Sunday 26th November 2017
Today was a bit of a dreary driving day. We woke to rain and were lucky to have a small window of opportunity to chamois dry and pack up the tent. We decided against the cruise on the Gordon River and the train through the gorge in favour of doing this on a nicer day.

We headed of to Hobart, via Queenstown, Brady’s Lake, Tarraleah and New Norfolk. It was pretty miserable so we didn’t do much sightseeing outside of the car. The views were still beautiful but would have been better on a nice day. Oh well, that’s the life of the traveller, you are at the mercy of the weather gods.

Well as we headed towards Hobart and the weather didn’t improve we decided on a B&B for tonight’s accommodation. We know we are soft, but the benefits of staying in a couple of freebie campsites we can now justify our stay in a nice warm house with a comfy bed and inside bathroom. Go the softies.

Saturday 25th November 2017

Well today was a very big day. 
We left our freebie camp by King William Lake at Derwent Bridge and headed on our way to Strahan via Queenstown and Zeehan. This was only a 2hr 20min drive, but with all the sidesteps we arrived at about 5.30pm. We went on on few short walks which in the end was about 2 hours walk time. They were the Franklin River Nature Trail, Franklin River Suspension Bridge, Donaghy’s Hill Wilderness Walk, Nelson Falls and Horsetail Falls. It was a diverse range of scenery, from mountain lookouts to rainforest to mining towns. It was a great day. We arrived at Strahan by about 5pm and were setup by 5.30pm. A very unusual occurrence for us. Now most people would just relax and enjoy the rest of the afternoon at the camp ground, but not us, there was still 3 hours of daylight left. We went for a 12km bike ride to Ocean Beach which was half road half dirt track. Then we went back to the camping ground and were trying to decide how we could get the washing done and have dinner before going to watch the sunset at the headland. DBs idea was awesome. Washing was put on then as we were mobile we took the car to Macquarie Heads so  would cook dinner there and watch the sunset. We were not aware that this would encompass dinner on the beach. Mind you we almost got stuck in the sand on the way. All part of the adventure. It was amazing.
All in all it was a fantastic day.

Friday 24th November 2017
This morning is Paul’s birthday. It was a lovely day with a chance of afternoon thunderstorms. We headed off to see the Wall in the Wilderness. It is an amazing timber sculptured wall. It was amazing and was very moving, it left me feeling quite emotional. The talent of the sculptor Greg Duncan is incredible. His is an electrician by trade and he has been working on the wall for over 30 years. Each artwork is sculpted from one panel of timber. I loved it.

“Step into a story …
…an inspirational tale carved from the mountains and rivers of the Central Highlands of Tasmania.
Artist Greg Duncan is creating a stunning sculpture. The Wall in the Wilderness is his commemoration of those who helped shape the past and present of Tasmania’s central highlands.
A work in progress, The Wall is being carved from three-metre high wooden panels. The carved panels will tell the history of the harsh Central Highlands region – beginning with the indigenous people, then to the pioneering timber harvesters, pastoralists, miners and Hydro workers. The Wall will be 100 metres long. Greg Duncan’s sculpture The Wall will rank as a major work of art and tourist attraction in Tasmania.” Check out the website, it was amazing. www.thewalltasmania.com

After this Paul, Ali and the girls headed to Hobart and we are staying in the area a little longer. We decided to go for a hike in the Lake St Clair National Park. This is where the Overland Track finishes – a long-distance walk which runs from Cradle Mountain in the north to Cynthia Bay on the southern shore of Lake St Clair.

We did a 5 hour hike of the Shadow Lake Circuit with a quick off shoot to the Plateau on the way to Mt Rufus. DB was disappointed that we didn’t have time to go up to Mt Rufus but as always, we started the hike too late. It was 3pm and we had at least a 5 hr hike. Sunset today was about 8.26pm. We made it to the end at about 8pm. No animals today but some amazing flowers and a couple of huge bumble bees. We then headed bake to the camp ground from last night. Should have left our tent set up this morning but we thought we were moving on today. Lucky we are getting quick at setup. We had a hikers dinner tonight which made for quick food and into bed by 10pm.

Thursday 23 November 2017
We packed up our river camp at Longford this morning and went to Launceston Aquatic Centre for a swim. It was a lovely facility. We had a look around Launceston and then drove  to Derwent Bridge. There was some beautiful scenery along the way. We saw our first roadkill Tasmanian Devil. I made DB turn around and drive back to have a look to confirm it wan’t just a possum and it REALLY was a Tasmanian Devil. The first one we have seen outside of a zoo. It was pretty cool even though it was road kill. We drove through some really heavy rain and a thunderstorm on our way to our new camp. Ali has done a great job sourcing our camping grounds. Tonights is a free camp along the river at Derwent Bridge. Our first freebie for the holiday. It is very pretty.

Wednesday 22nd November 2017
Today we started the day with a scenic 22km bike ride from the caravan park to Brickendon, Wolmer and Panshanger. It was a scenic ride along a quiet road through farmland. A great start to the day. The homesteads we passed were heritage listed and on some amazing properties.

