Melbourne and the Spirit of Tasmania November 8, 2008 What a difference a day makes, in this case I’m talking about the weather. Today was cloudy, but there were patches of blue and no rain today. This time we took a train downtown just to try something different. Thankfully, a helpful young girl waiting for her train showed us how to buy the tickets from a machine and validate them in another machine. Upon arriving at the city center, we headed straight for Federation Square and walked across the big open area with the jumbo TV (do all cities have giant [View Full Entry]

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Wild Tasmania November 9, 2008 We were awakened by the intercom (sounded like a bullhorn to me) in our ferry stateroom announcing that it was 6 AM and that we needed to be off the boat by 7:10. We drove the camper into the town of Devonport, Tasmania into blue skies and sunshine and headed toward Cradle Mountain NP. The park is known for its walking tracks and in particular the Overland Track. Hikers come from all over the world to make this six-day trek. Right before we entered the park, the blue skies had changed to gray and it started [View Full Entry]

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Port Arthur November 11, 2008 I’m sleeping in the bunk over the cab and last night I had to keep beating on the ceiling to keep the opossums off the top of the truck. I think they thought there was going to be free food at this party, sure couldn’t keep them away. Joe nestled snug in his bed below missed the whole thing. We woke up to the fresh beach air and begging wallabies all around our camper. We fixed some breakfast and headed on south on the east coast of Tasmania. First stop today was the Tessellated Pavement and [View Full Entry]

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Freycinet (Fray-sin-ay) and Wine Glass Bay November 10, 2008 No Tasmanian Devil shrieks were heard last night, I’m sorry to report. The skies were blue with fluffy clouds today, just the way I like it. We drove to Freycinet National Park on the east coast of Tasmania with a few stops for oohing and aahing at this and that. We traveled through what are called the Midlands and stopped at a couple of small towns that had many beautiful historic homes. There is a big difference between western and eastern Tasmania, mainly because most of the west that we saw is [View Full Entry]

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Hobart and Back to Melbourne November 12, 2008 Seemed strange waking up in the middle of a field. We drove the hour into Tasmania’s largest city, Hobart. It was cool and cloudy again, but no rain. This is considered a good day in Hobart. We walked along the port where we visited with some lobster fishermen and drove up to Battery Point where there are some attractive historic homes. The best part of the day was spent with an art gallery owner that took us on a tour through the attic gallery in his19th century building. I think he commented on [View Full Entry]

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We’re Driving a Mercedes... November 6, 2008 The views from Great Ocean Road from Apollo Bay to Torquay were just as the guidebook described them…spectacular! We stopped at almost every overlook turning a two-hour drive into an all morning affair. My favorite stop was at Lorne, the surfing capital of Australia. I could live there, it’s a gorgeous town. I think Joe liked Bells Beach the best. It’s a popular surfing spot because of the way the waves break. We watched the surfers there for quite a while. Joe was wishing he had a board and wetsuit with him. T [View Full Entry]

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The Great Ocean Road November 5, 2008 The cabin in Robe served us well and we had a pleasant breakfast in our cabin looking out over the ocean. First stop on our eastern route was Mt. Gambier where there are several volcano crater lakes and we took the lovely drive to the best one, Blue Lake. Joe and I have been so impressed throughout this trip at the thought put into visitor services at the attractions and parks. This route was especially beautiful and efficient. There were clouds overhead so the locals said Blue Lake wasn’t as blue as when it [View Full Entry]

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Melbourne Cup Day November 4, 2008 It was a fine day in Victor Harbor. The weather was perfect and because it is the day of the Melbourne Cup (a bigger deal in Australia than the Kentucky Derby is in the U.S.) the town was filled with a festive atmosphere. We had heard that the whole country shuts down for the race, but if it does it’s to party all day. Last minute betting was going on everywhere we looked, the hotels were having fancy luncheons and the ladies were decked out in race day finery despite the fact that they were [View Full Entry]

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Kangaroo Island, Victor Harbor November 3, 2008 Joe pulled me out of bed at six so we could climb on the Remarkable Rocks in Flinders Chase NP on Kangaroo Island. We were so early that we were the only ones there the entire two hours, a good idea since as we were leaving we met a tour bus. The Remarkable Rocks were….well, remarkable! We marveled at their existence. It was cool and somewhat cloudy, but no rain as was predicted. A few miles from the rocks in Flinders Chase was a nice boardwalk down to the ocean to Admirals Arch where [View Full Entry]

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Kangaroo Island November 2, 2008 Using multiple alarms again, we were able to get up at 5 and drive two hours south of Adelaide through lovely country to Cape Jervis (still in South Australia) and put us and the rental car on a ferry to Kangaroo Island. Because this island is isolated from the mainland it has been spared the impact of European settlers bringing in exotic plants and animals. There is a lot of old growth vegetation and animal and bird populations have thrived. (Can you tell I plagiarized the last two sentences from a handout we got at the [View Full Entry]

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