Rev your engines, hold on tight.

Where were we?, ah that's right we just left Tasmania on the overnight crossing to Melbourne, unlike the trip over the seas were calm and the cabin reasonably comfy, well I slept ok. You get a morning wake up call at 5.10am so it's an early start arriving in Melbourne on a cool morning, soon enough we are back in the car and on our way out of Melbourne. We had made the decision to hightail it across to Adelaide as the first race of the v8supercars was on the following weekend and it might be the only chance we get to see them all year.

Before all that we had the Great Ocean Road ahead of us and a visit it iconic Bells Beach to hang ten and say dude. :)

Not surprisingly traffic out of Melbourne was light at 6am so we made our way towards Geelong and not long after stopped at Torquay for breakfast, people may have wondered where we had come from eating our cereals on the waterfront watching the fitness people doing their thing. Torquay is the official start of the Great Ocean Road and is a busy little town with a heavy surf culture,  but as nothing was open we pressed on to Bells Beach.

 

If you have never seen the film Point Break then you are missing out, great film and better ending with Patrick Swazy disappearing into the huge surf at Bells Beach for one final rush, this is also where they have the annual surf competition which draws the best in the world. Well anyway we stopped, had a look, drove on for a bit, then realised we had driven past the main beach, oops!.



Once in the right spot it was photos from the cliff top as the weather was fairly chilly and we were fading a little from being awake so early, but there were others of the teabag variety happy to be bobbing up and down in the surf waiting for that next rad wave dude, sweet...

It was somewhere around here I noticed an issue with the caravan wheel getting hot, I did not really want to be stripping down the hub on this road so continued on carefully and tried figuring out what was happening, this issue remained for some time until I could finally find the problem.







The Great Ocean Road was a project designed after WW1 for the returned servicemen to build the road by hand along the cliff edge, it took a few years to build without machinery but the end result is a windy road with some very nice views between Torquay and Warrnambool.

Next town on the road was Anglesea, then Lorne where we stopped for a stroll and then finally we reached Apollo Bay which was the be our destination for the day, there is a small van park on the west of town which at $35pn was good value so we set up, took a stroll around town then had an early night.




Next day we continued heading west and took a detour to check out Cape Otway lighthouse, now if you have read the earlier posts you would notice we like lighthouses, the difference with this one is you can go inside and right to the top. The drive in from the highway takes you through the gum tree forested National Park, those with a keen eye will start to spot little animals in the trees, closer inspection and they were Koala's, we just counted them off on the way in and planned to stop on the way out for a closer look. Cape Otway lighthouse is a well set out location, they do charge for entry but with the Koalas on the way in and lighthouse climbing it is certainly worth it for the family. Another bonus was within the Telegraph Station there was a small dinosaur display and the guide there on hearing the kids were being schooled on the road decided to give them an impromptu history/geology lesson, one surprise was a piece of rock he had with him, certified at 3.5billion years old. The lighthouse was fun for the kids too, until they got to the top and backed out of walking around the outer edge, after a little persuasion we all walked around the outside taking in the amazing views and trying not to have our hats blown back to Melbourne.

 Telegraph Station

 Cape Otway Lighthouse

 At the top of the lighthouse.

 Hold onto your hats!.

After what seemed like a good few hours we returned to the car in time for some lunch and then the drive back through the Koala zone, I remember one spot on the way in which had room for the car and van so pulled over, we had already seen a few Koalas but taking a wander into the forest revealed another 8-10 at least, certainly if you want guaranteed wild Koala sighting this is one of the best places, in total we would have seen around 15 very near to the road hanging in the trees.


















 Spot the Koala, our maybe two?.


It was a little later than I had planned once we were back on the highway but the next major sight was not too far away, the 12 Apostles are one of those places you may have seen on the Australia tourism adverts  and although now only 7 Apostles they still remain a sight to behold. Unfortunately that also means everyone else wants to see them and to be honest it caught me a little by surprise, when we arrived there were people everywhere with coaches and minibuses kicking people out to take in the sight before heading back to Melbourne on their day trip. We joined the hoards to take in the view from the main viewing areas and took the photos to prove our being there but to be honest with all the people around and rubbish it really took the gloss off what was to be one of the highlights so far on the trip, the overcast sky's did not make it any better.

Moving on from all the people we pulled into Loch Ard Gorge to a similar sight of coaches and people, this gorge is named after the ship that grounded off the cliffs, only two survivors out of 55 on board, both were 18 year olds, the boy having made the beach saw the girl in the waves and went back in to rescue here, he then walked 5km to find help and the two never saw each other again returning back to England separately having lost all their family.

