Blogs from Devonport, Tasmania, Australia, Oceania

And so the days counted down.....and things got done....and then the days were at zero....and it was time to go. Of course, there was cake...and there were goodbyes. Up to Launceston to say hi (and bye) to the boys. To Devonport where we stayed at the Mersey Bluff Caravan Park on Saturday Night. We walked along the bluff for exercise in the evening. Up bright and early on Sunday to drive "around the corner" to catch the Spirit Of Tasmania - a "day boat" leaving at 9am. And our trip of a lifetime had begun. Hannah from work (and partner Shawn) were also on "our" boat. We landed at Port Melbourne about 7pm and after an excellent dinner of fish n chips, made our way down to Barwon Heads Caravan Park (near Geelong), where we would ... read more

Devonport Last Day 2 Today rain was forecast at 8am but it is late and the heat is still on, the rain never came. Even the locals are complaining it is too hot but we are soaking it up. After all who would have thought that it could be 30 degrees in February. A good Full English breakfast at the motel set us up for the day and the first job was to strip down our bikes and bag them up ready for the flight out tomorrow. This is always an unwelcome task when such an interesting and successful tour ends and we are in the 'going home' mode. A walk into town followed and a peep in the local bike shop to drool over the latest lightweight bikes with electric gear shifters. Bill then decided ... read more

My trip to Australia a few months back was definitely an adventurous and exciting one. One of the main reasons it was so fun for me was because I chose to do a car rental and travel around Tasmania on my very own. When I first arrived at Melbourne, I decided to take the ferry over to Tasmania to see what the area was all about. A lot of my relatives who had already been to Australia told me that Tasmania had a lot of things to do, so I wanted to check it out for myself. After getting off of the ferry from Melbourne to Tasmania, I decided to go to a car hire company and get a vehicle that I could use on my own (this website lists all the agencies at the ferry ... read more

Last night we did most of our packing so this morning we just had to walk the dogs, tidy the house, pack the car and we were off into the city at about lunch time. We have been wanting to see the Aztec exhibition at the Museum Victoria since it opened in April. With the exhibition due to finish early in August we decided that we could fit it in during the afternoon before making our way down to Station Pier to board the Spirit of Tasmania. We had a good run into the city and booked our tickets for the exhibition. It turned out that the two for one offer - if we mentioned the email we received on Friday night - was cheaper than our Museum Victoria membership entry fee. We saved $4.00!! After ... read more

Around the world there are many great Railway Preservation Projects, and rightly so. The very fabric of development of many places including Tasmania was the thread of iron rails and hissing steam monsters that carried produce and people where no other transport of the time could, and at speeds that were unimaginable before the rail was introduced. For me personally, maintaining that railway history at a small working level is really important. Just as we have recognised the painful but enduring work of Tasmania's convicts, so we need to acknowledge the truth of the benefit of rail to this little island state. I would think that the rail road too was built in many places with the blood sweat and tears of the convicts. There are a number of working steam railways in Tasmania, but I ... read more