Tasmania 2010

We awoke to news that the weather was unlikely to improve and that it was forecast that it would be raining for most of the day.
We left our motel around 8.00am and drive down to Carrum Downs to pick up our trailer.
By 8.30am we were on our way home. I decided I wouldn't pay the fee to use the CityLink freeway and would follow the Nuvi's instructions to avoid the toll roads. In hindsight this was probably not a good move as we didn't get onto the Calder Highway proper until around 10.00am.
We stopped at the Calder Outbound BP for breakfast before continuing on to Bendigo where we fuelled up.
Next stop was Sea Lake where we bought some sandwiches for lunch and fuelled up again.
Fortunately the weather forecast wasn't as accurate as the day before as the inclement weather had cleared and for most of the drive home we had no rain.
Next stop was Mildura where we did our final refuel for the last stage of the drive home.
We arrived in Berri around 6.15pm with the realisation that our holidays were now officially over!

The weather forecast on Thursday night was not promising and when we woke up this morning, it was pouring rain and this rain continued all day.
We were considering visiting Puffing Billy, but with the inclement weather decided this was not going to happen. We had had enough retail therapy and decided we would only go out for a pub meal and a little play on the Pokies.
Not knowing where to go, we took pot luck and decided on the Dandenong RSL Club. We were very impressed with the club. We played the Pokies, I lost my $5, whilst the wife won a $140 jackport. We then had some lunch, I ordered Fish & Chips and got two huge pieces of fish, whilst the wife ordered Siagon Prawns, which happened to be prawns cooked in noodles. The servings were both large and we both struggled to finish our meals. As we said - very impressive.
To top it off, the wife had another quick play on the Pokies and won a further $80.
We then went down to where our camper was getting the new kitchen fitted and paid the account so that we could pick up the canmper first thing tomorrow for our drive home and the end of our holidays.

The trip back on the Spirit of Tasmania was not as smooth as the trip to Tasmania. Whilst we slept on and off, when we got up around 5.30am we both felt as if we had been on the grog the night before as we both had headaches!
We finally got the call that we could return to our vehicles and disembark. The $64 million question was "Would the Pajero start?". With great trepidation I turned the key and the motor turned over and started, to say we were relived would be a little understatement.
We drove off the ship and collected our gas bottle before heading down to Carrum Downs where we would leave the Camper Trailer for two days to have a new stainless steel kitchen fitted in place of the original timber kitchen which had seen better days.
We unhitched the camper and then proceeded to find an Auto Electrician to check the starter motor. We went to one Auto Electrician and the sign on his door said "Back soon". We waited 10 minutes or so before deciding that we both had a different definition of "soon".
About 250 metres down the round was another Auto Electrician, who was there, and we asked if he could check the starter motor and effect any necessary repairs. When he asked that I drive the Pajero into his workshop, the Pajero wouldn't start again! Were we glad that this happened were it did and not anywhere else we had stopped and started prior to getting to the Auto Electrician.
This now meant we had to find something to do for the day whilst the Pajero was being repaired.
We decided to catch a bus to Frankston and visit the shops. The bus that we caught does a loop from Franskston to Melbourne Airport. I recalled reading an article in the Sun-Herald the day we left for Tasmania saying that a one way trip would take in excess of 4 hours and that there were in excess of 200 stops along the way. Fortunately for us, we would only be passing a dozen or so stops before we reached Frankston Station and the shopping centre.
Whilst at the shopping centre we found out that a young girl had committed suicide by jumping off of the third story roof top car park around the time that we entered the shopping centre, as we wondered why an area had been cordoned off near the entrance we used to enter the shopping centre. Now we knew why.
By 2.30pm we had enough retail therapy and hopped back onto the bus and checked in with the Auto Electrician as to when our Pajero would be ready. We couldn't have time our arrival any better as five minutes later and $330 poorer we were on our way.
We decided to book into our accommodation as we where looking forward to being somewhere quiet and relaxing.

