Port Arthur

 It's been over 40 years since I last visited Port Arthur and hasn’t it changed. Huge car parks, massive visitors centre and so many people!  Guess that’s progress?

Upside is entrance fee ($76 for two concession passes) now includes a twenty-minute harbour cruise.

It’s still worth a visit if you are down this way as there is a lot of history in these old buildings and site.

Looks like a prisoner escaped.

Must be getting old as it was a bit of a struggle for Linda with her sore hip and me with my recovering knee, but we made it around, albeit slowly.

Guard?

The most difficult thing to do at Port Arthur is to get a photo with no one else in it.

Our accommodation for the night was nearby at White Beach and we had a lovely old cabin to ourselves. Once again excellent accommodation with no complaints.

Off tomorrow to catch up with Aaron, Tara and Family for a couple of nights at Swansea on the East Coast.

Short vide is HERE

Around Hobart

 After leaving the rugged west coast and the interior plateau we headed down the Derwent River Valley to our accommodation our accommodation on the South Arm at the “River View Bungalow”.  

On the Bungalow deck

We did have some initial reservations as it was a lot further out from Hobart than we thought (about 40min drive) but what a spectacular spot. The Bungalow was perfect for two with separate lounge/bedroom and ensuite rooms and every window had views over the Derwent River estuary plus there was a deck in the morning sun.  Linda spent hours watching the resident plover family, hundreds of other birds, and the antics of the rabbits. We had booked two nights as we wanted a full day to look around Hobart area.

As we were once again blessed with clear weather, we decided to take the long uphill drive to the peak of Mount Wellington. The views were spectacular, and Linda found a small patch of snow to play in.

After coming down the Mountain we headed out to historic Richmond to check out the oldest bridge in Australia, visit the Sweet and Chocolate Factory and the sample Wicked Cheese Factory.

Our routine whilst staying at AirB&B’s is to have a big late lunch and cheese and crackers at night (with a small glass of red or two). So – we stopped at the local Tavern on the way home ate a big meal and spent the next two hours investing in Tasmania’s budget (playing Keno and the pokies). 

Linda came home around $350 up and I cleared $30 (which is good for me). I have referred ourselves to the Gambling Help Line and hopefully our rehab will start shortly.

Small video is HERE

Cradle Mountain

 After leaving Ulverstone we decided to go the long way around to our next B&B at Waratah via Cradle Mountain. It was a good decision as it was a rare day where the mountain was not obscured by cloud and rain.

When we arrived, we pulled into the Visitors Centre to pay our fees ($38 for a Concession 12month National Parks Pass) and were advised to drive the 6 km down to the Rangers Station to catch the shuttle bus to Dove Lake. As luck would have it there was a shuttle bus ready to leave as we arrived – so we bolted across and jumped on. Unfortunately, this was the returning bus to the Visitors Centre! Old people do weird things? Anyway, after visiting the Visitors Centre twice and getting our bearings we finally got the right bus to Dove Lake.

I could rabbit on about the beauty of the Lake, the Mountains, the magnificent scenery, the unique vegetation, the wombats, the serenity, the waterfall, lunch at Peppers etc (yep, I’m rabbiting on again) but I will let the photos in the attached video tell the story.

Definitely ticked one more off the bucket list.

Short video is HERE

Ulverstone

 After a super-fast 31/2  hour flight from Perth we arrived in Launceston Airport and picked up our hire car and headed off to Aaron and Tara’s place in Ulverstone. We were lucky to get a good exchange rate 1 Australian Dollar to 1 Tasmanian Dollar. It’s been about six years since we had caught up and Luke and Aria had certainly changed. 

Our AirB&B in Penguin (our home for the next nine nights) was small but comfortable for two old people. Situated in a rural area on the edge of town it was peaceful and relaxing.

A nice rainbow for Luke

Over the next week Aaron and Tara took us everywhere around the Ulverstone/Devonport/Burnie areas.

I am going to miss some but to name a few:

Penguin burrow

Sheffield, Mt Rolland, Reliquiae in Latrobe, Penguins at sunset at Doctors Rocks, Trout fishing (caught my first Brown Trout – tick the bucket list), Leven Canyon (pronounced Levin) – where Linda climbed a mountain with Aaron, more Trout fishing (we are Britton’s 😊), dinner at Pedro’s Seafood, and breakfast at Doulton Café.

Linda also put a dent in the Tasmanian economy with over $500 won in Keno at the local Sport and Recreation Club.

