Tasmania Part 4 - Edgar Dam - Kempton

One area we both loved last trip was a camp out at Edgar Dam, it was here we came across quite a few Tiger snakes, we were very lucky not have been bitten as we climbed up some rocks to get a better view, looking down near my feet was a nice big healthy looking Tiger, snakes don't scare me but I'm not foolish enough to play around with them so we got off the rocks fairly quick. I was hoping we would spot some more this time but the weather conditions were a lot cooler and not a snake to be seen. 

Edgar dam is perfect for any type of caravan, the road in is 30klms of dirt but it's well graded and hard, more like gravel than dirt but it does throw up the dust, so if you don't like getting your rig dirty don't bother. If it doesn't concern you the reward is a lovely camping area complete with fire pits, full wood boxes, two shelters and a double long drop Eco toilets. In the few days we were there we saw no one else come into the camp ground, a few vehicles went further on to Huon Camp which is more suited to the tenters and hikers, we did take our rig through and got a few stunned looks.

The highlight apart from the peace and quiet was the many Pademelons that came and visited us, the pademelon inhabiting the Tasmanian forests have a variety of predators and are preyed upon by Tasmanian Devils, snakes, large birds of prey such as eagles, and even by quolls. The pademelon is a marsupial meaning that the female pademelon has a pouch on her belly where she nurses her young. After mating the infant pademelon will be born just 30 days later, when it has to make its own way into it's mother's pouch. Baby pademelon then spend the next 6 months or so growing and developing inside the pouch and eventually begin to venture out into the outside world.

We were also visited by a Eastern Quoll, not as bold as the Pademelon's, it was difficult to get a clear photo of it.

Like the Quoll the small birds were too fast and flighty to get any photos, one draw back in using a compact camera is the zoom and shutter is not fast enough. The Currawongs were friendly though. 

Edgar Dam gets the thumbs up from us, now being not far from Gordon Dam we thought we may as well revisit it again. Last time we were there the dam looked to be full of water, certainly not like we found it to be this time.

We thought we may stay a night at Teds Beach but the limited space was taken up by two 5th Wheelers so we instead headed back towards a little town called Pontville, we found the camp next to the sports grounds but compared to Kempton just 20klms away it lacked water access and Vickie wanted to get the washing under control, so back to Kempton we went. 

Arriving late in the afternoon, all we did was relax and read our books, the next day it was laundry day and with the wind blowing briskly it didn't take long for things to dry. Whilst Vickie was taking care of the chores I went for a walk around town, Kempton is only 46klms from Hobart but it is a very quiet town with only a Post Office & Police station, it is a very Historic town like many in Tasmania and some old buildings are still standing, many were Hotels in their day.

The local council chambers

Many beautiful gardens in Tasmania, a lot have roses.

Surprisingly the chrome bumper bar was the best part of this old relic.

Saturday we drove into Hobart so that Vickie could go to the Salamanca Markets, I wandered up and down but to me it's all the same same, I do enjoy listening to the buskers and there are some talented people out there. 

A friend told me about a hamburger restaurant in Hobart and as things happen we were standing near it but it still took us 10 minutes to find it, I ordered a burger & chips, Vickie went the healthy Caeser salad, needless to say mine was much nicer.

Leaving the markets we went for a drive around Battery Point and followed a road along the coast, after an hour or so we turned around and headed back to camp at Kempton. 

Tasmania Part 3 - Brady's Lake - Hamilton

November 13th found us cruising along the Lyall Highway, Vickie has become quite adapt at using the iPad with the Wikicamps App, and she directed me to our next camp beside Brady's Lake, the drive in was a gravelled track leading down to the lakes edge, we choose to follow it around further and found a lovely place beside the whitewater river, this river is used for Kayaking events and a lot of it has been modified to make the event challenging. There wasn't much water flowing down to keep the kayakers happy but it was flowing enough for me to throw a fishing line into, but with no luck.

Another place we should have stayed longer but we figure that we have plenty of time to find new places and we can always come back. We left Brady's Lake and drove past Ouse and Tarraleah, we were keen to check out a camp near Lake Repulse, the name didn't sound attractive but the comments in the Wikicamps gave us hope. Well after a long drive through the hills we came across a filthy rubbish strewn camp, it astounds us that humans can disregard their own backyard so badly. It was obviously a party camp with the amount of empty cans and bottles laying around, toilet paper scattered through the bush with not even an effort to burn or bury the waste. Disgusting! 

