So the cold mornings in Tasmania have really started to give our car some strife. The reliable 'keep on going' Prado has started to rattle, and thump, and blow a bit of smoke. A quick search on Dr Google gave me the diagnosis that our car was about to blow up and we would be stranded on the Apple Isle forever.....

A sleepless night resulted in a morning of phone calls to Toyota to get it checked out. A few to and fro's from Richmond to Kingston resulted in needing some injector replacements (luckily covered by dealer warranty), so we found ourselves moving the van to Snug for the night, with a view out to North Bruny Island. Another beautiful spot not on our itinerary....

After being put at ease by the Toyota rep, we booked our car in for a fix in a week or so, but got the go ahead to keep going with our trip to the Tasman Peninsula.

Our destination, Fortescue Bay on the wonderful eastern coast of the peninsula. We arrived, and oh my lord, what a spot! The bay was still, white sands lined the shore and the sunset left a warm glow of dappled light through the trees. A quiet night in nature finished with the glimmer of moonlight shimmering over the bay as we sat, wine in hand, and took it all in (two kids quiet and asleep!).

Sunrise was just as special. Bern squeezed in a quick 5k run and I did the same almost making it to Canoe Bay on the rough trails and soft sandy beach. A swim in the cool (freezing) water and waves was a good replacement for a morning shower. The afternoon came, and the grey clouds rolled in, potentially putting a slight 'dampener' on tomorrow's hiking plans...

Cape Hauy was the destination and supposedly spectacular, the heavy rain and fog, plus the spiritless saturated hikers walking in the opposite direction, gave us the impression that we may not experience the full wonder. We pressed on and 2 hours in, rain eased and the dramatic cliffs opened up as we came to the Cape. We perched atop shear cliffs a hundred metres down to the dark blue ocean for a spot of lunch. The first dry moment of the hike, as we saw the band of rain we had just walked through pushing towards the horizon. The walk back was yet again very wet, and slightly longer with Theo insisting on walking over an hour of the return trip. The older hikers were very impressed with us whipper snappers...

We spent another few days on the Tasman peninsular, Steve visiting Port Arthur and Bern and the kids heading to Unzoo, to say hello to the local devils. We also managed to visit the best fish and chip stand in the Southern Hemisphere (twice) for a serving of delicious melt-in-your-mouth calamari and real fruit berry icecream. For those coffee lovers out there, 9.7/10 on beanhunter is pretty good and you wouldn't expect this type of rating outside of the big cities. But here was Cubed espresso, all that and more with exquisite coffee from a funky 60's van perched overlooking Pirate Bay, and a view along the east coast all the way back to Cape Hauy.

A short cameo in Dunalley, staying behind the Dunalley Pub was our last venture on the Peninsula. A morning run uncovered a town rebuilt after the ferocious fires in January 2013. An awful event destroying many homes and lives, but it appears to have recovered on face value with wonderful facilities, buildings, schools and playgrounds. This date was significant to Bern and I as we flew out of Hobart the day before these fires took hold, after completing the Overland Track. I remember hearing the name Dunalley on the news, but seeing the damage and the surrounding mountains, to be here would have been terrifying.