Feb 15th - 31st
15th February
Today we decided to head for the hills and explore the Otway National Park. We followed the signs to a tree top walk as we had enjoyed the one in Walpole. We were a little disappointed to find out on arrival that the admission cost was $40 - so decided to skip the walk and head 3km's up the road for the Triplet Falls - not expecting much.
We were after a 40 minute steep descent pleasantly surprised to be amongst beautiful rain forest and find an amazing waterfall. Mike jumped the handrail and ventured further into the rainforest to get closer to the waterfall to take some photos while Bec got chatting to a couple from Melbourne who later invited themselves on a self guided inspection of the bus! Thanks Bec!
Drove on in search of the Hopetoun waterfalls and stumbled across very different forest another steep descent! Another amazing waterfall and this time as there was no one around and what looked like a pool at the base we both jumped the fence and climbed (very carefully) across the slippery rocks. It was well worth it and if it hadn't of been so cool I think we would have both jumped in.
Headed for a camp ground called Dandos which is further inland towards Colac. Another great spot and the perfect place to kick back and enjoy the thunder storm. Lucky for us none of those 30 meter gum trees surrounding the bus were hit by lightning!
Tonight we met a couple from Geelong who had been on a 2 week trip in their Motor home. They'd visited a spot called Sawpit where we were only a week ago and they happened to find a couple of outdoor chairs that had been left/dumped near a fireplace. We had to contain our laughter as they were actually our old chairs!! We left them there because we knew that someone would make use of them but we never expected to see them 200kms down the road!! As one was broken the old guy told us that 'these days' some people just don't fix things and opt to replace rather than repair. Little did he know he was talking to those people!!
16th February
As we're running low on everything and Colac is approx 30kms inland we decided to head there and stock up on all the essentials. (Water, food and grog!) Didn't really spend too much time exploring the place as we were on a bit of a mission to get in, get it done and head back out to the coast as its rather hot today.
As Johanna Beach was such a great spot we headed back there with the added bonus of the Opalinski's arriving tomorrow. A relaxing afternoon around camp and on the beach.
17th February
Awoke early this morning with the sun beaming in on us after Mike had to get up at 3am and put the awning down as it was flapping about in the wind (this must be the first time we've been up before 9am in a very long time) Bec and Charlie went for a long walk along the beach whilst Mike kicked back and enjoyed his book.
The Opo's arrived at about lunch time after getting a head start on the 12 Apostles in the hope of beating the heat and all those bloody tourists!! We all decided that as the weather was in the high 30's we would head down to the beach in an attempt to cool off. Whilst the rips and waves on this beach are too extreme for swimming we found some rock pools and swam/sat in those for the majority of the arvo. The boys acted like boys and did bombies etc while us girls just sat back.
Just before we were about to head back to camp for happy hour 3 young boys came running down the beach with their boggie boards and jumped straight into the waves without even looking. (Rach and Nath had seen them at the last town so the obviously weren't locals) Next minute their mum comes running down the beach, scooped the little one out of the shallows and began screaming at the other two to come in. In the mean time one of the boys had lost his board and was going under the waves and getting smashed on the rocks. Mike's instincts kicked in and he immediately ran over the rocks and beach, grabbed a board off of the sand and went in to save the poor little guy. If Mike had of got to him any slower the outcome might have been devastating. He managed to scoop him out of the water and swim him to safety. You'd think the mother would have been extremely grateful but he didn't even get a thank you!! Foreigners can be so rude!! It got Mike's heart rate up and scared us all.
Tonight the boys went fishing in the hope of a feed of Salmon - no such luck, we go hungry again.
18th February
Happy Birthday Lisa!!
What a scorcher!! It was about 40 degrees here in VIC today and even unbearable at the beach. A local tipped us off to an area of the beach that is protected by reef so today we decided to pack a bag of food and water and trek down the beach about 1.5kms. Some might say and easy walk but when it is blowing an absolute gale and the sand is boggy it was a different story. We found section of the rocky cliff and decided to set up there in the hope that we wouldn't get blasted. The boys went off fishing for bait for tonight's Salmon fishing whilst us girls got very sandy. Nath said we looked like crumbed sausages as the sand had stuck to our sun cream and we were covered from head to toe - hence we didn't stay for long.
We headed back up the beach to our rock pools which were today rock spas due to the high tide and waves. We spent most of the arvo there and when we did finally head back to the camp we were all that hot that we prayed that the rain would come - little did we know it would arrive in about 30 minutes and last for days :(
Another night of Salmon fishing with no result:(
19th February
A quite morning around camp searching for something to keep us occupied in the over cast weather. As it had been so hot lately Nath and Rach's Engel has been flattening the battery. Captain Mike to the rescue - Any opportunity to play electronics gives Mike a taste of work!!
The 4 of us ended up spending a good part of the day kicking the footy and as Bec had never really kicked an oblong ball (because Mike said that we Pome's only know how to kick a round ball) it was PE Teacher Rach to the rescue with some quick tips and demonstrations!! She actually ended up getting the hang of it and made Mike's skills look rather inferior! Girl power!
We decided to head off to Apollo Bay to pick our mail up and set up camp for the night. We saw a sign for another waterfall just out of town so as we'd enjoyed the waterfalls so much recently we decided to head out there and find somewhere to spend the night. We found a nice little picnic area 4kms south of the waterfall and as there was another motor home there we pulled up for the night. These people have told us about some wild black berries growing on the road just up from here so we'll make sure that they're still alive in the morning and then head there and get some for ourselves.
