we are camped at the moment, there is no mobile or internet service, so this blog is being posted at Bridport, while I have service.  I will post some photos as soon as I am able to.

The journey begins

The first day of our trip has finally arrived. We have just boarded the Spirit of Tasmania and our anticipation levels are very high as is our excitement at beginning this trip. I see the Victorian skies have cried today because we are leaving. It is really hard to believe that this day has come around after months and months of planning. Greg commented last night that 14 months ago when we were driving through country Victoria and saw travellers with their campers or vans, we said  "that will be us one day". One day is here!