BYE BYE TASSIE!

We had a good trip home today, although the Spirit’s system at the Melbourne was a bit stressful to get through! Today the ship was actually running early! 

Some Stats…

Oyster eaten (by Mum and Dad only): 72

Fish and Chip meals: 6 

National Parks visited: 8

Free camps: 2 nights

Kms travelled: approx. 2000km

Road kill: sadly too many to count (but we avoided adding to the total)

Today we got up and drove to Devonport. We had a massive brunch at House Of Anvers …again! Even though we only got three meals instead of four, we still all over ate. On the way we also saw a white wallaby! We then went to the caravan park (same one as when we came over on our first night) and set up. We then took a lovely drive to Burnie , there went went to Maker Workshop. It’s set up for a whole lot of creative artist and you can see them at work. We did a paper making tour. They make paper out of strange things like towels, jeans and…POO!!! We got to have a go at scooping up the watery mush and making it into paper with a Tasmanian animal on it! It was really fun!

We then took a drive down the coast to have a look at towns such as Penguin. We drove a short while back to Devonport before going to an Italian restaurant for dinner, it was very nice!

    
A white Bennets Walaby, quite rare.

  
A lighthouse at Devonport.

  
A bushfirey red moon.

Tess

Today was a rather exciting day, because at 9 o’clock, we headed off to Hollybanks Forest, where we went on a 3 hour zip line tour! We were a little bit nervous to start off with (some more than others!) but it was incredibly fun and exhilarating once we got the hang of it! 

For dinner we went to a lovely restaurant in Launceston called Stillwater. 

Launceston has been in a continual shroud of smoke from bushfires the last few days, so unfortunately we haven’t been able to take many good photos!

  
25 metres up a tree!!!!

  
Do I look terrified?!?!

  
Got the HANG of it now!

  
Lovin’ it!

  
Just hangin’ around!

  
Phew! Made the 250m one, now just the 450m one to go!

Tara

Today we had a refreshing swim before heading off to Launceston. On the way we stopped at Derby, a small town for a bite to eat. We also went very close to a big fire. We could see all the smoke and even the reddness from the flames! When we got to Launceston we went to Cataract Gorge. We took a ride on the chair lift, it we was really fun and had a great view!

  
One last swim before we go.

  
Interesting old bank building in Derby along the way.

  
There are lots of bushfires in Tassie. We saw this on our way, there were 4 helicopters bombing it with water.

  
A Pea Hen with her chicks crossing the road at Cataract Gorge.

  
An Echidna at the Gorge.

  
The Chairlift at the Gorge.

  
The Gorge, hard to believe it is in the middle of the city (Launceston).

  
A pool at the Gorge – this shows the British ideas of turning the Gorge into a leisure park back at the turn of the century.

  
A Bennets Walaby with a cataract at Cataract Gorge!

Tess  
 

After a lazy morning dolphin spotting we drove out to The Pub In The Paddock for lunch. The pub was built in 1880 and is famous for its ‘beer drinking pig’! It was a lovely meal, although very filling! However, somehow, we all still had just enough room in our tummies for a bit of cheese tasting down the road at Pyengana cheese.  Some of the cheeses had been aged for 32 months! We drove around for a bit after that, visiting a few short walks and lookout areas. From a place called The Gardens (given the name by an explorers wife for its many native flowers, that we didn’t see) you can see the whole Bay Of Fires! Then, we had a glorious afternoon at the caravan, just reading and relaxing! Mum made some lovely hamburgers for our tucker. 

Jury is still out on this bird, we are not sure what it is.

  
A juvenile Pacific Gull, it really is amazing how they change as they grow into an adult bird.

  
Pacific Gull adult.

  
A giant stingray we saw while we were having breaky.

  
Mum on the beach – still in her PJ’s!

  
The whole beach to themselves! Oh, except for the giant Stingray and the Dolphins.

  
Binalong Bay.

  
A crayfish boat at The Gardens.

TARA

We had a short drive to a lovely campsite on the beach in The Bay Of Fires Conservation area. We set up then drove into town to get supplies for our two days with no power! When we got back I went for a swim then a while later Dad and I went for another swim. The water was really cold and the waves were REALLY strong! Even dad couldn’t  stand up when they went past! It was like a ride at wet n’wild! For dinner we had some yummy pesto pasta.  

A free camp right on the beach, good weather – perfect!

  
Too rough to surf.

  
It was hard to stay standing.

  
A lagoon at our camp site.

Tess

Today we had breakfast before driving to a winery. The wine tasting building was very old, they had a lot of information about the man who lived there last, he didn’t use his electricity even though he had it. We then went to another winery for lunch. Tara and I shared pizza and fish and chips. We then drove a short time to Bicheno where we set up the caravan before driving out to a water hole for a swim. It was lots of fun!

After dinner we walked down to the beach where we watched the Penguins come up out of the water! Even though it was dark and could hardly see it it was still lots of fun!

  
Breakfast before we hit the road.

  
French toast with bacon and maple syrup.

A young Dusky Robin.

  
Wine tasting at Gala Estate Wines.

 The view from Devils Corner Winery.

  
The Devils Corner Winery was all made out of Containers.

  
A swim at The Douglas Aspley National Park Waterhole.

  
  
Bicheno

  
Afternoon tea!

  
Penguin spotting on the rocks at The Blowhole in Bicheno.

Tess

After stopping at a bakery to have a quick bite to eat for breakfast, we made our way into Freycinet National Park. Over the next five hours we completed an 11km circuit walk and swam in two absolutely picturesque beaches – Hazards Brach and Wineglass Bay Beach. At Wineglass Bay, there was a very friendly wallaby. The whole walk was lots and lots of fun, but we were all quite tired by the end, so we had an early dinner at a cafe called Saltshaker in Swansea.

  
We came across a Bennets Walaby on our walking track,

  
Hazards Beach.

  
A swim in Hazards Beach.

  
Lunch at Wineglass Bay with a little friend.

  
The beach at Wineglass Bay.

  
Tess and Dad in for a swim.

  
Wine Glass Bay from the lookout.

Tara.

We arrived at Swansea in the late morning, and then drove on to Ross. At Ross we had a lovely lunch at a lovely bakery, where mum was finally able to have her scallop pie! We walked around Ross and had a look at the lovely old bridge, then went back to Swansea. We have a great site, right on the beach, but the wind! It was positively ghastly! It was so windy that we couldn’t eat outside, so for the first time in many years, we ate our dinner inside the caravan! 

  
Ross Bridge

  Spikey Bridge near Swansea, built by convicts. 

 
  
Our view from the caravan at Swansea.

Tara

Today we went to Maria island a place that has no cars or shops. We had to catch a boat there and take all our own food for the whole day. We started with a walk to the Fossil Cliffs. There are lots of big rocks with fossils of sea shell aminals that lived 280 million years ago. The walk took about 2 hours. We then stopped for lunch before doing another walk to the Painted Cliffs. This one had a beach on it. This walk also took about two hours. The island has had many uses in the past including a convict settlement, vineyard, cement works and now a national park. There is a lot of wild life on the island. We saw four wombats and lots of pademelon.

Cape Barren Geese.
  
  
  
  A Pademelon.

 
Wildlife was abundant.  

Two fat Wombats.
  

Kelp Gulls.

Spot the wombat and the pademelon!
 

 
   
  

The Fossil Cliffs

  
  
  
  
Having a little relax!

The Painted Cliffs.
  

Tess