Our Tassie Trip
Melbourne to Launceston Sunday 18/06/2006 & Monday 19/6/2006
105397 start speedo reading
Set sail 8pm. Calm weather. Had seats in business class facing the rear window on deck 8. Dined in the restaurant and later went out on deck. Settled down in our seats. Al slept well - Brad not so. Arrived Devonport 7 am. Still dark and cold. Had a good breakfast before driving to Launceston and meeting Alex. He showed us around the Launceston Architecture campus while we waited for time to go to the airport. Sue, Anna and the kids landed at 1:30. From there we went to our cabin at the caravan park. A bit disappointed but it’s not too bad. Had a look around the first basin and Cataract Gorge - beautiful. Did some shopping and later had tea at O’Keefe’s Hotel -yummy. 218km today
Launceston Tuesday 20/6/2006
A cold night. Sunny but cool day. In the morning drove around Travalyn and found a lookout. Magnificent old homes on the steep hill-side. Later walked from Kings bridge up the gorge to the first basin, then back along the zig-zag track. Had a picnic lunch next to the Tamar River. In the af ternoon did a walk along the river front, then to City Park where we saw monkeys, then back through the city centre. Some lovelly old buildings here. Most went home for a rest while Brad walked to the second basin and Duck Reach power station. Indian Restaraunt for dinner. 41.5 km.
Launceston Wednesday 21/6/2006
Not so cold this morning due to a little bit of cloud cover. Did a tour of the Tamar Valley. Extremely pretty little villages on the wide river edges. Bought bread at Beaconsfield and ate lunch at Beauty Point. Drove on to Greens Beach and walked along the beach towards the mouth of the Tamar across shoals of rocks and stones. Came home via Beaconsfield and stopped at the mine. Crossed to the other side of the river on the Batman Bridge then back home. Anna cooked spagetti marinara for tea while the Traylens went out for dinner. 160 km
Launceston to Hobart Thursday 22/6/2006
Left Launceston and headed south along the main highway to Ross. Very pretty, small town with its famous bridge. After walking around town we had lunch with ’Eddy’ the dog. A decision was made that instead of go ing direct to Hobart, we would go via Richmond, with its famous bridge. Richmond is a lot bigger than Ross and more commercial, but beautiful all the same. Continued to Hobart via the Tasman bridge to our intended ac comodation. We were not happy with the hostel so made a decision to stay somewhere else. As luck would have it Anna had picked up a brochure for some appartments in Sandy Bay (Grosvenor Court). Very happy with this accomodation. Anna and Sue cooked pasta for tea. Overcast day, cool breeze, about 12 degrees. 202 km
Hobart Friday 23/6/2006
Overcast day but not too cold. The morning was spent touring the Cad bury Factory at Claremont. Had a bit of a frenzy in the shop afterwards. Drove back to Hobart and had lunch at Constitution Dock. Brad and kids did a walking tour of Hobart wharf area before walking back to The Grovenor. Kids had take-away for tea while adults went out for pretty ordinary ’gourmet’ pizzas.
Hobart Saturday 24/6/2006
Another cool and overcast day. Walked to Salamanca Place for the Satur day Market. Very busy. Everybody made small purchases. Al and Nick then wandered off to the museum. Brad and Steph walked through Bat tery Point and Sandy Beach residential streets back to our apartments. Af ter lunch we drove to Mt. Wellington. Spectacular views on the way up until we got into the clouds - and boy - was it cold! We only got a few glimpses of Hobart through the fog before heading back down. Came home via Mt. Nelson lookout. BBQ for tea. 98km for last 2 days
Hobart to Port Arthur Sunday 25/6/2006
A lovely cool clear morning and no clouds on Mt. Wellington. Headed off via Sorell and Eaglehawk Neck to Port Arthur. The entrance fee includes a boat cruise and introductory walking tour. A perfect winter day with hardly a cloud in the sky. Port Arthur is beautiful. The kids, Sue and Al booked in for a ghost tour. In the late afternoon, we made our way to our accomodation at Possum Beach on Safety Cove, just south of Port Arthur. A great view across an estuary and very comfortable. In the evening the kids went back to Port Arthur for a ’ghost tour’. 113 km
Port Arthur to Bicheno Monday 26/6/2006
Got up and saw the sun rise. Another beautiful sunny but cool day. We returned to Port Arthur and finished off looking at all the sights. We nearly had the whole site to ourselves. Sue and Al took this opportunity to have some time to themselves. We then looked at Tasmans Arch, Devils Kitchen, Dootown and The Tessalated Pavement. We took a shortcut along a forest road to avoid going all the way back to Sorell. The towns between Orford and Bicheno are pretty little fishing villages. Got to Bicheno at about 4 pm and found our cabin. Cooked tea in the cabin. Played Balder dash in the evening. 224 km
Bicheno Tuesday 27/6/2006
Today was a bit of a rest day. People spent time walking on the rocks, kayaking, reading or playing tennis. Went for a penguin tour in the evening very informative. Had tea at Silverwaters Hotel. Spent the evening playing / teaching everyone how to play 500.
Bicheno Wednesday 28/6/2006
Drove the 34 km to Freycenet National Park and Coles Bay. Some of the most spectacular scenery so far with The Hazards rising from the bay. We did the walk up to Wineglass Bay lookout. A stiff climb for about 1.5 km but what a view! Once again superb sunny weather. We walked back down and then had a picnic lunch at Honeymoon Bay with a couple of cheeky butcherbirds. What a lovely spot. We must come back to this Nat. Park for a camping holiday. Drove back to Bicheno. Alex joined us for tea. 97 km today.
Bicheno to Devonport Thursday 29/6/2006
Left Bicheno fairly early as the Traylens needed to go to Launceston to or ganise Alex’s luggage to Melbourne. We drove to St. Marys via Elephant pass. It was damp, misty and smokey there and noticeably cooler than the coast. We had a go at getting to St. Helens for a look but by Scamander decided it would be cutting it too fine. Had morning tea on the beach then headed back towards St. Mary’s pass, then from Fingal followed the rail line to the main Hwy. Saw a coal train on this section. We had a little time up our sleeve so did a quick circuit of Launceston then went and had a look at Evandale. Very pretty (a bit like Richmond). Dropped Anna and the kids at the airport and said our goodbyes. I then headed towards De vonport, looking at Deloraine on the way. Found the Don River Railway Museum and spent a couple of hours there. Still had a couple more hours to kill before meeting Al, so I checked out the bike track along the Mersey River, then looked at the docks area. Met Al at 6 pm then we loaded our cars on the ship. It was interesting sseing this huge ship do a 360 degree turn on the river with very little room for error. We dedided to upgrade to a cabin. $60 each for a much more comfortable night. Bye for now, Tassie. Had a great time. We’ll be back. 387 km
Total trip distance: 1540 km Final speedo reading: 106937