Well it has been a long time since we left that ferry port in Victoria, actually it’s only about 2 weeks but it feels like a lifetime. I will start from the beginning and try not to miss out any of the exciting details – I should inform you that I am so hell bent on updating the blog I am actually typing as we go along plugged into the cigarette lighter in the van – although you may think my hearts not really in it I can assure you that it is and I have been keeping notes to remind me of all the things I want to share with you all. So here we go ..
Day 7 - Well we got to Melbourne . I think I mentioned that it was pretty rough on the crossing Somehow or other I managed to sleep but El looked properly possessed as we drove of the ferry – and kept saying “I didn’t like it” We decided to get out of Melbourne and so started our journey up the East Coast It was strange seeing our home again ( we swung by to steal the mail out of the letter box) and not being able to retreat inside of Rupert . we decided that we’d need a big breakfast inside us to prepare us for the coming journey so we went to our favourite eatery ( or one of them ) Kat Beloo for some food and then to the letting agents to claim back the bond. It turned out that although we had dropped the keys and all the paper work back into the office nobody had bothered to check the property in the 6 days we’d been gone. I had a small debate with the lady behind the reception desk and got the matter sorted out, sure enough 2 days later we had the cash. It is actually quite a good job they didn’t check as I did managed to spill 1 glass of red wine, and one rum and coke over our 9 months stay and although both stains have been hidden well with the unique placement of furniture no amount of scrubbing would get them out!!
We drove ( I say we – El drove) a total of 270km and as the majority of it was on the Hume Freeway there was really very little of interest to see, we stopped in Wangaratta a pretty little town famous for it’s Jazz festival – we arrived at lunch time so we popped into town and had a little walk around, and got a coffee and our usual supply of leaflets and flyers to browse through. We had found a small campsite just out of the township and although it had no facilities we managed to cook up a rather nice dinner before turning in at the newly appointed bedtime of 8:30. It is very hard trying to go to sleep so early, but it does at least mean that we wake up early!
Day 8 – We woke up to a rather cold morning, which wouldn’t be quite as bad if it wasn’t for the desperation with which you needed to use the facilities, trying to pull on a jumper, socks and shoes and then hot footing halfway across a 2 acre campsite before you wet yourself is not the best start to the day it must be said. We made some coffee and decided that we would visit Canberra. This was our first mistake. Canberra is not really the sort of place that anyone should feel the need to visit, It is the makeshift capital of this fair country and it must be said they have a lovely collection of art galleries ( we went to the National portrait Gallery ) but on the whole it feels very much like somebody gave a child a pair of compasses and said “ draw as many circles as you can and then we’ll turn your drawing into a city” It was not the place for us so we drove out of town and found a campsite. (440km)
a very strange things happened next.
Next to the campsite ( which was just off the main road out of Canberra – imagine a motorway ) was a pub. The pub had a restaurant and as we fancied a night off cooking we went to the pub for dinner. As we approached we saw a man staggering toward s the car park we then watched with absolute amazement and horror as he reached for his Ute door missed the handle and fell over – I have never in my life seen anyone that drunk – let alone seen anyone that drunk trying to drive, We went in the pub and had some food and then a lady came around and asked us if we would like to buy some tickets for the “Meat raffle” El and I thoughts this was really funny and looked around to see a mountain of meat assembled and a man with a microphone and a random number generator stood on a table. Not wanting to appear rude we brought 2 strips – and silently we both hoped that we didn’t win!
What a strange evening that was.
Day 9 – Desperate to put the crop circles of Canberra and the bizarreness of the Meat raffle behind us we set out6 for Sydney – (160km) It wasn’t long before we arrived but we did decide that we’d book into a hostel as all the camp sites were quite far of town and we wanted to be able to explore.
We booked into a YHA hostel in Bondi one of Sydney's coastal suburbs we had our own room and a great view of the coast. As El went off on an adventure down the beach I caught up on the blog and we went down to Bondi Beach for dinner and a beer, El had discovered a Bavarian Beer Cafe with the biggest beers ever 2 litres per glass. We did not order those but enjoyed a beer under the stars , and for the first time in a long while we sat out side ( with our coats on ) and did not freeze.
As we chatted about our adventures so far that night in our bunk beds back at the hostel , it was abundantly clear that we were both exceptionally glad to have a proper bed to sleep in and I don’t think we even finished our conversation before we were both fast asleep.
Day 10. Last night I had tried really hard to buy a bus ticket. The guy in the shop had pulled out about 20 different tickets and asked me which one I wanted. As I only new where I was staying and that at some point or other we’d want to see the harbour bridge I tried requesting a ticket for that journey, I still didn’t get anywhere so in the end we brought a couple of tickets and decided we’d just see what happened. El’s sister Tam has a friend who moved out to Sydney to live and El had contacted her to see if she wanted to meet up, so it was arranged that we;d meet them for breakfast . So we set off ( with our bus tickets ) for ‘Bills ‘ Clare had sent us the address and we felt fairly confident that we could find it in the hour we had allotted. We got the bus to Bondi Junction and then the driver pulled into the terminal everyone else got off. El and I did not. Then he turned the lights out and I became slightly suspicious that we may be on the wrong bus, I got up and he yelled
“Crikey – what are you doing on the bus”
I apologised and we both bundled off, we then started walking, it took a while and we were never really sure if were gonna get there but finally a nice man helped us with some easy to follow directions and we arrived. It was lovely meeting Clare and Lloyd they gave us some sound advise on places to visit and the food was very tasty.
The rest of the day was spent exploring Sydney, we went to the opera house and then took a boat to darling Harbour, the sun was shining and it was a lovely day for just walking about and finding our way. We sat and had a drink and then took the mono rail into the city, we wandered back to china town and had Dumplings for dinner
We had arranged to meet El’s old boss for a drink whilst we were in Sydney and we had a colourful evening but as we planned an early get away the next morning we were in bed by midnight.
Day 11
We set out for Newcastle, our next port of call on the way up the coast. Clare and Lloyd had recommended stopping at seal rocks, and so we headed that way first. It was a stunning coastal spot with a beautiful beach and we had lunch on a blanket surrounded by seagulls . El walked up to the small lighthouse and from the top spotted a pod of whales of the coast, as we drove along the coast we followed them and watched them splash up the water.
Newcastle was a fair drive and by the time we reached the centre it was dark. Completely at a lost as to where the campsite was I nipped into a nearby hotel and was lucky enough to be faced with a helpful lady who brought me up a map on google, unluckily for us the camp site was on an island and a 40 minute drive away, with the map in my head off we set and finally we made it. The campsite was not great. We had a pitch next to a small group of incredibly drunk rowdy ruffians concerned for our safety ( or more accurately the chance of sleeping ) we went to the camp kitchen to cook tea and watch some TV. El ran back to the van to get some salt and pepper and was privy to a rather colourful shouting match between the campsite owners and the people in question and then witnessed them being forcibly ejected.
