To Strahan and Beyond!!

Last night we did a spotlight tour and a visit to a Tasmanian Devil Sanctuary - was very educational - the fellow seemed to have an endless pit of knowledge regarding Devils and liked to say "the bottom line is..." - needless to say there were a lot of bottom lines. The spotlight tour was great as well - saw Wombats, Bennett's and Paddy Melon Wallabies, and some bush-tailed possums. Kids were asleep by the time we got home and parents weren't far behind. It was in the low single digits in terms of temp when we went to bed and on waking well above the teens - balmy almost! We cleaned up, packed up camp and managed to get ourselves back on the road off to Strahan - a seaside town on the West coast. The drive was incredible with windy scary roads but incredible vistas and the temperature rising the lower we drove. By the time we arrived in Strahan it was 34 degrees - quite a change from the 21 degree highs in Cradle Mountain.

After a bit of housekeeping we headed to the Ocean Beach - a vast expanse of sand and erratic surf. The kids had a go with the boogie board to no avail as the surf was too scattered. It was virtually vacant and beautiful though - just the same. We returned to Strahan and headed into a small theatre company production called The Ship that Never Was - it was a true story of some early convicts and their attempt to free themselves from "slavery" at the ship builders in Hobart in the early days of settlement. There were only 2 in the cast and as such they involved a lot of the audience (including Aidan and Cole) in the production. Was great fun except that by the end Cole was feeling the effects of the insidious "febrile illness" that has been taking it's toll on our ranks. Piper has recovered, Aidan is recovering and Cole is now in the midst of it. Tomorrow we'll hit the dunes - sand board and all! Should be a blast! Happy New Years!