Blogs from Saint Helens, Tasmania, Australia, Oceania
June 28th 2009
“One’s destination is never a place,but a new way of seeing things”.Henry Miller.After the splendor of the rugged west,what was in store as we drifted down towards the coastal plains in the north?We had a destination in mind but of far greater importance was what we were likely to see in getting there.The first observation of gently rolling hills and bright green paddocks confirmed that the north is the primary farming region of Tasmania.There is a distinct neatness to the white fenced fields,the plump and recently shorn sheep and beef herds in very good condition.Small rivers and creeks meander lazily through much of this area which,again,has an English countryside feel to it.One of the little villages one passes through is Sheffield…a typical farming town but one that has an array of murals on the towns walls ... read more
June 25th 2009
This little gem from Mark Twain:”Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.So throw off the bowlines,sail away from the safe harbour,catch the trade winds in your sails.Explore.Dream.Discover”.Tasmania is an island that had to be sailed to so as to be discovered and it was a Dutch navigator,Abel Tasman,who found the place in 1642.Then followed a few centuries of exploitation by Europeans killing seals and generally irritating the indigenous tribes.The British set up their second colony near present day Hobart in 1803 and this led to increased clashes with the Aboriginal people who didn’t take kindly to losing land and their women.They fought back but tragically were killed in numbers by less than fair means including deadly poisoning of their food.A ... read more
April 7th 2009
Logo quando saimos pela manha do camping tinhamos apenas uma ideia do que gostariamos de ver ali na regiao, mas nao tinhamos nem nocao de que direcao tomar e nem por onde comecar....Entao melhor escolha era parar primeiro no centro de informacoes de St. Helens. Foi onde tomamos conhecimento do que a regiao nos eferecia para ser visitado nos dois dias que temos disponiveis aqui. Programamos para os proxinos dois as visitas as praias que circundam St. Helens e Freycinet Peninsula. Nos estamos acompanhando a previsao do tempo diariamente, e como a possibilidade de haver chuva era maior no dia de hoje (terca dia 07/04), escolhemos por visitar as praias proximas para se acaso chovesse conseguiriamos voltar com mais rapidez para ver os estragos feitos na barraca. Nos dirigimos primeiro no sentido das praias do norte ... read more
Viagem de Devonport para St Helens - Primeiro dia na Tasmania
Published: April 17th 2009Oceania » Australia » Tasmania » Saint Helens
April 6th 2009
Essa noite foi realmente dificil de conseguir dormir. O trailler em que ficamos era velho e sujo, a roupa de cama igualmente suja. Ontem assim que entramos no nosso trailler, ficamos chocados com a pessima qualidade em que se encontrava; sera que eh muito pedir um local limpo para se passar a noite? Eh dessa vez erramos na nossa escolha!!! Nao pudemos nem tomar banho porque o banheiro era impraticavel. Fez um frio sem igual durante a noite e tinhamos apenas a nossa coberta para nos esquentar, levantamos o lencol para ver se dava para dormir melhor, e achamos uma aranha morta, decidimos dormir por cima da roupa de cama mesmo... Acordamos cedo desesperados para ir embora e com esperancas de que o proximo camping seja melhor. Um grande aprendizado de tudo isso foi nunca mais ... read more
Kangaroo's In Bullet Proof Vests
Published: March 11th 2009Oceania » Australia » Tasmania » Saint Helens
March 10th 2009
DAY 123 Please note: the contents of todays blog contains graphical details which have nothing to do with me, thanks. Caroline We both slept really well last night, but again we woke up to another bright warm and sunny morning, I got up first, taking our tea mugs etc to the camp kitchen, so that I could finish the blog off for An Elephant Ate My Pancakes, which we managed to upload and added the pictures to. A short while later Caroline joined me and we set about having tea and doing toast. Dam it the Marmite is nearly out, its 20 times better than Vegemite so we may need the red cross to fly us some in. When we went to pack up camp, I got talking to the guy next door who has a ... read more
January 18th 2009
Up at 7.30 and left by 8am today. We drove from Swansea to St Helens to the Bay of Fires. We stopped at the Information Center, a lovely little lady welcomed us and showed us where all the free campsites were and told us that there were free showers in the main car park area near the harbour - brilliant! And they were hot showers - even better! We drove up to Grant Lagoon Camping area, there was nothing there apart from the lagoon and lot’s of mosquitoes! This was really camping in the bush! We set the tent as quickly as possible as within 5 mins Chris got bitten by a spider and his finger went numb and i got 2 mosquito bites and one of them made my arm swell up! MAD - not ... read more
St Helens (23-26 December)
Published: December 30th 2008Oceania » Australia » Tasmania » Saint Helens
December 30th 2008
We checked in at the Hillcrest Tourist Park in St Helens in the early afternoon so decided to go back into town to do some food shopping for Christmas lunch as well as a few last minute presents. On Christmas Eve, we went for a drive in the hills, doing short walks at Blue Tier Reserve (Goblin Walk), Anchor Stampers (an old Tin mine) and Halls Falls. We stopped for some more cheeses at Pyengana Cheese on the way to St Columba Falls (where we had lunch) and Ralphs Falls. After dinner (delicious Gem Fish from Salty Seas fish shop) we went back into town for the annual Christmas Eve parade. Christmas day was very exciting for the kids as Santa had managed to find us despite our distance from home. They were both very pleased ... read more
