An enjoyable morning of shopping around Deloraine with Nanna was a pleasure, then we drove her to Launceston where she met cousin Jane as she arrived on the plane to begin their Thelma and Louise road tripping Tassie experience.

North East bound for us, to Big Waterhouse Lake – very peaceful (except for the prolific birdlife) compared to the nearby packed beach camps.

Great day spent walking, riding and general camp duties, the hammock was strung between shady trees and we enjoyed watching all the butterflies and Dragonflies.

Our dusk dance party was too funny, giggles all round – gotta love the joy Flight of the Conchords songs bring us!

After riding and trekking for ages – we still couldn’t find access to the elusive sand dunes, plenty of wombat runs though.

Another great day walking at Ransons Beach, swimming and taking in all the beautiful views to Cape Barron island nearby Mounts William & Cameron. Taking it easy this arvo in preparation for New Years Eve. Lovely Roast Beef, tinnies, champers, cola and hot choc with marshmallows saw us through to 2016 with a little help from glow stick grooves and nature’s own fireworks.

Early morning pack up (not really – bit hard after 5 nights!) from Button Cottage. A drive around the Western Tiers via poppy fields and paddocks to Liffey Falls. For carpark wraps and toasties, then a pretty stroll to the falls.

With an arvo spent at Pine lake to view a rare stand of the pencil pine that can only be found in the highlands of tassie.

Gnarly…

All downhill towards Deloraine for a pub stay at the British Hotel (publican had Tamworth links) with pub meal, T20 cricket on the big screen and pub beds!! But first a quick roadside cuppa with a fab view.

Nan arrives today at Launceston Airport, so we hit the shops to stock up on supplies for the next 5 days and a few last minute Christmas presents.

After collecting our extra passenger we head for Deloraine to find a pub for lunch, then a lovely rural drive to our accommodation. Past poppy fields, paddocks of potatoes and we lost track of the number of road kill.

We arrived at ‘Button Cottage’ Nietta – our home for the next 5 nights. It was prettier than a postcard, sitting pretty in a cleared paddock with a carpet of soft lush grass surrounding it.

To our surprise, an echidna was making a bee line to our dwelling, it was so calm and cute, we were able to watch it scratching, feeding on ants and many more crawling all over it.

Our weather apps forecast cloudy and possible rain for Xmas & boxing days, so an outing on our 1^st day at Button Cottage is the go. Devils Gullet seems so close, just past Mount Roland, which is within view. 2 hours later – through windy roads and farming land to arrive at a plateau, a short walk to the stunning view to Western Walls of Jerusalem and Cradle Mountain perched on top of a precarious landing was awesome.

Back home for more fun on the lawn / carpet and to let Santa know where to find us.

Merry Christmas, how lovely it was to have Nanna here at our lovely reside, to enjoy a morning of presents and then fun and games using them all. A great day of fab food and fun.

Boxing day today, a couple of outings to silver falls – only 2 minutes away on our pushies, it was lush after rain overnight, bit cold though – beanies required!

More fun on the lawn with new xmas presents and strolls around the property and a lovely Full Moon tonight too.

A trip for supplies today, but first stop a detour to Leven Canyon, which was looking greener, and with more river flow, than our visit 2 years prior. Then north to Penguin Markets to stock up on lovely fresh vegetables and local pink eye spuds. Then lunch at a local Tapas bar.

 Today we headed off to the Tamar, first stop Jansz…. My happy place! Here we all enjoyed a lovely cheese platter and the beautiful timber Kaleidoscope was a hit with the kids… what a great distraction to allow us to enjoy the tasting room, scenery and surrounds. The Vintage Champagne was great too. Nearby Delamere Wines were also fantastic and we thoroughly enjoyed the friendly cellar door banter.

We hunted around for a campsite, without much luck, so we rang ahead to Launceston Big4 to secure a site, shame we didn’t realise it was next to the freeway!!!

An early start this morning after our wake up call from the crew of the Spirit of Tasmania at 5:30am announcing our arrival to Devonport. By 6am we were in the truck excited to drive off the boat.

Shortly after arriving in Tasmania we were welcomed with a rural nativity scene, made from round hay bales, tyres and a tractor…

We drove to Port Sorrell and found an early opening bakery in Shearwater for our breakfast. A few supplies picked up at the IGA then we were off for Narawntapu National Park for our first camp.

We were pleased to see our favourite Tassie bird calls this place home. Pied Oyster Catchers could be seen all along Bakers Point and Bakers Beach.

A very low tide revealed a hundred meter pitch, with a nice even bounce.

A dusty dry drive south from Albury today, with storms brewing to the west and lightning bolts hitting the brittle ground around us. After watching the storms develop we arrived in Melbourne for a late lunch with friends at their local.

Then hit the nearby bowl-o for a couple of ends (in the rain) and some craft beer…

Back to Shaz n Curls to use the amenities, after the kids showered and took advantage of the dryer for their (only set of easily accessible) clothes for our night crossing it was time for farewell and off to the port.

Who would of thought the ‘Dream Ride’ on Gaz’s bucket list would be beside us in the queue at the pier… We are all excited to be boarding ‘The Spirit’ for our 3rd time, this time with friends onboard for a fun night of catching up ahead.