We enjoyed our dinner watched TV until we were tired and vowed to lock all the doors ( although of course we lock all the doors every night)
Day 12 – After all the worry of the night before we ended up having a goods night sleep and were ready for another day of driving – which is what we got, we made plenty of stops up the coast and went to several beaches and quite a few lookouts, it is a funny old thing but most of the places along this stretch are not really villages – they are resorts, 20-40 houses built to all look the same within walking distance to the beach it’s not really representative of anything and El and I are reminded of Toy towns with everything painted pastel and inhabited by a robot nation.
We got stuck in one such town as there was a roundabout with 4 exits 1 exit led out of town 3 exits took you on a circular tour and brought you back to the roundabout – very very odd.on attempt 4 we made it out but ended up being trapped on the road by 3 dogs. As they were in the road El stopped , when they went to the side we started driving – and then the game began. We moved, they ran in front of the van we stopped. This continued for at least 10 minutes and by the end of it I was practically screaming at El to just run them over!!
We made it out and under the cover of darkness we pulled into Taree.
I was on the phone to my dad and being that one doesn’t often get to talk to anyone from home I was completely oblivious to the fact that not only had El found a campsite, paid for a pitch she had also managed to turn the van into a time machine and transport us back to the 50’s. The campsite was odd. But to be honest every campsite in Australia bar about 2 is odd. Now may be a good time to fill you in on the oddness.
The main factor to determine where you should stay often falls into 3 categories
Proximity to your location at the time of dusk ( thus avoiding driving at peak roadkill hours)
Recommendation from either guide books or tourist info
On seeing the caravan site does it look like you may get killed in the night.
Point 3 being the most important. One of the factors to help you determine this can be the presence of Permies. Permies are people that permanently reside on the campsite, often erecting small fences or gardens next to their caravans, most have satellite dishes on the floor or small dirty children playing with a used shoe in the road. It is true that however much one tries not to judge such folk when you are being heckled over the top of a broken down washing machine about the duration of your planned stay and being glared at through the window by a women with a menial stare you tend to try and avoid camping amongst those that call the place home.
This place had its fair share of permies but as we rocked up in the dark and departed before anyone was really aware of our presence we managed to avoid speaking to another soul.
Day 13 & Day 14
We drove a short way to crescent heads, and found a lovely campsite of the seafront and through we’d stop for a couple of nights and have a nice relaxing time. It was very peacefull and despite the wind the sun did come out for short intervals between the rain showers. Opposite the campsite was a club, it wasn’t a night club, it was a community club, and like every place we had driven through it had 2 things A bottle-o ( off licence ) and a bowls green.
Now in England I have never really given much consideration to the game of bowls, El agrees with me, it is something we had relegated in our minds as dull and perhaps considered it to be the game of choice for the elder generations. Well, let me tell you, Bowls is a very enjoyable and challenging sport and anyone who has ever felt other wise should quick smart get themselves down to a green and roll a few woods.
For less than a fiver we managed to borrow 2 sets of woods a kitty ( or jack ) 2 mats and our very own green ( we also got a few tips and told to take our shoes off as we did not have the appropriate footwear ) had it not been for the oncoming torrential downpour I think we would have spent the best part of the day there, but the weather drove us inside and we had to make do with a couple of beers instead.
We had a powered site which basically means we get to run an extension cable out the window and charge our phones and laptops, El had managed to join the local video shop and so we watched the changeling on the lap top . This made a nice change from rummy ( the only card game we know )
I know I know ...I'm still behind, but you can't knock the effort ...
Love you all xxx
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
Here's a bit more!!
Well it has been a long time since we left that ferry port in Victoria, actually it’s only about 2 weeks but it feels like a lifetime. I will start from the beginning and try not to miss out any of the exciting details – I should inform you that I am so hell bent on updating the blog I am actually typing as we go along plugged into the cigarette lighter in the van – although you may think my hearts not really in it I can assure you that it is and I have been keeping notes to remind me of all the things I want to share with you all. So here we go ..
Day 7 - Well we got to Melbourne . I think I mentioned that it was pretty rough on the crossing Somehow or other I managed to sleep but El looked properly possessed as we drove of the ferry – and kept saying “I didn’t like it” We decided to get out of Melbourne and so started our journey up the East Coast It was strange seeing our home again ( we swung by to steal the mail out of the letter box) and not being able to retreat inside of Rupert . we decided that we’d need a big breakfast inside us to prepare us for the coming journey so we went to our favourite eatery ( or one of them ) Kat Beloo for some food and then to the letting agents to claim back the bond. It turned out that although we had dropped the keys and all the paper work back into the office nobody had bothered to check the property in the 6 days we’d been gone. I had a small debate with the lady behind the reception desk and got the matter sorted out, sure enough 2 days later we had the cash. It is actually quite a good job they didn’t check as I did managed to spill 1 glass of red wine, and one rum and coke over our 9 months stay and although both stains have been hidden well with the unique placement of furniture no amount of scrubbing would get them out!!
We drove ( I say we – El drove) a total of 270km and as the majority of it was on the Hume Freeway there was really very little of interest to see, we stopped in Wangaratta a pretty little town famous for it’s Jazz festival – we arrived at lunch time so we popped into town and had a little walk around, and got a coffee and our usual supply of leaflets and flyers to browse through. We had found a small campsite just out of the township and although it had no facilities we managed to cook up a rather nice dinner before turning in at the newly appointed bedtime of 8:30. It is very hard trying to go to sleep so early, but it does at least mean that we wake up early!
Day 8 – We woke up to a rather cold morning, which wouldn’t be quite as bad if it wasn’t for the desperation with which you needed to use the facilities, trying to pull on a jumper, socks and shoes and then hot footing halfway across a 2 acre campsite before you wet yourself is not the best start to the day it must be said. We made some coffee and decided that we would visit Canberra. This was our first mistake. Canberra is not really the sort of place that anyone should feel the need to visit, It is the makeshift capital of this fair country and it must be said they have a lovely collection of art galleries ( we went to the National portrait Gallery ) but on the whole it feels very much like somebody gave a child a pair of compasses and said “ draw as many circles as you can and then we’ll turn your drawing into a city” It was not the place for us so we drove out of town and found a campsite. (440km)
a very strange things happened next.
Next to the campsite ( which was just off the main road out of Canberra – imagine a motorway ) was a pub. The pub had a restaurant and as we fancied a night off cooking we went to the pub for dinner. As we approached we saw a man staggering toward s the car park we then watched with absolute amazement and horror as he reached for his Ute door missed the handle and fell over – I have never in my life seen anyone that drunk – let alone seen anyone that drunk trying to drive, We went in the pub and had some food and then a lady came around and asked us if we would like to buy some tickets for the “Meat raffle” El and I thoughts this was really funny and looked around to see a mountain of meat assembled and a man with a microphone and a random number generator stood on a table. Not wanting to appear rude we brought 2 strips – and silently we both hoped that we didn’t win!
What a strange evening that was.
Day 9 – Desperate to put the crop circles of Canberra and the bizarreness of the Meat raffle behind us we set out6 for Sydney – (160km) It wasn’t long before we arrived but we did decide that we’d book into a hostel as all the camp sites were quite far of town and we wanted to be able to explore.