20th February
This morning we woke as our neighbors were setting off for the day. Washing is the word for today and its a bit of a mission as life on the road means that we don't have these luxuries available all the time. We headed into Apollo Bay and set up in the laundry-mat for the morning - what a job.
On the way back to town we pulled over and Mike picked some of the black berries - Bec was to afraid of the thorns and snakes in the long grass so she opted to watch.
While the washing was on we explored the streets and had our first real coffee since leaving Perth in December. It was fantastic!!
Apollo Bay was a really nice spot - maybe a little too funky for a small town but I guess you get that on the extremely popular tourist route 'The Great Ocean Road'.
We left Apollo Bay after lunch and headed for Lorne, another funky seaside town. When we arrived at the tourist information centre we soon found 10 cent hot showers!! They even had electricity for hair dryers etc so Bec was over the moon. Such fantastic facilities set up for the surfers we guess.
We spent the arvo exploring beautiful Lorne and then headed back to the showers for a long hot shower (another luxury which we don't have on the road unless you can call a 5 minute shower long which in Bec's case its not) Bec was over joyed to be able to straighten her hair as she had not done this in 7 weeks and was sick of the curly look.
We then traveled to the Angahook-Lorne State Forest in search of a camping spot for the night and stumbled across the Sheoak Picnic Area. A lovely spot full of Kangaroos, there was a no camping sign but we decided to risk it.
Today we decided to head for the hills and explore the Otway National Park. We followed the signs to a tree top walk as we had enjoyed the one in Walpole. We were a little disappointed to find out on arrival that the admission cost was $40 - so decided to skip the walk and head 3km's up the road for the Triplet Falls - not expecting much.
We were after a 40 minute steep descent pleasantly surprised to be amongst beautiful rain forest and find an amazing waterfall. Mike jumped the handrail and ventured further into the rainforest to get closer to the waterfall to take some photos while Bec got chatting to a couple from Melbourne who later invited themselves on a self guided inspection of the bus! Thanks Bec!
Drove on in search of the Hopetoun waterfalls and stumbled across very different forest another steep descent! Another amazing waterfall and this time as there was no one around and what looked like a pool at the base we both jumped the fence and climbed (very carefully) across the slippery rocks. It was well worth it and if it hadn't of been so cool I think we would have both jumped in.
Headed for a camp ground called Dandos which is further inland towards Colac. Another great spot and the perfect place to kick back and enjoy the thunder storm. Lucky for us none of those 30 meter gum trees surrounding the bus were hit by lightning!
Tonight we met a couple from Geelong who had been on a 2 week trip in their Motor home. They'd visited a spot called Sawpit where we were only a week ago and they happened to find a couple of outdoor chairs that had been left/dumped near a fireplace. We had to contain our laughter as they were actually our old chairs!! We left them there because we knew that someone would make use of them but we never expected to see them 200kms down the road!! As one was broken the old guy told us that 'these days' some people just don't fix things and opt to replace rather than repair. Little did he know he was talking to those people!!
16th February
As we're running low on everything and Colac is approx 30kms inland we decided to head there and stock up on all the essentials. (Water, food and grog!) Didn't really spend too much time exploring the place as we were on a bit of a mission to get in, get it done and head back out to the coast as its rather hot today.
As Johanna Beach was such a great spot we headed back there with the added bonus of the Opalinski's arriving tomorrow. A relaxing afternoon around camp and on the beach.
17th February
Awoke early this morning with the sun beaming in on us after Mike had to get up at 3am and put the awning down as it was flapping about in the wind (this must be the first time we've been up before 9am in a very long time) Bec and Charlie went for a long walk along the beach whilst Mike kicked back and enjoyed his book.
The Opo's arrived at about lunch time after getting a head start on the 12 Apostles in the hope of beating the heat and all those bloody tourists!! We all decided that as the weather was in the high 30's we would head down to the beach in an attempt to cool off. Whilst the rips and waves on this beach are too extreme for swimming we found some rock pools and swam/sat in those for the majority of the arvo. The boys acted like boys and did bombies etc while us girls just sat back.
Just before we were about to head back to camp for happy hour 3 young boys came running down the beach with their boggie boards and jumped straight into the waves without even looking. (Rach and Nath had seen them at the last town so the obviously weren't locals) Next minute their mum comes running down the beach, scooped the little one out of the shallows and began screaming at the other two to come in. In the mean time one of the boys had lost his board and was going under the waves and getting smashed on the rocks. Mike's instincts kicked in and he immediately ran over the rocks and beach, grabbed a board off of the sand and went in to save the poor little guy. If Mike had of got to him any slower the outcome might have been devastating. He managed to scoop him out of the water and swim him to safety. You'd think the mother would have been extremely grateful but he didn't even get a thank you!! Foreigners can be so rude!! It got Mike's heart rate up and scared us all.
Tonight the boys went fishing in the hope of a feed of Salmon - no such luck, we go hungry again.
18th February
Happy Birthday Lisa!!
