Another guest blog from Bob - enjoy!!

Tassie is quite simply a 'test of the senses' and they have all been tested in the last few weeks. Waltham has preferred to stay in the safety of the van, see pic of him and Winnie!

The Tasman Peninsula and, in particular Port Arthur, was our next destination. This was one of our favourite places but has a somewhat dark history to go with it despite this. In the mid 1800's convicts, who had previously been sent out from England, were sent here if they reoffended in the colony. It was sold to us as a very dismal place but we actually found it very serene and beautiful. I agree that you can imagine what the convicts went through, but there was a system of rehabilitation in place and you could get yourself a new career on your release. There were those, of course, that habitually reoffended, ended up in solitary and ended up in the mental asylum. It was so interesting to see how the officers, and their families, lived in conjunction with the prisoners on a remote part of Tasmania, only accessible by a narrow neck of land. Any prisoner attempting to escape from the jail, would have to head up the peninsula to a thin 100m wide strip of land and cross the 'Dog Line'. This was a line of vicious dogs stationed at intervals along the neck of land, and also on rafts out at sea, to give warning of any escapees! The jail, its surroundings and the whole concept of convicts, young children and a community living and working around this jail in these dark days makes it difficult for any visitor to come away from here without any feelings. Add to that, in 1996, on a quiet Sunday afternoon a madman opened fire and massacred several visitors and staff at the Centre, which now has it's own memorial Garden and remains of the cafe that were partially destroyed. Despite the sobriety of Port Arthur's heritage site, it is now a beautiful, peaceful place and the new Visitors centre opened just before Christmas adds a much improved status to the area. The media were covering the 10th anniversary of this Port Arthur massacre in 2006 when a tragic mining disaster occurred in the town of Beaconsfield in the north. The world news were on hand to report when three miners were trapped 925m below the surface, due to an earth tremor and subsequent cave-in. Two miners somehow survived this ordeal and were brought to the surface over a week later. The museum there is fascinating yet it all brought to light that Tasmania is not without its darker side.

From the Peninsula we then moved out to sea. Mrs G was not exactly too ecstatic about this, not being a great sailor, and the thought of going out on the Tasman sea (where beyond the horizon was nothing except Antartica!) in a small Rib needed all my best cajoling methods (and quite a few sea sickness tablets!). However, within minutes of being out along the coast, huge, stunning rock formations were pointed out to us along with sightings of a pair of white bellied sea eagles. This was followed shortly by escorting, passing dolphins and soon put thoughts of sea-sickness aside. Looking up at the Southern Hemisphere's tallest sea cliffs can only be described as awesome, although this adjective doesn't do this coastline justice. Passing such famous rock faces as The Candlestick and Totem Pole (where quite unbelievably we saw rock climbers- how they got there in the first place was a mystery) was simply awe-inspiring and, mixed with the different geology of rock face, made this a truly memorable experience. Being in a Rib we could move closely into the rocks and, on one such experience, we thought we were going "uphill", as the rock layers gave you this unreal sensation. Next, in between the mainland and Tasman Island, we saw the old Lighthouse and seal colonies. Rather thankfully the old Lighthouse has been relocated, as how on earth they managed to get a lighthouse keeper and family onto the island, for a 6-12 month period, defies gravity given the remains of the old pulley system that is currently rusting away against ferocious waters.

Australian and Southern fur seals came out to see us as we neared their home and ohh what a smell! The huge colony took your breath away and Sally has been describing it as if she were in David Attenborough's 'Planet Earth' series, truly remarkable, to the point where you just had to take a break from taking photos and try and capture the moment with these beautiful animals. We reluctantly moved away as the swell was beginning to become more noticeable and the other Rib out with us kept disappearing below the wave line but, despite this, our attention was drawn towards two Albatrosses searching for food in the Ocean. Just amazing! They were more difficult to capture on camera!

Quite a few sensory organs were tested out there! On land it was a different story. Tasmania is very 'RV friendly' which in the motor home world means towns like Recreational Vehicles (even Winnie). Hence our experiences around Tasmania were very varied. We managed to stay on 22 different sites during our month long tour, staying on campsites where we were smoked out by inconsiderate holidaying campers. We were scared stiff whilst being pretty much on our own in a car park with an isolated buildings' alarm going off. We camped in fields at the back of Pubs, on huge showground sites which doubled up, whilst we were on them, as Sunday morning markets. Some sites were next to crystal blue waters with white sandy beaches, some on beautiful farm lands next to railways. We pretty much covered all bases with wilderness, remoteness, to the comfort of campers being together on well-maintained sites.

However, what of our other senses? Surely we are missing something? Surprise, surprise, but we did manage to keep our taste buds working full time! Tasmania is a foodie and drink lovers delight. Simple roadside food stalls are not the same as they are in England. Fruit LOOKS fresh and is sooo tasty, cheeseries (more than just a cheese shop!) are worth stopping at, home made chocolate coated strawberry ice cream is worth stopping for, as are the chocolate coated coffee beans……!

However, Tasmania also has some wonderful seafood and some pretty awesome wineries. So, 'The Long Lunch Tour Company' helped us out with that one! Joining a small group of other like minded tourists from around the globe saw us enjoy several Tasmanian wineries plus food to match. Fresh oysters plucked from the sea less than 24 hours previous, locally caught mussels, fresh Abalone (note title in case you missed it!), wood fired home baked pizza, it was all too much - well not really, as we lapped it all up! My only complaint from the tour was that they offered us too many different wines, oh what a whinger I am!

Tasmania has a tick list of places and things to see and do. Whilst we tried to do most of them, there were lots of hidden gems that makes this state quite unique (we kept wanting to call it a country!). Whether you like alpine mountainous countryside, complete wilderness, barren and mining destroyed landscapes, seascapes with crystal clear waters and white sandy beaches, or little hidden beaches with penguins and muttonbirds returning after sunset, quirky towns which encourage visitors to stop and look at their topiary or beautiful murals, or just a place with nice views Tasmania seems to have it all. As to the food and drink, well need I say more………..

We hope that you enjoy some of the pictures we have attached but so often, as we are finding out, the pictures taken simply don't do justice to the scenes before you. However, we have tried to link a few up within the blog so that you can get a 'taste' of our experiences.

So, we have now crossed the Bass Strait again and are on the mainland. The 'Spirit of Tasmania', one of the state's icons delivered us across this notoriously rough stretch of water, safe and sound, and now we move onwards and to the west with many, many kilometres still ahead of us!