We booked into a YHA hostel in Bondi one of Sydney's coastal suburbs we had our own room and a great view of the coast. As El went off on an adventure down the beach I caught up on the blog and we went down to Bondi Beach for dinner and a beer, El had discovered a Bavarian Beer Cafe with the biggest beers ever 2 litres per glass. We did not order those but enjoyed a beer under the stars , and for the first time in a long while we sat out side ( with our coats on ) and did not freeze.
As we chatted about our adventures so far that night in our bunk beds back at the hostel , it was abundantly clear that we were both exceptionally glad to have a proper bed to sleep in and I don’t think we even finished our conversation before we were both fast asleep.
Day 10. Last night I had tried really hard to buy a bus ticket. The guy in the shop had pulled out about 20 different tickets and asked me which one I wanted. As I only new where I was staying and that at some point or other we’d want to see the harbour bridge I tried requesting a ticket for that journey, I still didn’t get anywhere so in the end we brought a couple of tickets and decided we’d just see what happened. El’s sister Tam has a friend who moved out to Sydney to live and El had contacted her to see if she wanted to meet up, so it was arranged that we;d meet them for breakfast . So we set off ( with our bus tickets ) for ‘Bills ‘ Clare had sent us the address and we felt fairly confident that we could find it in the hour we had allotted. We got the bus to Bondi Junction and then the driver pulled into the terminal everyone else got off. El and I did not. Then he turned the lights out and I became slightly suspicious that we may be on the wrong bus, I got up and he yelled
“Crikey – what are you doing on the bus”
I apologised and we both bundled off, we then started walking, it took a while and we were never really sure if were gonna get there but finally a nice man helped us with some easy to follow directions and we arrived. It was lovely meeting Clare and Lloyd they gave us some sound advise on places to visit and the food was very tasty.
The rest of the day was spent exploring Sydney, we went to the opera house and then took a boat to darling Harbour, the sun was shining and it was a lovely day for just walking about and finding our way. We sat and had a drink and then took the mono rail into the city, we wandered back to china town and had Dumplings for dinner
We had arranged to meet El’s old boss for a drink whilst we were in Sydney and we had a colourful evening but as we planned an early get away the next morning we were in bed by midnight.
Day 11
We set out for Newcastle, our next port of call on the way up the coast. Clare and Lloyd had recommended stopping at seal rocks, and so we headed that way first. It was a stunning coastal spot with a beautiful beach and we had lunch on a blanket surrounded by seagulls . El walked up to the small lighthouse and from the top spotted a pod of whales of the coast, as we drove along the coast we followed them and watched them splash up the water.
Newcastle was a fair drive and by the time we reached the centre it was dark. Completely at a lost as to where the campsite was I nipped into a nearby hotel and was lucky enough to be faced with a helpful lady who brought me up a map on google, unluckily for us the camp site was on an island and a 40 minute drive away, with the map in my head off we set and finally we made it. The campsite was not great. We had a pitch next to a small group of incredibly drunk rowdy ruffians concerned for our safety ( or more accurately the chance of sleeping ) we went to the camp kitchen to cook tea and watch some TV. El ran back to the van to get some salt and pepper and was privy to a rather colourful shouting match between the campsite owners and the people in question and then witnessed them being forcibly ejected.
We enjoyed our dinner watched TV until we were tired and vowed to lock all the doors ( although of course we lock all the doors every night)
Day 12 – After all the worry of the night before we ended up having a goods night sleep and were ready for another day of driving – which is what we got, we made plenty of stops up the coast and went to several beaches and quite a few lookouts, it is a funny old thing but most of the places along this stretch are not really villages – they are resorts, 20-40 houses built to all look the same within walking distance to the beach it’s not really representative of anything and El and I are reminded of Toy towns with everything painted pastel and inhabited by a robot nation.
We got stuck in one such town as there was a roundabout with 4 exits 1 exit led out of town 3 exits took you on a circular tour and brought you back to the roundabout – very very odd.on attempt 4 we made it out but ended up being trapped on the road by 3 dogs. As they were in the road El stopped , when they went to the side we started driving – and then the game began. We moved, they ran in front of the van we stopped. This continued for at least 10 minutes and by the end of it I was practically screaming at El to just run them over!!
We made it out and under the cover of darkness we pulled into Taree.
I was on the phone to my dad and being that one doesn’t often get to talk to anyone from home I was completely oblivious to the fact that not only had El found a campsite, paid for a pitch she had also managed to turn the van into a time machine and transport us back to the 50’s. The campsite was odd. But to be honest every campsite in Australia bar about 2 is odd. Now may be a good time to fill you in on the oddness.
The main factor to determine where you should stay often falls into 3 categories
Proximity to your location at the time of dusk ( thus avoiding driving at peak roadkill hours)
Recommendation from either guide books or tourist info
On seeing the caravan site does it look like you may get killed in the night.
Point 3 being the most important. One of the factors to help you determine this can be the presence of Permies. Permies are people that permanently reside on the campsite, often erecting small fences or gardens next to their caravans, most have satellite dishes on the floor or small dirty children playing with a used shoe in the road. It is true that however much one tries not to judge such folk when you are being heckled over the top of a broken down washing machine about the duration of your planned stay and being glared at through the window by a women with a menial stare you tend to try and avoid camping amongst those that call the place home.
This place had its fair share of permies but as we rocked up in the dark and departed before anyone was really aware of our presence we managed to avoid speaking to another soul.
Day 13 & Day 14
We drove a short way to crescent heads, and found a lovely campsite of the seafront and through we’d stop for a couple of nights and have a nice relaxing time. It was very peacefull and despite the wind the sun did come out for short intervals between the rain showers. Opposite the campsite was a club, it wasn’t a night club, it was a community club, and like every place we had driven through it had 2 things A bottle-o ( off licence ) and a bowls green.
Now in England I have never really given much consideration to the game of bowls, El agrees with me, it is something we had relegated in our minds as dull and perhaps considered it to be the game of choice for the elder generations. Well, let me tell you, Bowls is a very enjoyable and challenging sport and anyone who has ever felt other wise should quick smart get themselves down to a green and roll a few woods.
For less than a fiver we managed to borrow 2 sets of woods a kitty ( or jack ) 2 mats and our very own green ( we also got a few tips and told to take our shoes off as we did not have the appropriate footwear ) had it not been for the oncoming torrential downpour I think we would have spent the best part of the day there, but the weather drove us inside and we had to make do with a couple of beers instead.
We had a powered site which basically means we get to run an extension cable out the window and charge our phones and laptops, El had managed to join the local video shop and so we watched the changeling on the lap top . This made a nice change from rummy ( the only card game we know )
I know I know ...I'm still behind, but you can't knock the effort ...