Today would be our last day in Tasmania. As the drive to Devenport was the shortest day drive of our holidays we tried to leave later than usual, but it seems our body clock decided we must be ready and on the road by 8.30am.
The drive to Devenport was rather uneventful and we arrived in Devenport around 10.30am, well in time for our 7.30pm departure that night. We moved around a few spots in East Launceston and read magazines, went for walks or surfed the internet using my iPad to while away the time.
Around 4.00pm we arrived at the dock ready to drive the Pajero on to the Spirit of Tasmania. We knew the gates wouldn't open until 5.00pm, but there were anumber of other vehicles already in the que. Finally the gates openned and we proceeded to be processed. It was at this time that the starter motor on the Pajero decided to play up and whilst we were clearing the quarintine station, the Pajero decided it didn't want to start. Fortunately we were towed  to the boarding area and were advised that we would be towed on last if the RACT could not get the Pajero started. When the RACT arrived, a tap on the starter motor enabled it to be started and driven onto the ship.
We were at least assured of getting to Melbourne and once there, not knowing whether the Pajero would start or not!

After experiencing our best nights sleep for the holiday, we departed St Helens around 9.00am for Launceston.
Our first stop was St Columbia Falls. The falls are visible as a "drive by" without having to take the walk to the base of the falls if that is not your inclanation.
The road towards the falls got narrower and narrower the closer we got to the falls. Fortunately there was a turning bay at the end of the road to enable vehicles to turn around. We passed the "Pub in a Paddock" but as it was barely 10.00am decided it wasn't the time to stop for a drink.
Back on the road and the hills seems to becomming higher and longer with each ascent and descent. We joked that there are only two types of roads in Tasmania - uphill roads and downhill roads! We wondered and pondered as to how and why the road was constructed where it was and the effort that would have gone into constructing the road. Being the driver, my eyes were on the road ahead, however my passengers were sometimes on tenterhooks with the amazing drops not more than a metre or so off of the bitumen.
Having driven for what seemed hours we came to a town by the name of Derby and had another toilet break. We learnt that the population of Derby would increase 10 fold in the following week when the River Derby would be held.
We left Derby and continued driving uphill and downhill until be reach Scottsdale. We located a pharmacy in the main street and stocked up on motion sickness tablets. These would come in handy not juts for the remainder of the drive to Launceston, but also for on the Spirit of Tasmania.
On the way out of Scottsdale we climbed what we thought was the highest hill and stopped at the lookout. Unfortunately our view was not that great due to the inclement weather, but we were still impressed none the less.
The road finally stopped being uphill and downhill and we were able to drive at more than 40-50kph.
We arrived at Launceston around 1.00pm and booked into our accommodation at Hapsden.
Just as we had booked in it started to rain again and continued raining well into the night.

Today we were on the road very early (by 8.00am) as we were happy to say "good bye" to the Garden Point Caravan & Cabin Park. As noted in a previous post, for the money paid, the accommodation was not worth what was paid!
Anyway, back on the road, we had to follow our trail back to Sorrell. Upon arriving we all needed a toilet break and decided the MacDonalds store to be the place to go. We also picked up some breakfast before heading off towards St Helens.
Mid morning we drove through Triabunna and stopped at the Visitor Information Centre at Spring Bay.
We enjoyed a chat with the hostess at the centre and picked up some more tourist brochures.
The weather was very bleak and overcast as we continued our drive through Swansea and onto Bicheno where we stopped to refuel.
We enjoyed driving so close to the ocean and watching the waves break onto the rocks as we got closer to St. Helens. We arrived around 1.00pm and booked into our accommodation. The accommodation was first class, and was the best we had experienced to date on our holiday.
We visited the lolly shop in the main street and stocked up on some Dutch licorice. We paid $2.95 for 200 grams. In Franskston's Bayside Shopping Centre a few days later a shop was selling 250 grams for $6.00!
We were looking to purchase some seafood for tea, but the place we were recommended to obtain seafood from had frozen prawns and no crayfish at all! We decided to give seafood a miss and instead bought some meat from the IGA store and had a BBQ for tea instead.

We decided we would go for a drive first thing in the morning and decided to visit Nubeena.
The harbour was full of assorted boats, from fishing boats to pleasure boats.
On the way back to Port Arthur we stopped of at the Seascape Supermarket (I think that was the name - but couldn't be sure!) to purchase some supplies for tea that evening.
For my benefit, we couldn't have timed our visit any better. Just so happened that we arrived at the same time as the start of the "Great Race" at Bathurst and watched Coulthard's spectacular crash on the first lap.
We then drove back to the Port Arthur Historic Site and picked up a set of self-guided audio handsets and proceeded to follow the numbers as we walked around the site and listened to how life was at the site when it was a penal colony.
Halfway through we decided to have lunch at the cafe at the top of the hill, this was included in our Silver Experience pass. We enjoyd a bowl of tomato & vegetable soup, a cornish pastie, a muffin and a cool drink.
We then continued walking around the site, finally returning to the Visitor Centre around 3.00pm having spen almost 4 hours on the site.
We had a coffee at the cafe at the Visitor Centre before returning to our accommodation.
This day was one of the highlights of our Tasmania trip.

