Freecamping, or Freetrashing?

Jayne and I have considered freecamping and may still do that given it's a money saver, but what we have seen across SA and WA has turned us off somewhat.

Every single site we have seen and stopped at in SA or WA to make lunch and have a cuppa has been completely trashed with rubbish spread across the sites as if its a rubbish tip. One that sticks in my mind was on the Nullarbor. We pulled in to consider staying there. The views were magnificent but rubbish was strewn from ahole to breakfastime. Jayne and I looked at each other and agreed it was not only disgusting it was distressing. The Nullarbor is a pristine environment BUT some people are treating these sites like a rubbish dump. Rubbish bins are provided but they are either overfull or not used at all.

Jayne felt that it may be backpackers that have no connection to OZ who just don't take care and who refuse to pay for a park. I'm not so sure, given the extent of the problem. Mind you, we have come across a few backpackers in their shithole vans and they were somewhat UNCLEAN and off their chops! But that is being unfair and I'm sure there are clean, caring backpackers........I'll let you know when we see one!

No wonder a number of councils refuse to allow freecamping....someone is giving it a bad name.

Esperance, WA

We did it! We are now in Esperance and its beautiful. We may be taking a few tours here as there seems to be a lot of options re wildlife, beaches and National Parks. Will keep you posted.

We gave Whimsy a spring clean today....just a little dust on, and in our girl.

WOW Esperance, what a spot.

Love, love love Esperance.

There is soo much to see and do here and such a lovely place to do absolutely nothing.

We have dropped Whimsy a few times and taken her touring. We have driven The Great Ocean Drive that takes you to all the stunning beaches around Esperance and past Pink Lake. See West Beach in gallery, its probably one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen or been on.

Whimsy took us to the beautiful Cape Le Grande National Park yesterday which is about 50 klms out of Esperance. This place is amazing. Beaches, mountains and walks to die for....

Jayne and I decided we would try and walk Frenchman Peak at Cape Le Grande. The brochure said "walk the gentle rising slope to gain beautiful views'....then it says 'takes 1.5 hours in total and its a 'hard' walk."

Well we parked Whimsy at the bottom of the peak and we set off in our walking gear with water and food and sun screen. I got about an 1/8th of the way in and said to Jayne I'm not going to able to do this. Jayne wanted to continue, so she did.

This is not a walk its a climb and its suitable for rock climbers only, in my opinion. There are no paths and no steps and no hand rails or barriers and its at at least a 45 degree angle and in some spots maybe 60 degrees? I felt I may have been able to get up, maybe, but coming down for me would have been on my HEAD or my BEHIND with little hope of survival!!! See gallery for pics of Frenchmans Peak.

I stayed and watched Jayne climb and to be honest I was worried for her. BUT she didn't get much further and realized she didn't have the skill or the equipment to make the climb.

We made it out of that scrape alive and decided to move on to Lucky Beach - aptly named and timed I thought! We walked the Thistle Cove to Lucky Beach coastal walk and it was fantastic. see gallery. We then made lunch in Whimsy and walked a few paces to the spectacular Lucky Beach and ate and swam and rested. see pics of beach and the Kangaroo!

When we were driving back to Esperance we saw Emus!

Top top spot. Would come back here in a heartbeat to spend weeks!

Its a busy little town. Lots going on and the council have done a brilliant job with the foreshore re-development..see pics.  Wollongong could take a lesson or two.

Shops are also quite good with a few artisan selling their wares. Nice to walk around.

Jayne has found THE BEST COFFEE EVER in a coffee cart on the foreshore at the jetty. Its called The Coffee Cat and to be honest even the decaf is good. Its a 10 min walk from this caravan park so suits us just fine!

As mentioned we love it here. Its beautiful to look at and to do nothing in, and there is heaps to do if you want. It should be a destination on your list if you are heading this way. Close to the best so far we think.

Love to all.

Crossing 'The Nullabor'

We stayed in Ceduna an extra day due to a strong wind and fire weather warning for the eastern Nullabor (Penong, Mandura, Nullarbor, Eucla) We made the safety call and we are glad that we stayed put. The wind and heat that hit us in Ceduna that day would have made the drive horrid and risky if a fire took hold. The day after was divine and a delightful day to drive.

The extra day gave us time to get the gas bottle filled and tyres checked before the Nullarbor crossing.

We drove a bloody long way in two days. 1200 KLMs to be exact. We did 500 the first day and 700 the second. Plus, we toured and pulled into spots and went off-road both days (Whimsy just chews it up and spits it out!) to see the spectacular sites along the very LONG STRAIGHT road.

There is a section of the Nullarbor Highway that is the longest straight road in Australia something like 146klms without a bend, or curve...just straight road.

We were given advice re where to stay but some of the towns...ha ha ha, are merely garages? Pretty ordinary ones at that.