Love you all xxx
Day 7 - Well we got to Melbourne . I think I mentioned that it was pretty rough on the crossing Somehow or other I managed to sleep but El looked properly possessed as we drove of the ferry – and kept saying “I didn’t like it” We decided to get out of Melbourne and so started our journey up the East Coast It was strange seeing our home again ( we swung by to steal the mail out of the letter box) and not being able to retreat inside of Rupert . we decided that we’d need a big breakfast inside us to prepare us for the coming journey so we went to our favourite eatery ( or one of them ) Kat Beloo for some food and then to the letting agents to claim back the bond. It turned out that although we had dropped the keys and all the paper work back into the office nobody had bothered to check the property in the 6 days we’d been gone. I had a small debate with the lady behind the reception desk and got the matter sorted out, sure enough 2 days later we had the cash. It is actually quite a good job they didn’t check as I did managed to spill 1 glass of red wine, and one rum and coke over our 9 months stay and although both stains have been hidden well with the unique placement of furniture no amount of scrubbing would get them out!!
We drove ( I say we – El drove) a total of 270km and as the majority of it was on the Hume Freeway there was really very little of interest to see, we stopped in Wangaratta a pretty little town famous for it’s Jazz festival – we arrived at lunch time so we popped into town and had a little walk around, and got a coffee and our usual supply of leaflets and flyers to browse through. We had found a small campsite just out of the township and although it had no facilities we managed to cook up a rather nice dinner before turning in at the newly appointed bedtime of 8:30. It is very hard trying to go to sleep so early, but it does at least mean that we wake up early!
Day 8 – We woke up to a rather cold morning, which wouldn’t be quite as bad if it wasn’t for the desperation with which you needed to use the facilities, trying to pull on a jumper, socks and shoes and then hot footing halfway across a 2 acre campsite before you wet yourself is not the best start to the day it must be said. We made some coffee and decided that we would visit Canberra. This was our first mistake. Canberra is not really the sort of place that anyone should feel the need to visit, It is the makeshift capital of this fair country and it must be said they have a lovely collection of art galleries ( we went to the National portrait Gallery ) but on the whole it feels very much like somebody gave a child a pair of compasses and said “ draw as many circles as you can and then we’ll turn your drawing into a city” It was not the place for us so we drove out of town and found a campsite. (440km)
a very strange things happened next.
Next to the campsite ( which was just off the main road out of Canberra – imagine a motorway ) was a pub. The pub had a restaurant and as we fancied a night off cooking we went to the pub for dinner. As we approached we saw a man staggering toward s the car park we then watched with absolute amazement and horror as he reached for his Ute door missed the handle and fell over – I have never in my life seen anyone that drunk – let alone seen anyone that drunk trying to drive, We went in the pub and had some food and then a lady came around and asked us if we would like to buy some tickets for the “Meat raffle” El and I thoughts this was really funny and looked around to see a mountain of meat assembled and a man with a microphone and a random number generator stood on a table. Not wanting to appear rude we brought 2 strips – and silently we both hoped that we didn’t win!
What a strange evening that was.
Day 9 – Desperate to put the crop circles of Canberra and the bizarreness of the Meat raffle behind us we set out6 for Sydney – (160km) It wasn’t long before we arrived but we did decide that we’d book into a hostel as all the camp sites were quite far of town and we wanted to be able to explore.
We booked into a YHA hostel in Bondi one of Sydney's coastal suburbs we had our own room and a great view of the coast. As El went off on an adventure down the beach I caught up on the blog and we went down to Bondi Beach for dinner and a beer, El had discovered a Bavarian Beer Cafe with the biggest beers ever 2 litres per glass. We did not order those but enjoyed a beer under the stars , and for the first time in a long while we sat out side ( with our coats on ) and did not freeze.
As we chatted about our adventures so far that night in our bunk beds back at the hostel , it was abundantly clear that we were both exceptionally glad to have a proper bed to sleep in and I don’t think we even finished our conversation before we were both fast asleep.
Day 10. Last night I had tried really hard to buy a bus ticket. The guy in the shop had pulled out about 20 different tickets and asked me which one I wanted. As I only new where I was staying and that at some point or other we’d want to see the harbour bridge I tried requesting a ticket for that journey, I still didn’t get anywhere so in the end we brought a couple of tickets and decided we’d just see what happened. El’s sister Tam has a friend who moved out to Sydney to live and El had contacted her to see if she wanted to meet up, so it was arranged that we;d meet them for breakfast . So we set off ( with our bus tickets ) for ‘Bills ‘ Clare had sent us the address and we felt fairly confident that we could find it in the hour we had allotted. We got the bus to Bondi Junction and then the driver pulled into the terminal everyone else got off. El and I did not. Then he turned the lights out and I became slightly suspicious that we may be on the wrong bus, I got up and he yelled
“Crikey – what are you doing on the bus”
I apologised and we both bundled off, we then started walking, it took a while and we were never really sure if were gonna get there but finally a nice man helped us with some easy to follow directions and we arrived. It was lovely meeting Clare and Lloyd they gave us some sound advise on places to visit and the food was very tasty.
The rest of the day was spent exploring Sydney, we went to the opera house and then took a boat to darling Harbour, the sun was shining and it was a lovely day for just walking about and finding our way. We sat and had a drink and then took the mono rail into the city, we wandered back to china town and had Dumplings for dinner
We had arranged to meet El’s old boss for a drink whilst we were in Sydney and we had a colourful evening but as we planned an early get away the next morning we were in bed by midnight.
Day 11
We set out for Newcastle, our next port of call on the way up the coast. Clare and Lloyd had recommended stopping at seal rocks, and so we headed that way first. It was a stunning coastal spot with a beautiful beach and we had lunch on a blanket surrounded by seagulls . El walked up to the small lighthouse and from the top spotted a pod of whales of the coast, as we drove along the coast we followed them and watched them splash up the water.
Newcastle was a fair drive and by the time we reached the centre it was dark. Completely at a lost as to where the campsite was I nipped into a nearby hotel and was lucky enough to be faced with a helpful lady who brought me up a map on google, unluckily for us the camp site was on an island and a 40 minute drive away, with the map in my head off we set and finally we made it. The campsite was not great. We had a pitch next to a small group of incredibly drunk rowdy ruffians concerned for our safety ( or more accurately the chance of sleeping ) we went to the camp kitchen to cook tea and watch some TV. El ran back to the van to get some salt and pepper and was privy to a rather colourful shouting match between the campsite owners and the people in question and then witnessed them being forcibly ejected.
We enjoyed our dinner watched TV until we were tired and vowed to lock all the doors ( although of course we lock all the doors every night)
Day 12 – After all the worry of the night before we ended up having a goods night sleep and were ready for another day of driving – which is what we got, we made plenty of stops up the coast and went to several beaches and quite a few lookouts, it is a funny old thing but most of the places along this stretch are not really villages – they are resorts, 20-40 houses built to all look the same within walking distance to the beach it’s not really representative of anything and El and I are reminded of Toy towns with everything painted pastel and inhabited by a robot nation.
We got stuck in one such town as there was a roundabout with 4 exits 1 exit led out of town 3 exits took you on a circular tour and brought you back to the roundabout – very very odd.on attempt 4 we made it out but ended up being trapped on the road by 3 dogs. As they were in the road El stopped , when they went to the side we started driving – and then the game began. We moved, they ran in front of the van we stopped. This continued for at least 10 minutes and by the end of it I was practically screaming at El to just run them over!!
