Tasmania

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Hello all
We are just back in Melbourne after 6 days in Tasmania
We have had difficulty with getting phone signals on the east coast and so have been unable to post a diary
We arrived in Hobart on Friday 5th and stayed 3 nights at Cornwall Cottages in Cambridge near the airport.
great location and facilities and all breakfast provisions provided including freshly baked bread made by Peta the owner.
Met up with Sylvia, Joan’s cousin on Saturday and went to Salamanca Market in Hobart then on to meet up with Mia, Sylvia’s grand daughter and afterwards we met up with Sylvia's other daughter Erin and her daughter Connie. A real family get together! Later we went to Sylvia's home and met up with her friend Dianne and then went out for a pub meal. Sunday we travelled a couple of hours to Port Arthur to the dockyards and penal colony that the prisoners built and worked in. We didn't really leave ourselves long enough there as some of the buildings that you can go into close at 5pm. I would suggest probably either an early start or plan to stay over as the entrance ticket is for 2 consecutive days.
On Monday we drove up to Bicheno on the east coast visiting some of the smaller towns on the way and having lunch at Kate's berry Farm.
That was a fairly quiet day so that we could go down to the beach at dusk and see the fairy penguins come in after their days fishing. Great to see them gathering in groups until there was safety in numbers when they then set off and walked right by us. We could hear their mates calling to them to guide them back to the nest - a really noisy welcome!
Tuesday and we went down to Freycinet peninsula and climbed up to the Wineglass Bay lookout for fantastic views.
Later we went to Coles Bay and Friendly Beaches. We stopped off at Freycinet Lodge to see the views and Claire trapped her finger in the car door - very painful and she needed a visit to the doctors to make a hole in the nail to release the pressure of the blood under the nail. There was no way she was going to let me do it!
Wednesday we drove up to St Helens via Elephant Pass and had lunch at Elephant Pass Pancake Cafe. After lunch we went to see Binalong bay and Bay of fires and drove out to The Gardens. There's nothing there really and it's not worth the drive. Better to spend more time at Bay of Fires.
On Thursday we drove back to St Mary's ay the north end of Elephant's Pass and turned west over the top towards Launceston and the Airport. On the way we visited Clarendon House and 1850's National Trust property and had a tour it. We then took a detour to Evandale and this is one of the nicest places we saw in Tasmania. Lots of old houses and interesting walks around town.
Caught the 6.35 flight back to Melbourne and took off late as the plane had a bird strike approaching landing and needed an engineer to check it out before we flew. Picked up by Elliott, Claire's flat mate and just planning what to do this weekend. Claire is off work now until Tuesday as she can't work with her fingers strapped together so at least we'll see a bit more of her.
Best wishes to all
Derek Joan & Claire

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