Tassie Here We Come!

Here we are back on the air again!!

January was a blur. After Gloucester, we spent the rest of the month catching up with family and friends. It would seem that absence does make the heart grow fonder, and we had some lovely times, celebrating a belated Christmas with John's family, as well as a few birthdays. We are truly blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family, and our time in Sydney and surrounds, sharing time with you all is a wonderful memory we take on our continuing journey.

Here's to Tassie!

Driving on to Spirit of Tasmania 11.

February 2nd was departure day to leave the mainland and head to the south island of Australia, otherwise known as Tasmania. We spent the night and day before at the Big 4 Ashley Gardens. It is only 20 minutes to the pier, and is the park recommended by The Spirit of Tasmania staff. We had to make special arrangements to stay on our site after normal checkout time. The staff were very helpful, especially as the park was not busy. The GPS came into its own and we made it to the wharf easily. The loading was smooth, and quite exciting, as we made our way up the ramp to the top level, and disappeared into the bowels of the boat. On checking in, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that we had been upgraded into a private cabin, which was extra nice. We found our way to our cabin, checked out the layout of the ship, ordered a couple of drinks and went out on deck to watch Melbourne disappear behind us and the sun set in the west. We enjoyed a light meal, watched a little TV (Carol and Desperate Housewives!) whilst John played the pokies and won $60!! Yay!!

War Memorial and Clock Tower
at Ulverstone.

Next morning we were up at 5.50am for our 6.30am landing. We found out that our deck was to be first off. We were the 4th vehicle off the van, did our quick quarantine check at the gate, and were out in the streets of Devonport at 6.35am!!! We headed for our first stop at Ulverstone, some 30kms to the west, and at 7.05am were sitting in a lovely cafe in Ulverstone having breakfast. Couldn't believe how smooth it had all been.
After breakfast we found the Apex Caravan Park on the western side of town right beside the ocean. Our site was large and grassy, and once we had shooed the rabbits away, we set up camp for the week. Our friends Lynne and Paul were arriving on the 5th, so we spent a couple of days having a look at the local sights.


Lynne & Paul have been to Tassie a few times, but for us it is all new. Our plan is to do a circuit of the island together, and from that decide where to go in more detail after they've headed back. They will be with us for about 4 weeks, after which we have another 8 weeks.

Port Sorrell at low tide.

We took a drive out to Port Sorrell, which is a lovely beach side area to the east of Devonport. Being a lovely day, the water sparkled, and there were lots of locals at the beaches. We called in at Ghost Rock Winery on the way, and sampled some of the delicious local wine. A couple of bottles went into the fridge. Not cheap at the cellar door, but excellent wines. We found our way over to Latrobe, another quaint town, and home to platypus and the Axemen's Hall of Fame, beautifully located on the banks of the Mersey River. It was well worth a visit, though 50 axemen wouldn't have been heard above the noise of 100 women having a luncheon in the function room!! Back in town is the amazing store called Reliquaire. It is unbelievable, with over 20 rooms crammed from floor to ceiling, with dolls, stuffed toys, teddies, toys, furniture, produce, hardware, and much much more. You could spend a week here. We lost 2 hours, and then couldn't find the front door!!


Nearby is Anvers Chocolate Factory, and also the Cherry Shed. Believe it or not, Carol opted for the Cherry Shed. It proved an excellent choice, with the plumpest fresh cherries and raspberries to buy, and a fresh cherry/raspberry ice cream where a guy put a handful of each plus a scoop of ice cream into a machine, and the most delicious soft serve arrived in a waffle cone. Yummmo!

Poppy crop.

The Forth Valley is a rich vegetable and fruit growing area. You cannot believe how much is grown here. I am convinced from what I have read, that Australia would starve if not for this region. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, carrots, beans, peas, all kinds of berries and cherries, fresh flowers, tomatoes, and they grow heaps of poppies to produce codeine. In addition, the white daisy that produces pyrethrum is grown here in such volume, that 30% of the world's supply comes from this region. How about that!!