The only bright part of the day was coming across an Echidna making his way across the road, we stopped and I put my gloves on and took the opportunity to get some photos before carrying it into the bush. 

Our day ended up at Hamilton, we actually called into use the toilet dump but then realised the town had a small area available for overnight stops, there were already a half dozen other campers set up but we found a section away from the crowd nestled in between some trees, we thought we had the best position of them all. 

That's us up in the top section. Towns like Hamilton need congratulating for allowing campers to stay, some charge a small amount whilst others are free. We always try and spend some money in the town if we have stayed there. Hamilton was no different, getting $30 from us for freshly baked bread, coffee's and freshly baked pies. 

Tasmania Part 2 - Queenstown - Lake Burbury

Queenstown could well be a moon scape, though there appeared to be more vegetation than last time if we remember correctly, the drive up the mountain hasn't changed though, steep, twists and turns, the Landcruiser took it in its stride, though I am thinking about getting a torque converter lock up kit fitted to help keep the automatic transmission cooler and stop the gearbox from changing in and out of the lock up, cheap insurance I think.

How's this for a camp with a view, Lake Burbury near Gormanston, 

Another beautiful night, it rained but it happened after the TV [campfire] extinguished, and it's a lovely sound when tucked up in a warm bed to hear the rain on the roof. 

Tasmania Part 1

The last time and only other time we have visited Tasmania was 10 years ago, Vickie was turning 50 and she thought it would be a good idea to escape any celebrations for her 60th by re-visiting Tassie. The last time we went we didn't get a cabin and sat up all night, feeling exhausted the next day, this time we had a cabin and how relaxing was that. The ship did some rock & rolling as it went out the heads apparently, I didn't notice I was fast asleep, Vickie swapped ends as she was getting a bit nauseous from the pitching. 

Getting off the ship was stress free and we basically tossed a coin as to which way we would go, heading towards Sheffield won and away we went. We actually kept going a bit further as we had found a camp near Moina that sounded interesting. What luck we had, a big difference to 10 years ago when we stopped on the West Coast and nearly were blown away! This camp had it all, a lovely river, green grass, birds, and quietness. 

There was plenty of firewood left stacked by previous campers or the Ranger which we put to good use.

We stayed two nights here, in hind site we should have stayed longer because it was so lovely, who knows we maybe back.

We drove through Black Bluff Conservation Area and stopped at a lookout with Cradle Mountain in the distance, we had visited Cradle Mountain last trip and thought we would leave it till last to visit again so our next night was spent at Lake Macintosh, we camped on a point with the water almost 180 degree around us, Tassie certainly has some beautiful camping! 

Lots of lovely wild flowers throughout the area, the views stunning.

The next day we drove to Strahan, we enquired about the cost of the train ride and boat trip, took the details and may do one or the other the next time we loop on down. We found another nice camp in a pine forest, some may think it was a bit spooky being along in a pine forest but we loved it, we had unlimited pine cones to burn ! 

Victoria - catching up & a wedding

We cruised around not really knowing where we were going, when we felt like stopping we referred to the Wikicamps App and Camps Australia book. We spent a night at Elingamite on a lovely green grassy area,

And the next day we decided to head West back to Port Fairy to have fish & chips along the wharf, we had been here a few years back and enjoyed the town and the meal, so what it's a few hundred kilometres there and back, we have time to spare. Like the 1st time it was delicious, was it worth the drive? Probably not. 

We stopped a night at a free camp in Panmure, we were the only ones there. Vickie went for a walk and spotted a koala in a tree, this wouldn't be the only koala she was to find. Panmure is a small quiet town but they need to be congratulated on providing an overnight stop complete with shelter, BBQ and toilets. The local kids had a great swimming hole to keep them entertained.

We drove along the Great Ocean Road, a well known tourist drive, lots of twists and turns and towing the van that's always fun, I was well aware of vehicles coming up behind us and when I could I would pull over and let them pass, the majority were appreciative with a toot or a wave. We stopped and took a few photos, but we have been along here a few times so didn't stop for any closer looks.