We made it out and under the cover of darkness we pulled into Taree.
I was on the phone to my dad and being that one doesn’t often get to talk to anyone from home I was completely oblivious to the fact that not only had El found a campsite, paid for a pitch she had also managed to turn the van into a time machine and transport us back to the 50’s. The campsite was odd. But to be honest every campsite in Australia bar about 2 is odd. Now may be a good time to fill you in on the oddness.
The main factor to determine where you should stay often falls into 3 categories
Proximity to your location at the time of dusk ( thus avoiding driving at peak roadkill hours)
Recommendation from either guide books or tourist info
On seeing the caravan site does it look like you may get killed in the night.
Point 3 being the most important. One of the factors to help you determine this can be the presence of Permies. Permies are people that permanently reside on the campsite, often erecting small fences or gardens next to their caravans, most have satellite dishes on the floor or small dirty children playing with a used shoe in the road. It is true that however much one tries not to judge such folk when you are being heckled over the top of a broken down washing machine about the duration of your planned stay and being glared at through the window by a women with a menial stare you tend to try and avoid camping amongst those that call the place home.
This place had its fair share of permies but as we rocked up in the dark and departed before anyone was really aware of our presence we managed to avoid speaking to another soul.
Day 13 & Day 14
We drove a short way to crescent heads, and found a lovely campsite of the seafront and through we’d stop for a couple of nights and have a nice relaxing time. It was very peacefull and despite the wind the sun did come out for short intervals between the rain showers. Opposite the campsite was a club, it wasn’t a night club, it was a community club, and like every place we had driven through it had 2 things A bottle-o ( off licence ) and a bowls green.
Now in England I have never really given much consideration to the game of bowls, El agrees with me, it is something we had relegated in our minds as dull and perhaps considered it to be the game of choice for the elder generations. Well, let me tell you, Bowls is a very enjoyable and challenging sport and anyone who has ever felt other wise should quick smart get themselves down to a green and roll a few woods.
For less than a fiver we managed to borrow 2 sets of woods a kitty ( or jack ) 2 mats and our very own green ( we also got a few tips and told to take our shoes off as we did not have the appropriate footwear ) had it not been for the oncoming torrential downpour I think we would have spent the best part of the day there, but the weather drove us inside and we had to make do with a couple of beers instead.
We had a powered site which basically means we get to run an extension cable out the window and charge our phones and laptops, El had managed to join the local video shop and so we watched the changeling on the lap top . This made a nice change from rummy ( the only card game we know )
I know I know ...I'm still behind, but you can't knock the effort ...
Love you all xxx
Tuesday, 14 July 2009
At last.. Here's an update
Hello,
Gosh it feels like a while since I have sat down to outpour my thoughts on to paper, for once though I have a very valid excuse – We have most definitely been out of the realms of internet. In the last 10 days we’ve had a total of 1 hour of internet time and as I felt I would need a great deal more than that El used it. I have so much to get through, so much to go on about - but first I must take you al the way back to that wonderful trip to the Grampians.
We had a wonderful time walking, eating and drinking ( if I repeat myself forgive me it’s been an age) Whilst El and I were at work Sue and Charlie had made it to the Markets and had single handedly dug Australia out of the looming recession with their meat and veg purchases! We settled down to the most incredible BBQ evening the total eating time was over 5 hours and it was brilliant to have 2 wonderful friends to chat to about anything from the profound to the day to day rubbish whilst drinking beautiful regional wine and some of the tastiest lamb, Chicken and beef that I’ve ever eaten.
We headed back to Melbourne after a wonderful wake up from a selection of rather noisy birds having had a lovely stay in the Grampians.
Our guests went off to Sydney and El and I started to get more and more concerned with the impossibility of moving out and into a van, as the days ticked down the stress mounted and I think between us we were almost ready to explode, luckily when there is 2 of you, you can at least try and counter balance each other, I would have days of near hysteria and El would be perfectly level headed and tell me I was quite over reacting, The next day the roles would reverse ( although I think I was far less understanding ) Sue and Charlie returned from their NSW adventure and we booked tickets to go to an Aussie rules football match on the Friday night. Now for those of you who have not been to Australia I will try and explain as best I can; Aussie rules is a combination of rugby, football, American football and some other made up stuff thrown in for fun, everybody, regardless of their interest in the game ‘barracks’ or supports a team, there are only about 12 teams and they all play each other goodness knows how many times in a season. Now we go ( or at least I go ) with a very firm opinion that the game is quite ridicules and not at all like a proper sport, after the first 15 minutes I’m yelling at the top of my lungs, am 100% involved in the game and have not enjoyed myself this much for some time. It is hard to explain the attraction, the fact perhaps that rather than separate the fans everyone sits together, the fact that the playing field is an oval so the view (even from the cheap seats) was fantastic, or maybe it’s just that there was no bad feeling, no calls of abuse, no rhyming ditty degrading the referee just cheers of support and a level of mutual respect meant that you enjoyed the atmosphere as much as the game play.
My team lost, it reminded me of my days at the Goldstone (although the language was far less colourful) and I wasn’t quite as compelled to yell “up the bombers “ as I was to yell “up the seagulls”
I don’t know if I told you, but we also visited the Melbourne Gaol, a very enjoyable if not a tad over the top candlelight night time tour by circa 1900 hangman of the day. It was an eerie display of cells, stocks and torture methods as eerie well as the old gallows where Ned Kelly was hung. Ned Kelly for those of you who don’t know was a rather naughty chap who robbed a few banks and fashioned himself metal armour out of old farm machinery – it is hard to get a grasp on whether he is hated or revered in Australia, I think he was a bit of one man revolution against the politics of the day (and despite his rather unfriendly hostage taking of a small village) I have to say I quite admired his tale, well worth a Google if you have to inclination.
Well as our time with our friends drew to a close so did our time in good old Rupert, It is silly really, after deciding quite categorically that although Melbourne is a wonderful place I would not want to live there forever the idea of leaving it suddenly felt quite out of the question and when we removed our photographs (due to an inspection by potential renters) we were both quite sad as it really did mark the end of a wonderful and colourful 7 months.
Sue and Charlie had arranged something quite wonderful for their last day with us, a 4 course lunch on the tramcar restaurant. El and I had talked so often of booking it but it always seemed like a rather indulgent fancy and so reluctantly we had watched it pass us on so many occasions the excitement was very real when we arrived at the terminal to catch the tram and the 2 hour journey, delicious food, spectacular sites of the city we had come to love (and the free and flowing alcohol) did not disappoint it was a wonderful afternoon and by the time we stepped off I was quite merry!
We finished the day in the casino and when we parted with the girls at Southern Cross it was with the same sadness which we have become all to accustom with. We made our way back across town home knowing full well that in 4 days time it would be home no more.
The next few days passed without any great adventure we worked and packed and panicked and packed some more... And finally it was the 24thof June 8 months from our arrival we were packed, cleaned and ready to go – The rule in Australia when you leave a rental property is that you must have the carpets steam cleaned so the man turned up about 2 to take care of that and by 4pm we had dropped the keys off at Wentworth’s and were heading to the ferry port.
