The Taste ....of Hobart

Kicked Jen out of bed this morning for a run - has been getting stressed with kid's behaviour so thought it best for her to get some sort of release. Kids had a bit of a sleep in - probably helped the situation. Once through the writing in their journals ( they have to write in it everyday - bit like pulling teeth at times! ) we headed to the Hobart Aquatic Centre for a dip. I managed to survive 1000ms, but only barely as I am getting pretty out of shape in this department, whilst the kids and Jen had some fun on the slide and in the "warm" pool. Once sufficiently chlorinated we headed to the Taste of Hobart - an annual event which brings together a number of wineries, fine food and multicultural restaurants for one big fest inclusive of street entertainment, kid's events and music. The kids had a ball with cooking classes, a jumping castle, a 1960's slot car race (electric mini track), mini-golf and face painting. Our friends Jenny and Keith were able to join us and we tasted some of the local fares - Moo Brew, assorted gourmet sausage, cheese and tempura exotic mushrooms (too much batter and oil - not recommended). A short stroll to see the boats (some from the recent Sydney to Hobart yacht race) and we were heading back to the Caravan Park with the jumping pillow - a 15 m x 5m (rougly) inflated matt - kind of like a trampoline - kept the kids hopping for hours while we visited with Jenny and Keith and enjoyed some local Sauvignon Blanc. It's always a good day when the kids are exhausted! Off to Freycine(t) -they say it without the 't' at the end - sort of French - if you know what I mean! -- in the AM.

Drive Day to Hobart with Russell Falls thrown in for good measure

Hit the road around 0830 en route for Hobart. It was a drizzly cool morning but seemed to be warming up as we headed through Queenstown (didn't stay long - it was a bit of a washed up old mining town which looked to have seen better days.) As we made our way up and down the hills Jen talked me into taking a detour to Russell Falls - apparently one of the most magnificient sights in Tassie - so had to have a look - kids were getting a wee bit stir crazy anyway and needed to release some energy. Although skeptical at first (especially since the weather seemed to be getting worse) we headed into the bush with a handful of other tourists - up to the falls. They weren't Niagara but still quite scenic and pretty - so took some photos and continued our trek. It incorporated some amazing old growth gum trees - some over 500 yrs old ! Massive trunks, towering beasts - some over 79 meters tall (or so the "clinometer" suggested - good word to remember for scrabble!) After an ice cream we were back on the road to Hobart - found our new Caravan park and set off to meet up with our friends Jenny and Keith for some dinner. We went to a neighbourhood pizza place called Mondos and were thoroughly impressed with the fare - artichoke hearts, pumpkin, cracked pepper, fetta and more! The gelato (altho' premade) was delicious and the company - grand! On our way home we had a peek at Jenny and Keith's new home and acreage - it sits to the West of Hobart and has views of Bruny Island in the distance. Looks truly heavenly and will suit them well. Tomorrow we're off to the Taste of Hobart in the morning and whatever else pans out during the day - should be a bucket of fun!

Henty Dunes, sore bums and good eats/drinks

Our second day in Strahan was taken in rather slowly after a  night of fevers, " I need a bucket!!" and parties all around the caravan bringing in the New Year. Kids woke well though and we set off to the "Dunes" - sand boards in hand. After a hefty hike up some soft sand, the vista exploded in front of us - miles upon miles of soft white sand as far as the eye could see seemingly joining the ocean at the horizon. We eventually found a hill steep enough to allow us to build up some speed to try the sand boards - we ended up using them as tobaggans more than a board of sorts. Jen and I both gave the it a try and ended up getting sand in places we probably don't want to know about and we'll likely be finding it in clothing for weeks! It's a little like snowboarding but imagine instead of boots clipped in you're wearing a pair of thongs. Now imagine the snow is absolutely water-logged slush or even better - wet cement. You can start okay as long as you lean way back - as soon as you start to lean forward though it's game over and instead of gliding down the hill you end up somersaulting instead. Finally, there's no cushy chairlift to take you back up the slope - 100ms of heavy slogging (often with small child in tow) is quite a work out and should do our cycling legs some good!

