Easter is Coming

Well today we have arrived back at Longford, (we like it here) and are going to use it as our base and make day trips out from here. With Easter only a couple days away we have decided to avoid the coast which is likely to be very busy. We really enjoyed our trip down through the Western Tiers and the Lake country and then back up the Midland highway.

When we left Oatlands we headed north again along the Midland Highway taking every opportunity to sidetrack into every little town and dot on the map.At Tunbridge we saw the oldest wooden bridge still in use and the township of Ross was an absolute picture with tree lined streets, lots of history and the famous Ross Bridge built by convicts. It is great how these towns have preserved their history and plaques on building telling the story of their original use. We just had to call in at Ross  bakery as Wendy had heard the legend of their pies and has been tonguing for one for weeks. Must admit they were pretty good. From Ross we had a real long journey of about 12k to Campbell Town with yet another famous bridge. Built by convicts the "Red Bridge" has approximately 1.5 million bricks in it construction. Designed for the horse and buggy era about two hundred years ago it is still in use on the main highway with dozens of B-doubles using it every day and the bridge has hardly required any maintenance in that time. Such was the standard of workmanship in those days. Just beside the bridge there is a new attraction of carved trees which has just been completed this month.

We camped at Lions Park in Campbell Town on the banks of the Elizabeth River with the river only one meter from our back window, with babbling brook and the ducks feeding at arms reach. The site was so ideal we couldn't part company and stayed for two nights with fellow travellers we met from Brisbane.. We were surrounded by fellow Queenslanders and just about every second vehicle down here seems to have Qld registration. Just by coincidence while I am typing this two vehicles have set up camp beside us, guess what both Queenslanders. While we were in camp at Campbell Town one of the locals came down to the camp site and supplied us with fresh vegetables, all free of charge, such is the generosity of the Tasmanian people.

We just had to move on this morning and slowly wound our way north, checking out the camp site at Conara and stopping at the Woolmers Estate and the National Rose Garden. The gardeners were pruning the roses and as Wendy passed by they presented her a bouquet of the most beautiful roses which now adorn our motorhome. It was quite funny as we were walking out, people were asking us were you allowed to pick them and we had to hastily explain to see the gardeners. I sure they thought we were pinching them from the National Trust.

We now only have seventeen days left on the "Little" Island and intend to spend most of the time exploring every little town and attraction in the northern part of the island. Looking back we have probably rushed the first part of the trip, not realising just how close things are together down here, and being afraid of running out of time. The leisurely pace of the past  week and a half that we have been travelling solo has been refreshing and I am now convinced this is the way to go. When travelling in company, no matter how well you know each other there is always some feeling of obligation and restriction, whether real or imagined.

Think I'll go and get ready for Happy Hour before I get writers cramp

This Is A Hard Life

Well we had a second look at Richmond and walked the convict trail. There is an old convict prison there as well as the oldest bridge in Australia, still in use. They sure did know how how to build those stone bridges.

From Richmond we decided to return to Kempton for the night as it is an excellent camp site with level parking, water and power if you are luckly with showers and toilets and dump point close by. What more could the travelling RVer wish for. We were a little slow out of bed as the weather is cool and I had wrenched by back (yet again) and was in no hurry to hit the road and besides we only had a few K's to go for the day.

He headed for Jericho and the song, Joshua at the battle of Jericho  came to mind as there was a wall with historic significance at Jericho. As usual, as is the norm in Tassie the signposting was non existant and we couldn't find the "mud wall" at Jericho so decided to take a back road to rejoin the highway. While driving down the small country road we came across the wall which is the only remains of what was once a fairly major convict settlement.

