It was a grey and damp day that greeted us when we looked out the window at Mayfield Beach. We were anxious to get home. We called in to say hello to Georgi's brother, Lawrence and his wife Deb at Triabunna and they surprised us with a lovely lunch with home made bread and fillings and wonderful coffee, tea, scones and cake. Of course, we swapped stories about our travels in the Coaster (their earlier travels and our just completed trip) and found that we had some significant gaps! An opportunity to do another trip maybe? We said goodbye to Lawrence and Deb and travelled south to Sorell where we filled up the Coaster with diesel and then it was across the causeway and up and over the Tasman Bridge and home!... read more

We awoke to the sound of cockatoos and took a few photos before leaving Mersey Bluff Caravan Park. After re-stocking the bus with fruit and vegetables at the local supermarket, we had a cooked breakfast at the local cafe and then headed off towards Cradle Mountain, one of Tasmania's icons. Our first stop was at Sheffield where we checked out the murals before driving to Mount Roland and Gowrie Park. Each Easter Sheffield has a mural competition so there are always heaps of murals to see whenever you visit. Gowrie Park was to be our camp site this evening so we still had plenty of driving to do. We started to climb as we left Gowrie Park and soon we were down to second gear (and 20 kmh) on some of the hills. It was quite ... read more

We had planned to leave the bus in the Caravan Park and use public transport while we were in Melbourne as the majority of things we wanted to see were close to the city. There was no tram or train close to the park, however a bus stop was opposite the park entrance so that was perfect. The first day in to central Melbourne went quite smoothly. Georgi picked up some Myki cards (for all public transport in Melbourne) from the park office and the bus arrived just a few minutes after we walked across the road to the bus stop. It took about 30 minutes to get right into town so we had time to relax and check out life in Melbourne. One thing we noticed immediately was the level of noise. There is always ... read more

We had already booked our accommodation at a Melbourne Caravan Park so when we got up we knew we had a simple plan for the day. We might even have some spare time for some sightseeing or detours on the way. Of course, sometimes the day doesn't always unfold as you think it might and this particular day was to be no different. Getting off the island proved to be no problem, although it was getting busier with the motorcycle GP on the coming weekend. I explained to Georgi how the "blue line" worked on the road. When the motorcycle racing is finished and thousands of people want to go home, there needs to be a system to maximise the space on the road. The two lanes that are generally available (and shoulders) become three lanes ... read more

Wilsons Promontory (or The Prom as it is called by the locals) is one of Victoria's last wilderness areas and has been a National Park for over 100 years. It is located at the southernmost tip of the big island and offers spectacular scenery of huge granite mountains, open forest, rainforest, sweeping beaches and rugged coastlines. Great bushwalks extend from under an hour to multi-day walks and visitors can camp, caravan or stay in huts, cabins, wilderness retreats or lodges at Tidal River where there is a ranger station, visitor information centre, general store and take away food shop. Wilsons Promontory was connected to Tasmania by the land bridge which existed some 10,000 years ago and still has a lot of similar features to the north east coast of Tasmania specifically and Tasmania in general. It's ... read more