Devonport Tasmania

Sunday morning saw us packing up and saying our good byes to Ballarat. We arranged a late check out and hit the road about 11:30am. We drove about half way to Melbourne before stopping for some lunch and a stretch. We then continued on our way finding a spot along Williamstown Road to park our vans for the afternoon prior to boarding the Spirit of Tasmania. We got a SMS message on our way that the Ferry would be delayed for at least an hour.

We enjoyed a relaxed afternoon in our vans with a walk along Williamstown Rd to stretch. Around 5PM we walked down to the Port area and enjoyed some Gluten Free Fish & Chips from Dlish Fish. They were delicious and very large portions. Rans and I were full after eating ours and the girls ended up with a doggie bag for the next day. We discovered the Queen Mary 2 was docked which explained how busy it was and why the Ferry was likely delayed. We walked back to the caravan after dinner and made our final preparations for our voyage. Transferred all our fridge/freezer contents from our vans to portable Waeco etc. Secured every else before heading off for our final 2KM to the port for loading at 8PM. The boarding process to say the least is a joke! Took us over 2 hours to clear quarantine and load our vehicles. This may have been the exception because of the Queen Mary and the Ferry being late but we suspect it would always be very poorly organized. Really ruined our day and our impression of the Spirit of Tasmania. Both of us let them know our feelings in the customer survey we received after our trip. We checked into our cabins just after 10PM. Carol and Stephen went for a drink but Sandra and I, showered and went straight to bed. The sail was fairly smooth but the beds weren't very comfortable and neither of us slept well. We had a quick cup of coffee/tea in the morning before disembarking. Fortunately the disembarking process went much smoother than the loading had.

We pulled into the Abel Tasman caravan park around 8:30AM Monday morning. We had arranged early access but we ended up waiting till about 10AM to get a site near the Ransleys when other caravans checked out. The sites were nice a wide but short so both our vans stuck into the sites behind us. Luckily they weren't used at all during our stay so we had lots of room. The amenity blocks were old but very clean. 4 Stars! The park is quite large and has a lot of potential. Less than 2KM from the Ferry and right on the water along the back. We got our vans setup and our fridges turned back on before a quick drive into town to restock on fruit and vegetable which we weren't allowed to bring across from Victoria. We were informed as we left the Ferry that they had just instituted a fruit ban around Devonport as well. This meant we had to only buy what we would use in Devonport and even made it tricky for doing our day trips around the area as we were continually going in and out of the exclusion zone. The day was mostly spent organizing and getting our food supplies re setup. We enjoyed a couple of walks along the foreshore/beach area.

 
Tuesday morning the girls did a bit of laundry and got it hung on the lines before we headed off to explore. First stop was Braddon's Lookout which was just West of Devonport. Great view of the surrounding farm land and the Bass Strait. From there we carried on to Ulverstone where we stopped at the Visitor Centre. There was a nice war memorial in the main street. We did a short walk up the Zig Zag gardens in Ulverstone as well before taking the coastal road towards Penguin. Had a brief stop at Goat Island for morning tea on the way. We had a walk along the waterfront and posed with the Penguin statues before jumping back in the car.

 

Next stop was South of Penguin at the Gunns Plain Caves. Unfortunately we just missed a tour and the next one wasn't for 90 minutes. We enjoyed our picnic lunch there and decided to keep moving. The country side is so varied with beautiful red fields, green crops, dense bushland, and rainforest like areas. Had a quick stop and walk at Preston Falls. Lovely ferns and moss growing on the trees there and a small but pretty waterfall. Would be quite impressive with the winter rains we think.

From here we continued on through Nietta to Leven Canyon. Here we did a loop walk. Started with a bit of a climb to Cruikshanks Lookout followed by 697 stairs down through lovely ferns and huge cedars. A bit more of a climb led to the second lookout called the Edge. Both lookouts were impressive but we really enjoyed the dense rainforest like growth on the forest stairs and other walkways. Moss and lichen was growing on everything including trees and rocks. Beautiful! Took about an hour all up but parts were fairly steep so we could feel the back of our legs.

We retraced our route briefly before heading off on another series of rural roads through Upper Castro, Kindred, Sprent, and Forth. Beautiful countryside that is continually changing. Not to many wide or straight roads though! Enjoyed a barbecue back at the caravan park that evening.