From Jericho we went north to Oatlands where we are now camped on the edge of a lake full of bird life. The ducks seem to know I'm a soft touch and everytime I open th door I am rushed for more bread. One of the local feeds them every day and they know her car and when she pulls up they make a hell fo a racket. Swans, seagulls, pluver and all sorts of water fowl are everywhere. We liked this spot so much we have decided to stay another night and give my sore back a chance to rest and recuperate

We had a small emergency this morning while boiling the water for a cuppa. The Gas Detector went off with a banshee howl, well at least that is what it sound like in a small motorohome when you're half asleep, and we dived for the gas tap and turned off the bottle to save what we thought must be an impending explosion. Still it wailed and we were mystified but soon the problem was solved. Wendy had been spraying some body perfume stuff around and the alarm appears to also be sensative to perfume. Much to our relief we eventually boiled the billy and had a cuppa with no more excitement.

Oatlands is noted for its topiary and there are many examples of it around the town, we even have five "animals" just outside our door on the foreshore.

Tomorrow, who know but probably north, the first signs of Autumn are upon us and the morning are getting cooler but Cambelll Town looks inviting.

I am typing this sitting in the sun at a park bench overlooking the waters of the lake with the sun breaking through a overcast sky, temperature is mild, wife by my side and the world could not be better. Eat your heart out if you've got to mow the lawn or trim the hedge today. LOL Somebody's got to do this.

On The Road Again

Just like the title of the song we hit the road again and headed for "them thar hills" to the south west of Longford.via Poitina where there is a hydro electric power house. The engineering works that must have been done to develop this hydro scheme is amazing bringing water from the lakes on the top of the mountains down to the lower levels where it is used several times in different power stations to generate electricity.

The climb up the Poitina Pass is quite  a drive climbing what appears to be a vertical cliff from below and the Coaster was in third gear for most of the way, fortunately there was the occasional part where I could pull over to let the long suffering cars through but once near the top the views over eastern Tasmania were magnificent.

We stopped at Cramps Bay on the Great Lake for lunch where there is a village of fishermen's shacks but not much else. Reckon it would be EXTREMELY cold in winter but we were having a beautiful day. The Great Lake is about 3000+ ft above sea level and the area is covered in snow in winter.We continued on to Lake Arthur (must have been named after me) and stopped at Pumphouse Bay but decide it was a bit early to camp and moved on. We saw a sign to sculptures in the middle of the bush at Steepes  and turned in to find a display of sculptures attached to rocks just in the middle of the scrub. It was a little like Stone Henge in the UK but was dedicated to the people who protect the Steppes country both now and in the past.

As we came down out of the mountains the scenery changed dramatically into fertile plains and rolling hills. We passed through Bothwell and on the spur of the moment decided to checkout a camp site at Kempton where to our surprise we ran into Alan and Mazie who had pulled in for the night and we were followed into the camp by folks we had camped with at St Helens. This really is a small island.This town has done us proud with a beautiful camp site, they sure know how to attract the RV traveller in Tassie.

Had a call from Allan and Maureen and they are currently up north at Batman Bridge checking out the Tamar region.

Today we are going back to Richmond for a second look as we felt we rushed this area a bit and want to explore more.

Rally Is Over

Well here it is a week later and you have probably have noticed that I haven't been keeping the blog up to date. We have been flat out at the rally, supposedly having  break but that is not how it worked out.

We were parked just two sites away from our good friends from Gin Gin, Alan and Maizie and just down the row were Keith and Silvia from Toogoolawah (?) while Alan and Maureen got into the site late and were right across the paddock from us about 800metrs away. We had a good time at the rally meeting up with old friends and people we had met on the road during this trip. There never seemed to be enough time in the day.
After a total debacle in my seminar not being on the program it was slotted in and was very successful from the feedback I received. I spend the next two days loading data onto to GPSs and got no time to ourselves.

We have escaped today back to Longford Showgrounds where we have done the washing and  having a rest but not sure how much rest there will be as there are about 30 motorhomes on site and it is like a mini rally all over again. Heard today the Ivan and Hazel Woolmer have had vehicles trouble and had to return to the Big Island to have things fixed. We haven't seen them since we came over on the same boat together.