Tasmania
It seemed like a complete dream, no more work, no more early mornings, no more commitments just El and I and Malkovich and the open road. Australia is HUGE I think that until you look at a map, and you see that all the driving we have done in our 8 months, all the weekends away, the small breaks and we never left Victoria – Victoria is tiny in comparison to Australia , in order not to completely freak out and end up driving in circles to avoid the huge distances it was decided that Tasmania was the best place to start.
Tasmania is Australia’s smallest state ( about the size of Island ) and has some of the most diverse landscapes you could ever hope to see. We had 6 days a map, a guidebook, and a whole lot of enthusiasm and apparently that is all you need. If you really want to experience the journey grab yourself a map of Tassie – and you can follow the route as I try and share our first taste of Australia on the road.
We boarded the ferry at about 6:30 pm for an 8 pm sailing, to save on $ we opted for the cheap seats which are actually referred to Ocean View Recliners! Surprisingly after an over priced dinner and a quick chat to the lady at the tourist information we both fell asleep and didn’t wake up until 5:45 am when they announced that we should prepare to reclaim our vehicles (what was that I said earlier about no more early mornings!!)
Day 1.
As we left Spirit of Tasmania II and touched down on Tasmanian soil we set the KM to 0 it was pitch black 6:30 in the morning and it may as well have been the middle of the night we new that we wanted to try to get across to the East Coast so we set off through Launston, through Derby and arrived into St Helens. It was a drive which both of us were quite unprepared for, strangely we had assumed that Tas would be a lot flatter than it turned out to be and Malkovich was really put through his paces on some pretty rocky mountainous terrain – he coped well. We stopped just outside of St Helens for a short amble to a waterfall nearby before dropping into a cheese tasting farm. We found a campsite in Binalong Bay but as we had yet to purchase a gas bottle and we were both far too tired to search out a restaurant we were asleep by 7:30 without any diner.
Day 2 .
12 hours later we woke up hungry and excited, our plan was to drive to the Bay of Fires, Scamander and down to Freycinet National Park. Not before I whipped us up some porridge for breakfast using the campsites Kitchen we loaded our travelling cups with coffee and hit the road. It was today that we learnt that Michael Jackson had died It was an odd thing to take on board really, and we were both quiet shocked. The weather was not great but despite the rain and chilling winds we pressed on In Bichecno El saw a small sign for a blowhole and since rule one of our road trip adventure was to ensure that we stopped at lookouts and points of interest rather than concentrating solely on our destination we took the short diversion of the road to check it out. It was absolutely brilliant, I think the photo’s below will demonstrate just how much so. The best thing about doing this in the middle of winter (I am sure you can work out for your self what the downsides might be ) is that no one else is about, when we finally reached Freycinet National Park, we went on a brilliant walk around the lighthouse and saw only 2 people, at another short walk down to a cove we saw no one at all.
We had decided to camp in the national park as we had a pass and it was free of charge the lady directed us to the camp site and off we set , the first campsite we came to was in the middle of no where , there was not a sole around and there were no houses or buildings of any sort for at least 5 km . I am sad to say that in the pitch black I refused point blank to stay there, and amused by my sudden scardey cat behaviour El set off for the next campsite. It was called friendly beaches why on earth they called it friendly I have no idea (at least at night) scary beaches would have been a more appropriate name. It was black – no light what so ever and it was a rather unnerving night. It only got worse when we ventured to the toilet – a bush toilet, it is a normal toilet however it has no flush facility just a very very large pit underneath it. I have never been so terrified to use a loo in all my life!
We cooked our first camp meal ( having acquired a gas cylinder) Pasta and veg and sank a rather nice bottle of merlot before turning in – not before a wombat ran through our camp and caused El to have a small heart attack!
Day 3
Although everything suggested to the contrary we slept well and were up and away by 9am, a wallaby visited us first thing and watched us as we washed up the cooking utensils from last nights meal. We decided to set out to Hobart it was a rather blustery day but by the time we actually arrived the rain had stopped and we were lucky enough to be there on market day. We walked through the colourful stalls and then took a detour up to Battery point, looped back down the the wharf and enjoyed fish and chips on the water. We tried to find a local campsite to accommodate us for that evening but the rain meant that all those we called were not accepting new bookings, feeling a little worried we popped to the tourist information and found a leaflet for a little campsite in Dover. The drive was set to be about 2 hours and so off we went. It was the most amazing stretch of road the rolling hills with the mountains in the background was just breath taking and seeing the sun set over the countryside was just beautiful, we arrived just before the sun had disappeared and found that the campsite was situated right next to a lake.
We were the only people on the entire camp site and so we popped to the local shop for some lamb and some veg and we used the BBQ on site and sat out wrapped in layers of clothes, coats, scarf’s and gloves, eating our dinner, and playing cards under the stars.
Day 4
We drove to the National park which housed the Tahune Airwalk a wonderful metal structure which is suspended 40 meters above the ground, it feels as if you are walking on the tree tops, the walk made for some wonderful views and wobbly nature of the air walk made for some hair raising moments! It was a pleasant day and as we drove on the road back up top Hobart we were able to see some of the lovely scenery that we’d missed from the previous day. We started to wind around the roads across to Lake St Claire and came across the strangest of town Tarraleah – an old hydro town which having been rinsed of all it’s uses was turned into a purpose built resort. It felt like a toy town, all the houses were the same and painted pastel colours it was built in a large square and it still had all the old pipes leading from it – It was terrifying and we left in a hurry making up awful stories about the residents and the fates of those who innocently stopped there over night.
After freaking ourselves out with our silly stories 20 km along the road we saw a young girl standing next to her station wagon waiving petrol can. Now we have always maintained that from dusk till dawn if we saw anyone by the side of the road in any out of the way places we would simply drive past and leave them to their own devises, but as is often the case when faced with these decisions in real life you feel compelled to assist if you can.
We pulled over and the girl explained her car was broken and that she was trying to visit her boyfriend and then asked for a lift. She was certainly no older than El or I and so we let her in the back of the van, and drove on for the nearest town. Danielle turned out to be a very bubbly and funny girl, she told us a lot about Tasmania’s history and on arrival at the pub / hostel she brought as both several beers on the grounds that we had “saved her” and we enjoyed several hours of conversation before her boyfriend arrived from Queenstown to collect her.
We spent the night in the Dewent hotel – if I thought Friendly beaches were lying in their description that is nothing compared to this place, the term hotel obviously remained unknown to them as it was worse than most hostels and absolutely freezing, non the less it mean we were up and on the road by 10am.
Day 5
Today we drove to Lake St Claire and walked around an aboriginal trail, through the forest and then along the lake shore, it was the perfect start to the day, we even managed a game of pooh sticks en route. I did fall over quite dramatically but apart from that no incident occurred. And we continued down into the valley that is Queenstown and after a snack and a coffee we drove all the way back up to Cradle Mt – by this time the weather had taken a dramatic tern for the worst and it was horrid. We camped at Cradle Mt and lit a fire in the camp kitchen to keep warm, in the end we gave up and went to bed at around 8pm – it was the coldest night yet.