We stopped, well actually went on a detour for 12 klms, to see the 'Head of the Bite' where whale watching is amazing, and ofcourse the whale watching season hasn't started yet so I was a bit peeved. I said "I just want to see a whale, maybe they'll start early just for us?" Yeah, Na. BUT we did see two dolphins playing and fishing in the magnificent turquoise waters. ( see gallery) so we were just a little chuffed. This is also the beginning of The Bunda Cliffs that run for klms  along the Nullarbor and are within the Nullarbor National Park (see gallery)

We were excited to pull up at The Nullarbor Roadhouse to refill so we hung around, had a beer, and made lunch in Whimsy. (see gallery) We then headed across The Nullarbor to Eucla where we stayed a night. Now that was a brilliant experience because the weather was perfect with clear, clear skies. This caravan park provides electricity but no water - all ok. They also provide hot showers for a $1 for 5 minutes. This park is on the top of an escarpment. Its high above the ocean, which you can see, and close to the heavens so you can see the plethora of bright, bright stars that blanket the night sky. It was on our bucket list and we were lucky enough to have the right weather to be able to have such a heavenly experience. The Eucla Hotel, Motel and Caravan Park is definitely the pick of the bunch out in the desert. The hotel was great. We had a drink at the bar and dinner in the restaurant - a real treat. (see gallery)

We left Eucla and headed to Norseman which marks the end of The Nullarbor. The drive was long and tiring but pretty amazing. The Nullarbor is a special place and to be honest it has had more rain than SA and is greener in parts than expected.(see gallery)

Norseman.......what a shithole of a caravan park that is - and they have the hide to charge $40 a night. The problem is that unless you want to freecamp there isn't any other option - hence they can charge what they like. Will rate that one in 'reviews' ofcourse.

Jayne wanted me to say that in some sections of the crossing the road-kill (Kangaroos and wombats) was horrendous. If there was no body because it had been removed the bloodstains were testament to the slaughter. Every 200 metres in some places there was evidence of a fresh accident. It was like a slaughterhouse and very distressing. At times I turned to Jayne and she was crying.....too sad.

After a well deserved sleep at Norseman we drove 2 hours to Esperance.

Waterloo Bay, Elliston and Ceduna SA

We left Port Lincoln refreshed and ready to drive again after our 6 night stay. We arrived at Waterloo Bay Caravan Park Elliston and were both thrilled to see green grass!!!! I know it seems silly but it is sooo dry in SA that all of the parks are dirt, not even dry grass or gravel, just dirt! Jayne just loves that.....not. The little hoover is getting a hammering!

Waterloo Bay is really beautiful and the township of Elliston, which sits on Waterloo Bay, is tiny, but clean and really well developed and maintained. They have a strong Progress Association and it shows. It has a Hospital. Actually most of the small country towns have their own Hospitals with an ED in SA (NSW Health take note). There is also ONE pub, two cafes, a pharmacy and a wonderful park.

Waterloo Bay has a lot of history and the bay just west of Waterloo Bay was named Anxious Bay by Matthew Flinders because he was quite anxious trying to cross the bar to get into Waterloo Bay, (see gallery). We went site-seeing to Anxious Bay as it was on my list of places to see. Given I can be an anxious sort at times I thought it was fitting that I visited a place with that title. It's stunning and remote and surprisingly quite calming.

Of course Jayne and I walked around the very rugged remote coastline at Waterloo Bay, Point Wellington to be exact, and as always I was taking photos. I wandered along the cliff face while Jayne stayed behind. I reckon I was about 200 metres away from her and I turned around to see what Jayne was up to. In this remote spot she was chatting. I just laughed and said to myself I've got to take a shot of this. No matter where we are, no matter how isolated, remote, Jayne finds someone to chat to. (see photo as proof in gallery)

We had two lovely nights in the Waterloo Bay Caravan Park Elliston and we would recommend it.

We are now in Ceduna, planning the trip across The Nullarbor beginning tomorrow. It is very very dusty here and Jayne wants to get outa here and get on the road to WA. We are going to stop into Bridgestone here in Ceduna tomorrow as we leave to get our tyre pressure checked as most of the AIR gauges in the garages only reach 60kpi where as we need 79kpi in our truck tyres. Not crossing the Nullarbor without the correct tyre pressure!

We figure it will take us 3 days to get across the Nullarbor so we may not be writing into the blog for a few days.

Love to all, take care.

ps. Everything is running well so far. Whimsy is a delight to drive and live in.

Port Lincoln....sharky, sharky where are you???

No Great Whites to be seen after the Orca attack so Jayne was given a Sea Lion & Tuna experience instead. Jayne is going to write into the blog about the experience herself so I won't say too much except that she was disappointed to say the least. We had planned this leg of the trip around that experience.

