Port Arthur is an amazing site, over 100 acres in old money. Many of the buildings are gone so it seems spacious but old drawings and paintings from the time show it to be crowded with structures of one kind or another. For the price of (our cheapskate) entry you get two days at the site, an introductory tour and a short harbour cruise. Add-ons like extra tours up the price, but a two hour tour on an island in the wind and rain did not appeal on the day… we did...

After leaving Jo's we crossed the Derwent via the Tasman Bridge and stopped at Richmond, a little village frozen in time. Its gaol predates Port Arthur by 5 years and is open to have a look around. Walking around the village streets is like walking around a pretty English village with small cottages surrounded by magnificent gardens full of roses and cottage plants. Richmond also boasts the oldest bridge in Australia - it too is very pretty and surrounded by a ve...

One of the reasons for a stopover in Hobart - apart from seeing the sights - was to catch up with an old school friend whom I have not seen since the day we left school in December 1967! She went to Canberra to Uni while I stayed in Sydney and our paths never crossed again. But as luck would have it, another schoolfriend had Jo McGlynn's details and I emailed her a while ago to see about getting together after all this time. Finally a few days ago I had given ...

The car ferry to Bruny Island takes about 20 minutes from Kettering. A strong wind was blowing from the west straight down the little bay - so what's new - but the crossing was uneventful. Once on the island we headed down to Adventure bay where we booked our boat trip around the south-eastern part of South Bruny Island. After that we had a few days to explore the almost-two islands which are actually one, being joined by "The Neck", a long isthmus of sand dune w...

Today is the halfway point, our 21st day in Tasmania so three weeks down and three to go. Having gone as far south as possible yesterday and recovered from the walk - just - we moseyed north again, weaving on and off the small back roads off the highway, doubling the distance we are travelling in the process. In Geeveson, we checked out the Forestry Centre, another forestry PR centre but well done and with a marvellous collection of old machinery, all hand or ...