Day 6
With the excitement of cradle Mt in front of us we had a hurried breakfast and set of for the transit point. We were disappointed to be told that with the fog the way it was you would be unable to see it if it was a foot in front of your face and that no walkers were permitted. We decided that we would head back to Devonport and spend the day there whilst waiting for the ferry.
We drove back along the coast visiting Penguin ( it’s a real place ) before spending some time clearing and resorting Malkovich as we had neglected to do this during the week. We passed the remaining few hours with card games and cups of coffee before boarding the ferry for the return leg.
It was not a pleasant crossing. In fact that is an understatement, our excitement to get back on land was very real, especially for El who had barely managed to sleep. 1469km later we were back in Melbourne, what a wonderful week, so many things took our breath away, so many great views, quaint towns, and so many contrasting sets of scenery, a lady we met said,
“I drive to see my daughter all the time, I get 4 seasons, and 6 sets of scenery all in 2 and a half hours, can’t be bad can it? “
She was right, it was a magical start to our travels – Today we make a start on the mainland.
I know I know I'm behind but internet is a thing of wonder and often not available.
I will be writing Melbourne to Noosa tonight ( all 14 days ) and will pop back to the internet cafe tomorrow
Love to you all xxxxx
Gosh it feels like a while since I have sat down to outpour my thoughts on to paper, for once though I have a very valid excuse – We have most definitely been out of the realms of internet. In the last 10 days we’ve had a total of 1 hour of internet time and as I felt I would need a great deal more than that El used it. I have so much to get through, so much to go on about - but first I must take you al the way back to that wonderful trip to the Grampians.
We had a wonderful time walking, eating and drinking ( if I repeat myself forgive me it’s been an age) Whilst El and I were at work Sue and Charlie had made it to the Markets and had single handedly dug Australia out of the looming recession with their meat and veg purchases! We settled down to the most incredible BBQ evening the total eating time was over 5 hours and it was brilliant to have 2 wonderful friends to chat to about anything from the profound to the day to day rubbish whilst drinking beautiful regional wine and some of the tastiest lamb, Chicken and beef that I’ve ever eaten.
We headed back to Melbourne after a wonderful wake up from a selection of rather noisy birds having had a lovely stay in the Grampians.
Our guests went off to Sydney and El and I started to get more and more concerned with the impossibility of moving out and into a van, as the days ticked down the stress mounted and I think between us we were almost ready to explode, luckily when there is 2 of you, you can at least try and counter balance each other, I would have days of near hysteria and El would be perfectly level headed and tell me I was quite over reacting, The next day the roles would reverse ( although I think I was far less understanding ) Sue and Charlie returned from their NSW adventure and we booked tickets to go to an Aussie rules football match on the Friday night. Now for those of you who have not been to Australia I will try and explain as best I can; Aussie rules is a combination of rugby, football, American football and some other made up stuff thrown in for fun, everybody, regardless of their interest in the game ‘barracks’ or supports a team, there are only about 12 teams and they all play each other goodness knows how many times in a season. Now we go ( or at least I go ) with a very firm opinion that the game is quite ridicules and not at all like a proper sport, after the first 15 minutes I’m yelling at the top of my lungs, am 100% involved in the game and have not enjoyed myself this much for some time. It is hard to explain the attraction, the fact perhaps that rather than separate the fans everyone sits together, the fact that the playing field is an oval so the view (even from the cheap seats) was fantastic, or maybe it’s just that there was no bad feeling, no calls of abuse, no rhyming ditty degrading the referee just cheers of support and a level of mutual respect meant that you enjoyed the atmosphere as much as the game play.
My team lost, it reminded me of my days at the Goldstone (although the language was far less colourful) and I wasn’t quite as compelled to yell “up the bombers “ as I was to yell “up the seagulls”
I don’t know if I told you, but we also visited the Melbourne Gaol, a very enjoyable if not a tad over the top candlelight night time tour by circa 1900 hangman of the day. It was an eerie display of cells, stocks and torture methods as eerie well as the old gallows where Ned Kelly was hung. Ned Kelly for those of you who don’t know was a rather naughty chap who robbed a few banks and fashioned himself metal armour out of old farm machinery – it is hard to get a grasp on whether he is hated or revered in Australia, I think he was a bit of one man revolution against the politics of the day (and despite his rather unfriendly hostage taking of a small village) I have to say I quite admired his tale, well worth a Google if you have to inclination.
Well as our time with our friends drew to a close so did our time in good old Rupert, It is silly really, after deciding quite categorically that although Melbourne is a wonderful place I would not want to live there forever the idea of leaving it suddenly felt quite out of the question and when we removed our photographs (due to an inspection by potential renters) we were both quite sad as it really did mark the end of a wonderful and colourful 7 months.
Sue and Charlie had arranged something quite wonderful for their last day with us, a 4 course lunch on the tramcar restaurant. El and I had talked so often of booking it but it always seemed like a rather indulgent fancy and so reluctantly we had watched it pass us on so many occasions the excitement was very real when we arrived at the terminal to catch the tram and the 2 hour journey, delicious food, spectacular sites of the city we had come to love (and the free and flowing alcohol) did not disappoint it was a wonderful afternoon and by the time we stepped off I was quite merry!
We finished the day in the casino and when we parted with the girls at Southern Cross it was with the same sadness which we have become all to accustom with. We made our way back across town home knowing full well that in 4 days time it would be home no more.
The next few days passed without any great adventure we worked and packed and panicked and packed some more... And finally it was the 24thof June 8 months from our arrival we were packed, cleaned and ready to go – The rule in Australia when you leave a rental property is that you must have the carpets steam cleaned so the man turned up about 2 to take care of that and by 4pm we had dropped the keys off at Wentworth’s and were heading to the ferry port.
Tasmania
It seemed like a complete dream, no more work, no more early mornings, no more commitments just El and I and Malkovich and the open road. Australia is HUGE I think that until you look at a map, and you see that all the driving we have done in our 8 months, all the weekends away, the small breaks and we never left Victoria – Victoria is tiny in comparison to Australia , in order not to completely freak out and end up driving in circles to avoid the huge distances it was decided that Tasmania was the best place to start.
Tasmania is Australia’s smallest state ( about the size of Island ) and has some of the most diverse landscapes you could ever hope to see. We had 6 days a map, a guidebook, and a whole lot of enthusiasm and apparently that is all you need. If you really want to experience the journey grab yourself a map of Tassie – and you can follow the route as I try and share our first taste of Australia on the road.
We boarded the ferry at about 6:30 pm for an 8 pm sailing, to save on $ we opted for the cheap seats which are actually referred to Ocean View Recliners! Surprisingly after an over priced dinner and a quick chat to the lady at the tourist information we both fell asleep and didn’t wake up until 5:45 am when they announced that we should prepare to reclaim our vehicles (what was that I said earlier about no more early mornings!!)
Day 1.
