We finally made it to Freycinet National Park and found a lovely camping spot at a place called Friendly Beaches.
The site is behind the dunes next to the beach. Today is our 36th Wedding Anniversary and the weather is perfect. So we spent the afternoon in the National Park walking along the beach and a visit to the Tourville lighthouse before heading to the local tavern for a surprisingly good meal of fresh seafood.
By the time we got back to camp, the weather had changed and it was very windy overnight.
February 23
Today was a bushwalking day, the weather is still not great the wind dropped but by the time we started our walk to the Wineglass Bay lookout it was blowing a gale. We are now sitting at the table in the caravan hoping the wind will die down soon.
Our legs are pretty sore. We walked up and down about 1500 steps on the walk to Wineglass Bay lookout and down to Wineglass bay beach.
February 24
The day started out calm and misty. A good beach walking morning till the wind returned. We decided to explore the small towns inland visiting Royal George, Avoca, Fingal, and finished up at St Marys. Fortunately, we didn't have the Caravan as the Elephant Pass is steep, windy, and skinny. Even without the rain and fog.
We're camped at Dunally Golf Club and was very peaceful when we turned up, then all the families arrived. So we are not spending as much time relaxing at camp. (We're in the bar at the golf club instead).
It's been a great base for sightseeing the Tasman Peninsula. Saturday we visited the Tessellated Pavement at Eaglehawk Neck, Tasman Arch, Devils Kitchen, and the coastal walk to Waterfall Bay. Our last stop for the day was Remarkable Cave. We had plans to do a lot more but ran out of time so decided to stay another day.
Sunday we followed the convict tourist route which took us to the historical coal mines. The site was established in the 1830s. The worst of the worst convicts were sent here to mine the coal, it was said that the mine was a more dreadful place than Port Arthur. Mining continued until around 1870. We thought that this would be just a stopover but it took us three hours to explore the site. The afternoon was spent wandering along the water's edge on White Sands Beach.
After Cockle Creek our next camp is beside the river out the back of the RSL club in Geeveston where we have been for the past few days. A really relaxing spot that encourages campfires. We spent a day bushwalking in the Hartz Mountains National Park walking to Lake Esperance, Lake Dobson and a short walk to the Arve Falls. The altitude was not that high but it was a lot colder than back at camp. It required us to layer up with hats and coats. The Hartz Mountains isan alpine environment created by glaciers. The lakes are pristine and cold with a suprising number of trout in Lake Esperance.
The next day we walked around the township of Franklin and visited the Wooden Boat Workshop, where they are keeping the traditional boat-building skills alive using Tasmanian timbers.
There are plenty of wild blackberries in Geeveston and its surrounds, they are delicious.
We have also seen the local Platypus on a number of occasions.
Also delicious. :p
Garden Rust
Geeveston Camp
Lake Esperance walk.
Hartz Mountains
Lake Osbourne walk.
Lake Osbourne.
Black Skink
February 15-February 18
Next stop is the Lea Scout camp in Kingston, which is in the hills a short drive from Hobart. Our first full day was spent walking around the docks in Hobart and Salamanca. We parked out near the Botanical Gardens and walked into Hobart. The walk included a visit to the Cenotaph which overlooks the Derwent River.
The next day was a visit to MONA (Museum of Old and New Art). It's an interesting museum with a great collection of artifacts and art. We were pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed the visit. Not everything was to our taste but you get that with art. Overall the exhibits were varied in style and technology. We also found the building to be a great piece of architecture. If you are ever in Tasmania we would recommend a visit to MONA even if art is not your thing.
Salamanca Square
Soldiers Memorial. Hobart. (Cenotaph)
Careful where you camp
Linda in the art
MONA
Banners
Egyptian coffin
MONA
Fat Car
Osama tattooed on Pig Skin
Peeking at some Art
The White Pagoda
Leda and the Swan
MONA
Restaurant at MONA
Children's Playground MONA
The Men's Lounge
bit.fall
The last couple of campsites have allowed fires so we've been doing a bit of campfire cooking.
