Today we have to leave the beautiful east coast and head back inland. Saturday night Faye and John have to be in Devonport, ready for the ferry back early Sunday morning. And we have to be in Port Sorrel, not far from Devonport, to check into our week in a time share apartment.

As we had one night left, we decided to re-visit Ross as we all had liked it so much. To get from the coast to the Midland Highway there are three alternatives. One is the road from St Helens (a bit further north) to Launceston. We had taken that on our first trip and found it very long and winding. A bit further south is a road that runs along a valley for 90% of its length, but climbs steeply up a mountain through Elephant Pass right at the end. John had done this on their previous trip, and had no desire to do it again, especially with a caravan. The third alternative was a road called Lake Leake Road, which we had been told was quite an easy drive.

Although initially it was a bit winding and steep, it soon opened up to gentle plains and was really quite good. We hit the Midland Highway just ten kilometers north of Ross, so didn't have far to go.

We found Ross still every bit as beautiful as we thought the first time. Now we had more time we discovered the museum, the old bridge with amazing carvings, and the old church, as well as all the shops, bakeries and cafés. The caravan park was right on the river, just down from the bridge. It was open and lush and green, and had a Lover's Walk along the river. Beautiful spot. Beats Richmond every time.

As we walked though town, we noticed a very large number of Asian tourists, mostly congregating around one of the cafés. Investigating why, we discovered this bakery had a historic wood fired oven, and it was rumoured that Miyazaki, the great Japanese director of animated movies, had based the oven in one of his films - Kiki's Delivery Service - on this same oven. Apparently he had come as a tourist to Tasmania and was really taken by it.