Whilst we had a relatively short drive today, we were packed and ready to go by 8.30am.
The drive to Port Arthur was uneventful and we arrived around 12.00pm.
We booked into our accommodation and were extremely dissapointed with what was supposed to be a "deluxe" cabin. Compared to the cabins we had been staying in, the cabin we were in couldn't even be described as basic! The reception on the 15" television is almost unwatchable, the heating is pathetic and the general amentiy is very basic. And this cabin was the dearest cabin we would be staying in on our trip around Tasmania! As the commerical goes "Not happy Jan"!
Having overcome our dissapointment with our accommodation, we set off to enjoy the Port Arthur Historic Site.

First thing this morning we travelled up to Mt Wellington.
We had heard on the weather forecast that it was likely that snow would fall at the peak.
We were not dissapointed and had our first experience with snow.
Unfortunately, the snow falling meant that there was no view from the observation deck.
As we descended the mountain we stopped at most of the vantage points are took some video and photos of Hobart.
Our next stop was the Cascade Brewery Gardens. Whilst we didn't do the brewery tour, we did purchase some beers to sample when we return home. The gardens were very well maintained and we enjoyed a coffee in the cafe.
We then proceeded to the Cadbury factory in Claremont. We enjoyed the interprative tour which explained how chocolate is manufactured. We then splurged on purchasing chocolates from the retail store at significantly reduced prices from standard retail.
The remainder of the afternoon/evening was spent relaxing at the cabin park.

Once again we were on the road by 8.30am, today our destination is Hobart.
We drove through a number of small villages and stopped for a break at Oaklands.
We visited the Windmill and took some photos and videa before continuing to Hobart.
The Nuvi directed us off of the highway and we drve through Richmond before arriving at Risdon, where we had accommodation booked.
The drive off the highway was agian hilly and windy. Tasmania is on par with New Zealand for twisty, windy and hilly driving.
We will be in Hobart for two nights.
Tonight we visited my cousin who lives in Sandy Bay. He is a qualified chef and made us a very impressive meal.

The rain continued on and off over night. Our decision to book a cabin ensured we had a dry start. We packed the Pajero and were on our way by 8.30am.
We had to make a slight detour to Wynyard to fill up with unleaded and LPG. The price of LPG is 30c/ltr more in Tasmania than what we paid in Melbourne!
Once topped up we travelled on towards Cradle Mountain. The road was very hilly and windy, the view at Hellyer's Gorge was magnificent.
We arrived at Cradle Mountain around 1.00pm and were pleasantly surprised with the way in which the accommodation at the Discovery Caravan & Cabin Park was laid out. All sites were set in bush surroundings.
We had some lunch and then walked down to the Visitor Centre and purchased our National Parks pass which also provided access to the shuttle bus. Once on the shuttle bus we were driven the 8kms or so to Dove Lake, which is at the base of Cradle Mountain. The bus ride is something that must be experienced, how they can make a one vehicle wide track/road accomodate two vehicles was quite scary.
Having arrived at Dove Lake we took numerous photos and video of Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake. The mountain still had reminants of snow.
We also booked a night tour to view the native animals. This was rather disappointing as there were not that many animals to see.
We returned to our cabin and retired at around 10.00pm.

We awoke to a very brisk morning, there was a coating of ice on the camper trailer's cover.
We were now in a good routine so far as packing up and were on the road again by 8.30am.
We again drive through hilly and windy roads before getting to Chudleigh were we stopped and visited the Honey Shop. We were just in time as it was closing the following day for renovations.
The weather was quite overcast and it was threatening to rain all day. We arrived at Hapsden around 1.00pm and booked into our accommodation. Having had lunch, we drove to Launceston to fill up with fuel. We were annoyed when we filled up with LPG for 79.9c/ltr at BP and a 150 metres down the road (out of initial sight), Shell was selling LPG for 65.9c/ltr. At least we knew were to fill up next time!
We the had a lieusrely drive up the East Tamar Highway to Beaconsfield, before traversing the Bateman Brideg and returning to Launceston via the West Tamar Highway.
Just as we returned to Hapsden, the rain started and continued well into the night.