Wednesday morning saw us back on the road again heading South towards Sheffield. We had a brief stop at Devil's Gate Dam on the way where we walked to a couple of viewing platforms. Quite a tall dam with a good size body of water behind it. We got a few pictures before carrying on to Sheffield. A lovely old town with lots of unique shops and murals gracing the walls of most businesses. Some were very realistic and I 've included a few for you to see. Rans and I bought our first Scallop Pies for our picnic lunch. Very filling! We will need to sample a few more to properly judge.

 

We took a back route from Sheffield to Mole Creek. Another quaint old town. We did a walk to the Alum Cliffs near there. A bit of a climb again which reminded us that our legs were still sore from yesterday's efforts. Nice view again from the top.

We then set off East along the Meander Valley stopping at a honey farm in Chudleigh. We sampled a few honeys there before buying some honey and ice cream. Quite an interesting little stop as they also showed you quite a bit about how the honey is made.

The last major stop of the day was Deloraine. A lovely town with lots of unique shops. We spent a good hour walking the streets and the parkland near the Meander River. We really liked the town and will probably return here for a few days later in our trip. We took the major Bass Highway from Deloraine back to Devonport. We passed a few interesting stops on the way but will leave those for another day as we were fairly tired from our adventures over the last two days. There is still a bit to see in this area but we have decided to move on tomorrow and take in a bit more on our return to the area later in our trip. The weather so far has been very good with nice sunny days albeit with a bit of a chill in the air. It's supposed to take a turn for the worse over the next day or so. Talk to you all soon!

On the Road to Tassie

Welcome back fellow travellers! After an extended stay at home we are hitting the road again. Our destination for the next 3-4 months will be Tasmania. Once again we will be travelling with Carol and Stephen Ransley. A fair amount of planning for this trip as we booked our Ferry transfer a year ago.

Our first week will see us meander through NSW and Victoria towards the Port of Melbourne where we will catch the Spirit of Tasmania on February 18th.

We departed Harrington on Saturday February 10th stopping at the Ourimbah Rest Stop for the night. Colleen and Ernie met us there in the late afternoon for a quick visit. We enjoyed a quiet night and set the alarm for an early start.

We were up and on the road by 5:45 so we got through Sydney with very light traffic. Carried on to the Rest Stop near Picton turnoff where we had breakfast and a stretch. Carol and Stephen showed up shortly after us at our meeting spot. We carried on down the Hume, with a few stops to stretch, arriving in Jugiong just after lunch. We both filled up with diesel before checking into the free camp at the Recreation reserve. We found a couple of semi shaded sites although we avoided any large gum trees as very windy.

We had a relaxing afternoon before walking to the Sir George Hotel to celebrate my Birthday. We enjoyed a lovely meal and a couple of ice cold beer. Rans and I had a couple of Bourbon nightcaps back at the caravans but was still an early night.

We did a bit of a walk around the reserve and down to the Murrumbidgee River in the morning. There is a huge area for camping at the back along the river. We may look at as an option for the Smith Family gathering in the future. The bathroom facilities were fairly basic but clean. There is a donation box and we made sure we both contributed to keep this lovely area viable. I must say the local community probably does OK by the park being there as we think at least 20 people from the campground were having dinner at the Pub. Several would have filled up with diesel as well.

Monday morning saw us continue along the Hume highway before turning off near Rutherglen in Victoria. We travelled a somewhat winding route into the Police Paddocks recreation reserve along the Murray River. We found a flat area near the river that could easily accommodate our two vans and allow us to keep our vehicles hooked up. A beautiful peaceful location with no facilities but that is free to stay at. We enjoyed two lovely relaxing days camping along the river. The river level was quite high and really rushing so we avoided the water. We did enjoy a number of long walks along the banks of the river. Lots of beautiful old gum trees although we made sure we didn't stay directly under any of them. Lots of bird life, especially white Cockatoos which made the evenings and mornings fairly loud. We also had a few Kookaburras serenade us quite loudly in the morning. We enjoyed watching mother and baby Kangaroos drinking from the river across from our campsite. The weather was warm but there was always a bit of a breeze. We kept busy moving our chairs around trying to keep in a shady spot. A great couple of days and definitely a place we will look to return to one day.