After some lunch we headed back to town to see a few of the highlighted sights - the water tank viewpoint and Hogarth's Falls (a small hike into the bush and a small tranquil waterfall - but no platypus!). We ended our Strahan tour with a visit to the 42 degree View Restaurant for some afternoon Tapas and wine/drinks. Was very pleasant - the Velo Pinot Gris and 42 degree Sauv Blanc won out in terms of tastings. Tomorrow we're making the trek to Hobart for a sight see and catch  up with our good friend Jennie (Brodie) MacQueen and her new hubby, Keith!

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!

Our Canoe Day on Dove Lake

It's busy up here on Cradle Mountain - they estimated about 3000 visitors yesterday ! We were fortunate to get a spot with a local kayaking/canoeing group to do some paddling on Dove lake - the lake just below the Cradle (hence the name for the mountain). Aidan, Cole and I took to the lake, while Jen and Piper held fort on the shore. It was a beautiful day for a paddle and we could see a whole new side to the surroundings. Afterwards we enjoyed an ice cream and headed home to prepare for a night out with the spotters and a visit to the 'Devils' - a small sanctuary up the road. You'll be happy to know we haven't destroyed the caravan yet and the kids are still doing their daily journals - albeit - with a little coaxing,  sweat and tears. It'll become routine soon enough. Hope this finds everyone well.

Walking the Cradle

Today we had a leisurely morning doing some "administrative" things we never had chance to address before leaving Narrandera, then headed out to Dove Lake at the base of Cradle Mountain for the 6km circuit around the lake. It was absolutely beautiful - blue skies as far as the eye could see, no B-doubles with engine brakes, nothing but fresh air, the wind in our ears and Vitamin D absorption! (Yes I'm a doctor geek). Managed to see a wallaby and echidna on our ventures - very exciting. The kids did great and should sleep soundly tonite.

We've got 3 theme songs for our trip and one poem ...thus far. The Caravan of Love by the Housemartins is the official theme song, with If this was your last day by Nickelback and The Crazy Frog song taking unofficial honours. The poem of course is Walden Pond by Henry David Thoreau - you know - the one about sucking the marrow out of life - look it up if you haven't read it - words to live by.

Notable discoveries since leaving N'dera -: 1) Food tastes so much better on camping trips!
2) Caution must always be taken when putting beer in the freezer (even when you think it isn't cold enough to freeze) and 3) never leave crumbs on your kitchen table outside overnight - or you might wake with a little faecal present!

Onward Ho!

So we've made a start. Managed to finally stuff the caravan full of what will likely be a whole lot of unnecessary gear, clean the house and finish giving away whatever we couldn't pack into the caravan. Moving house and getting sorted in a Caravan really makes you aware of the clutter that seems to hamper everyday living - couldn't believe how much junk we've accumulated in 6 1/2 yrs! Mental note - buy less stuff! Right - so we made it without much ado to Port Melbourne and the Spirit of Tasmania terminal and managed to get fairly reasonable fuel economy along the way - was worried about this as our trip back from Dubbo a month or so ago seemed to guzzle a full tank over 150kms - must have been the wind!  The Spirit of Tasmania is a beautiful ship - and it looked like our crossing of the Bass Strait would go smoothly overnight until I woke in the wee hours with Piper beside me virtually burning up - I was suprised not to see steam rising from her - managed to cool her down in the shower, as being a good doctor, had left Nurofen/ Panadol in the inaccessible caravan down in the hold. Needless to say we didn't get a lot of sleep! Drugged her up first thing once out on the road and she stopped cooking. Once all buckled in we headed to Sheffield en route to Cradle Mountain. Very nice little town with lots of good quality murals and an early opener (6am) to fill our innards. Aidan had heard of some place called Tasmazia and assurred us it came highly recommended from his friend Lucy. It was a short jaunt from where we were so we made the trek. It was adjacent the Lake Barrington Rowing Centre so we had to have a look - it had hosted the world rowing championships in 1990 - 2000ms of straight, flat water - looked amazing ! The maze place was great as well and we fortunately were able to find our way out again. Once back on the road we headed to Cradle Mountain, found our camping spot and pulled out the bikes for an afternoon explore. It is rather hilly country and the boys struggled but prevailed (eventually) over some nice little rollers. I was so proud! Did a little "Enchanted Walk" as well in preface to a few more days of tramping around- had to get the kids' legs up to speed. At dinner back at camp a wee Wallaby wandered through sniffing out the Lego before scampering away - ahh - nature! It was a pleasant way to cap off our official first day out!