We received our wake up call courtesy of the crew of the Spirit of Tasmania at a quarter to six in the morning. We quickly showered and packed our overnight bag so that we were ready to disembark.
Getting of the ship seemed to take forever (well it seemed that way, even though it was around an hour). We ended up in the lane in which every vehicle was inspected by the sniffer dog, so we had to open the rear of the Pajero, open the toolbox and rear gate on the camper trailer. We were then allowed on our way. We picked up our gas bottle which had been removed from the camper trailer when we boarded.
We found the local McDonalds and had a egg and bacon meal deal. Whilst at McDonalds we noticed Roothy's 4WD, Milo, parked nearby with the other 4 4WD Action crew 4WD's. We were fortunate to talk with Roothy for 5 minutes or so before we excused ourselves and set off for Stanley.
We enjoyed the drive across the top of Tasmania and arrived at Stanley after an hour and a half of driving.
We were able to book-in to our cabin early and then drove the scenic route and took some magnificent video and photos of The Nut.
We had lunch in the Stanley Hotel. The prices were moderately high for the standard of food provided. The food also seemed to go cold very quickly and was not as enjoyable as it ought to have been.
Fortunately we had booked into a cabin, rather than set up the camper trailer, as around 2.30pm the heavens opened up and it poured with rain for an hour and a half before clearing up a little.

Having watch the Grand Final and witnessing a very comprehensive victory by Collingwood, we retired quite early. With daylight saving commencing today, we were all awake and ready to move on by 8.30am.
We decided a visit to the Queen Victoria Markets were in order. Having last visited the markets approximately 10 years ago, we were a little dissapointed with the wares being sold. We were at the markets for an hour and a half before deciding to find a spot to park whilst waiting to board The Spirit of Tasmania.
We found a nice spot a few kilometres down the road from Station Pier and waited four or so hours before we could commence boarding. The time to board finally arrived and we drove onto the ship. Whilst boarding we noticed Roothy and his crew from 4WD Action were also travelling to Tasmania.
By 6.00pm we were on board and settled into our cabin for the journey over. We had a meal at the "Captain's Table" restaurant on board and were very surprised with the quality of the food on offer.
After a drink or two we retired to our cabin. We woke a few times during the night and felt the ship rocking and swaying as we crossed Bass Straight.

The day finally arrived - we're going to Tasmania!
Last week's drawn AFL Grand Final meant we had to come to some concensus as to what time we left Adelaide for the drive over to Melbourne. Do we leave late Friday night and get to Melbourne in plenty of time to book-in and then watch the Grand Final, or do we leave early Saturday morning and get to Melbourne in time to watch the second half of the Grand Final.
After a vote 3-1 in favour of leaving late Friday night, SWMBO had the deciding vote and it was agreed that we would leave on Saturday morning. We left Adelaide around 5.15am for Melbourne.
We filled up with LPG at Tailem Bend (74.9c/ltr), Bordertown (69.9c/ltr), Horsham (59.9c/ltr), Ballarat (46.9c/ltr) and North Melbourne (43.7c/ltr).
I used the GPS Motion iPhone app to monitor our travel to Melbourne. The trip took 10 hours and 11 minutes, and we travelled 777kms at an average speed of 76.3klm/hr.

Our options are to fly and hire a car, or, use our car and take the ferry over to Tasmania.

If we fly and hire a car, we are then also locked into staying in motel style accommodation. Whereas, if we take our own car, we can also take our camper trailer. This will provide some options as we are travelling with elderly parents.

At most caravan parks the cost of a powered site is the same as paying for an extra two adults in a park cabin. The problem with park cabins is that most have a double bed and 2 sets of double bunks. Having the option to sleep in our camper trailer will give us a more comfortable sleep.

Taking all the above into account, we've decided to take the ferry.

As at 24 May 2010 the cost to travel on the Spirit of Tasmania would be $699 each way ($1,398 Return).

Having had a family conference where a number of holiday destinations were discussed it was finally decided that we would holiday in Tasmania. We plan to be in Tasmania during October 2010.

We will be on the Apple Isle for around ten days. Over the following weeks we will be develop our itinerary and fine tune it.

Getting to and from the island we will be travelling on the Spirit of Tasmania ferry.

We intend taking our 4WD and camper trailer on to the island.