Hobart
remained cold but we were determined to take a drive up Mt Wellington so with
warm cloths in hand we headed through Hobart and up to the summit where we were
greeted by our second Tasmanian summer snow storm and plenty of snow on the
ground for throwing snow balls and making snowmen which Tig made on the car
much to the amusement of those coming up Mt Wellington as we went down.
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| Ella at Mt Wellington |
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| It was so cold that Kai had Thea's scarf around his face |
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| Ice straight off the hand rails |
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| Appartently she had never made a snowman and wanted to help |
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| Driving back into Hobart city with snowman sort of attached |
From
Hobart we journeyed as far south roads will take us, all the way down to Cockle
Creek in South West National Park. Cockle Creek was recommended by Nate, the
wood fired pizza restaurant owner at Barilla Caravan Park where we stayed in
Hobart, it is also where the South Coast walking track starts. We found a magic
little camping spot on the side of the track in the National Park. There was
just enough space for our van to fit in next to the open grassy camping area
with the beach just 5 metres through the scrub.
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| Peaceful Cockle Creek |
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| Our view of the bay with little blue shack |
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| The weather rolls in again |
It
was a very relaxing 3 days here (even if there was party nearby one night) and
the bikes got some well-needed use.
After
a lazy start (except for Tig who went for an early ride) we wandered (Maddi,
Ella and Tig on bikes and Kai and Thea on foot) along the road and around the
bay to a Point where there is an impressive whale sculpture. Completely
unprepared for a bush walk we kind of wandered further down the beach and were
half way to Fishers Point (a 4km return walk) before we all realised we had
nothing to eat and it was nearly lunch time.
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| The Whale Sculpture |
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| Another stunning scene |
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| Father and son wander the beach |
The
afternoon was generally relaxed which gave us time to catch up on our blog
which Thea posted from the roof of the caravan as reception was very
poor. In the late afternoon the whole family took to the beach for a bit
of exercise. About 200 metres down the beach where some privately owned beach
shacks within the National Park. The afternoon’s exercise was to run down the
beach and back 10 times to the little blue shack (for the adults). The kids
loved it especially as each had a designated turn around spot but soon lost
interest leaving Mum and Dad to finish off their 10 laps. Not bad effort all
round and everyone felt the pain in our legs the next day.
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| Thea blog posting from the caravan roof |
Cockle
Creek is the ‘End of the Road’; the last town South of any note is Southport,
which makes for an interesting drive around the few streets consisting of
holiday beach shacks. These range from one bedroom fibros by the water edge to
multi-million dollar ‘shacks’ up the hill.
Between
Southport and Cockle Creek is Ida Bay once a thriving town but now a couple of
houses, café and the Ida Bay Railway. We took the train on the 14km return
journey through the bush land and along the waters edge to where they used to
load the lime quarried from the nearby hills. It was a huge tourist attraction,
not, with just 8 passengers, us making up 5 of them, but pleasant all the same.
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| Ida Bay Railway |
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| We decided to take over the rear carriage |
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| Our tour guide Lance (centre) at the Grave Yard |
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| Maddi and Ella taking in the sights |
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| The Ida Bay Rail Train |
After
three lovely days at Cockle Creek we packed up and retraced our steps to Huonville
before turning east to Kettering to board the ferry across D’Entrecasteaux
Channel to Bruny Island.
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| Loaded on the ferry to Bruny Island |
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| Kids run on the empty top deck |
Bruny
Island is only a 45 minute drive from Hobart to the ferry and is divided into a
north and south island connected only by a narrow stretch of land. The north
island consists mainly of open farming land, where the south is dominated by
South Bruny Range and is mainly National Park and State Forest. The main
tourist attractions are all on the southern island. We stayed in the one and
only caravan park on the island which is at Adventure Bay on the southern
island. There was another caravan park at Adventure Bay up until 6 months ago
but it closed down as the owners retired. A number of houses are for sale on
Bruny Island including the caravan park we stayed in. They are asking $1.89
million for it and it has its own secure water source apparently. This water
must be so special as we where charged $1 for a 5 minute shower. We expected
Bruny to be very touristy and well set up but after looking around ourselves
and talking to the locals it appears to be a very sleepy place with tourism
only on the rise in the last 3-5 years. They still have a long way to go but
every local seems to be offering accommodation.
We
decided to spend our first night on the island seeing some of the cute little
penguins that reside on the island. The neck that connects the two islands is
home to hundreds of fairy penguins and we went to the lookout/hide just before
dark to see them. We were told to get there about 8.30pm but with the sun up so
late it wasn’t until almost 9.30pm before the first penguins came up the beach
in a group. They looked like a moving smudge on the sand and unfortunately not
all three kids saw this the first time. Two penguin chicks had been spotted in
a burrow near the boardwalk and the kids had been admiring them further up the
slope when the first group arrived. We where thankful for a small school group
(only 5 boys and 2 teachers) who had come prepared with torches with red
cellophane over the lights so we could observe these creatures. We saw plenty
of penguins march up the beach in groups and then weave through the undergrowth
searching for their burrow. It was a fantastic experience and the kids loved
it. As we drove back to our caravan we found a few penguins and a few other
birds on the road and managed to encourage them back into the scrub. We played
spotlight of the wildlife on our drive back, which consisted mainly of brush
tail possums, rabbits, a spotted Quoll and one white kangaroo. The kids had all
fallen asleep by the time we made it back to the van as it was about 11pm.
