Having had such a terrible nights sleep I happily packed up my tent and said goodbye to my temporary neighbours, the lovely Jill and Ken from Melbourne. I set off south into Glamorgan Spring Bay. As I drove over the Wye River there were two signs. The first said, 'WYE RIVER' and the second, 'Coz it's bigger than a creek'. It took me a while...!

On arrival in Swansea I headed straight for the info centre to book some accommodation for tonight. I just wanted a comfy bed and a hot shower. Standing infront of me at the counter were Jill and Ken! Anastasia was lovely and booked me into a motel in Orford. All I had to do now was entertain myself for a few hours! I filled up the car with petrol and walked down to Swansea Bay and their pier, which is made of recycled plastic bottles.

I made a short drive north to the Bark Mill where I visited the Swansea Yesteryear Exhibition. I realised how tired I was when I found myself hypnotised by a video on Baudin and Flinders exploration of Van Diemens Land AKA Tasmania! I continued my wander through the local relics, which could have done with some cobweb removal, and ended up watching the fascinating Marshall Steam Engine. This Heath Robinson contraption is incredible and used to take bark from the Black Wattle Tree to make powder used for leather tanning. On the way out I popped into the bakery to get the biggest piece of peppermint slice and a hot chocolate.

I had a mooch around the General Store in town which held an amazing variety of goods before heading south. It was too early for any cellar doors to be open, but I drove through some of Tassies finest wine growing areas. There were great views back across to the Freycinet Peninsula.

I stopped at Spiky Bay and Spiky Bridge, the later having been built by convicts. The drive was pretty but I was so tired I just wanted to get there. I stopped in Triabunna to suss out the route for tomorrow morning and to look at the boats in the harbour.

I arrived at the cococobanaesque Island View Motel in Orford around 3pm. The units were quaint from the outside and clean, neat and tidy on the inside. But the view was to die for! Advertised as 'absolute waterfront', they really did have a nice spot here. I sat out in the sun for a while before taking a short walk along the water seeing lots of water birds, including sooty oyster catchers and a pelican.

Still at bit dazed I did various dull tasks then headed to the IGA (local store) to stock up for the next few days. I got everything I wanted! These rural stores are good! I picked up a take out pizza and salad from Scorchers by the river and drove to Shelly Beach. The view was rubbish compared to my motel, so I drove back and sat outside to eat my pizza. Sweet chilli jam, scallops (garlicky), red onion, Leicester cheese and rocket. Must try this when I get home as it's the best pizza I have ever had.

I settled in for an early night having watched the sunset when my noisy neighbours arrived on a three wheeled mean machine. So my idea of a good nights sleep was destroyed.