What a scorcher!! It was about 40 degrees here in VIC today and even unbearable at the beach. A local tipped us off to an area of the beach that is protected by reef so today we decided to pack a bag of food and water and trek down the beach about 1.5kms. Some might say and easy walk but when it is blowing an absolute gale and the sand is boggy it was a different story. We found section of the rocky cliff and decided to set up there in the hope that we wouldn't get blasted. The boys went off fishing for bait for tonight's Salmon fishing whilst us girls got very sandy. Nath said we looked like crumbed sausages as the sand had stuck to our sun cream and we were covered from head to toe - hence we didn't stay for long.
We headed back up the beach to our rock pools which were today rock spas due to the high tide and waves. We spent most of the arvo there and when we did finally head back to the camp we were all that hot that we prayed that the rain would come - little did we know it would arrive in about 30 minutes and last for days :(
Another night of Salmon fishing with no result:(
19th February
A quite morning around camp searching for something to keep us occupied in the over cast weather. As it had been so hot lately Nath and Rach's Engel has been flattening the battery. Captain Mike to the rescue - Any opportunity to play electronics gives Mike a taste of work!!
The 4 of us ended up spending a good part of the day kicking the footy and as Bec had never really kicked an oblong ball (because Mike said that we Pome's only know how to kick a round ball) it was PE Teacher Rach to the rescue with some quick tips and demonstrations!! She actually ended up getting the hang of it and made Mike's skills look rather inferior! Girl power!
We decided to head off to Apollo Bay to pick our mail up and set up camp for the night. We saw a sign for another waterfall just out of town so as we'd enjoyed the waterfalls so much recently we decided to head out there and find somewhere to spend the night. We found a nice little picnic area 4kms south of the waterfall and as there was another motor home there we pulled up for the night. These people have told us about some wild black berries growing on the road just up from here so we'll make sure that they're still alive in the morning and then head there and get some for ourselves.
20th February
This morning we woke as our neighbors were setting off for the day. Washing is the word for today and its a bit of a mission as life on the road means that we don't have these luxuries available all the time. We headed into Apollo Bay and set up in the laundry-mat for the morning - what a job.
On the way back to town we pulled over and Mike picked some of the black berries - Bec was to afraid of the thorns and snakes in the long grass so she opted to watch.
While the washing was on we explored the streets and had our first real coffee since leaving Perth in December. It was fantastic!!
Apollo Bay was a really nice spot - maybe a little too funky for a small town but I guess you get that on the extremely popular tourist route 'The Great Ocean Road'.
We left Apollo Bay after lunch and headed for Lorne, another funky seaside town. When we arrived at the tourist information centre we soon found 10 cent hot showers!! They even had electricity for hair dryers etc so Bec was over the moon. Such fantastic facilities set up for the surfers we guess.
We spent the arvo exploring beautiful Lorne and then headed back to the showers for a long hot shower (another luxury which we don't have on the road unless you can call a 5 minute shower long which in Bec's case its not) Bec was over joyed to be able to straighten her hair as she had not done this in 7 weeks and was sick of the curly look.
We then traveled to the Angahook-Lorne State Forest in search of a camping spot for the night and stumbled across the Sheoak Picnic Area. A lovely spot full of Kangaroos, there was a no camping sign but we decided to risk it.
21st February - Happy Birthday Hev's!!
Just as we were heading off we were joined by the Queenslanders we met a few nights ago. They had too spent the night in the forest but had done the right thing and gone to the designated camping area. Its sounds like we wouldn't have fitted anyway, they're in a converted Ford Transit so they're a fair bit smaller than us and they even struggled to fit.
We headed into town and set up for breakie at a look out just at the entrance to town - Its quite elevated and looks over the ocean and the town so a beautiful spot to enjoy a cuppa and some crumpets courtesy of Mike. It was lovely just watching it all go by from a fair and watching a few beginner surfers try and ride the very small waves.
After breakie we took Charlie for a nice long walk and then went back into town for a last look and another cheap shower.
We left Lorne in the direction of Torquay and stopped in at Anglesea for lunch. A pretty small town with not a great deal to do so we weren't there for long at all.
After lunch we headed for Torquay and stopped in at the infamous 'Bell Beach' for a look. It wasn't the best of days so the when we arrived at the beach we were both quite disappointed - who knows maybe we'd have a different outlook if the sky wasn't grey all the time - come on Victoria!
Torquay was full of surf shops (as you'd expect) so we thought we'd try and snap up a few bargains but as most of them we're outlet stores it was all old stock and strange sizes. If Bec was a size 12 and Mike was a small we could have walked out with everything in the shop! We've both also been thinking about learning how to surf so we considered buying a Malibu to strap to the roof of the bus as they are apparently the easiest to learn on but decided to wait until NSW or QLD as the water is so freezing here you get cramps from just dipping your feet in, it is quite literally like icy bath water.
They're really cluey here and there are signs everywhere not only saying no camping but also no sleeping in cars (I guess they get heaps of surfers camping out for the night in an attempt to catch an early wave) so this meant that parking up in Torquay was out of the question so we headed back out of town a bit in the direction of Jan Juc and found a lovely park where we could park up, walk Charlie and then use the bbq for dinner. We then moved around the corner and slept right on the ocean so that we had a lovely view to wake up to.
22nd February
We woke to our sea view this morning and had breakie. Bec and Charlie felt like a nice long walk and jog and Mike (how surprising didn't) so he stayed back and packed and cleaned up. Probably a good thing Mike didn't come as it was very intense and we both came back shattered. As we'd seen all Torquay had to offer we headed off in the direction of Queenscliff - this is where the ferry leaves that crosses Port Philip Bay and goes to Sorrento, hence avoiding Melbourne if you choose.
