We were on the road for our last camping destination in Tasmania. To be honest am getting a bit sick of the tent and roughing it a little. Been a long three weeks seeing the weather has been hit and miss. Anyway, Marty worked out that we would base ourselves in a little town called Cygnet for our last five nights. We headed off and stopped in Richmond to look at the famous bridge, built by convicts of course back in the 1800's! There were heaps of ducks and people feeding them so we got our stale bread out and handed it to the girls who were very eager to feed them. There was about 40 ducks and all was going well when next minute we hear the girls screaming and l look around to see them running around with sucks chasing them. I don't know who was more frightened, the girls or the onlookers. I couldn't stop myself from laughing as l tried to calm the girls down and explain that all the ducks want is the bread so don't run away from them with it as they will chase you!!! It was a bloody screamer l tell you. Haven't met such greedy ducks before either l must say. Anyway, Marty helped them get their confidence back and they fed them the rest of the bread then off they waddled for a swim in the creek once the bread was gone. The bridge looked great, a stone built bridge that looks like it is aging gracefully. We heard some bag pipes coming from the town and thought nothing of it till we arrived in Richmond itself and saw a Celtic Festival was taking place. Reluctantly Marty agreed to check it out. The girls loved it! They were holding a bagpipe band competition and we rocked to see all these people dressed on kilts and Celtic dress with little girls dressed in highland dance attire. Boo was overwhelmed and soooo excited. We watched the pipe band with drums do there thing, you could totally see Boo absorbing it all and had joy all over her face. We then went into the hall were there was a highland dancing competition taking place, Meg and Boo were spellbound. I can't express how much the girls enjoyed themselves in the hour we spent here, they were in their elements of music and dance and live performance. We finished up as it was cracking onto lunchtime and we wanted to visit the Richmond Gaol before heading off. It was a cheap admission fee, luckily because there wasn't much to look at, but keep in mind that we just spent two days in Port Arthur. Anyway, it had some interesting stories to tell and we wrapped it up after half an hour and had lunch.
We drove thru Hobart, the bridge we crossed to get there was awesome! The city itself looked amazing with the heritage buildings scattered about looking grand. We quickly passed thru as we would come back another day to do the tourist thing.
We rocked up in Cygnet, a half hour away from Hobart, to a small holiday park that consisted of grass and s few asphalt areas, an amenities block and a tiny camp kitchen. Looked ok, not flash but looked everything the $15 per night it cost to camp there. We just set up and kicked back for the rest of the day. It did feel like a pretty big day even though we hadn't done much, probably because we spent most of it in the car. The showers are worth a mention though, $1 for 5 minutes hot water. The girls thought it was a big game and loved putting the coins in, didn't enjoy the cold water once the money ran out though!! Lol.... The girls quickly met two little girls, Lucy and Tabitha, who they enjoyed playing with the next few arvo's. Again, when it hits 7pm the temperature drops and by 8pm we are well and truly inside the rent for the night..
Today we were on our way to conquer Hobart. First we had to find a tyre place as Marty noticed a nail in the back tyre. After three places we finally found somewhere that could fit us in. Luckily Marty decided not to take the nail out as it had punctured and needed fixing. Anyway by 12pm we were ready to start our tourist day. We arrived at Alpeinrail, a place that had a model of the Swiss Alps and railway system. It was pretty old and smelt musty inside but Marty and the girls loved it. The fairy garden outside looked like it hadn't been maintained for a while. It's actually closing in a few weeks, bit sad as has been around for decades and was pretty good in its day apparently. Oh well, l sucked that experience up as next stop was the Cadbury Factory. Another highlight Marty was looking forward too being the chocolate freak he is. We were greeted on arrival and given a complimentary block of chocolate. Marty and the girls eyes nearly exploded!!! Lol.. They don't tour through the factory anymore, but disappointing, but we had a talk given to us by a cool young bloke, again greeted before entering room with chocolate.. We are all loving this place at this stage. After the half hour presentation we headed into the discount store. So many decisions! We got a few things, well $35 worth of chocolate!!! Worth the visit apparently... We then made our way to the Female Factory, an old prison workhouse which housed women convicts transported to Australia during the time of the penal colony. The female factories were so named because the women were expected to work while there. It was a free tour, ok but again, was no Port Arthur. Interesting to learn about the female convict side of thugs though, some of the stories written sounded tougher than the males. Next stop was the Cascade Brewery, it stood do grand and stoic! I couldn't get enough of taking pics of it, neither could Marty really. We were too late for the tour so we took a quick walk around the gardens then headed off to our last stop for the day, Mt Wellington. We made the climb up to the pinnacle oft Wellington and quickly put our jackets on as it was bloody freezing. The clouds were traveling past so quick it felt like we could touch them! We went over to the lookouts and absorbed the views of Hobart, absolutely amazing!! After climbing the rocky hill up to the pinnacle for some pics we got back in the car and made our way back to Cygnet.