Wednesday morning saw us hit the road again heading South. We re-joined the Hume Highway near Wangaratta which we followed to Seymour Victoria. We then headed West ending up in Heathcote. We had planned on carrying on a bit further but we were all tired by the time we stopped there at 2PM. We had some lunch and made a group decision to check into the local caravan park. The park staff was very friendly and gave us each a double site so we could drive thru and leave our vehicles hooked up. There were two toilet blocks and they were nice and clean. 4 Stars. The price was very reasonable as well at $27/night for powered sites. We did a couple of walks along the main street and enjoyed a couple of ice cold beer in the local pub to celebrate Valentines Day with the girls. We are pretty special guys to treat them so well!

Thursday morning was cool at 7 degrees so we fired up our heater to give it a test. Definitely took the chill off the inside of the van which was good. We headed South West through Mia Mia/ Redesdale before arriving at Kyneton. The road wasn't too great but at least it wasn't too busy. We did get to go across a really old bridge on route. We had a break at Kyneton which was a really nice interesting little town. We may try and stay here on our return trip. We carried on along a number of rural roads travelling through Daylesford before arriving in Ballarat in the late morning. We were booked in at the Eureka Stockade Holiday Park for 3 days for our final preparations before the Ferry to Tasmania. The park is quite tight but we both got some nice drive thru sites. Narrow though as we could barely get our awning out. The toilets were kept very clean so 4 Stars. The staff was friendly and the park wasn't very busy which was good. The girls got started on some laundry when we got setup and Rans & I did some electrical work on his Ranger.

Friday morning we piled in the Ransley's Ranger and headed into Melbourne. The main objective of the trip was to pre-scope our drive into the Ferry on Sunday. It was a good thing we did as the GPS took us through a winding, crowded, residential area originally. We found a more direct route and also a place where we could park for several hours prior to the boarding commencing. There is no staging or parking area for caravans that arrive early. Once we were happy with our plan of action Stephen took the girls into the city to Gluten Free 4 U. This is a Gluten Free only bakery and the girls were like kids in a candy shop. $200 of baking products later we headed home with two very happy ladies! Quite a few samples were enjoyed on the drive back to Ballarat. Stephen and I got a quick lunch when we returned to Ballarat at 2:30.

Later in the afternoon we took a drive to Lake Wendouree which is a large body of water located within Ballarat. A beautiful park with walking trails around the 6KM circumference of the lake. We enjoyed a lovely walk enjoying the peaceful lake with lots of waterfowl. The Lake was also the site of Olympic rowing from the Melbourne Olympics. We were lucky enough to see a number of teams training for an upcoming regatta. The whole area is very well maintained and utilized. Lots of walkers, joggers, rowers, cyclists, fishermen, birdwatchers, and nature lovers.

Saturday morning Sandra and I did a good walk around the Eureka Stockade and neighbourhood. A beautiful park area at the Stockade and some interesting art celebrating the labour uprising. The neighbourhood was filled with very old houses which were small but on huge blocks. The majority were very well kept with beautiful gardens. Ballarat in general is a very old city with some many lovely old buildings.

Later in the morning we took another drive to see a bit more of the city. First stop was Black Hill Lookout which also functions as a large mountain bike park. Again the area appeared well utilized with a number of family groups and young people setting off down runs of various difficulty. We decided even the easiest ones were probably a bit much for us oldies!

From there we returned to Lake Wendouree and parked near the Botanic Gardens. We spent a few hours walking through these lovely gardens. The gardens originated early in the 1800s so there were some very large trees. Highlights were Sequoia, Tasmanian Blue Gum, and Bunya Bunya Pines. There were a number of other wonderful trees and then there were the flowers. The girls had a great time going from one flower bed to another chatting and taking photos. The whole gardens were very well maintained and some of the nicest we have seen. It was quite a warm day but it was very comfortable wandering along the various path ways as most of them were shaded. We returned home for a late lunch at a relaxing afternoon. Saturday night we ventured into the city and enjoyed a wonderful Thai meal. So many gluten free options that we all went away very happy and full! We all really enjoyed Ballarat and each of us commented that we needed to return here in the future. We saw so many old buildings while driving through various parts but we certainly could have spent a few more days just wandering the downtown area appreciating them up close and learning more about Ballarat's rich history.

Tomorrow our Tassie adventure begins in earnest with us catching the Spirit of Tasmania Sunday evening. We will talk to you next from the other side of Bass Strait. Here's hoping the seas are kind to us!

Just a reminder! I include a few photos to go with the story but if you are really interested or want to see them in better resolution make sure to click on the current trip link for all the photos!