Tasmania through our eyes.

From Sheffield we moved onto Deloraine a great spot which had small statues place down the main street. We stayed in the caravan park for a couple of days, which was right by the river, which had platypus, ducks and geese playing around so was lovely to sit and watch them. We then moved onto a free parking area just down from the police station and stayed another 5 days. And would you believe it there where 6 other van from Western Australia there so the first night we all gathered for happy hour to chat and to hear all about place people had visit and where they were going. A good night was had by all.

While here we took off to explore the countryside.

Visiting Alum Gorge, a great walk into see the gorge. And by now we have slowly started to wear long pants and a jumper. As the weather is cooling. At Chudleigh we found a honey place with a variety of honeys, the one I loved was Aniseed and Bob went for the Leather wood. So after our purchases back to the van we went to make some toast and try out our honey, yummy.
We also visited King Solomon cave and Devils gullet, here it was so cold and windy that we just walked in had a quick look then out again. .Along the way we came across this old lady by the petrol station. We have found that the Tasmanian people have a great imagination, and we often see their artistic skills popping

up as we drive around.
And this house covered with a creeper. There is so much to see by just driving around. Also found a berry farm, so went in for lunch nice hot soup and raspberry crumble boy this was beautiful. Our next stop was at Longford a caravan park on the edge of a river, a good clean and tidy park. Woolmer heritage Farm we had a guided tour and alot of history belonging to this place. A trip in Evandale where they have a huge festival every year, the pennyfarthing races. A quaint little town. Between Longford & Evandale we came across our first lot of blackberries, we ate more than we picked they were so good and just the right time to pick them. So we had blackberries in the freezer for a short while.  Campbelltown was our next stop. So more next time. bye for now.

Tasmania through our Eyes

In February 2014 we boarded the Spirit of Tasmania for a trip to Tassie.

We had a day trip across Bass Strait, it was calm and sunny so we really enjoyed the trip.

It was a full day sailing, and on arriving into Devonport, and after going  through customs, we were going through the gate when we saw  two people waving madly at us, and it was our good friends Adrianna & John.They had been in Tassie for a week so decided to meet us. We spent the evening with them, then next day after stocking up on supplies we all headed to La Trobe. Where we spent a couple of hours going through this amazing shop, it had toys teddies , dolls, and was like  little rabbit warrens, going on and out of the different rooms.

 On to Railton the place of Topiary here we had a picnic lunch in the park. Met the man who wanted to put Railton back on the map, so started the topiary around the town. He had done a amazing job and was also teaching the locals how to train their plants.

Next it was Sheffield the town of murals. Spent a few days here. Bob and I stayed at a free parking ground, while John & Adrianne stayed in a cabin. The murals where beautiful, and every year alot of them are repainted and a different scene appears. Here our friends left us to fly back to the main land. We took a few trips out from here, visiting Wilmot with its many different letterboxes. Also a day trip to Tasmanza, a miniature town. This was great it had a maze which we spent time trying to find our way out..

We had a great day roaming around this village. Next day time for more adventures.

So look for our next blog to see more of our travels.

Hello,

We continued our way to Cooktown, but stopping at many of the bays along the way.

This bay was blowing a gale, but the views where wonderful.Looking back we could see the fires burning on the hillside. They Do a lot of control burning up north.

What do you think of this beautiful tree art, we found at one of the campsites. Someone must have had a great imagination.

We also called into Keatings Lagoon and found these lovely magpie geese, hundreds of them, and had a great walk around the park.

A lorikeet having a feed in the botanical gardens.

And found this wooden snake at the botanical gardens in Cooktown

We stayed in this cabin at the caravan park. And have you ever stayed in the same room with 2 grown who snore all night. Not the best thing to do. But we loved cooktown with its old buildings, and small

township. Unfortuately we only stayed for the one night before moving on, heading back to Wonga Beach but taking the main road back.

This boat just interested us as some one lives on the house boat.

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 The benches up the top where amazing as it told the story of the town and Captain Cooks arrival. The tiles all were done by children, and very interesting reading. The boat above was also interesting as it play music when you hit the different pipes. The bay of Cooktown. Before we left we heard that the best fish & chips were sold here so we had some for lunch before we left. On the way home saw a dingo kangaroos. We really enjoyed our trip and there was certainly a lot to see. So worth taking the time to go.

 Bye for now.

 

The Bloomfield Track, a rough dirt road, going through the Daintree National Park heading towards CookTown. People told us that it was boring nothing to see just dirt and a bouncy ride. Well I'm glad we didn't listen, and we always go when people tell us that, because most of the time we have a great time and see so many different thing, just as this was the case. A good friend also came along in his car in case we had a breakdown or got stuck. Yes the road was

dusty and bouncy that was part of the adventure. We had a few rivers to cross and the boys had a swim at one of them where the small fish exfoliated their feet.

as you can see the trees and shrubs were covered in dust.

Here we are

stopping for a bite to eat  and a cup  of tea. Along the way. Our first night we stayed at a place called the lions den. We slept in these donger,  we were told to try their pizzas out will we ordered one and that fed the three of us it had everything on it, it was yummy and tasty.

The Den had many memorabilia around the wall so we spent some time having a good look around.

Now look at these unusual flowers, the top one was the cannonball flower and the blue one was the jade flower, I thought they were lovely.

And the sign at the bottom certainly put the message across.

Will continue along our way to Cooktown next time. Bye for now.

