The next morning we are up at the crack of dawn for what we've planned to be a major hiking expedition. We drive down the coast about 25 miles to the Freycinet National Park, a huge peninsula of virgin forest mountains and beaches that is only reachable by foot (or boat). It is refreshing to see how carefully Tasmania maintains its incredible heritage of land that has not been developed, built on, logged or otherwise spoiled by "civilisation". Something like 1/3 ...

Sunday, 13 March. Today we pack up and head down to our next port, another self catering cottage in the town of Bicheno. The drive is probably not more than an hour, so we figure we'll be there by lunch, as the map doesn't show much of interest between start and destination. However, as Robin is driving I check my Tassie guidebook, and read that a place called Shelley Point is good for sea shells. We decide to stop there as we're in no hurry. Luckily I decide to ...

Our destination today is the small village of Binalong Bay, at the southern end of the Bay of Fires, which is actually a series of beautiful bays along the northeast coast of Tasmania. We have plenty of time to do the 100 miles, so stops and side trips will be the order of the day. We make it to Scottsdale for lunch, then take a short detour to a small place called Legerwood, where there is an amazing set of outdoor sculptures. It all started after WWI, when the ...

Thursday 10th, at the crack of dawn we arrive in Devonport (on the Mersey river) and head off down the Tamar Valley to our destination which is the town of Launceston (second largest city in Tasmania, with just under 100,000 population). We have to pinch ourselves to check that we haven't travelled back to the West Country! The route to Launceston passes through lush agricultural land dotted about with Holsteins, Freisians, Belted Galloway and, of course, plenty ...

Port Melbourne is a short drive from the city and is where the Spirit of Tasmania sails daily from Melbourne across the Bass Strait to Devonport on the north coast of Tasmania, a distance of some 250 miles. We boarded at 7.00 pm for the night service which gets us in at 6.00 the next morning. We have a deluxe cabin which boasts 'total luxury'. Having crossed the English Channel in similar sized P&O Ferries many times and seen what it's like, this was really n...