As we left Spirit of Tasmania II and touched down on Tasmanian soil we set the KM to 0 it was pitch black 6:30 in the morning and it may as well have been the middle of the night we new that we wanted to try to get across to the East Coast so we set off through Launston, through Derby and arrived into St Helens. It was a drive which both of us were quite unprepared for, strangely we had assumed that Tas would be a lot flatter than it turned out to be and Malkovich was really put through his paces on some pretty rocky mountainous terrain – he coped well. We stopped just outside of St Helens for a short amble to a waterfall nearby before dropping into a cheese tasting farm. We found a campsite in Binalong Bay but as we had yet to purchase a gas bottle and we were both far too tired to search out a restaurant we were asleep by 7:30 without any diner.
Day 2 .
12 hours later we woke up hungry and excited, our plan was to drive to the Bay of Fires, Scamander and down to Freycinet National Park. Not before I whipped us up some porridge for breakfast using the campsites Kitchen we loaded our travelling cups with coffee and hit the road. It was today that we learnt that Michael Jackson had died It was an odd thing to take on board really, and we were both quiet shocked. The weather was not great but despite the rain and chilling winds we pressed on In Bichecno El saw a small sign for a blowhole and since rule one of our road trip adventure was to ensure that we stopped at lookouts and points of interest rather than concentrating solely on our destination we took the short diversion of the road to check it out. It was absolutely brilliant, I think the photo’s below will demonstrate just how much so. The best thing about doing this in the middle of winter (I am sure you can work out for your self what the downsides might be ) is that no one else is about, when we finally reached Freycinet National Park, we went on a brilliant walk around the lighthouse and saw only 2 people, at another short walk down to a cove we saw no one at all.
We had decided to camp in the national park as we had a pass and it was free of charge the lady directed us to the camp site and off we set , the first campsite we came to was in the middle of no where , there was not a sole around and there were no houses or buildings of any sort for at least 5 km . I am sad to say that in the pitch black I refused point blank to stay there, and amused by my sudden scardey cat behaviour El set off for the next campsite. It was called friendly beaches why on earth they called it friendly I have no idea (at least at night) scary beaches would have been a more appropriate name. It was black – no light what so ever and it was a rather unnerving night. It only got worse when we ventured to the toilet – a bush toilet, it is a normal toilet however it has no flush facility just a very very large pit underneath it. I have never been so terrified to use a loo in all my life!
We cooked our first camp meal ( having acquired a gas cylinder) Pasta and veg and sank a rather nice bottle of merlot before turning in – not before a wombat ran through our camp and caused El to have a small heart attack!
Day 3
Although everything suggested to the contrary we slept well and were up and away by 9am, a wallaby visited us first thing and watched us as we washed up the cooking utensils from last nights meal. We decided to set out to Hobart it was a rather blustery day but by the time we actually arrived the rain had stopped and we were lucky enough to be there on market day. We walked through the colourful stalls and then took a detour up to Battery point, looped back down the the wharf and enjoyed fish and chips on the water. We tried to find a local campsite to accommodate us for that evening but the rain meant that all those we called were not accepting new bookings, feeling a little worried we popped to the tourist information and found a leaflet for a little campsite in Dover. The drive was set to be about 2 hours and so off we went. It was the most amazing stretch of road the rolling hills with the mountains in the background was just breath taking and seeing the sun set over the countryside was just beautiful, we arrived just before the sun had disappeared and found that the campsite was situated right next to a lake.
We were the only people on the entire camp site and so we popped to the local shop for some lamb and some veg and we used the BBQ on site and sat out wrapped in layers of clothes, coats, scarf’s and gloves, eating our dinner, and playing cards under the stars.
Day 4
We drove to the National park which housed the Tahune Airwalk a wonderful metal structure which is suspended 40 meters above the ground, it feels as if you are walking on the tree tops, the walk made for some wonderful views and wobbly nature of the air walk made for some hair raising moments! It was a pleasant day and as we drove on the road back up top Hobart we were able to see some of the lovely scenery that we’d missed from the previous day. We started to wind around the roads across to Lake St Claire and came across the strangest of town Tarraleah – an old hydro town which having been rinsed of all it’s uses was turned into a purpose built resort. It felt like a toy town, all the houses were the same and painted pastel colours it was built in a large square and it still had all the old pipes leading from it – It was terrifying and we left in a hurry making up awful stories about the residents and the fates of those who innocently stopped there over night.
After freaking ourselves out with our silly stories 20 km along the road we saw a young girl standing next to her station wagon waiving petrol can. Now we have always maintained that from dusk till dawn if we saw anyone by the side of the road in any out of the way places we would simply drive past and leave them to their own devises, but as is often the case when faced with these decisions in real life you feel compelled to assist if you can.
We pulled over and the girl explained her car was broken and that she was trying to visit her boyfriend and then asked for a lift. She was certainly no older than El or I and so we let her in the back of the van, and drove on for the nearest town. Danielle turned out to be a very bubbly and funny girl, she told us a lot about Tasmania’s history and on arrival at the pub / hostel she brought as both several beers on the grounds that we had “saved her” and we enjoyed several hours of conversation before her boyfriend arrived from Queenstown to collect her.
We spent the night in the Dewent hotel – if I thought Friendly beaches were lying in their description that is nothing compared to this place, the term hotel obviously remained unknown to them as it was worse than most hostels and absolutely freezing, non the less it mean we were up and on the road by 10am.
Day 5
Today we drove to Lake St Claire and walked around an aboriginal trail, through the forest and then along the lake shore, it was the perfect start to the day, we even managed a game of pooh sticks en route. I did fall over quite dramatically but apart from that no incident occurred. And we continued down into the valley that is Queenstown and after a snack and a coffee we drove all the way back up to Cradle Mt – by this time the weather had taken a dramatic tern for the worst and it was horrid. We camped at Cradle Mt and lit a fire in the camp kitchen to keep warm, in the end we gave up and went to bed at around 8pm – it was the coldest night yet.
Day 6
With the excitement of cradle Mt in front of us we had a hurried breakfast and set of for the transit point. We were disappointed to be told that with the fog the way it was you would be unable to see it if it was a foot in front of your face and that no walkers were permitted. We decided that we would head back to Devonport and spend the day there whilst waiting for the ferry.
We drove back along the coast visiting Penguin ( it’s a real place ) before spending some time clearing and resorting Malkovich as we had neglected to do this during the week. We passed the remaining few hours with card games and cups of coffee before boarding the ferry for the return leg.
It was not a pleasant crossing. In fact that is an understatement, our excitement to get back on land was very real, especially for El who had barely managed to sleep. 1469km later we were back in Melbourne, what a wonderful week, so many things took our breath away, so many great views, quaint towns, and so many contrasting sets of scenery, a lady we met said,
“I drive to see my daughter all the time, I get 4 seasons, and 6 sets of scenery all in 2 and a half hours, can’t be bad can it? “
She was right, it was a magical start to our travels – Today we make a start on the mainland.
I know I know I'm behind but internet is a thing of wonder and often not available.
I will be writing Melbourne to Noosa tonight ( all 14 days ) and will pop back to the internet cafe tomorrow
Love to you all xxxxx
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