The
next morning we had a sleep in and then proceeded to catch up on the washing
while the kids played on the play equipment at the caravan park. Tig noticed
some bike riders ride pass the caravan park looking very official and obviously
in an event. After some internet research he discovered that the Swisse Mark
Webber Tasmania Challenge was holding its Day 3 events on the island. So after
a look at the course and the event we decided to head off to the Lighthouse and
Jetty beach as we had planned to do but with the added bonus of maybe seeing
some of the competitors.
As
we have a 4wd we decided to take the direct approach to getting to the southern
tip of the island by going up and over the back of Adventure Bay through the
state forest. We immediately passed an official car coming down the one land
dirt track who told us that about 10km up the track was a number of support
trucks for the event and we should take care. We never saw the trucks or any
competitors there as we forked off onto another track but we did catch up with
them back on a main road further down. From a distance it appeared to be
organized chaos as support vehicles collected bikes from one location and drove
them quickly round to another checkpoint while the competitors in teams of two
kayaked or ran there. Our first stop was Jetty Beach, which is a National Parks
campsite. At this point the competitors came in on their mountain bikes and
took to the water in kayaks. Most of the roads around Bruny Island are
gravel/dirt and often single lane so it was a challenge passing support
vehicles, competitors and other tourists. After watching a few of the
competitors head out on their kayak leg we decided to go to the Lighthouse. On
arrival we saw two competitors running back down the hill to their bikes and
ride onto Jetty Beach. The views from the lighthouse was exceptional with
stunning cliffs and rocky outcrops. Unfortunately there weren’t many walks
suitable for our young family and the weathered turned so we only completed one
short walk to Sheepwash Bay.
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| Competitor kayaks at Jetty Beach |
Our
second full day we decided to visit the non-natural tourist attractions like
the Berry Farm, Fudge Factory and Hothouse Café. The kids big and small enjoyed
picking our own strawberries and we had to control ourselves and not go
overboard. With 1.5kg of strawberries in our possession one would think they
would last a while. They were however all gone within 24 hours and they were so
yummy. Next stop was the Fudge Factory where we sampled the fudge on offer and
maybe, just maybe, picked up a few gifts. The adults saw this as an opportunity
to do some Christmas shopping for our kids and therefor sent them outside to
eat their sandwiches on the tailgate of the car. As you can imagine Maddi and
Ella thought it would be fun to try and get a sneek peek at what mum and dad
might be buying for them and kept reappearing beside us with a giggle. Kai was
just stuck on the tailgate being so small and was more interested in food now
to bother with us. I am pleased to say our mission was successful and they have
no idea what we got for them. They even scored a free chocolate frog each from
the owner as she thought they were well-behaved children. If only she knew that
her facial expressions and body language at the beginning of our visit to the
shop had given Thea the impression that she wasn’t coping with them. They
obviously won her over with their cute if not a little annoying antics.
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| Strawberry picking and tasting |
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| Yummy! |
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| Ella and our 1.5kg |
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| Ella doing some farm work |
Since
our first maze on the trip back in the South West Corner with Grant, Jenny and
Kee Chan we have been on the look out for others. We thought it would be a good
tourist attraction on Bruny and where delighted to see a photograph of one at
the Hothouse Café on the back of the school fundraiser 2012 calendar. We
decided to investigate, as we hadn’t seen any advertising for a maze on the
island. We arrived at the Hothouse Café, which is appropriately named as it is
housed inside a white plastic covered semicircle green house you would find in
a market garden. It makes sense as Tassie weather is often cold but on our
particular day was quite warm so we opted to sit outside under the shade cloth
gazebo. We enquired about the maze but were informed it was removed 3 years ago
as it was too much work for the new owners and the space converted into the
carpark. We therefor sampled the scones on offer with coffee and hot chocolates
and admired the view instead.
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| Hothouse Cafe for Coffee and Scones |
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| The view |
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| Thea couldn't resist trimming Kai's hair |
Before
departing the island we headed to the northern island for a look around. Driving
the narrow roads we saw Iron Pot Lighthouse that the Sydney to Hobart Yachts
pass on their entry into Hobart Harbour. We stopped at Dennes Point (the most northerly
point) for a coffee from the café/restaurant and a look in the gallery, which
are both housed along with small grocery store in a community built
building. The view was pretty good from the wide deck and the kids where
enjoying the small play equipment, which consisted simply of a swing set. We
could have sat there for hours but alas the main land, as the locals call it
was waiting. Once again the weather closed in and we had a quick bit to eat in
the caravan while waiting for the ferry. For the short ferry ride back we were
entertained along with a few family groups of cyclists and by the family
sticker on the back of a Toyota HiAce Commuter van. It had the longest family
stick figure sticker we had ever seen. All twenty family members plus five
dogs, two cats, one bird, one chicken and a rabbit squeezed onto the back
window. The van looked modified and we worked out could sit 16 people.
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| Ready to load again back for mainland Tassie |
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| Longest family sticker ever |
Once
off the ferry we headed north back thought Hobart and stopped for the night at
Sorell’s RV stop. The kids had a quick opportunity to ride scooter down the
road to the council chambers to pay our nominal fee before heading to the skate
park next door while Thea cooked dinner.
Next
we will update you on our West Coast adventures and why Tig has become a
skilled fish cleaner.
Till
then…
Tig
and Thea