We then headed to Cataract Gorge, where we went on a chairlift across the gorge, saw wild peacocks everywhere, and then walked along side the gorge to Kings Bridge and back, up to Eagles Lookout then back across the gorge in the chairlift. The chairlift was one of the highlights for Emma and Kate. We then had a lovely picnic lunch by the water and the girls had a swim in the 50m outdoor pool in the park. It was a lovely day.

Tuesday 21st November 2017

After packing up camp we headed back to the National Park and went on a guided walk through the Enchanted Walk. Our guides Emma and Kate gave us an informative walk through the bush describing and naming plants, and their varying uses. Their information and imagination was amazing. We ended the tour with an echidna sighting. It was fantastic to see these animals up close in the wild.

We then headed on our way the scenic route to Launceston. Via Mersey Valley, Chudleigh where we went to the Honey Farm. Here they had every imaginable type of honey that they make on  the premises, as well as nougat and ice cream, also made by them. We both had an ice cream which was LOVELY!

We then headed to Launceston where we had intended staying in the Big 4 but due to its location on the highway and the noise,  Ali made the decision to head out of the city to a lovely little riverside camp at Longford.

Monday 20th November 2017
Today we went on a 5km hike with Paul, Ali, Emma and Kate. We caught a shuttle bus to Dove Lake then climbed and scrambled at some stages, then used the chains to guide us up to Marion Lookout, which was the 1st half of the Cradle Mountain Summit walk. It went from 890m to 1220m elevation. It was a tough climb for the girls as some of the steps were up to Kate’s thigh. They were amazing. There were no other children at the top, so they were really pleased with themselves.

The scenery was beautiful, especially Cradle Mountain. There was some snow in a couple of spots on the mountain as well, quite surprising as the sun had been shining for a few days and the temperature today was about 29′. The walk down was a lot easier and we finished the walk with a surprise spotting of a wombat, right near where we were walking on the boardwalk. The walk finished at Ronny’s Creek 866m above sea level. We headed back to camp for a well earned rest.

After dinner we all headed back to Ronny Creek for a wombat hunt. We saw over 50 wombats in a very small area. A lovely day was had by all. DB spent another 45mins searching for the elusive platypus to no avail. We watched the sunset then headed back to camp.

What a beautiful place. We will definitely be back to do some more hiking.

Sunday 19th November 2017
After having breakfast, visiting the Information Centre and doing the groceries (as you cannot take fruit, vegetables and fish on the boat) we headed on our way. We stopped at a town called Sheffield where we saw some amazing murals. This was a new incentive for the town to try to encourage the tourists to the town. They have a competition on these large mural boards every year, as well as having many murals painted on the building walls, similar to in Christchurch. There are some very talked about artists in the world. We then drove on to a lookout at Mt Roland on our way to our campsite at cradle Mountain. A lovely big Discovery Caravan Park. It was very much like a National Park campground with every site in its own little alcove. The amenities and camp kitchen, huts and ensuites were all aesthetically designed to blend in with the natural surrounds. It is lovely. There have been many visitors to our camp sites – pademelon, echidna, possums.

Saturday 18th November 2017
We did a bit of shopping for camping gear at Albury and then headed on ur way to Melbourne. Only 3.5 hours to travel today. We arrived at the Port of Melbourne at about 4pm just in time for a thunderstorm. We sat out the rain in the car and headed to the boat at about 6.46pm. The boat was similar to the one we caught to Corsica, France a few years ago. We met Ali, Paul, Emma and Kate for dinner on the boat. It was great to see them and they had many adventure stories to share with us. I am sure we will hear many more before the holiday is over. DB and I are in single sex 4 bed share rooms, so we headed off to bed separately. Very unusual for us. DB was unlucky enough to have 3 other men in his room including a couple of snorers so he didn’t get much sleep at all. I was very fortunate to have the 4 bed room all to myself, so managed about 4 hours sleep. The boat was a bit rockin’ and rollin’ from about 4am. We were woken by an announcement at 5.45am and were called to go to our car at 6.30am. We arrived to a lovely day in Devonport, Tasmania.

Friday 17th November 2017
Well today we are off to our usual holiday start. As always we took till today to get organised and were delayed further by a late delivery. Usually our deliveries arrive about 10am but just because we wanted to leave it didn’t arrive until 3.30pm. So we headed on our way to Melbourne at 3.35pm. It took us 3 hours to get to Liverpool about 126km. A very slow start. We started to look for accommodation at about 7pm and were surprised to find that their was no accommodation at Yass, Gundagai or Goulburn. We were quite amazed. We had 2 options. Travel off course by 30 mins each way and stay at Canberra or drive through to Albury. We managed to get a late checkin at Albury so that was decided. A late checkin of 12 midnight was it.The road was long, boring and wet but we arrive safely. We later found out that the Snake Gully Cup was being held at Gundagai that weekend, therefore explaining the lack of accommodation in the area.

“The Snake Gully Cup – Taking it’s name from the famous “Dad and Dave” radio program, the popularity, prizemoney and prestige of the Snake Gully Cup Carnival has grown dramatically in recent years, with thousands of racegoers converging each November on the picturesque Gundagai racecourse.

With two full race days, the popular fashions on the field, family fun and top sponsors, the Snake Gully Cup Carnival makes a great time to come and visit and enjoy Gundagai.”