Today's weather was a bit dreary but we decided to head to Tahune Airwalk. It cost us $50 entry and to the girls disgust we were doing a few walks. We made our way up to the Airwalk and got great views of the forest and tree tops. I absolutely love the Tasmanian forests filled with moss on trees and huge trees! We then had some salad wraps for lunch before heading off on the swinging bridges walk. We got to the swinging bridge and made our way across. Boys being boys, Marty started jumping up and down and swinging it side to side, at first the girls loved it then it freaked them out! We all played hide and seek behind the huge trees on our way back to the carpark, running in front so no one could see where we were hiding. Meg screamed the loudest!!! Lol. All in all a great day, worth the visit. Got back to Cygnet and the girls straight away ran to Lucy and Tabitha for a play. Later on we hit the books with Boo and did some school. Relaxed for the rest if the evening....
Today the girls had to say goodbye to Lucy and Tabitha, but their parents, Dean and Lara gave us their contact details and said to call in when over in Geraldton. They were lovely and wish we had of spent some time hanging out with them. Anyway, we were off to Bruny Island so made our way to the ferry terminal at Kettering. The girls were excited to be going on another ferry, l don't think they will ever get sick of it. Whilst lining up we were behind this old duck who was having a barny with the cashier at the ferry, was quite amusing to watch and thanks to that we only had to pay the fee for a car under 5m which was $28 instead of $34. Now usually this wouldn't have mattered but there was no eftpos and we only scrounged up enough cash for $28!! Phew..... It only took about 20 mins and we had arrived on Bruny Island. We headed straight to 'The Neck' which is in the middle of the island and is a narrow road which has an amazing lookout and is home to the penguin rookery. We arrived climbed up the steep staircase to the top and witnessed amazing turquoise ocean and beaches stretching for miles. It was beautiful. Whilst heading back down the path took us over the penguin burrows and it was a shame we didn't come camp the night as it would have been great to see them all come out of the ocean back to their burrows. We also saw a heap of black swans in the ocean floating around which is a frequent view in Tassie. I've never seen so many black swans, lead alone in the ocean, as l have in Tassie!! Oh well, next time. We had some lunch on the side of the road, we are now masters of this, and headed down to South Bruny Island. We checked out the lighthouse at Cape Bruny, and had amazing views of coastal cliffs up there. We then took a drive thru Mt Mangana Forest Reserve which was beautiful. I was driving at this point, this doesn't happen often, and you could tell Marty wasn't relaxed while l took the corrugated dirt corners slightly quicker than l probably should have been. Lol... Anyway we made it safely to Adventure Bay and had an icecream on the beach, which we all enjoyed. We then headed up to the north part of the island and drove along the coast. We went right up to the most northern point, Dermes Point, which surprisingly had a few farms scattered about. It was late arvo and we made the choice to head back and catch the ferry rather than having to fill in another 1.5 hours before the next one. Overall, Bruny Island was gorgeous and if ever in the area we will definitely come back and camp here. It was a big day crammed a lot of kms into it but enjoyed it immensely. Couldn't believe how many unsealed roads there were here! Anyway, after getting back to off the ferry we headed back to camp to chill out over a few wines and beer.
It was our second last day down south Tassie and we were all starting to tire but the end was near. Today was another day spent in the car, but it was well worth it!! We made our way down to the most southern part of Australia, at Cockle Creek. The beach was heavenly, clear water stretching forever white fine white sand. Marty and l both agreed that if ever back in Tassie we will most definitely be spending a week down here. It's an a well kept secret l think. Anyway, we headed to Recherché Bay and found a huge metal whale sculpture that the girls quickly ran to and started climbing over. This is a place named after a french explorer. Just as we were enjoying the views a bloody sun shower started so we headed back to the car. The drive back was annoying, had enough of the windy hilly roads here on Tassie. Not one straight road here!!! Got back to camp and took it easy, caught up on some of Boo's school. We were all getting tired and missing the caravan.... Last day here tomorrow though. Sad but happy...
Last day in southern Tasmania and we were heading to Hastings thermal got springs. We got there in an hour or so, all excited to be going for a swim, l think even Marty. The entry fee was $12, not bad for swimming in hot springs right. Wrong!! We get find there to see a cement pool filled with luke warm water. It's meant to be an average of 28oC, well not today! We all get changed and have a swim anyway, us girls convince Marty that it's not too cold. After jumping in Marty and l only last for five minutes then we both got out and have a hot shower. The girls don't care swim forever. Was quite funny to sit and watch everyone coming down excited and after jumping in the pool see them push through to make it last before finally giving in and getting out!!! Lol... After the swim we headed down the platforms walkway to try find us a platypus. They'd said that there had been a few sightings in the creek so l was hopeful. It's the only thing we hadn't seen in Tassie and l was determined to see one before we left. To our disappointment, and not through the lack of not trying, we left not seeing one but still had a beautiful walk and learnt about the hot springs.
We returned to camp, am getting really tired of the windy roads once again. Tomorrow is pack up day and our last leg of this journey. We're heading to Devonport to have a last hoorah with the Woods. The girls are very excited about seeing Charlotte and Jake again, it's a wonderful friendship all round.
Bell Xxx