On the drive we spotted a Whacky mini golf and decided to go and try for a hole in one. The 18 holes were definitely whacky! With some holes having your ball go up a two storey building, sometimes going down waterwheels and other generally crazy things, Great fun even with Bec's extreme level of cheating! But alas it did her no good and Mike come out the Victor!
We checked out town, had lunch and then went back to Point Lonsdale. This is where the infamous 'Rip' occurs where the Bass Strait meets the entrance to Port Philip Bay. Its an amazing rip full of force but one that you'd never want to cross.
Tonight we set up back in Queenscliff overlooking Port Philip Bay
23rd February
Awoke in Queenscliff and decided that today we head to Geelong.
When we arrived we realized that it was a fairly big place full of traffic and with no parking facilities for such a big vehicle. We parked up in metered parking (this is strange for us) across 2 bays and headed for the tourist information centre. It was run by 2 older ladies and they were fantastic - they couldn't do enough for us. They set us up with some awesome parking right in the centre of town (free as well) and organized a caravan park that was happy to take Charlie as this is not the sort of town that you can get away with free camping in.
We spent a couple of hours touring around town and then headed out to our caravan park in Belmont. We had an ensuite site so it was a bit of luxury.
Now we had to decid what we'd do with regards to getting to Tassie, we were hoping to spend a couple of nights catching up with Em and Shan and Bryce in Melbourne before we leave but after calling the Spirit of Tasmania tonight and finding out that we whilst they can fit us on anytime they only have room for the bus either tomorrow night or in about 2 weeks time. We want to get to Tassie ASAP for weather reasons so tonight we decided to just bite the bullet and just go tomorrow. All very rushed but we're very excited.
24th February
Overnight we decided that Tassie was a definite for tonight so we called up first thing and confirmed our booking.
Bec's paranoid about the weather and being cold so we headed to the local shopping centre to buy an extra blanket for the bed. We also headed back into Geelong for another look and left with a GPS. Our computer does have the software for one already but it just shows up as lines on the 7" monitors we have on the dash. There have been a few disagreements to date over directions so this is a fantastic investment that may stop the trip from being Honeymoonin to Divorcing!!
Getting to Port Melbourne was now a breeze, we just punched it in to the GPS and about 40 minutes later we where there - got to love modern technology!
We'd managed to get in touch with Bryce and Em and Shan and they were able to come down and meet us in Port Melbourne for a drink this arvo before we sailed out to Tassie. Aunty Chris is over from Perth at the moment visiting Em and Shan so she came also, it was a lovely surprise and great to see her. We went to a bar called the Pier and spent the afternoon having a few drinks and catching up. It was lovely and we're really looking forward to spending more time with them when we return to Melbourne in a month or so.
7pm rolled around and it was time for us to board the ship. A task that we thought would be reasonably simple and fast and which ended up taking the next 1 hr 45mins! The line to get the bus on board was horrendous! We got there in the end and boarded the bus onto deck 3 with all the other motor homes.
We decided to get a cabin as we knew there was no way we could manage staying up all night and we knew that it would just ruin us for days, so we put our stuff down in the cabin and explored the ship. It had a fair bit on board such as a restaurant and then buffet dining, a casino, a gift shop, lots of bars, and a gaming arcade area. We checked it all out and then Bec was so tired she went to bed and Mike did some more exploring and got chatting to a know it all who had built a Coaster. Bec went to bed just as we crossed 'The Rip' at the entrance/exit to Port Philip Bay and so when it became quite rocky I didn't expect it to last long!! I woke up at about 2am this morning and it was still going - I felt ok lying down but when I got up it wasn't good. Mike was having trouble sleeping too and then I laid awake worrying about Charlie who even though we'd booked a kennel for we decided against putting him in it when we saw that they were on the same level as the motor homes and right near the rudders so it was very noisy. The other dogs were all distressed so we decided on leaving him in the bus and we just drew the curtains around the bed. He was on deck 3 and we were on deck 8 so maybe it wasn't so bad down there.
Just as we were heading off we were joined by the Queenslanders we met a few nights ago. They had too spent the night in the forest but had done the right thing and gone to the designated camping area. Its sounds like we wouldn't have fitted anyway, they're in a converted Ford Transit so they're a fair bit smaller than us and they even struggled to fit.
We headed into town and set up for breakie at a look out just at the entrance to town - Its quite elevated and looks over the ocean and the town so a beautiful spot to enjoy a cuppa and some crumpets courtesy of Mike. It was lovely just watching it all go by from a fair and watching a few beginner surfers try and ride the very small waves.
After breakie we took Charlie for a nice long walk and then went back into town for a last look and another cheap shower.
We left Lorne in the direction of Torquay and stopped in at Anglesea for lunch. A pretty small town with not a great deal to do so we weren't there for long at all.
After lunch we headed for Torquay and stopped in at the infamous 'Bell Beach' for a look. It wasn't the best of days so the when we arrived at the beach we were both quite disappointed - who knows maybe we'd have a different outlook if the sky wasn't grey all the time - come on Victoria!