We have parted company with Allan and Maureen with them going north and us going south to the Lakes District, will probably meet up on the ferry as we are both booked on the same day  unless we bump into (not literally I hope) on the road.


We have four weeks to go now until we embark for the Main Land and the weather is getting a little cooler, hopefully we will see a little of Autumn before we leave but these winds are a bit hard to take, particularly when they like to go straight through you and not around you.

Just to show you how big the rally was I am enclosing a photo to give you some idea, hear various figures but about maximum of 940 on site.

Ready for the Rally

Well it is Sunday and we are camped at the Longford Showgrounds with lots of others all getting ready to move into  the rally site at Carrick which is about 15 minutes away. We have spent three nights here and it is good to have a rest from moving on each day. We have done all the washing (amazing how many dirty clothes we have), cleaned the bus, filled the water tanks and emptied the toilet, etc, all those chores which come from a period on the road.

Longford was a bit of a surprise to us being much bigger that it looks on the map, there is a meat works here who have a shop available to the public and we are told it is the best meat in Tassie. Of course we are going there on Monday morning to stock up before the rally.

This morning we woke to lots of horse trailers all around us and the local horse club is conducting a gymkhana in the show ring. Lots of entertainment, free of charge.

Ah well I had better sign off and retire to my deck chair, this is a hard life this motorhoming but I guess someone has to do it.

Hooroo!

How Time Runs Away

Well time sure runs away and my plan to update my blog daily has fallen by the way side. I reckon if there were 48 hours in a day I'd still be behind.

On Wednesday morning we got the bus serviced in Scottsdale and it took a bush mechanic to solve a problem I have had ever since I have had the bus. I always complained that the bus was not firm on the road and tended to wallow around on rough roads. I have always checked my own tyre pressures religiously at home with my own compressor and set them at 70PSI. This mechanic commented that my tyres looked low and I assured him I was running them at 70psi but when he checked them with his recently checked pressure gauge they were all around 15 lbs lower than what I thought. After pumping them up using his gauge I could not believe the difference in the handing of the vehicle. It is quite apparent to me now that the gauge I have been relying on was/is faulty.

After restocking the pantry we moved on and wound our way through some lovely country to Lilydale when Wendy again restocked the pantry with what she had forgotten on the previous shopping spree that morning. We then slowly   followed the back road via Pipers Creek to George Town  where we called on on the Solo's rally to catch up with Wendy Purvis but to no avail as we could not find her.

We had decided to go to Batman Bridge for the night but by chance Alan was talking to a old gentleman who said no came to my place I've got lots of paddocks, we we followed him to his property on the edge of town and camped in his back yard. We were invited to come up to the house for a drink and to our surprise he had a BBQ in full swing and insisted we stay and enjoy ourselves. What an amazing host Peter and is daughter Berlinda were  to total strangers and he had also invited two German tourists Rudy and Inga who were delightful company. While we were BBQing Peter's friends Fred and Shirley insisted on showing us around the town the next day and we we escorted on a sight seeing tour which lasted for a few hours. Tasmanian hospitality is second to none. Peter had an amazing obedient dog who was almost human and in the morning he came down the farm to see us, he jumped into the bus and promptly sat up on the engine cover between us and enjoyed a lift back to the house with us. He is black like the interior of the bus and is a little hard to see in the photo.

Reluctantly we left George Town and headed for Batman Bridge to spend the night camped beside the first suspension bridge  ever constructed in the southern hemisphere. It was a nice spot but some of the fellow campers were a little "strange". Early this morning I rose and walked over the bridge to take some photos.

When we broke camp at Batman Bridge we headed down the east Tamar highway via Launceston to Longford where we are now camped up doing the washing and preparing for the rally which we enter next Monday. It will be good to put the roots down for seven days and not have to pack up every morning to hit the road.

Getting closer to the Rally

Well we left Bicheno on Sunday morning to head north again to St Marys up in the mountains. Originally the highway went up to here and down the other side but there is a now a coast road where you can bypass St Marys.