In this busy schedule I was also able to catch up with my other Tassie based son – Joshua, my eight-year-old granddaughter Olivia, my grandson William (both who I have never seen), and Olivia’s/William’s mum Cassie. Been a long time and was great to catch up.

Stanley

On a miserable and rainy-day Linda and I decided to head west to Smithtown and Stanley. I was very impressed with Stanley with the town nestled around a huge block of rock (called the Nut). 

Two Granddaughters!

Although our B&B was small, we did manage a couple of sleep overs for the grand-kids. Luke (the quiet one), and Aria and Olivia (the not so quiet ones 😊) stayed on separate nights. It was great to have the grandies stay over.

Fantastic time - thanks to Aaron and Tara for looking after us and Aaron taking time off work to take us everywhere! 

Small video is HERE

Escape from Collie

 After three months of being grounded because of my knee replacement we decided to pack up the van and head south for a week.

After visiting friends in Bridgetown, we decided to free camp for a one night at Muirs’ Bridge on the Franklin River. Not a bad area for an overnighter with a large level area suitable for half a dozen vans with several tables and seats available for use. We were the only ones there for the night, so it was light the fire, drinks, Yahtzee (I hate that game – always getting flogged), and dinner by the fire – nice to be back on the road again.

Camp on the Kalgan River

We booked into Kalgan River Caravan Park just outside Albany for four nights. We had stayed here before and it’s a great little park where you can camp 30 meters from the river. After four months of not fishing, I was keen to wet a lure or two so got up an hour before sunrise to flick some lures around wading the shallows.  Unfortunately, the icebergs floating down the river got tangled in my lure – bloody freezing! 

As it was our 34th wedding anniversary on the Saturday we caught up with some good friends from Collie (who were also caravanning down south) for a celebratory dinner at one of the local Indian restaurants. Called the Albany Indian Tandoori Restaurant – great food, reasonable pricing and I would certainly recommend.

Plan for our stay in Albany was to visit the National Anzac Centre and do some tourist things around the area. 

Chainsaw cockatoo

One unusual display in Albany was the “chainsaw” art carving exhibition which for a gold coin donation you can do a drive through tour of some pretty good artwork created by using only a chainsaw.  Takes a good 10-15 minutes to do the loop – and well worth a look.

Old HMAS Torrens 4.5" Turret

Late in 1914 - 41,000 Anzacs and 13,000 horses departed Albany in two convoys at the start of WW1. The National Anzac Centre records the departure of the convoys and the story of the Anzacs in all theatres of conflict in WW1 and history of some of those lucky enough to return home. It has a brilliant interactive display, and the main display building is surrounded by military memorabilia – including the 4.5” gun turrets from HMAS Swan and Torrens (which during my Navy career I had certainly been in and on – shows how old I am). Linda and I spent an enjoyable but sobering 4 hours out at the centre. The severe hardship endured with a joke and a smile, and mateship that those young Australian’s and Kiwi’s displayed was unbelievable.

At the Gap platform

Day three in Albany saw us heading out towards Frenchman Bay to take in the wild coastline at the Gap, Natural Bridge, Blowholes, and then to the whaling station for coffee and scones. Unfortunately, the blowholes weren’t “blowing” due to the low swell – but the coffee and scones were great😊.

Cheynes Beach

After leaving Albany we headed east to Cheynes Beach Caravan Park – it was a long and arduous run of 55Km, but we made it! Friends had told us that this was a special spot, and I would have to agree. The beaches are that pure white silica sand (that makes Lucky Bay at Esperance famous) and almost as hard as bitumen. It would be a mecca in summer with at least 15km of beach easily accessible by 4WD.  We were lucky to visit when the Southern Right whales were in the bay with their calves. There were three mother calf groups in the bay when we were there and they quiet often were within 100m of the shore. photos we took didn’t really do justice to the whale action and my drone was playing up. Reckon Cheynes Beach beats Lucky Bay anytime. This same beach was where the huge pod of Pilot Whales beached themselves recently with all of them dying on the beach despite a huge effort to get them back off the beach – sad. 

We tried the famous “fish and chips” at the Cheynes Beach Take-away and were disappointed - 5 out of 10. Oh well could have been worse – pilot whale pie?

On the way back to Collie we took a diversion through the Porongurup Ranges -as the whole southwest had received above average winter rains everything was green and lush. Funny thing – when you get up very close to the Porongurup’s you can’t see anything of the ranges unless you go into the park. So, the sights of the Stirling Ranges in the distance dominated the scenery.

Great to get away. A short video is HERE. I have just brought some new video editing software - so some of the effects in the video might not be that great.