Torquay was full of surf shops (as you'd expect) so we thought we'd try and snap up a few bargains but as most of them we're outlet stores it was all old stock and strange sizes. If Bec was a size 12 and Mike was a small we could have walked out with everything in the shop! We've both also been thinking about learning how to surf so we considered buying a Malibu to strap to the roof of the bus as they are apparently the easiest to learn on but decided to wait until NSW or QLD as the water is so freezing here you get cramps from just dipping your feet in, it is quite literally like icy bath water.
They're really cluey here and there are signs everywhere not only saying no camping but also no sleeping in cars (I guess they get heaps of surfers camping out for the night in an attempt to catch an early wave) so this meant that parking up in Torquay was out of the question so we headed back out of town a bit in the direction of Jan Juc and found a lovely park where we could park up, walk Charlie and then use the bbq for dinner. We then moved around the corner and slept right on the ocean so that we had a lovely view to wake up to.
22nd February
We woke to our sea view this morning and had breakie. Bec and Charlie felt like a nice long walk and jog and Mike (how surprising didn't) so he stayed back and packed and cleaned up. Probably a good thing Mike didn't come as it was very intense and we both came back shattered. As we'd seen all Torquay had to offer we headed off in the direction of Queenscliff - this is where the ferry leaves that crosses Port Philip Bay and goes to Sorrento, hence avoiding Melbourne if you choose.
On the drive we spotted a Whacky mini golf and decided to go and try for a hole in one. The 18 holes were definitely whacky! With some holes having your ball go up a two storey building, sometimes going down waterwheels and other generally crazy things, Great fun even with Bec's extreme level of cheating! But alas it did her no good and Mike come out the Victor!
We checked out town, had lunch and then went back to Point Lonsdale. This is where the infamous 'Rip' occurs where the Bass Strait meets the entrance to Port Philip Bay. Its an amazing rip full of force but one that you'd never want to cross.
Tonight we set up back in Queenscliff overlooking Port Philip Bay
23rd February
Awoke in Queenscliff and decided that today we head to Geelong.
When we arrived we realized that it was a fairly big place full of traffic and with no parking facilities for such a big vehicle. We parked up in metered parking (this is strange for us) across 2 bays and headed for the tourist information centre. It was run by 2 older ladies and they were fantastic - they couldn't do enough for us. They set us up with some awesome parking right in the centre of town (free as well) and organized a caravan park that was happy to take Charlie as this is not the sort of town that you can get away with free camping in.
We spent a couple of hours touring around town and then headed out to our caravan park in Belmont. We had an ensuite site so it was a bit of luxury.
Now we had to decid what we'd do with regards to getting to Tassie, we were hoping to spend a couple of nights catching up with Em and Shan and Bryce in Melbourne before we leave but after calling the Spirit of Tasmania tonight and finding out that we whilst they can fit us on anytime they only have room for the bus either tomorrow night or in about 2 weeks time. We want to get to Tassie ASAP for weather reasons so tonight we decided to just bite the bullet and just go tomorrow. All very rushed but we're very excited.
24th February
Overnight we decided that Tassie was a definite for tonight so we called up first thing and confirmed our booking.
Bec's paranoid about the weather and being cold so we headed to the local shopping centre to buy an extra blanket for the bed. We also headed back into Geelong for another look and left with a GPS. Our computer does have the software for one already but it just shows up as lines on the 7" monitors we have on the dash. There have been a few disagreements to date over directions so this is a fantastic investment that may stop the trip from being Honeymoonin to Divorcing!!
Getting to Port Melbourne was now a breeze, we just punched it in to the GPS and about 40 minutes later we where there - got to love modern technology!
We'd managed to get in touch with Bryce and Em and Shan and they were able to come down and meet us in Port Melbourne for a drink this arvo before we sailed out to Tassie. Aunty Chris is over from Perth at the moment visiting Em and Shan so she came also, it was a lovely surprise and great to see her. We went to a bar called the Pier and spent the afternoon having a few drinks and catching up. It was lovely and we're really looking forward to spending more time with them when we return to Melbourne in a month or so.
7pm rolled around and it was time for us to board the ship. A task that we thought would be reasonably simple and fast and which ended up taking the next 1 hr 45mins! The line to get the bus on board was horrendous! We got there in the end and boarded the bus onto deck 3 with all the other motor homes.
We decided to get a cabin as we knew there was no way we could manage staying up all night and we knew that it would just ruin us for days, so we put our stuff down in the cabin and explored the ship. It had a fair bit on board such as a restaurant and then buffet dining, a casino, a gift shop, lots of bars, and a gaming arcade area. We checked it all out and then Bec was so tired she went to bed and Mike did some more exploring and got chatting to a know it all who had built a Coaster. Bec went to bed just as we crossed 'The Rip' at the entrance/exit to Port Philip Bay and so when it became quite rocky I didn't expect it to last long!! I woke up at about 2am this morning and it was still going - I felt ok lying down but when I got up it wasn't good. Mike was having trouble sleeping too and then I laid awake worrying about Charlie who even though we'd booked a kennel for we decided against putting him in it when we saw that they were on the same level as the motor homes and right near the rudders so it was very noisy. The other dogs were all distressed so we decided on leaving him in the bus and we just drew the curtains around the bed. He was on deck 3 and we were on deck 8 so maybe it wasn't so bad down there.
25th February
We got an early morning wakeup call just after 5am this morning from the captain. We got organized and then headed out to the deck to watch as we sailed into Devenport. It was still dark at this point and quite cold.