However, we did enjoy Port Lincoln and stayed there for 6 nights. The weather was pretty ordinary and the winds were rough but it seems to be par for the course down these parts. The fact that wind and I don't see eye to eye makes it a little difficult. Not sure what it is but I find big winds stressful. Mind you anyone who likes 60 to 90 klm winds in a van or motorhome would be a bit strange I reckon!

We ate at the Pier Hotel one night and the food was great. Best Coffee was at a café called Rogues and Rascals in the main street. Its a big town, in comparison to many of the small towns we have been in lately. It has five pubs all with great views over Boston Bay.

The coastal walks are grand. Jayne and I did two of more than 6 klms each.

See Gallery for photos and Van Park Review.

Jayne will tell her tale here...OK punters, as Alison has already mentioned we had planned our trip to PL around my 'bucket list' of cage diving with great whites. Those who know me know that I am fascinated with our natural environment, and in particular great whites. They are the supreme apex predator, and to be able to see them in their natural environment was a dream come true. Alas there have been no GW sightings at the Neptune Islands (about 3 hours by boat from PL) in over two months. A pod of killer whales hunted and killed a GW at the islands. Since then the GW's have vacated the islands for safer pastures. But...being the eternal optimist I thought well, maybe a GW would turn up for my adventure to the Neptune Islands. Alas, this was not to be. Upon arriving to do the cruise with Calypso Cruises, (a fantastic and very professionally run organization), we were given the opportunity to take our chances to spend in effect 3+ hours plus going to the Neptune Islands and not seeing anything, and then spend three hours returning to PL, (the captain Andrew had contacted Rodney Fox who was at the islands to ascertain if GW's had been seen - there was none), or would we like to go swim with NZ Sea Lions and Tuna.  Andrew was great and very supportive, but in the end we decided to take the latter option. It was a great decision. The sea lions were fantastic. They are an inquisitive and friendly wild animal. Seeing them in their natural habitat was great. I must say being in the ocean with them did fill me with some apprehension knowing that these wonderful animals were the favorite food source of the Great Whites!!! From there we travelled closer to shore to see the tuna. OK, so you may be wondering how do you swim with tuna. Well the Calypso folk have a deep sea pen where Southern Blue Fin Tuna are kept. I must say upon entering the pen I could not see these Tuna, but once in the water it was both exciting and terrifying. These tuna are as big as me, which is about 158-159 CM, and between 70-80KG, and they come straight at you. Suffice to say I stayed in the water for not a long time!!!!! So, whilst not seeing the GW, I did have a great day. Calypso Cruises and staff were awesome. I would highly recommend them if you are in PL and want to see the above. In closing, and on good advice, the sharks will return:) See gallery.

Onwards and westward!!!!

Finding somewhere to stay..... Port Lincoln to the rescue

It only took us 400 odd klms but we did find somewhere to stay over the remainder of Easter. It turns out we left Port Germein and drove over 400 klms, which equates to the entire east coast of the Eyre Peninsula, to get to camp on an unpowered site, just to sleep for the night. BUT what a place it is.

Port Lincoln is beautiful. Its on the lower east of the Eyre Peninsula and it is quite spectacular. Ofcourse this is where Jayne plans to swim with the great whites. It's booked for this Thursday! We are aware though that the Orcas have scared the great whites off by biting one in half, so it may be a swim with the......sardines! Will keep you posted.

We now have a powered site, however, Whimsy managed the lack of power well with the solar panel on board. Thanks Andrew from Leisure Coast Auto, Bellambi!!

We took a lovely coastal walk from the caravan park today. The walk is called the Parnkella Trail and it is 8 klms in length. We walked part of it that took us to the Port Lincoln township. This was about 7 klms roundtrip. Loving this bushwalking thingo.

What was fantastic for me, given my project management past, is that this walk traverses not only the coast but also infiltrates a number of properties owned by industry linked closely to employment and exports here in the Port. Boy, I would have loved to have been involved in getting all the players working together to get this walk mapped and constructed. Its a credit to whoever managed this to fruition. See gallery for visual explanation.

Port Lincoln is the largest fishing port in Australia and being on the shoreline at the Port Lincoln Tourist Park you can see how busy the waterway is.

Hoping to fish off the parks' jetty tomorrow but its supposed to be blowing a gale so it may be more like huddling in Whimsy reading a good book!

Will let you know how the shark encounter goes!

Port Germein, Spencer Gulf SA

We came here to try and get away from the crowds over Easter. Well that was successful, but really? Port Germein is a very old, tired, dry, dirty town with a quaint friendly pub and a shithole of a Caravan Park. The photo I took yesterday afternoon on arrival, that I have put in the gallery, is quite beautiful, but truly this place is just a dust bowl at present.

I am aware that SA are in drought but this place needs a face-lift something chronic!

Port Germein is famous for having the longest Jetty in the southern hemisphere. Well woopy bloody doo! Its falling apart so its probably not the longest anymore anyway. Its about 1.5 klms long so a 3 klm round trip - straight out and straight back!