We had been told such horrifying stories on how this road had 1st gear corners and switchbacks and was so narrow etc etc etc. Just goes to show you can never totally believe another's experiences. It was indeed a steep climb and interesting drive as we climbed through the clouds but we arrived in St Marys without mishap. The town had obviously seen better days but we arrived on a Sunday of a long weekend so most of the population had probably left. We decided to move on to St Helens and this was down the St Marys pass on a road originally constructed by the convicts and once again made for a slow cautious decent but arrived at St Helens under threatening skies. We were directed to the local recreation ground to camp and joined quite a few visiting and local CMCA members there for an enjoyable night.

Monday morning (public holiday) dawned raining so we decided to stay put and enjoy each others company. It rained so much I had to relocate the bus from it waterfront views to slightly higher ground. We also had the benefit of being able to plug into power for the day which was fortunate as the solar panels were certainly not seeing any solar. I spent some of the day installing camping site POI into other peoples GPSs and explaining  the benefits of the club's GeoWiki

Tuesday morning dawned clear and the high water mark had receded somewhat and we packed to hit the road. We had to go into the town to restock the pantry and decide to travel alone. It can be a pain travelling in company all the time and one needs to get some space around one self every now an again. We had a lovely day exploring, found the "store in  the bush" and spent some money, then detoured to a waterfall but declined the hour and half walk to see it and also made a little side tack to see the carved trees which were magnificent. (will post photos later) This work of art done with a chainsaw is a memorial to our fallen on WW1.

Tonight we are in camp at Scottsdale in a very crowded camp on the edge of town, Allan and Maureen caught up with us later in the day and turn up with Ray and Julia in tow.  It's amazing who you run into in your travels. I have the Coaster booked in tomorrow for an oil change so will have to be up early. Forgot to mention Allan had another accident/incident last night, while lying in bed his glass top on his stove just exploded showering glass like a broken windscreen all around the motorhome but fortunately no injuries. I'm starting to think he is dangerous to travel with, hope his bad luck doesn't start rubbing off on us.

Bicheno and beyond

Yesterday we left Triabunna and wound our way up the coast in a slow but steady stream of motorhomes, caravans and motorbikes who all seem to be touring the eastern seaboard at the same time. We had been told that there were special CMCA camp sites opened up for us for the rally but the club magazine has not caught up with us with details so we enquired at the Triabunna information centre and were given verbal information which was of little use when you don't know the area. Only after arriving at Bicheno did the information centre here give us a printed list of the east coast camp sites. Unfortunately we had already passed a couple of them.

Swansea was a pretty place and the main street was motorhome alley with rigs parked along a long stretch of road. I am amazed also at the number of rental motorhomes plying the road over here. I decide I was going to have a look at Nine Mile Beach but unfortunately I turned into a suburban street, following another motorhome and of course my "bumpersticker" Allan followed and we all ended up in a narrow street with no turnaround. The guy in front of me had no problem with his car on an A frame, I just backed into a driveway and did a three point BUT! Allan with his car on a  caddy had to unload it to make a U turn. If I have learned one thing on this trip it is NEVER to travel with someone with a car on a caddy. You would think he would have learned after being caught FOUR times with this rig. %^$#@&^ Caddy trailers.

Anyway he laughed it off and I go grumpier and we travelled on.

Just as I exited from the Nine Mine Beach turnoff I pulled over to allow an ambulance, who was coming up behind rapidly, to pass and unfortunately we came across the scene of an accident where a bike rider was laying in the middle of the road being attended to by the ambulance.This was the first accident we had seen on the Island and most people appear to be very cautious on the roads down here.

We turned off to Coles Bay and only had a quick look as the weather was closing in all the scenery was covered in low cloud but decided to continue on to Bicheno for the night. We are currently camped in a sports ground right on the foreshore with the wind blowing and rain falling, probably the heaviest rain we have experienced so far but still relatively light. John, Kay and Gizmo (the ferocious guard dog) and Keith and Beth are also in camp here so we enjoyed a happy hour last night and caught up on the gossip that inevitably come from travelling and not seeing each other for a long time.