Lynne, Paul, Harley and the camper trailer

On Sunday 5th February, the day Lynne & Paul were arriving, the weather took a huge turn for the worse. We had taken a lovely drive and walk up to Leven

Penguin's big penguin.

Uniting Church at Penguin.

We took a leisurely trip along the coast to the quaint little town of Penguin. Guess what it's famous for? That's right, seals! Only kidding, the cute little guys nest all along the coast around here. The town street scape is all about penguins. The garbage cans are even covered in penguins. There are some nice cafes, and we had a lovely lunch at one called Renaessance, a play on the owner's name, not my bad spelling! There is also a terrific old wooden Uniting Church. Further west along the coast are the port of Burnie, and the town of Wynyard. We will cover theses in more detail later in our travels, as we are now in the middle of plans for a visit by John's sister Jenny and BIL David, when we will explore the north west and Cradle Mountain in greater detail. We did visit Table Cape just out of Wynyard, where the Lighthouse sits on the point of the cape surrounded by the tulip farms. Alas it isn't tulip time. The photos we saw were spectacular. We just saw more dead poppies!

Carol, Pedro and the bushranger!

Sheffield, the mural town.

A trip to Sheffield, Mole Creek and Deloraine, was another great day out. Sheffield is the Mural Town. The buildings of the town are adorned with some amazing artworks, and they are regularly refreshed and/or replaced. They are well worth a visit. In the middle of town we found Pedro the tame alpaca. His owner, an enterprising Dutchman with a surprising similarity to Pedro, eagerly invited you over for a pat or a photo, for a gold coin. I reckon by the time he went home he'd have weighed 200kgs he was collecting so much gold! Guess that's when Pedro earns his dinner! There is also a fantastic marble shop. Round marbles, all painted and showing some incredible designs, and there is The Emporium, a shop you could spend weeks in, full of memorabilia or just plain junk, call it what you will. 


At Mole Creek, the area is famous for its caves. We have seen a lot of caves, so didn't do any spelientology, just had a great lunch at the Guesthouse and Cafe. One of the best Ploughman's lunches John's ever had! Carol had a fantastic spicy tomato and red lentil soup, which was equally delicious. Further on was the town of Deloraine. We stopped for an afternoon coffee at the famous deli, and it was good. The town looked very interesting and will warrant a more detailed examination at a later date.

The Nut looking across Sawyer Bay.

On another day we headed out to Stanley, a beautiful village nestled under the quite famous landmark called The Nut. We were absolutely blessed with a gorgeous day, so saw Stanley at its absolute best. This is a quaint fishing village famous for its lobster and fish. Unfortunately our timing was bad, being the most expensive time of the year to buy lobster. The new quota season starts 1st March, when the volume increases and the prices come down. We'll see, when Jenny and Dave are here!

View looking west from The Nut

The iconic thing to do is take the chairlift to the top of The Nut, which we did and were rewarded with some amazing vistas. The village itself is a wonderful collection of restored cottages, many with historical significance, and may of them   B & B's. There are some lovely cafes and restaurants. It seems a lovely area to spend a few days, and we will later on. We enjoyed a huge feed of fish 'n chips at Hurshey's down by the docks. It was excellent. You can't miss it, it has a huge lobster on the roof, and even if you don't want to eat, it is worth a visit to see the live tanks full of "pet" fish, friendly examples of what they sell commercially, including gummy sharks, striped trumpeter and a huge crab!


Our last day was spent having a look around Ulverstone, which is a lovely seaside area, surrounded by rich agriculture, and home to one of the worlds most modern potato processing plants. The next time you have a chip, think Ulverstone. It probably came from here! I must give a  plug to the Visitor Centre. It is always our first stop in town. The lady we spoke to was so full of passion about the area, in fact all of Tasmania, and she gave us a bag full of ideas and places not to miss. What would she be like if she got paid?? Thanks for all the help.


The afternoon was spent packing up, and the evening was spent at the pub where we had a great farewell dinner. On to the West Coast, and our next stop at Strahan.