Its also renowned for blue swimmer crabs as is Port Vincent. But we went walking and saw a warning sign that said not to eat any of the bottom dwelling sea-life as it may be polluted! Port Germein is close to Port Pirie and Port Augusta and we have heard that the water is really badly polluted close to these ports. YUK.

We were staying here over Easter but we are going to move on and if we have to we will freecamp. GET ME OUT A HERE!!!

Port Vincent on the Yorke Peninsula

This is a very popular spot for South Australians it appears. We can understand why.

The Port Vincent Foreshore Caravan Park is right on the water in the township of Port Vincent. Pleasingly, it is everything that it says it is, which is rare in the marketing of Caravan Parks we have discovered.

The council have set up terrific coastal walks around the bay and through the bush along the coast. The birdlife is wonderful on these coastal walks.

From our van we were lucky to see dolphins and stingrays in the Port - about 10 metres away from us. Too special.

The township is quaint, but provides everything you need. The pub has a huge Bistro that they are working on improving (it does need that) There is an IGA, Fish and Chip Shop, Kiosk etc. These are all within spitting distance of each other and the park.

We really enjoyed the beauty, the wildlife and the quiet of Port Vincent.

Folk were catching blue swimmer crabs and squid in abundance. We were given beautifully cleaned squid and I made salt and pepper calamari and a thai salad, Yum.

Gorgeous Spot. see gallery

Glenelg, Wineries and a Cenosilicaphobic......

A cenosilicaphopic my friends is someone who has a 'fear of an empty glass'. Great word hey? Sadly though the meaning of the word has led Jayne and I to fear that we have become this on this trip. Way too much alcohol being consumed by us but this is such a social lifestyle what can two girls do? Don't answer that!

We have been parked up at the Adelaide Shores Caravan Park since last Wednesday when gale force winds hit us just after we had parked up. Jayne was cooking Bolognese so she really was cooking up a storm! (see gallery)

We have had a wonderful time here walked klms in and out of Glenelg which is about 7 klms round trip and north to Henley Beach (Henley stinks- literally).

My brother and his partner Deb took us around Maclaren Vale yesterday where we bought more Black Chook (my choice of wine with minimal sulphites). Jayne has always wanted to visit Mclarenvale because she believes the best Shiraz is born here. We visited D'Arenberg and bought the beautiful Sparkling Chambourcin - Jaynes favourite. We had a lovely day with family and a beautiful lunch then back to the caravan park for more drinks with family and park neighbours - Joan and Brian - big lovely day.

Jayne went on a lovely walk in a national park with Ellen today. We met Ellen and Nev in Robe and Ellen offered to show us some local walking tracks  and wildlife while in Adelaide. Jayne had a ball and saw Koalas and I rested (it may have been the wine yesterday)

We have also dropped Whimsy and driven around Adelaide so we have seen what we wanted.

We are off to Port Vincent tomorrow.

See Gallery.

Love to all.

Once upon a time.......

Once upon a time two girls although older than some, yet younger than others, decided to take a BIG adventurous trip around a magical island called OZ. Before they left on their BIG trip both girls were very excited but very apprehensive about leaving behind everything and everyone (except each other) they knew and loved.

The day the girls left in their magical igloo on wheels - they had named 'Whimsy' - they were both feeling very sad and quite stressed. They had to leave friends, family, their kids and  grandkids and their little dog 'Pearl the Poodle'. Jayne, the younger of the two intrepid travellers wasn't able to drop her most cherished puppy dog off at Pearls carers because it would hurt her heart too much. Meanwhile, Alison the elder, was feeling ill with sinus and a fever and she had to push herself just to get away.

It took the girls weeks to feel ok about leaving everything they new and loved and for them both to feel well. BUT after a while the two girls settled into a fantastic rhythm that allowed them to be the intrepid adventurerers they knew they had always been.

Their travels took them to amazing and beautiful places all around the magical land of OZ. The two girls wanted to share their adventure with family and friends so they decided to write a blog called Where's Whimsy.

The girls have met some really lovely people on their adventure and they are sure they will meet more very special people as they travel around this magical land of OZ.

The girls still miss everyone, and their little dog, but they are now very happy campers who are just going with the flow and loving every minute.

NOT THE END

Robe.

Robe is a small coastal village on the south east coast of South Australia.

IT IS STUNNING.

Even with the 50 k winds we had the first night, Jayne and I reckon this place is definitely the 'ants pants and the cats pyjamas'. We have made new friends, who we are catching up with in Adelaide and Darwin, we have walked Robes' fantastic coastal and wetlands walk, we have fished (caught nothing, but I sliced my knuckle open with a sharp fish knife) we have eaten out at the Robe pub, (nice) and we have just plain enjoyed what Robe has to offer.

The gallery holds shots of the walks and the views, so have a look for yourselves.

We will rate the park in the Van Park Reviews.

