Donald Sinclair

Celtic07

Donald Sinclair




Oceania » Australia » Tasmania September 15th 2018

The last day in Tasmania. A little bit of a panic this morning, but nothing too unusual. We dropped the campervan off at Cruisin' Motorhomes. Can thoroughly recommend them and we'll use them again. A quick taxi ride out to the airport, some final cakes and coffees and we waited for the plane. I can't think of anyone saying a bad thing of their holiday in Tasmania. Now we can see why. I'd go back in a heartbeat and we've already made rough plans to do so. We'd probably see a lot of what we have been to and then get even more off the beaten track. I'd like to thank my wonderful travelling partner Katie, you made it even more special!... read more

Oceania » Australia » Tasmania September 14th 2018

We basically had a day to kill so we headed back to Richmond to the bakery to make sure that these were in fact the best Scallop Pies in Tassie. Yes! And of course we had a couple more cakes and slices as we said good bye to Richmond. We had spied the Richmond Ice Cream Shop but it was closed previously. Lucky for us it was open this time and you can see why they have been awarded so many prizes and ribbons. Outstanding. Back in Hobart we remembered seeing a very cool looking little restaurant but we couldn't recall the name or the exact location as we were on the RedDecker tour around Hobart on our first day. By a process of elimination and a little good luck we found Jackson & McRoss. This ... read more
People You Meet!

Oceania » Australia » Tasmania » Mount Field September 13th 2018

After a windy miserable night, the sun tried bravely to sneek through the drizzle. We had a better look around the lodge at Lake St. Clair and wandered down to the lake which is at the southern end of the Overland Track. Staff were very friendly and they had some great history up on the walls. And speaking of walls, the first place on the agenda was to visit The Wall at Derwent Bridge. I wasn't too sure about this one when one of Katies clients mentioned it. It didn't seem to have many mentions in the tourist guides. But it bloody well should!! Simply amazing workmanship has gone into this living piece of art. I can only imagine the number of hours it takes to make a single artwork. Pity we can take no photos, ... read more
Mt. Field National Park
Mt. Field National Park
Mt. Field National Park

Oceania » Australia » Tasmania » Strahan September 12th 2018

It blew a gale last night, bit of damage around the town but it looks like it blew itself out. The van certainly shook all night long. We had to be up and ready for the Gordon River Cruise. Fantastic ship, great crew and running commentary and we were well looked after. We saw the Sarah Island Penal Colony and did the journey out to Hells Gates at the mouth of the Gordon River. Great trip. Once we got back we had to hit the road straight away to make some miles, but first I wanted to go to Ocean Beach Road just outside of Strahan. Like Arthur River the ocean just roars in from the west all the way from Argentina. The afternoon turned gloomy again and it made Queenstown look very desolate and almost ... read more
Gordon River
Gordon River
Ocean Beach, Strahan

Oceania » Australia » Tasmania » Strahan September 11th 2018

Well the plan was to take the gravel road from Arthur River to Corinna and save some time and go through some pretty remote country. But wiser heads prevailed and we went back the way we came to Wynyard and then travelled south via Rosebery where we stopped for some much needed cakes and coffee. We walked the track to Montezuma Falls. Great little trek, and learnt about the history of its making by the railway workers. Incredible the effort that went into the construction of the line. Running out of fuel we made it to Zeehan where there were no open bowsers and the automatic keypad was stuffed! I nursed the bus into Strahan on diesel fumes! Typically good caravan park at Strahan. We made it early enough in the day to have a wonder ... read more
Deer Farming West Coast Tasmania
Montezuma Falls, Roseberry
Montezuma Falls, Roseberry

Oceania » Australia » Tasmania » Arthur River September 10th 2018

Big day ahead of us, so after a quickish breakfast we packed and ended into Burnie to see the Makers Workshop. I guess I was a little disappointed as it's really only a gift centre. Don't get me wrong there was things to do, but maybe it was the time of year or maybe a little bit early in the day, it was ok. Morning tea was held at the very popular Bruce's Cafe at Wynyard. Another tick. We drove thru the backblocks of Wynyard for a bit just driving up very picturesque lanes. The scenary alone the coastline is so dramatic. You could easily fall in love with the area. Unfortunately we were at the wrong time of the year for the famous tulips, which would have been awesome to see. Always next time! The ... read more
Wynyard Farm Land
View from Wynyard
View from The Nut - Stanley

Oceania » Australia » Tasmania September 9th 2018

Off to a lateish start but made good time today. Bit of a miserable day but can't really complain. First stop was the Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm for all thing delightful and raspberry! They were doing a roaring trade there. We stocked up on some raspberry jams, clothes and bought some ice creams. On leaving we noticed Van Diemans Land Ice Creamery. I have heard good things about them, so even though we were literally finishing off our raspberry ice creams as we drove in we just had to give these a go. OMG simply heaven in a cone! Every flavour known to man and some odd ones as well. We had heard from friends in Brisbane about the best place for scones is in Sheffield at The Old Scone Shop. Sadly they closed their doors ... read more
Dove Lake
Cradle Mountain
No pictures!

Oceania » Australia » Tasmania » Launceston September 8th 2018

We got stuck into the washing today at the Big4 Caravan Park, chatting to the other campers there and getting ourselves better organised. The Launceston Big 4 is huge although this time of year fairly empty. Like all the other van parks we've stayed at, it's pretty clean as well. I read about a Farmers Markets in the city centre and thought it would be a good idea for breakfast. We of course tried some cider. And why wouldn't you. We liked the Champagne cider from Bradys Outlook, a new entrant to the ever increasing number of cider makers in Tasmania. Bought a tallie for later. One of the things I had planned was a walking foodie tour of Launceston. I phoned to reconfirm and was told it had been cancelled as they wanted to get ... read more
Cataract Gorge Launceston
20180908_130406
20180908_130408

Oceania » Australia » Tasmania September 7th 2018

We took our time getting up today as we were heading over to the Mount Elephant Pancakes Shop which like alot of places in Tasmania don't open till 10.00am. It's a little out of our way, in fact we are going backwards but one of Katies clients highly recommended it. We had a chance to look around the caravan park here at Scamander and spied a few glamping tents. We agreed we are so trying these mini palaces next time. The owner was saying they intend to expand further up the hill and put in quite a few more as they should be popular. Nice trip up the range through to St. Marys. And the food at Mount Elephant Pancakes was totally worth the trip. Quite a quirky place, in a good way. We were the ... read more
Mount Elephant Pancakes!
Just another fantastic breakfast
Havin' a chat

Oceania » Australia » Tasmania » Freycinet National Park September 6th 2018

Well it went pear shaped from the word go. After checking yesterday that the Wineglass Bay cruise had plenty of spare seats, it looks like a busload of Chinese tourists rocked up and took all the seats! Another lesson learned, don't delay when booking. Unfortunately, they only run 1 cruise a day at this time of year and we didn't want to hang around or backtrack so we headed over to the National Park and went for a decent walk up to the top of the mountain. We were advised against doing the big walk up to the lookout by the ranger, as they had had some rain and the walk involved a far bit of scrambling over the granite boulders. The view from the top was incredible. Even though the weather was a bit iffy. ... read more
Walk up Freycinet National Park
Walk up Freycinet National Park
Walk up Freycinet National Park




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