After the ship was secured they let us got down to the bus and to our delight Charlie was as happy as larry and it looked like he'd just slept all night. Now we know not to worry when we go back and to just leave him in the bus.
There was a Maccas nearby so we decided to have breakie there before heading off in the direction Burnie - we've decided to explore Devenport when we come back.
First stop was a quaint little seaside town called Penguin. We had a bit of a walk around town before meeting a lovely man from King Island called David. David's friend is interested in buying/building a motor home so he was curious about the bus etc. This was probably our first taste of the friendly people in Tassie as David gave us a few tips on things to do in Penguin.
We then headed to the tourist information centre and the lovely husband and wife team there we're also very helpful, they set us in the direction of the Sunday Market and told us where we can stock up on fruit and veg (you have to ditch in when you come to TAS for quarantine reasons)
We went to the Sunday Market and Bec brought some passion killing flannel pj's. Mike wasn't too impressed but they we're only 15 bucks and as the lady said it’s unusually warm and one day in the next week or 2 it will just change so as the scouts say I'm prepared.
We then headed in the direction of Burnie to check out the sites. It is quite a big town although as it is Sunday a lot of things are closed today. We walked around town and stumbled across a shop called the 'Chickenfeed' shop. Very strange name for a retailer - one would assume some sort of stock feeds shop, however you should never assume (as it makes an arse out of you and me!) and as the Mullins's found out on their 1996 trip to Tassie it’s a discount shop like red dot. We knew that Dawn and Jeff would appreciate it so here's a photo guys!
We then headed down to the beach and watched the crazy Tasmanian's swim in the ocean on an overcast 20 degree day - surely this can't be summer!
Moved on to the Oldina State Forrest picnic area and set up camp on the banks of trickling Oldina River. A beautiful spot! Before long we were joined by an old drunk and his 2 dogs in a clapped out campervan - apparently he camps there all the time and we had stolen his spot, Oh well...
We got an early morning wakeup call just after 5am this morning from the captain. We got organized and then headed out to the deck to watch as we sailed into Devenport. It was still dark at this point and quite cold.
After the ship was secured they let us got down to the bus and to our delight Charlie was as happy as larry and it looked like he'd just slept all night. Now we know not to worry when we go back and to just leave him in the bus.
There was a Maccas nearby so we decided to have breakie there before heading off in the direction Burnie - we've decided to explore Devenport when we come back.
First stop was a quaint little seaside town called Penguin. We had a bit of a walk around town before meeting a lovely man from King Island called David. David's friend is interested in buying/building a motor home so he was curious about the bus etc. This was probably our first taste of the friendly people in Tassie as David gave us a few tips on things to do in Penguin.
We then headed to the tourist information centre and the lovely husband and wife team there we're also very helpful, they set us in the direction of the Sunday Market and told us where we can stock up on fruit and veg (you have to ditch in when you come to TAS for quarantine reasons)
We went to the Sunday Market and Bec brought some passion killing flannel pj's. Mike wasn't too impressed but they we're only 15 bucks and as the lady said it’s unusually warm and one day in the next week or 2 it will just change so as the scouts say I'm prepared.
We then headed in the direction of Burnie to check out the sites. It is quite a big town although as it is Sunday a lot of things are closed today. We walked around town and stumbled across a shop called the 'Chickenfeed' shop. Very strange name for a retailer - one would assume some sort of stock feeds shop, however you should never assume (as it makes an arse out of you and me!) and as the Mullins's found out on their 1996 trip to Tassie it’s a discount shop like red dot. We knew that Dawn and Jeff would appreciate it so here's a photo guys!
We then headed down to the beach and watched the crazy Tasmanian's swim in the ocean on an overcast 20 degree day - surely this can't be summer!
Moved on to the Oldina State Forrest picnic area and set up camp on the banks of trickling Oldina River. A beautiful spot! Before long we were joined by an old drunk and his 2 dogs in a clapped out campervan - apparently he camps there all the time and we had stolen his spot, Oh well...
26th February
A great night's sleep followed by an early morning trek through the forest. Along the way we spotted some fairly tame Wallabies who let us get quite close before running off into the bushes - Nath you would have loved it!
After the trek we headed to Wynyard for a look around and some supplies. There was a local fish market and we hoped we'd be able to get a nice feed of fresh fish but when we got there it was all pre-packed and hardly fresh! A slow paced town with not a lot to see nor do so we headed west for Stanley.
Took a detour into Boat Harbor Beach and we're so glad that we did. What a fantastic little bay full of old shacks with a great swimming beach. We went for a walk along the beach and to our surprise when we dipped our toes in the water it was luke warm. After exploring the life filled rock pools which would become covered at high tide we decided to seize the opportunity to swim in Tassie and went and got our bathers on. The rest of the day was filled with swimming and lounging around on the beach. All the other tourists and swimmers were laying right up at the top of the beach whilst we chose to lay by the water - we didn't keep an eye on the incoming tide and about an hour later while sun baking we were awoken by the water washing up our legs - didn't we look like the stupid tourists!!!
There was a great little park/grassy area right near the beach so as there were no signs this would be us for the night, and as we found a few hours later we started a trend and there soon became a congregation of about 5 motor homes.
Mike was horrified when Bec walked to the local telephone box in her PJ's but as she said this is like her little caravan park.