One of the funnier things to happen so far was the Asian lady who handed me her camera and pointed to the view, happy to help but then she starts posing, flicking her hair pouting and each time I went to give the camera back she says one more, next time I will zoom in on their ears for fun.

By now it was getting late so we made plans to stay at Port Campbell, $52pn for a uneven patch of dirt was a bit rich and now we will make sure we ask for another site in future. A quick stroll around the beach and the kids got to play in the play area then back to the van for dinner.

Next sight along the Great Ocean Road is London Bridge and The Arch, as it was still only early when we arrived there were not to many others so it made for a pleasant start to the day. The London Bridge site we had seen recently on a documentary, the two sections were joined until back in 1996 the bridge section fell into the sea creating the now new outcrop of sandstone, fortunately for one couple who were on the outcrop they were able to be rescued a few hours later by helicopter.

And so we continued onto Warrnambool thereby completing the GOR, some may think we rushed things but we felt this was probably the right amount of time, maybe one day we will go back and stay for longer in one of the many towns along the road. We wanted to get further along towards Portland and came across Fitzroy River Camp on the maps, it had good reviews and was cheap so made for a perfect spot for an overnighter. With a short section of dirt road to access this site there is a large grassed area and further along you can setup right on the waters edge but these sites are very exposed to the weather. $5pn or $25pw makes for a popular grey nomads spot and a few people looked to have been there a while, we grabbed some firewood and settled in for the night.

It was now Thursday and we were keen to reach Adelaide for the Friday so today was used to put some distance in, we passed through Portland and Port Fairy (originally Belfast) stopping at Mount Gambier briefly to check our brake issue we continued on via the Riddoch Highway north through Penola which is in the Coonawarra wine region, so many known labels we passed by but no time today to stop, we eventually setup off the road in Willalooka. The next day was to be our arrival date in Adelaide, we first stopped in Keith after spotting a sign for Land Rover on a pole, sure enough they have just that in memory to the early days of AMP.

 Port Fairy

 Keith, Land Rover on a pole.

 

We had arranged to stay at Belair National Park which is in the south east of Adelaide but in the Hills area, not realising access to the city was via a steep hill next time I would stay at one of the beachside parks.

Anyway we were here in time for the races so bought our tickets and spent the Saturday and Sunday at Clipsal 500, some of the many photos below but between the cars, the motorbikes and the gridgirls we all had a really good couple of days and the kids even managed to gain a Porsche driving license.

Last days in Tasmania.

Our time in the Apple Isl was coming to a close and in our final week Kellie and I both felt we needed to just stop to smell the roses after all the setting up and travelling we had done so far. Leaving St Helens we  took the main road towards Scottsdale and from there you can get to Launceston the second biggest city in the State. We had checked the maps and had a plan in our head to either stay at a free camp in Scottsdale or just stay in a caravan park in Launceston, things did not quite work out that way!.
Arriving in Scottsdale we checked out the free camp, unfortunately not quite what we had in mind so moving on we continued over the mountains towards Launceston. There was one other little spot we had read about and thought only right to check out, on the map it is shown as the town of Targa, there is no real town as such but what they do have is Myrtle Park Reserve. I went into the kiosk to see what the go was and what it would cost to stay thinking we might just stay two nights, the guy on the desk was from Essex of all places and just said check out a couple of sites by the river and come back once we had decided, price per night $7 for the family. The park is a local shire run venture and is on the banks of a small river, with about 20 sites on the river plus the huge field area we heard it can get very busy, whilst we were there it was quiet and we could use the fire pit in our campsite when the sun went down. So what was meant to be two nights became four nights at the great location.

Targa is only 20km from Launceston so we organised day trips to have a look around and collect some mail waiting for us. Our first day we took a scenic route out over the mountains as I wanted to check out a spot call Jacobs Ladder, someone had mentioned it too me but I could not remember why, from the picture below you will see how impressive it is, basically a zigzag road built into the hillside which gives access to the ski lodge at the top at a height of 1574m. Another bonus for the day was seeing around five Echida's on the road which had to be a record, to be eclipsed later in the trip by another lesser seen Australian animal.

Our next adventure day was also my birthday, this time it was decided to go out via Scottsdale where the Cottage Bakery advertises having the best vanilla slice, it was my birthday after all so cake was required. Continuing on north we made it to Bridport and after having a look around we pulled up at the beach to eat the cakes for afternoon tea, I can say the slice lived up to the hype. Leaving Bridport the road went SW towards Lilydale, one of the kids funniest sights so far were four sheep on the road which ran ahead of us for some time before turning sharply towards the field only for each one to bounce off the fence!. Lilydale on the map shows a set of waterfalls, previous such sights have been worth the time, unfortunately this one was a little tame but still a nice walk along a small fern lined creek. The last part of our little trip on the maps looked like a nice track through the state forest coming out at Targa, after a little bit of tricky driving we popped out where we needed to be and collecting some firewood returned to camp.