Footnote: Regular readers of this blog might have noticed no photos or mention of our little dog Molly. Sadly, in a devastating and tragic series of events we lost her in June this year. We miss her very much.

The Wheatbelt Way

The Wheatbelt Wayers

 Even before we headed north for our winter break we had discussed catching up with family and friends to do the “Wheatbelt Way” which is a self-drive tour of around 500km (more like 800km if you follow Mr. Google like I did) thru the central wheat belt of WA. 

Weird sheep  out here

So, after meeting up with the gang at Dowerin for diner at the local pub (allegedly with the grumpiest publican in WA) we set off - visiting various sites. I must say that day one was a little underwhelming, as whilst I am sure a fresh water well was critical to the early settlers, once you have seen one hole in the ground the rest look similar. The floral reserves where likewise nice, but again, we had been spoilt by the masses of wildflowers further north earlier in the trip. 

nice flowers at Korrelocka Reserve

The free camp at the end of day one was Marshall Rock which is one of many granite outcrops that are common in this area. It’s a nice flat camping area with one of the cleanest long drop toilets I have shat upon. Great night with raging fire, BBQ, drinks, music and good company.

Day two was a little more interesting particularly the Pergande Sheepyards (made of granite slabs), more bloody wells, and a great free camping area at Beringbooding Rock. This is a massive outcrop where, for two years during the great depression of the 1930’s, men toiled to build (with no machinery) the largest rock water catchment in Australia.  It’s a large area where you could easily spend a day or two exploring. We had stopped to cut wood during the day so after a friendly game of Molkky (those bloody cheating women won!) it was fire, BBQ, drinkies, music and pull up the doona to keep warm.

Two shots Ian!

Next morning we headed off to Elachbutting Rock which has a one way road (suitable for caravans) around most of the 100 acres of rock. There are rock tunnels (Monty’s Pass) and wave rock formations via an easy walk and further round a free camping area (dogs not allowed). The northern end of the drive trail was also carpeted in masses of yellow wild flowers. The Rock is well worth a visit if you are in the area. From Elachbutting (where do these names come from?) we bolted across another 80km of dirt road (good on you Mr. Google!) through Muckinbuden (again, where do these names come from?) to our next overnighter at Trayning Caravan Park. What a little gem, clean flat drive-in sites, artificial grass, water, power, playground, pool in summer, camp kitchen and spotless amenities for $22/nigh per van. The local tavern had friendly staff, great food, and cold beer. I won’t mention that I am the undefeated Traying eight ball champion.

Would I recommend the Wheatbelt Way and visiting every site on the map – NO Way. I would however recommend the free camps at the various rocks and the Trayning Caravan Park.

Next day saw us drop into a small free museum at Yelbeni, drive through Wyalkatchem (??) to Pumphreys Bridge free camp. Usually, a quiet area, there was a caravan club and two family groups taking up most of the camping area – but we snuck around the back, encircled a fireplace and held our ground. A different night with fire, BBQ, drinkies, music, and good company. 

In the morning, after 138 nights on the road - Linda, Molly and I finally pulled into our driveway in Collie -  Home!

Rather long video is HERE

Camel Soak

 Having some time to kill before meeting up with family and friends out in the wheatbelt we decided to head further east to a campsite we had never been to before but had good reviews on Wikicamps (my bible for campsites).

Nice camp for 4 nights

Camel Soak is around 45km east from Perenjori and this time of year is a peaceful and colourful camp. The granite catchment, also known as “The Rock Hole” was sunk as a watering point for men and their camel teams working on the No 2 Rabbit Proof Fence from 1903 to 1905.

When we arrived at Camel Soak I off course asked Linda “one hump or two?” – something must have got lost in the translation as all I got was a stern look and a slap around the ears. So much for my genuine interest in the species of camel that frequented the area 😊.

Linda's outdoor dog clipping service

As luck would have it the whole area around the outcrop was carpeted in wildflowers and the outcrop had water in most of the gamma holes which was great for Molly the hound to have a paddle in the mid-day warmth.

There are lots of flat open areas to camp and quiet a few tables and fireplaces scattered across the site, a clean long drop dunny and nice walks thru the bush and up on the outcrop. 

We did search high and low for the fabled wild orchards that are supposed to be in abundance in the area but suspect they had bloomed and gone as we couldn’t locate a single specimen.

A mans not a camel!

We spent 4 nights here – warm days, cool nights with fire, and pleasant walks – it is certainly a place I would recommend in early spring.

Short video is HERE