27th February
We were looking forward to another day by the beach but when we woke we realized that the weather had taken a turn for the worst and the beautiful turquoise bay with a white sand beach no longer existed. The tide was all the way in and the sky was as grey as grey could be so we decided to move on - at least we got one afternoon of sun, will this go down as our first and last beach visit in Tassie??
Just before leaving for Stanley another WA bus rolled in. This couple are from Thornlie but unfortunately we're typing this a week or so later so we can't remember their names! It was an old MTT bus which he had converted over 5 years, it was a lot bigger than ours but not quite as modern.
Stanley is a really lovely little town with small boutique cottage style shops. It is also home of 'The Nut' - a 200 meter high volcanic rock. The Nut has a chair lift that takes you from its base to its top which then allows you to walk to several viewing platforms. We went up the chair lift and found it quite scary on the way down as the rock sides are so sheer. (Sorry Bec got scared, Mike is a big tough man after all.) We collected another touristy magnet from the gift shop at the base along with a sign/sticker for our mate Nath as his middle name is Stanley and unfortunately they won't be making it to Tassie. For all of you who are now panicking about us collecting magnets, it’s better than collecting spoons and its only with the view of putting them into a picture frame when we get back so that we have a quick reference of all the places we've visited hanging on the lounge room wall.
We then tried to get a 'Devonshire tea' at the local tea rooms but got frustrated with the wait and went back to the bus for lunch. Now you’re all really scared that we're acting like oldies!!!
We then moved on to Smithton and toured the town. Bec required some pampering so she booked herself in for a massage and had a relaxing afternoon while Mike visited the local bookshop in search of a new great read.
Smithton is a nice place and it was getting late so we decided to stay the night. After driving around the streets looking for a park/reserve to camp for the night an old block in a ute stopped us as he obviously knew what we were looking for, he said down by the river was fine so we pulled up to an area where some guys were fishing in a part of the river that was so low the boats were sitting on mud and whilst it looked pretty grim Mike knew that when the tide finally came back in it would be a great spot (Bec wasn't so sure but was proved wrong in the morning).
We kicked back, opened a bottle of red and started to enjoy it with some cheese and crackers when next minute the local plod rock up and are tapping on our window. Our first reaction was that we weren't allowed to park there so we were very shocked when the Senior Sergeant (he didn't look a day over 25!) started asking us questions about if we were in Burnie on Sunday night, bloody hell!! Basically what had happened was we were driving off from the traffic lights on a dual lane road exiting Burnie when it merged and we slotted in front of a large truck (Kenworth Prime Mover with 2 trailers - look what you learn when you sit near Bob Marchei for 18 months - Paul and Minx you'll love that one!!) as he was slowed down by traffic in his lane. At the time he got on his horn and carried on like a real dick but we definitely had the right of way so we continued on thinking he was just another road raging trucky. 2 days later we find he has a very fulfilling life with so much time on his hands that he has reported us to the Police for careless driving! Cheers mate. Thankfully the spunky police man (Bec's thoughts) was a really nice guy and he knew that if it went any further we'd have to go to court in a few months and plead our innocence. This would not only cost us the $110 court fee but would also mean that we would need to come back to Tassie unnecessarily. So instead it was his suggestion to give us a little souvenir for our scrapbook in the way of a conditional caution, meaning no fine. Good on ya spunky!!
So all in all an exciting finish to the day!!
28th February
This morning we left Smithton with the view of heading back East to meet the road that would take us south to Strahan. We popped back into Wynyard for some supplies and then got as far as Hellyer Gorge before we stopped with many other motor homers to enjoy a forest walk and some lunch. While we were there we had the pleasure of meeting some 'know it alls', sadly not uncommon when you’re young and in a motor home. People think that we need all the advice in the world until Mike tells them we've been planning our trip for 2 years and he's built the motor home himself! It’s usually the non motor homers that like to dish out all the advice. Oh well if this is one of the few smaller stresses in our new life we're getting off pretty easy.
We were then on the lookout for somewhere to stay the night as we'd covered a fare bit of ground. You wouldn't think it by looking at the maps but it just takes ages to travel such sort distances around here as the roads are so windy and steep - we've been lucky to get out of 3rd gear and over 40kms.
Tullar was on the map and close by so off we went but when we arrived there was nowhere to stay. We took 200lts of water Tullar water (we actually asked for it this time, there so easy going in TAS), before pushing on for Rosebery.
Found an awesome spot just out of Rosebery down a very steep lane way. It was a Lions Park and did have a no camping sign but as it was raining and getting late our care factor was low. We did have a bit of a scare in the night when we heard some noises right outside the bus but Mike shone the torch out there and there was nothing to see. In the morning we discovered that it must have been an animal scabbing around in the bin.
A great night's sleep followed by an early morning trek through the forest. Along the way we spotted some fairly tame Wallabies who let us get quite close before running off into the bushes - Nath you would have loved it!
After the trek we headed to Wynyard for a look around and some supplies. There was a local fish market and we hoped we'd be able to get a nice feed of fresh fish but when we got there it was all pre-packed and hardly fresh! A slow paced town with not a lot to see nor do so we headed west for Stanley.