I really don't want to leave here but because of Easter and school holidays coming up we have had to book for the next two weeks so we must move on. I would come back here and stay for weeks if I had the chance.

Magic.

We have also learned our lesson re booking ahead. Never again. The Big 4 in Robe is way out of town with no views so booking was a mistake given none of this was clear on the website. Traveller beware!

I caught my first fish of the trip today. A nice big Flathead on the beach in front of the caravan park- see gallery. Jayne had braved the rocks to fish while I stayed on the beach and threw in there. One bite and I caught the bugger! We released it as we had dinner organised.

Hate to leave.

Four States in 6 weeks...are we mad?

Four states in six weeks sounds somewhat pathetic, but we really have only seen a little of the south coast of NSW, some of the best and worst Victoria has to offer, 3 weeks of Tasmania, which was grand, and now we have just dipped our toes into SA. We realised that we had touched four states when I had to pull out the fourth map! It was somewhat surprising and a bit exciting. I said to Jayne "blimey, if we keep this pace up we'll be home by April" Well that may be an exaggeration but to be honest the only place we have really regretted leaving so far was Bicheno. Its not that we haven't enjoyed most of the places we have seen (Warragul and Bairnsdale are the exceptions) its just that we are keen to see as much as we can so we are happy to move on.

Its Saturday night 21st March and we are parked up at The Blue Lake in Mount Gambier. (see gallery) The photo of Jayne in front of the Blue Lake shows off the haircut I gave her yesterday... Only positive comments please, or she won't let me near her hair ever again!!! Mind you she came off relatively unscathed while I however have a few chunks out of my fingers. My scissor skills need some work!

We stopped on the side of the road on the way here and made lunch with a nice hot cuppa. Ya gotta love that. While we were parked at the rest stop preparing lunch Jayne went to the rest stop loo. Meanwhile a four wheel drive pulls up right beside Whimsy. (we were the only vehicle at the stop at the time) I thought it was a bit stupid given the spaces available and Jayne hearing the car pull up while on the toilet immediately thought 'axe murderer'. As it turned out it was just someone wanting to tell us that there was a freecamping place 2 klms up the road if we were interested...phew!

Tomorrow we head off to Robe for 3 nights, then its Glenelg (Adelaide) for 5 nights, where we'll do some touring, then Port Vincent for a few days followed by Port Germaine for Easter.

Will keep you posted.

Love to all.

The Magnificent Great Ocean Road

Meandering down the Great Ocean Road we called into Lorne, now that's a top spot, and then on to Apollo Bay where we stayed one night. Just have to say that we had the BEST noodles ever, in a place called 'Chopstix' in Lorne.

We stayed at the Big 4 in Apollo Bay  (we have become members, as you get 10% off each stay, see the Van Park Review section). We checked out all the parks and the Big 4 looked the best. We have stopped booking ahead now because the parks websites are often photo-shopped to the point of  'What Tha' when you get there and  Trip Advisor really isn't that good for Caravan Parks. Oh, the only exception really re booking ahead is that we had to book somewhere for Easter because we planned to be in Adelaide but when we rang everything was booked out! We are now in Robe, SA for Easter.

The Twelve Apostles really are amazingly beautiful and I can understand why there are sooooooo many tourists. We stopped at a few sites along the way and one was a place called 'Boat Bay' here they have found Koori Middens that date back to a time when you could walk to Tasmania from that spot on the Great Ocean Road. Bloody Hell! There was also the steepest boat ramp I've ever seen. (see gallery)

We are now in Warrnambool because I had to find a dentist.... great fun but its a lovely spot. We are off to see the sites of the town tomorrow but there's a lovely beach here and we are staying at The Surfside Holiday Park, which, wait for it, is actually beside the beach!!! Now there's a surprise.

This is a nice protected spot and will write the park up after we leave.

Heading off Saturday to..... somewhere west of here.

We're BACK... on the mainland that is.

Jayne and I enjoyed the trip back over the ditch. We have been soo lucky with the weather and the swell. Both trips were comfortable and given Bass Straits' reputation we didn't expect the trip over and back to be as smooth as it was.

Just saying though that the entertainment coming back was lousy. Some dick with a microphone and a few questions and he called it entertainment. Plus, the crew (a wonderful initiative) raised $16,000 over three months for the Leukemia Foundation by getting into 'The Greatest Shave'. Well, the problem was we were forced to watch shaving, shaving and more shaving from 3pm in the Spirit Bar (which is where we were sitting) I support the fundraising, but hell one good close shave would have covered it off for us!

Anyway, as I said, we are back on the mainland and are happy to be here.

We stayed in Melbourne last night at the beautiful downtown 'Ashphalt Gardens'. As it turns out (she says apologetically) we may have been a little harsh with the rating for this park given some of our more recent experiences. Just to have a women only shower and toilet was such a treat!!!!

Off down the Great Ocean Road!!!!