Day 3 at camp Targa, it really was a nice spot and the kids were able to get some school work done in the morning but today I had plans to see Beaconsfield and the gold mine famed for the two miners trapped underground for two weeks. Driving through Launceston you cross the Tamar River and travel up the western side before reaching the town of Beaconsfield, there is now a Heritage Centre and Museum to explore which details the history of the town and the later story of the trapped miners. It was Anzac Day in 2006 when an earth tremor caused the roof of the mine to fall in on the three workers nearly 1300m underground. Larry Knight died but two guys Todd Russell and Brant Webb survived 14 long days trapped in a space not much bigger than their bodies, fascinating story of their survival and the ordeal of getting them out alive, find the book if you have never heard the story.
Leaving Beaconsfield it was back across the Tamar via the Batman Bridge to the eastern side before heading north towards Bell Bay and Low Head. Bell Bay is a fairly busy shipping port at the mouth of the Tamar, slightly further along you reach Low Head which is the second oldest pilot station in Australia, only Sydney being older. The pilot station consists of a group of houses where the various pilots and workers were housed and the original pilot house now contains a museum to the history of the pilots, very interesting and one certain friends of mine in the UK would find very interesting. By now it was getting quite late so a quick run back to camp and more wood for the fire and our day was done, or so we thought!.

The previous evening some campers setup near us who were from Austria and Germany had given us some Tuna they caught when over on the east coast, now this was two large fillets which we chopped up frozen into manageable pieces before freezing some and leaving some out for dinner. To our credit the end meal came out to be quite tasty but we were still eating Tuna upto the day we left Tassie so too much for us but thanks to the others for the free meal. :)

And that was that for Targa, we had already extended our stay two extra nights and the next morning someone was booked onto our sight so we had to move on. We first went into Launceston to visit Cateract Gorge as it is one place people say you should visit, only a few km from town you can take a chairlift across the gorge above the crowds, only slightly unnerving being supported by one metal bar 30m above rocks and water but we managed the return trip so all well. It was quite amazing to see pictures of what the gorge looks like full of water in flood, the swimming pool in our pictures often has to have trees removed and other debris so quite a sight.

We had been discussing our options for destination as we only had three days before the ferry back, after a few calls we booked into the Devonport Big4 which would allow the kids to spend some time catching up with work and we could relax a little more before heading back. This park is quite reasonable for families in the off peak at $37pn plus Big4 discounts, considering we paid $54pn when we first arrived you can see where parks make their money!. Before reaching Devonport I could not resist the temptation of a cheese shop on the highway, Ashgrove Cheese Factory sell their own hard cheeses and ice cream so whilst the kids had the biggest icecreams so far Kel and I had a hot choccy and selected a few of the tasty cheeses to take with us.

So our last three days in Tasmania were spent at the library, at the beach and a day out to a town call Latrobe, the town itself is very nice but they have a shop there which is a sight to believe. If you look up www.reliquaire.com you can see some of the products available but basically 20 rooms full of toys, dolls and cool stuff, not many times I have been given a map to get around a shop!. Then it was back to Devonport to collect the van and join the queue for the nighttime sailing, this time we had a cabin so once on board we had a drink and some snacks in the bar before heading to bed and sleeping to the sound of the engines propelling us to the mainland.

 

Devonport Headland

 

So that is Tasmania finished with for now, no doubt we will be back sometime down the track but for now thanks for having us. :)



 

East Coast Tasmania

After our week in Hobart we had planned to visit Freycinet National Park to see the famous Wineglass Bay, a postcard picture we had seen many times before and wanted to see in the flesh. It was also convenient that my old college mate Ben was camping up there with his family so we have a beer and catch up.
The drive up from Hobart takes you through some small coastal towns and we stopped in Swansea to restock supplies before heading into Coles Bay. We had also hoped to try and secure a National Park campsite but all were booked for the day we were arriving so made the call to book in at the local Big4 van park, knowing we get 10% each time with our membership certainly makes it easier to swallow the price. There are a couple of free camp options on the way into Coles Bay, one is Friendly Beaches which is on the Oceanside so the surf can be a bit too much for the kids, the other is River and Rocks campground which is on the edge of a lagoon. Once we arrived it was a quick disconnect (well it would have been had it not been for the boot lid on the van jamming), then down to the beach to see Ben.
Now Ben being the salty seaman he is had all manner of water craft for the kids and I to mess about with, from the hand built canoe to the windsurfer with no rudder (that's my excuse for not turning around!). We all had a pleasant afternoon on and in the water before getting cleaned up and going out for dinner at the local resort and returning to camp for a night cap before calling it quits for the night.