We refuelled at Lorne, not an easy thing to do as the bowser is tucked away and with no help from the person in the shop it took a gentleman from across the road to come over and tell us what we needed to do, remove a chain blocking our path. Putting $140 of diesel in the tank I let the worker know I wasn't impressed with their lack of assistance. Leaving Lorne we only travelled a short distance into the State Forest and set up camp for the night. Here Vickie spotted another Koala and we were visited by King Parrots, we also had a young koala walk past our van and climb a small tree which gave me the opportunity to take a few photos. 

Part of my reason for travelling where we did was to be able to visit a friend who lives close to Geelong and has a 4WD business near by. We had organised to stay in a caravan park [shock horror] in Belmont, it enabled Vickie to also catch up with the washing. We opted for an ensuite site and set our washing machine up inside it, this worked well as we had power, water and a drain all accessible.

The next day we had a drive around town and was looking for a place for lunch when we were spotted by Darren, our mate whom we were visiting, he suggested the floating Fish & Chip restaurant and we were not disappointed, we enjoyed it so much we went back again the next day as well. Thursday night I went and visited Darren at his business AutoCraft, Thursday nights are shed nights and there could be anything from 2-3 to a dozen mates call in after work for drinks and pizzas. The pizzas were awesome, I restrained myself and made sure I took some back for Vickie. It was a fun night, lots of laughs, mostly at my expense, I took a drive in one of the 80 series landcruiser that was in for some modifications, Holy Hell that thing flew, if you have a cruiser and need it worked on Darren is your man.

It was time to leave Geelong and catch the ferry from Queenscliff, we choose to do this rather than deal with the traffic and toll roads through Melbourne plus the departure off the ferry is not far from where Vickies sister Sue lives and that was where we were heading, but not before a few nights along the bay at Dromana. This area was well known to me as the Bay was where I grew up, we had both been here previously but Vickie hadn't visited Portsea back beach and Flinders so we drove out and cruised the areas. It's a beautiful area, I particularly liked the trees and foliage, I didn't realise how much I miss seeing so many trees and birds, also the gardens were in flower so everywhere we went it was lovely. 

We had a reason to be visiting Sue and that was to attend her youngest daughter [our niece] Lee's wedding to Sam, but we were a week early, Sue pressured us to come and we crumbled, so here we are parked on their front lawn in Mt Eliza. It gave us time to also visit friends Rob & Marg, Ian & Lesley, and Debra & Graham, plus some very special people who I hold very dear to my heart, my 2nd mum Pat Mossenton and my God Father George Ball. 

Marg, Robert & us, we have known these lovely people for 40+ years, we are hoping one day they visit us.

Debra & Graham, we met these friends on Lombok Island many years ago and have stayed in touch ever since, we even surprised Deb on her 40th birthday in Bali one year. Plans are on to do a cruise with them somewhere.

This lady is very special, Pat is the mother of my childhood mate John and more like a brother than a friend, I met her when I was four years of age and growing up I just about spent as much time at Pats home as I did at my own. Pat knows just how to make a person feel worthy and she dished out hugs as well as admonishments to me growing up. At times John and I must have pushed her patience levels to the limits, I Love her like a Mum.

This gentleman is George, he is 97 years young and he and his lovely wife Doreen [dec] were great friends of my mother, I feel I have known George and his family all my life and I just about have. Officially he is my god father, I'm not at all religious and to me he is like the favourite Uncle I never had. My Mother would be chuffed to be able to see this photo.  Regrettably I didn't get a photo of Ian & Lesley, the visit was rushed due to a last minute visit as they were going away. 

The wedding of Lee & Sam was a beautiful occasion, it was held in Warrandyte at Potters reception centre, Sue had arranged accomodation for us close by, a nice B&B that we shared with Danny & Noleen [Sue's BIL and his wife] The wedding went off well, a lovely location and beautiful service, it was a real family affair with Lee's sisters Dannielle and Vickie as Bridesmaids and Sams brothers Nick & Tim as groomsmen, Sams mother Julie is a marriage celebrant and she conducted the service. 

It was great having our nephews Chris & Trevor and their partners Abbie & Ashley along with our niece Maddison all the way from WA come over for the wedding, sadly our own children could not attend due to family and work reasons.