We had booked a caravan park in Lorne (along the Great Ocean Road) just to be safe. Yeah, Na. Looked at it and looked at each other and Jayne said 'bugger that we aren't staying in that hole.. its mosquito heaven! Sooo we drove on but we did stay in Lorne for a badly needed meal. Jayne and I had not eaten properly because the food on the Spirit is, well lets just say, if you don't eat bread or wheat in general you are somewhat limited. BUT we had the best noodles ever in a little place called 'Chopstix'. We ordered a chicken with rice noodles and veges and wow it was great. Way too much food so we took the leftovers with us and had them  for dinner...brilliant.

We think we may move on to either Port Campbell or Port Fairy tomorrow but not sure really. Will let you know.

See pics in Gallery!

Love to all, take care.

A and J

Leaving Tasmania....

This is a beautiful island. Both Jayne and I are thrilled that we have been able to see a good deal of it including the rugged West Coast. Most folk we have spoken to tend to leave that side of the island out of the equation, and if you consider the roads you would understand why!

The highlights for Jayne and I were;

The trip over the ditch!

Then;

Cradle Mountain and the Dove Lake Walk.

Strahan and the Cruise up the Gordon.

The food and wine in Hobart and Louisa's Walk. 

 Bicheno itself and The Devils in the Dark Tour, Coles Bay and Wineglass Bay. We did the Penguins Tour last night but it was run by a bunch of local morons so it was a waste of time! I know that sounds harsh but seriously it was BAD. We felt it was a waste of time and money.

Seahorse World at Beauty Point (we did this on the way back to Devonport today,fantastic, see gallery)

We are now back in Devonport and on the Spirit at 7am in the morning. (Thank you God. We were able to get an ensuite site! Its been so busy in Tassie that the ensuite sites were all opened up as shared bathrooms...guys and gals. Not used to sharing bathrooms with BOYS so that has been somewhat challenging.)  

We are both excited about getting back to the mainland and to continue our adventure 'round Oz.

See Van Park Reviews and Gallery

ps. Jayne and I have survived the first 5 weeks....as has the wardrobe!!!! woohoo!

Bicheno and Freycinet...

We have moved on, but Jayne and I loved Hobart itself and the food was absolutely brilliant. Mures on Constitution Dock, Frogmore Winery and Blue Eye at Salamanca provided Jayne and I with food that was prepared by excellent chefs....not merely good cooks. The first bite was always telling. Jayne and I would look at each other after the first mouthful and say "Oh God, you have to try this" This my friends made those meals truly memorable for us.

BUT, we were soo glad to leave Treasure Island in Hobart and head further north east.

We have parked up in 'Bicheno East Coast Holiday Park' and we are loving it. Our site is huge here, we have water glimpses out our window and we are not jammed in like sardines, which is the case in many parks. We are close to a stunning beach, shops, restaurants and great walks. So far, this spot 'takes the cake'.

Yesterday we dropped Whimsy (left all the hoses etc on site) and drove down to the Freycinet Peninsula to Coles Bay and then onto Wineglass Bay Lookout to take the rather strenuous walk up to the top to view Wineglass Bay itself. (see gallery)

We then walked back down the mountain, which is equally as difficult, we walked straight into Whimsy for a home made sandwich and a hot cup of tea. Now this is where Whimsy really comes into her own. Having everything on site that we needed to make us comfortable was a real bonus. We just sat back and chilled out and drove off when we were ready. Caravans and trailers were not allowed to enter Wineglass Bay Lookout car park, but the car park has a special paved parking lot for motorhomes. Perfect for us. (not sure why caravans not allowed) We did consider taking a bus to Wineglass Bay instead of dropping Whimsy, but we are sooo glad we didn't. FYI, it takes us about 20 minutes to secure and drop Whimsy if you leave hoses on site, so it really isn't a problem. It also saves money as bus trips and tours are really expensive and don't give you the flexibility that your own motorhome does.

We have also ventured around Bicheno on a number of walks that take you through the local bushland and around the coastline. We were lucky enough to see two Australian Fur Seals (these are close to extinction and the fourth rarest) on Aligator Island which is just off the coastline here.

Jayne and I really are getting into this bushwalking thing and traversed 'Whalers Rock' to see a brilliant view of the ocean and Bicheno itself. (see gallery)

Talk soon as we are going to see devils and penguins over the next two nights and will let you know how that goes!

Take care, love to all.

ps  Ate at a little restaurant here the other night...not worth talking about!!!!

Louisa's Walk and Salamanca Markets (Sat 7th March)

We had a great day doing both the Salamanca Markets and 'Louisa's Walk' in Hobart yesterday.

We had hired a car for our trips around the wineries, to Richmond, Port Arthur etc and the vehicle was due back on Saturday. This worked well because 'Budget'  is close to the end of town where the dock and Salamanca Markets are.

