Wednesday, March 16th we drive to Hobart. It's a pleasant drive through farming country, though Robin was a bit upset when he ran over a snake, and actually slowed down wondering if we should go back and see if it was beyond help. I vetoed that, asserting that he had done the country as favour, as Australia has the largest number of poisonous snakes (and bugs, and fish, not to mention the crocs). Further on, we decided to stop off for lunch in Richmond in the Coa...

We're off further down the east coast of Tasmania to Port Arthur and Stormy Bay. It's a long drive and stops offs are mandatory--at Orford, for example, for a coffee and to switch drivers. Incidentally, so far this drive through Tasmania has taken us through the counties of Devon, Westmoreland, Dorset, Cornwall, Somerset, Glamorgan, Pembroke, Monmouth and Buckingham. Sound familiar? We make it down to our destination at Port Arthur by lunchtime. Not another convi...

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 ...