Hello to All,

Townsville our next stop, we stayed at the show grounds just out of town. Spent some time looking around Townsville, it is Australia's largest tropical city and has been recognized as a centre for marine research. With the Great Barrier Reef at its door step. It caters for the tourism with a lot of Café and restaurants along the foreshore. And its a great spot for water sports with jet skiing, water skiing, white water rafting many other water adventures.. We attend the night market on the foreshore it was a great night. good weather and a lot of happy people. Townsville is also the place that Bob fulled the car with petrol instead of diesel, we had it drained out the next day with no damaged except for the pocket with a huge fuel bill.
We travelled up the coast calling into many of the beautiful beaches, walking the gorges and seeing many waterfalls. In Cairns we took the Kuranda Scenic train up to Kuranda and spent a day wandering around looking at he craft & art shop. We came back on the sky rail. A bit scary as it was raining and we couldn't even see the cable so it was like we were hanging in limbo.
Port Douglas we had breakfast with the birds at Rainforest Habitat Wildlife Sanctuary this was really good but certainly don't leave your food unattended or it would be gone.
Wonga Beach a campsite right on the beach we intended staying for 4 days but eight weeks later we headed off. We really had a great time here and were able to attend the markets in Mossman under the rain trees. Wonga was also a spot where we could travel out to see different places, like the Daintree Nation Park

 We several days traveling to the daintree as there was a lot to see and plenty of walks. This huge bird is the cassowary, and we saw lots of these as we moved north of Queensland.  Even the beaches where good but I wouldn't swim at them.

At Wonga beach a lot of the visitors would go out fishing and any left over we would have a fish and chip night. We would take our plate, knife & fork and have a great social evening. Some one would site poetry, sing tell jokes, but we all enjoyed it. In  Mossman we went to the Mossman gorge which was a good walk in to see a beautiful waterfall and even better when it had been raining. The Bloomfield track was a trip we did and took 4 days to do. So will write about that next time. Bye for now.

Hi Everyone,

We arrived in Maryborough, but unfortunately I have lost all my photos for the our time going up the Queensland Coast. So will mention some of the towns we passed through.
Maryborough an attractive city on the banks of the Mary River. In the mid 1800's over 22.000 immigrants arrived from Europe. It is now a popular spot for fishing and boating. We took the time to walk around the town looking at all the heritage buildings. We attended the markets to sell our candles where a town crier came walking through the street giving out the local news.
Bundaberg, The southern most access point to the Great Barrier Reef. Has many parks and gardens. And its world famous for its amber spirit. Bundaberg Rum, and the surrounding fields of sugarcane.
In the harvest season the cane fires give the area a smokey haze. The aviator Bert Hinkler was the first to fly  from England to Australia in1928 it took him over 15 days.
We visited the Bundaberg rum distillery but only bought some gingerbeer. But interesting to see how it was made. We spent some time at Elliot Heads on the coast, with new friends we had met at Childers.
Gladstone we stayed here with family for about 2 weeks and had a great time, they showed us around the local areas. Gladstone has the largest power station in Australia, the worlds largest Aluminium refinery and is largest multi cargo port in Australia, so a very industrial town not a place I would live at.
Rockhampton. Australia's beef cattle capital, over 2 million cattle graze in the Fitzroy river valley and the surrounding countryside. We visited the caves here just outside of Rockhampton.
Mckay. Sugar was first grown here in 1865. So is known and the Sugar City. It produces a 1/3 of Australia sugar. And out towards the coast is the Great Barrier Reef, so tourism play a very special part in small city. We spent time and went to Eungella National Park, seeing the otters frolicking in the streams, and doing some of the bush walks. One I remember is Finch Hutton Gorge. we met a lady running up the gorge and she mention she does this every day for exercise, it made me feel really unfit. But she invited us around to her place for a meal, it was lovely and we have met many people along our travels just this way. When we finished the walk we stopped on a bench to have rest, a couple next to us had just started their lunch, the man had his sandwich in his hand and next minute it was gone. Kookaburras had swoom down and grab it. It was nice for him but it was quite funny.
Next stop was Home Bush. Where we stayed with friends on their sugarcane property. So Bob was able to ride in the big harvesters and we watch as they set fire to all the sugarcane. Amazing seeing all the snakes, frog and animal come out of the cane as  it burnt. Very smokey for days after, which just went through our van and the house. A great experience though.
So next time Townsville awaits us. bye for now.

Hi Everyone,

Sorry there's been no blog but have had visitors for the last three weeks, but back on track now.

We are now into 2010 after leaving Brisbane and family we headed north.
Called into Noosa to visit Bobs niece and her family. We spent a great day with them travelling along the beach to rainbow beach.
It was a beautiful sunny day and we took a picnic lunch. It was 80ks along the beach. A few sticky bits with rocks and the little creeks coming out to the sea.

We had to leave early because of the tide being out so it gave us enough time to get home before the next tide

On the way we came across Red  Canyon a
short walk up the sand dunes to see this beautiful coloured dunes.

Rainbow beach looking out to sea from the rocks. The family went swimming and the boys went surfing, me I went exploring and took some photos. But it was a good day.

The boys having a day out fishing. Just some of the sights we saw along the way.

This what we found when Bob and I went for a bush walk a couple of English boys just adding a bit of joy to everyones day just had to take a photo of them.

Inskip Point.

This is the ferry which took you over to Fraser Island. We didn't do the trip this time, but one day we will call back and do the trip.

Bob and I having our lunch at Tin Can Bay. Tin Can bay and rainbow beach is a well known spot for fishing and prawning region just north of Gympie. Our stop was Maryborough where we booked into the caravan park for a week