The markets are really popular and were incredibly busy. Great produce and interesting wares. We were doing Louisa's Walk that afternoon so we really only looked around and picked up a few non perishables.

We had a lovely lunch, again. The food in Tassie has been a delight to date.

To do Louisa's Walk you have to book and then meet an actress in costume outside The Cascade Brewery in South Hobart (tours of the brewery seemed popular). We were early, so we went into the Cascade Brewery Restaurant. Now that's a lovely spot and the food looked great. See pics in 'Gallery'

I had read about Louisa's Walk ages ago. This street theatre has won awards for one of the best things to see or do in Tassie for years. It did NOT disappoint and in fact it was beyond my expectations.

Jayne and I really got into it. You are required to use your imagination as you walk through a park that is used as a timeline for the trip of the female convict Louisa from England to the Female Factory in Van Diemans Land, early in the 1800's. The walk ends at the ruins of The Female Factory itself.

Louisa remains Louisa but a male actor plays numerous male roles such as Magistrate, Captain, Guard, Overseer etc. Men in general in this story play the roles that have all the power and control. The story is based on fact. It is a true story and evidently the archives and record keeping for the Female Factory are incredible and equal to that of the Magna Carta or Auschwits, for example. Its all on microfish and has been accessed for this and other historically based theatre.

A women's group in Tasmania had to fight the powers that be to keep what remains of The Female Factory as a site of rememberance and historical value. Politicians wanted it GONE. Once you hear the story you could understand that some might want this part of Australian/Tasmanian history to be forgotten.

Louisa was sentenced to seven years in the colony and transported to Van Diemans land to do her time at The Female Prison. Her story has many twiste and turns. The story is heartbreaking and both Jayne and I were to brought to tears. I won't say anymore about this as it really is worth doing 'Louisa's Walk' if you are in Hobart.

See photos in 'Gallery'  and check what we drank at the Cascade Brewery!

Off to Bicheno tomorrow

Take care. Love, us.

Strahan to Hobart

I have just written into the blog for an hour and found that when I tried to save the work the Wi Fi connection was lost - so all was gonski! That could make a girl really, really cranky.

Well here is the short version of that lost post, which I have no doubt will be nowhere near as interesting as the first attempt.

Queenstown is between Strahan and Hobart. It has a very interesting landscape, It has something rather 'lunar' about it. We reached Queenstown at about 8 am so we thought we might pick up breakfast. Queenstown had very little to offer in the way of a decent breakfast at that hour. It is a mining a town that clearly doesn't wake until after 8am.

As we were leaving Queenstown we came across a huge mountain face. Looking up, Jayne said 'Is that a caravan up there?' Are we going up there too? As I looked up I realised that this was going to be challenging. What I could see was a row of white posts zig-zagging their way up this very, very steep mountain face. On it there appeared to be a few little moving dots these, as it turned out, were vehicles. Whimsy managed it well, I did ok as I was driving and had to concentrate, but Jayne was extremely pale by the time we reached the top.

We made it to Hobart in 6 hours which was pretty good considering the roads.

We were booked into a caravan park about 15 klms out of Hobart, in Cambridge. We turned on our iphone directions. We call the voice who tells us where to go, Siri.

I'm not sure if I am just over sensitive but I'm sure Siri is cross with me. I really don't like her attitude at all now. I'm certain her tone of voice has changed since that day I asked her to help us get to Cambridge. The fact that we took three goes to actually get to our destination, and the fact that she had to re route us twice, in exactly the same place, shouldn't effect her tone of voice? Surely she has been programmed better than that? Anyway, by the time we were finished she refused to speak to me at all and we had to find our own way there.

When we finally arrived, both Jayne and I decided it wasn't for us anyway so we rang another park and we got a site there. The park we are staying at is called, wait for it, 'Treasure Island'. If there was ever any treasure linked to this place folks, its long long gone. Its on the waters edge but its situated next to a sewerage plant. It is however in walking distance to The MONA and that is worth a visit.

We have had low temps and high winds since being in Hobart. Last night we had gusts up to 90 klms per hour, which made Whimsy rock and roll a little. I don't think many folk in the park slept last night - I certainly didn't. The winds on top of Mt Wellington, which is just behind us, were 141 klms per hour.

On the bright side we have toured quite a bit over the last few days and have visited a few lovely wineries - Frogmore - Puddleduck etc. We also had lunch in Hobart at Constitution Dock at a  restaurant called 'Mures'. Jayne and I felt it was the best food we'd eaten....ever. We also ate at Frogmore Winery and that was really beautiful as well. (see gallery)

We have also visited The Mona (Museum of Old and New Art) and Port Arthur. Jayne was not overly impressed with The Mona but I thought it was great. Some pictures are in the gallery but a real treat was that there is a Brett Whitely there that includes the print we have in our lounge room, and also states that Brett died in Thirroul. So Thirroul gets a mention at The MONA!

