"So Tom, when do you think that this low cloud and drizzle will clear?" I asked as we drove from Hobart's airport to the office where we were going to pick up our camper van.

Looking up at the sky, and sticking his proverbial finger to the wind, Tom answered reverently, "Ah, it should clear in a couple hours. Be clear by mid afternoon, mate."

Just what we wanted to hear. Melbourne had been warm and sunny, but a little on the windy side. Some beach time on Tasmania's awesome beaches would be just what the doctor ordered. When last did we actually get our kit off (not all of it! Shame on you for thinking that! We are old money, darling!) for a little beach time? Bring on the sun!

Landing at Hobart's International (?? Ed: a flight once went to somewhere other than Australia, apparently!) Airport can only be likened to landing smack bang onto the set of Northern Exposure. The city of Hobart is nowhere in sight, tucked behind the mountains and on the other side of the river mouth and with the low clouds and drizzle obscuring the far horizon, the windswept airport and the pines on the hill tops lent a very wild and rustic air to the whole setting. The only thing missing was a moose wandering across the runway and a bear lumbering into the mist obscured pine forests.

We had arrived. Tasmania, Australia's Natural State. With only 500 000 people in the state and 200 000 of them in the state's capital, there are plenty of wild, uninhabited spaces here. Tasmania was also home to the first permanent convict settlements and hence, the oldest buildings and the start of European history in Australia. First known as Van Diemen's Land it later became Tasmania after the Dutch captain who sighted it. The name change was because the convicts' came to know it as "Demons' Land" because of the brutal and sometimes barbaric nature of the penal system here. Not good advertising when you need new colonies and territories filled up with hopeful and optimistic settlers! Even the British Empire knew the importance of brand management.

Since we had arrived, picked up our camper van and were heading to the infamous settlement of Port Arthur, we couldn't help but admire how awesome the scenery was here. Despite the cloud and drizzle, the landscape was truly breath-taking. Every which way you turned there was something new to admire and gawp at in wonder and amazement! Beaches, forested hills, isolated coves and bays, tiny mountain passes and tiny little picturesque towns and villages nestled here and there. It was not hard to imagine why this sheltered bay was called Pirates Bay. With the mist and rain swirling and the heavy swell crashing against the far headlands, you could almost see a ship anchored and lowering sail and waiting for the weather to ease.

As we headed even further south away from Hobart toward the historic site of Port Arthur and its museum buildings, we passed the old officers' quarters and the infamous "Dog Line". Port Arthur is situated in a very sheltered bay on a small peninsula and the spit of land that connects the peninsula is very thin and narrow - only about 500m wide - and this was where any escaped convicts would have to cross to make an escape to the greater Tasmanian island. The only effective detergent was viscous dogs trained to bring down any wannabe! Charming......simple, but brutal and very effective.

But Tasmania is camper van heaven and you can pretty much stop at the side of any road and make camp for the night. Anywhere without anybody moving you on! Fantastic! So we wondered as far south as we could and founds our first night's stop at the Remarkable Cave. What was so remarkable about it, we could not fathom, but the place we stopped was fantastic! Waves pounding the rocky outcrops, mist and drizzle obscuring the headlands disappearing into the distant and nothing but windswept sea between us and Antarctica! Brilliant!

Time for a well deserved cup of tea, number one!