Up the East Coast

Last night we camped in the State Forrest at Lime Bay and on the way out of the camp site we stopped at the Convict Coal Mine for a look see. The ruins are not far from the car park and if you thought Port Arthur was tough, this site was even worse with the hard work and the way the convicts were treated was appalling. The mines were eventually closed down by the government and subsequently handed over to private enterprise who could not make a go of them. I guess slave labour had it advantages when it came to running costs, no superannuation to pay either.

At Eaglehawk to turned off the highway to mix with the "real tourist" (those packed into buses and talking funny languages) to view the Blowhole, Tasman Bridge and the Devils Kitchen. It is amazing what nature can shape over a few millions years. The climb out of Eaglehawk is quite steep and we had a drag race between the Hino and the Coaster in the passing lanes. Needless to say the Coaster won hands down but I won't mention the extra ton and a half the Hino was pulling.

At Sorello we restocked and refuelled before heading north to  Triabunna where we are camped with others behind the local pub. The trip was quite beautiful with some very nice mountain passes and coastal towns along the route. The drive along the river into Orford was spectacular.

One of things that has fascinated us is how you can turn a corner or climb a hill and feel you have driven into a different world, the scenery and contrasts can change that quickly.

Tonight we treated ourselves to Fush and Chups on the recommendation of another camper. If ever you are in Triabunna you just have to try the fish and chips caravan situated on the Esplanade. Fish straight from their boats to the pan and I have never tasted fish like it, and reasonable prices too.

Where to tomorrow, who knows, but most likely Swansea and Freycinet National Park.

Below is some of the photos we have taken.

Day Number ?? - I can't remember and who cares

Well it has been a few days since I brought my blog up to date. I is amazing how you loose track of time and can't remember what day of the week it is - I think this is Wednesday but it doesn't really matter..

A couple of days ago we went up to the Tahune AirWalk from Geeveston and it was a lovely cool sunny day but as usual the clouds came over but no rain fortunately. Wendy took a deep breath and walked the air-walk with me and I really think she enjoyed the the walk. When it came to walking out of the cantilever at the end of the walk the wind was chilling and blowing hard so she declined that, as did a lot of other people. Me being a hero LOL made it to the end but it is a funny feeling being 48 meters above the Huon River and swaying in the breeze. I did have a look at the kite flight across the river but decided that flying on a wire is not my idea of fun and decide to save my money for "real" flying. The site is really worth the trip out and back and I enjoyed the bush walking and information available. There must have been some really BIG trees in the early days as the ones that remain are indeed impressive.

After having lunch at Tahune we decided to retreat to Franklin for the night just in case we were in for another freezing night, which didn't eventuate. From there we parted company with Allan and Maureen as we had business to attend to in Huonville and Hobart before heading for Richmond to explore this historic town. It was a great little interesting town and has the best custard slices to kill for, as well as the oldest bridge in Australia. We had decided to camp just up the road at Flower Mill Park at Campania. Here we met a lady from Warwick Qld who on the first day of their holiday had the misfortune to fall out of their slide-on and break her arm in three places. They hadn't heard of the CMCA but I'm sure they will be members shortly as we left them a membership form.

Moving on from Campania we went to Port Arthur and did all the things one does at Port Arthur. I'm sure our legs will be a foot shorter after all this walking but hopefully the waist line will be a bit slimmer also. We were all shocked to learn detail of the barbaric mature of this early convict settlement/prison. It is also very sobering to be on the scene of the 1996 massacre and you can't help but feel for those people involved.

Leaving Port Arthur ( which by the way is another thing named after me??) we took the slow road to Sorell and haven't made it yet. Tonight we will be camped at Lime Bay, a pretty spot but they shore know how to charge in these State Forests without providing much in the way of facilities.

Tomorrow who knows but we will explore the area and make our way up the east coast.