Port Arthur is quite beautiful in a strange way. A level of discomfort was present for me when I was there but I guess that is to be expected. It has a hell of a history. The trouble I had is that I felt its history of horror and slaughter was not really recognised. It was as if the truth, the real story, or the many stories were too hard to tell. An attempt at lightheartedness of the early history failed, in my book, and the truth that a massacre occurred there in recent times was ignored. I think that is a mistake.

We are off to the Salamanca Markets and Louisa's Walk (street theatre) tomorrow.

Bye for now, take care.

Getting to Strahan

Jayne and I were really challenged packing up Whimsy to leave Cradle Mountain. It was freezing cold, wet and muddy but we managed it quite well all things considered. I couldn't feel my hands for a while, but what tha heck!

Heading off the mountain also held its own challenges with the worst of the worst road works in place. They were muddy, hilly and flooding, so we were unsure how Whimsy would manage the terrain. She came through it brilliantly.

After the challenges of the morning we were both hanging out for a cuppa. Driving through a tiny village we came across ONE café that was open. The 'Roseberry Café' was a really special treat. The cafe doesn't look much, but the tea, coffee and toastie were splendid. AND it was warm inside!

Driving into Strahan was a delightful surprise. What a gorgeous town on the banks of Macquarie Harbour ii is. See photos in Gallery.

We treated ourselves to the World Heritage Cruise today. It was something we had put on our 'must do' list. Well folks, it was grand. The boat was a three levelled catamaran purpose built for the Gordon River cruise.

The cruise took us, in style up the Gordon River but there was so much more to the cruise. We stopped at the Salmon Farms in Macquarie Harbour, then we went through 'Devils Gate' the entrance to the Harbour and then out to sea! After we returned to the harbour we stopped at 'Sarah Island' which was known as the most famous and brutal penal colony in Australia and across the colonies. 'Sarah Island' was the setting for Marcus Clarks famous book 'For The Term of His Natural Life'. Because I had read the book this tour was extra special for me. We then cruised very slowly up the famous Gordon River while having a very special lunch of local salmon etc.. The Gordon is a  truly beautiful natural wonder. We would recommend the World Heritage Cruise from Strahan, it really was special.

See photos in the Gallery eventually - ill get around to that soon!

We went platypus spotting tonight at dusk but were unsuccessful in spotting anything except the mossies when they were biting us!!

We are off to Hobart tomorrow. Its a big drive but we are doing it in a day because we have soooo much we want to see on that side of the island.

Stay well. Love to all.

Cradle Mountain

We are sitting, all snugly, in Whimsy at 6.30 Saturday night at the Discovery Caravan Park at Cradle Mountain, and it is flogging down. (Glad we have Whimsy up on ramps) Today and last night have been very, very cold here, probably about 5 degrees up to about 13 max.

The first day we arrived we used the Camp Kitchen, cooked dinner, took wine and played Trivial Pursuit. This park has what we can honestly say is the most amazing Camp Kitchen we have ever seen. It has Pizza Ovens, Hot Plates, BBQ plates, microwaves and two open fires for you to light if so desired. Jayne so desired. See pics in Gallery

Yesterday Jayne and I walked the Dove Lake walk at the base of Cradle Mountain which is the most popular walk in Tasmania, and very scenic. This walk is about 6.5 klms long (or should I say up and down) with a suggested walk time of 2-3 hours.

The Dove Lake walk is classed as 'moderately' difficult. Jayne and I walked it in less than 2 hours but there were sections that were really tough and my heart was pumping out of my chest by the time I reached the top of a couple of the more challenging climbs. Glad we did it. See Dove Lake photos in gallery of yesterday 27th in the sun, and today 28th. Same view different weather.

Last night we dined at Hellyers Restaurant which is just next door to the park and it is the only restaurant with a view of Cradle Mountain. Lovely. Not brilliant, but lovely.

Today we took a 2 hour Park Explorer Tour which was really informative and handy given it was raining all day! We learned the history of the Cradle Mountain World Heritage area which is really quite something. The pioneering spirit of the folk that fought for this area to be classified as a national park way back in the early nineteen hundreds is truly amazing. Seeing pictures of women in those days climbing Cradle Mountain, (the summit - over 1500 metres) in long dresses and corsets was by our reckoning awe inspiring. The flora and fauna is unique to this very special place. There are pencil pines which are estimated to be over 2,000 years old. Wombats, wallabies, platypus, echidnas and bird life are abundant here.

Cradle Mountain is a beautiful area, and well worth seeing.

We have just finished dinner here, which was a home cooked curry of left overs. Given the weather it has definitely warmed the cockles of our hearts, however, we are a bit worried Whimsy will smell of curry for a month!

We are off again tomorrow and this time we are heading to Strahan where we hope to do the Gordon River Heritage Cruise.

See the park review in that section.

Take care, love to all.

A&J