We had planned to do the Wine Glass Bay lookout walk the next day but with high winds and overcast sky's the walking tracks were closed so we bunkered down in the van watching a movie and playing games. I did manage to secure a site at the National Park campsite so the next day we moved the 1km to our new site on the beach and half the cost, the weather gods had come good so with clear sky's and light winds we were able to make the walk up to the Wine Glass Bay lookout, along with the bus of tourists that arrived at that same moment!. The walk takes around 2 hours return and is a fairly steep climb but the view from the top is very much worth it, for those inclined to do so you can then continue down to the beach but this adds another couple of hours to the walk so on this occasion we turned  around and made our way back to the car.

On our way back we took the turn off for Cape Tourville, continuing on with our visits to some of Australia's  lighthouses, the road out is about 5km and brings you too a small car park. Parks and Wildlife have done a great job constructing a boardwalk around the headland giving great views towards Wine Glass Bay and  over a couple of rocky outcrops affectionately called The Nuggets.




Back at camp I took off with the fishing rod to see if I couldn't catch anything, surprisingly I managed to catch a decent size Australian Salmon but not being sure about it's eating quality returned it to the sea.

Making our way further up the coast our next destination was Bay of Fires just near St Helens, on the way we stopped at a resort with a brewery, the beer produced under the label Ironhouse. As this is the resort owned by the Targa Rally entrant that lost his Lambo in flames a few weeks earlier it was only right I should chip in $5 for a tasting paddle.

We had seen a few camps available around St Helens and been given some tips on which ones to stay, seems we arrived during a busy spell as all the good spots were taken but we found a site and setup, shortly after someone advised the reason why our site was vacant, during heavy rain it floods!. Unperturbed we settled into our beach side spot and spent some time fishing off the beach with little success other than a few sand crabs, the kids had fun messing in the sand until late in the evening.

Exploring the area we took a drive north, another lighthouse was on the agenda, this time Eddystone Point. We travelled first to The Gardens a small settlement with just a few houses on the beach front and a few farms, then we took a forest road across to the main road which runs into Ansons Bay, this small township only accessible via dirt roads with no shops or services was certainly remote, camping is available at Policemens Point just south which is accessible for small caravans but again no facilities so bring all supplies with you.
On the map there is a 4wd track running from Ansons Bay to Eddystone Light, being the adventurous types we are the tyres where aired down and away we went, only to find the Parks people had closed the track to Eddystone, luckily you could still continue on down to a secluded little bay with big rocks colored red by the algae, the whole area covered in empty clam shells so obviously a good spot for a feed. We could even see the lighthouse we were aiming for up the coast so back in the car we went back to Ansons Bay and followed the main dirt road out to the point. After taking a look around and capturing a few photographs it was now late in the day and we had some distance to cover to get back but still took the time to try a different road to avoid covering previously driven roads.

Using the St Helens area as our base meant we could see some of the sights in the vicinity without taking the van, I know the motoring public of Tassie appreciate us being on the road as little as required with all the 40kmh hills... One day we took the main road west up the hills to see some waterfalls marked on the map, the first St Columba Falls required a short walk down a track through the trees and ferns before arriving at the viewing platform, these falls are 90m so one of the largest in Tasmania and quite impressive to see but one could only imagine the sight after heavy rains.



The next falls I wanted to visit we're called Ralph's Falls, a little trickier to get to along rough dirt roads and with the rain coming down quite heavy a keen eye was needed on the road ahead. Arriving at the car park the rain had stopped so off we went down another small walking track which brought you out at a viewing platform which I can imagine was a feat in itself to erect, the falls although not so spectacular we're still worth the trip seeing the interesting rock formations and the valley view below. On the return trip we had to complete another from Kel's todo list, many years ago she went to The Pub in the Paddock and wanted to have another look so we called in for a beer. Once a school building it became a pub in the 1880's and has been since, most recently a new attraction has been added with a pig that drinks beer from a bottle. The building really does have a great feel to it and we were assured the lunch and dinners are very popular but alas it will be another time when we get to sample the menu. Back to camp it was out with the fishing rods and sausages for dinner again. :)













We have to plan our days now as the kids have to do some school work in the morning before we explore any areas, this tends to mean we do not get away until lunchtime but with most things being so close this is not such an issue, we are starting to get into some kind of routine which helps.