Took a detour into Boat Harbor Beach and we're so glad that we did. What a fantastic little bay full of old shacks with a great swimming beach. We went for a walk along the beach and to our surprise when we dipped our toes in the water it was luke warm. After exploring the life filled rock pools which would become covered at high tide we decided to seize the opportunity to swim in Tassie and went and got our bathers on. The rest of the day was filled with swimming and lounging around on the beach. All the other tourists and swimmers were laying right up at the top of the beach whilst we chose to lay by the water - we didn't keep an eye on the incoming tide and about an hour later while sun baking we were awoken by the water washing up our legs - didn't we look like the stupid tourists!!!
There was a great little park/grassy area right near the beach so as there were no signs this would be us for the night, and as we found a few hours later we started a trend and there soon became a congregation of about 5 motor homes.
Mike was horrified when Bec walked to the local telephone box in her PJ's but as she said this is like her little caravan park.
27th February
We were looking forward to another day by the beach but when we woke we realized that the weather had taken a turn for the worst and the beautiful turquoise bay with a white sand beach no longer existed. The tide was all the way in and the sky was as grey as grey could be so we decided to move on - at least we got one afternoon of sun, will this go down as our first and last beach visit in Tassie??
Just before leaving for Stanley another WA bus rolled in. This couple are from Thornlie but unfortunately we're typing this a week or so later so we can't remember their names! It was an old MTT bus which he had converted over 5 years, it was a lot bigger than ours but not quite as modern.
Stanley is a really lovely little town with small boutique cottage style shops. It is also home of 'The Nut' - a 200 meter high volcanic rock. The Nut has a chair lift that takes you from its base to its top which then allows you to walk to several viewing platforms. We went up the chair lift and found it quite scary on the way down as the rock sides are so sheer. (Sorry Bec got scared, Mike is a big tough man after all.) We collected another touristy magnet from the gift shop at the base along with a sign/sticker for our mate Nath as his middle name is Stanley and unfortunately they won't be making it to Tassie. For all of you who are now panicking about us collecting magnets, it’s better than collecting spoons and its only with the view of putting them into a picture frame when we get back so that we have a quick reference of all the places we've visited hanging on the lounge room wall.
We then tried to get a 'Devonshire tea' at the local tea rooms but got frustrated with the wait and went back to the bus for lunch. Now you’re all really scared that we're acting like oldies!!!
We then moved on to Smithton and toured the town. Bec required some pampering so she booked herself in for a massage and had a relaxing afternoon while Mike visited the local bookshop in search of a new great read.
Smithton is a nice place and it was getting late so we decided to stay the night. After driving around the streets looking for a park/reserve to camp for the night an old block in a ute stopped us as he obviously knew what we were looking for, he said down by the river was fine so we pulled up to an area where some guys were fishing in a part of the river that was so low the boats were sitting on mud and whilst it looked pretty grim Mike knew that when the tide finally came back in it would be a great spot (Bec wasn't so sure but was proved wrong in the morning).
We kicked back, opened a bottle of red and started to enjoy it with some cheese and crackers when next minute the local plod rock up and are tapping on our window. Our first reaction was that we weren't allowed to park there so we were very shocked when the Senior Sergeant (he didn't look a day over 25!) started asking us questions about if we were in Burnie on Sunday night, bloody hell!! Basically what had happened was we were driving off from the traffic lights on a dual lane road exiting Burnie when it merged and we slotted in front of a large truck (Kenworth Prime Mover with 2 trailers - look what you learn when you sit near Bob Marchei for 18 months - Paul and Minx you'll love that one!!) as he was slowed down by traffic in his lane. At the time he got on his horn and carried on like a real dick but we definitely had the right of way so we continued on thinking he was just another road raging trucky. 2 days later we find he has a very fulfilling life with so much time on his hands that he has reported us to the Police for careless driving! Cheers mate. Thankfully the spunky police man (Bec's thoughts) was a really nice guy and he knew that if it went any further we'd have to go to court in a few months and plead our innocence. This would not only cost us the $110 court fee but would also mean that we would need to come back to Tassie unnecessarily. So instead it was his suggestion to give us a little souvenir for our scrapbook in the way of a conditional caution, meaning no fine. Good on ya spunky!!
So all in all an exciting finish to the day!!
28th February
This morning we left Smithton with the view of heading back East to meet the road that would take us south to Strahan. We popped back into Wynyard for some supplies and then got as far as Hellyer Gorge before we stopped with many other motor homers to enjoy a forest walk and some lunch. While we were there we had the pleasure of meeting some 'know it alls', sadly not uncommon when you’re young and in a motor home. People think that we need all the advice in the world until Mike tells them we've been planning our trip for 2 years and he's built the motor home himself! It’s usually the non motor homers that like to dish out all the advice. Oh well if this is one of the few smaller stresses in our new life we're getting off pretty easy.
We were then on the lookout for somewhere to stay the night as we'd covered a fare bit of ground. You wouldn't think it by looking at the maps but it just takes ages to travel such sort distances around here as the roads are so windy and steep - we've been lucky to get out of 3rd gear and over 40kms.
Tullar was on the map and close by so off we went but when we arrived there was nowhere to stay. We took 200lts of water Tullar water (we actually asked for it this time, there so easy going in TAS), before pushing on for Rosebery.
Found an awesome spot just out of Rosebery down a very steep lane way. It was a Lions Park and did have a no camping sign but as it was raining and getting late our care factor was low. We did have a bit of a scare in the night when we heard some noises right outside the bus but Mike shone the torch out there and there was nothing to see. In the morning we discovered that it must have been an animal scabbing around in the bin.