Our pack up and walk out from Douglas Apsley NP was hastened with the onset of rain, which is much needed around here. It was just lovely watching a (very short) downpour whilst chowing down on toasties and bacon & egg rolls at our favorite take-away “Porky’s” in Bicheno.

Our 2^nd stop at Devils Corner Winery for oysters and wine overlooking the beautiful Hazards at Coles Bay, this re-furbed winery had only been re-open for 3 weeks, with tasting rooms, food bars and a new tower with viewing cage’s taking in the view to the Freycinet Peninsula, all made from Royal Wolf Shipping Containers. Love it!!

A short drive to Triabunna to have a surprise catch up with our friends the Breglec’s from back home, 2 great nights together of fun and games, with much chat about our fab journeys so far. Gary & Troy really enjoy the Ironhouse Porter – which didn’t last the night.

A day of rest after bush camping, we wash – clean – and stock up, whilst seeing off the Breglec’s for their day of exploration on Maria Island.

We arrive in the busy coastal town of St Helens, a small town bursting with tourists. We are lucky to find a self-contained apartment for the night, to catch up on washing, get more supplies and organise our backpacks for a walk-in campsite at Douglas Apsley National Park. The 2 T20 matches back to back tonight were an added bonus!

A scenic drive south, with sweeping coastal views and a few funny road signs to boot.

Our first stop was the Iron House brewery, for a tasting paddle – the Porter was surprisingly refreshing at 11am… so we hit the road with a 6pack. (at time of publication Porters have gone! more about that in next entry)

Nearby Douglas Apsley National Park it’s a 10min walk from the car-park to the camp site, this was a good opportunity to test our light weight camping gear, and see what we really need to carry in for a 2 night stay, when we visit Maria Island(later this week) we won’t have the luxury of returning to the truck to retrieve something we have forgotten! We find an empty campsite, and set up near the convenient table.. There’s a fire ban here so no getting warm tonight.

The NP is stunning, clear water (which is very rare in Tassie – due to tea tree staining) We settle in for some swimming and tic tac toe

We are all inspired by Jane, who cycled into camp on a pushy, towing a trailer, she is from Melbourne and cycling around Tassie for 2 months, she was so happy, her ukulele was a nice addition to camp quiet times. But upon chatting, we found this trip is tiny compared to the 2 years she cycled from Beijing to Melbourne!! She is loving life!

There was a tiger snake living under a big rock near the waterhole, he’d come out and sun himself then disappear as soon as people came too close to his rock, even the Wrens came and chorused to raise awareness.

The kids thoroughly enjoyed warning other visitors about the snake, some had very extreme reactions – leaping in the air, or stopping completely and not bothering to come down to the water. We enjoyed this little campsite, and early morning coffe by the water, and UNO on the rocks at sunset. Even the bugs matched my nail polish!

Time to pack up from our lake after 3 nights, with a short 1 hour drive to the Weldborough Hotel, we arrive just in time for lunch. They have closed til 2:30pm so we set up camp out the back, prepare some lunch then wait for them to arrive to open up with a game of cricket. How fantastic, a pub in the middle of nowhere with every Tassie craft beer and cider available AND you can camp out the back : ) HAPPY DAYS……

The nearby Weldborough Pass Forest Walk had the most amazing Myrtle Trees and enormous Tree ferns.

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.

2 years later and we’re off on another adventure. A busy end to the year with work and school, but after much packing, planning and fun greeting our house guests (and catching up on 6 yrs in 2 days) we head off into the southern heat wave… its been a while, but we picked up where we left off with a roadside lunch stop under a shady tree and made our fav hot smoked trout spread with crackers.

Easy, Yummy then back on the road, naps all round while our trusty chauffeur ensured we arrived safely in Albury – first stop the cinema to buy Star Wars tickets for tonight, then we checked into our motel and spent the arvo in the pool.

A short walk to the main drag we found a great spot – Soho – eats | bar | beats. Happy days. Delicious pizza and the girls snuck in a Cherry Ripe stuffed donut for dessert while the boys headed off for their ‘The Force Awakens” session.

Aren’t you a little short for a Storm Trooper?