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Published: February 7th 2011
Tasmania
We're not really on t'other side of the world...Suzanne here...
So, on to Tasmania. We landed in Hobart, and with only a couple of days to 'do' Tasmania's capital, we dumped our bags at the hostel as soon as we arrived and went straight out. Hobart is a lovely place, pretty and laid-back, and we enjoyed strolling around. Fortuitously, there was a free festival on - the Mona Foma festival. Not so fortuitously the first band we checked out were awful. I forget their name, but they played some random free-style jazz that they seemed to be making up as they went along. One of the band said that they 'only became songs when we perceived them as such'. Unfortunately we perceived them to be a load of rubbish, so we left. On our walk we spotted Magic Curries, an Indian restaurant displaying a letter of thanks from the Indian cricket team. Well, if it's good enough for them it's good enough for us. After a very poor curry in Melbourne we were hoping for better. We weren't disappointed, it was amazing. The Indian cricket team were not wrong. If this place was in Nottingham we'd be there every week.
We were staying in a dorm (at
Tasmania
...oh! We are really in Tasmania - Wallaby that visited our little camp at Dora Point... the Hobart Hostel) to save a bit of cash, sharing with eight other people. Despite this, we slept very well. The next day we wandered around again, just taking in the atmosphere. We decided to give the festival another go, just as a band called the Little Cuba's started playing. Really glad we did, they were very good. Sitting in the sun, beer in hand... oh it's a hard life this travelling lark. For dinner we resisted the temptation to go back to Magic Curries and went to Ball and Chain. Had a huge steak with as much veg and salad as we could eat. Another highly recommended place.
The following day it was time for a part of the trip we've really been looking forward to, picking up a campervan for a two week tour of the island. We asked the driver of the airport bus nicely if he'd do a bit of a detour and drop us off at the hire place, which he kindly did. Our van was ace, and we were very excited. David took the first turn driving.... and I'm ashamed to say I never did get around to taking my turn. David seemed
Tasmania
...or are we? to enjoy driving, and I enjoyed being driven to be honest.
After stocking up at the Woolworth's supermarket in Sorrell, our first stop was Oatlands. The campsite, next to Lake Dulverton, was free. In fact, every campsite we stayed in throughout Tasmania was either free or a few pounds. We couldn't believe it, you can't camp anywhere for free in England. There were no showers, but toilets, drinking water and barbecues. The view over the lake was beautiful too. We sat on the banks of the lake watching a beautiful sunset and listening to the Banjo frogs (they really do should like a banjo). It was also our first experience of Kookaburra's. Blimey, what a racket. They do sound a bit insane.
At Oatlands we met a couple with a caravan the size of a house. Seems it was their house, they had retired, sold their home and were travelling around Australia. Very nice people, they even let me use their laptop and Skype account to phone my sister. We learnt very early on, the second day in fact, that the esky (coolbox) does not charge itself up from the battery and then shut off when it's out
Tasmania
Dockside in Hobart of juice. No. It continually draws from the car battery. Oops. Result was a battery as flat as a pancake when we tried to start it up the next day. Luckily our new friends had a charger and came to our rescue. Lesson learnt with mild embarrassment and inconvenience rather than the stress of having to call the RAC. Fully charged, we headed out to Ross for the day. A small but pretty town nearby. Camping wasn't free in Ross, so we headed back and spent another night at Oatlands, the only place we'd end up staying for more than a night.
Our second stop was Freycinet national park. We'd wanted to visit Wineglass Bay, so although entry to the park was a $24 per car we decided it was worth it, especially as there was a free campsite within the park. The walk to the bay was a bit of a challenge in the heat, but doable. Got a fantastic view from the lookout point too, it's a stunning place and definitely worth a visit. The ranger told us to get to the campsite at Friendly Beaches by 3pm to get a spot. it was nearly 6pm when
Tasmania
Dockside in Hobart we finally made it, but we still got a good spot. No water at this one, just a pit toilet, but about 30 seconds walk from a stunning beach so we weren't going to complain.
Next stop along the coast was towards The Bay of Fires. We headed for Dora Point as we'd read there were showers there. There are no signs for Dora Point at first, head for Humbug Point. The showers were cold, and the water was a reddish brown and smelt rather metallic (iron I'd guess) but again, the campsite was free so we weren't about to complain. A couple of days without a shower and we were ready for it. This became a common feature of the trip, the joy of finding a shower after a day or two without one. Although Tasmania is not as hot as much of Australia, so it's not as bad as it could have been. On the beach were hundreds of thousands of tiny red crabs all marching purposefully somewhere unknown. It was quite a sight. We also had a visitor, a rather brave wallaby. During our trip we saw lots of wallabies and pandemelons, a really novelty for
Tasmania
The Little Cubas us Brits.
The next couple of spots were uneventful, but nice and relaxing. A short hop up the coast and we were in the Bay of Fires properly, at Swimcart Beach. We didn't go for one of the beachside spots as it was a bit windy, but tucked ourselves into a little shady wooded pitch. Again, we were seconds away from the beach. Then we headed inland to Lillydale. This seemed little more than a carpark, and cost $5. However it was surrounded by a park, and the big advantage was hot showers, lovely. We took a walk up to the rather unspectacular falls, but mainly just relaxed. We'd have done our laundry too, but someone had stolen the washing machine!
It was a short hop from Lillydale to Lauceston. We didn't take to it quite as much as Hobart, but it's a decent enough little town. It's big advantage is the lovely Cataract Gorge, a beautiful walk on the edge of the city. We camped nearby at Swan Point. Free... but when we got there we found you are really only supposed to camp if your camper is 'self-contained' - i.e. the toilets were locked at about
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David in the camper van 7pm. Oh well, that's what bushes were invented for. Again, there was a lovely lakeside view. While we there we made friends with a dog called Bundy, and enjoyed playing with her for a while. Ah, the rock 'n' roll lifestyle.
The next day we visited the nearby wetlands centre (hoping for snakes but it was too cold, lots of skinks though). Then we headed for Lake Rowallan. We'd read that there was free camping, and we bounced along the unsealed road around the lake for a while but we couldn't find it. In the end we decided that you are just allowed to camp where you like near the lake, so we did. I found it rather beautiful, but it was quite stark, with bare trees stranded in the lake and a stony beach. The beach was really quite eerie. All we could hear was the chirping of a family of very hungry chicks. This was our wildest camping. No toilets, no water, no people. It was blissful, although at one point I did feel a little nervous that we were so far from any help if we were attacked by mutants. I made David lock all the
Tasmania
Suzanne in the camper van doors of the camper except the one next to us and keep the key to hand for a fast getaway.
After a mercifully mutant-free night we made our way to Strahan. A nice town, as usual a bit small. You visit Tasmania for the scenery, not the city life. The drive was stunning. In fact, driving around Tasmania was always a joy. Beautiful scenery and barely any traffic. Our first stop was not a great success. We had planned to camp at Ocean Beach but within minutes the sheer number of flies, including bitey ones, chased us away. Plan B was Henty Dunes. When we got there the sign said 'day use only' but it was late, and another sign said camping was allowed, so we took a chance. There were still too many flies, but it was a bit better. The dunes themselves were amazing. A vast expanse of mountains of sand. We had great fun clambering around them. Later that night after dinner we heard a rustling noise and took our torch to investigate. A shadow crouched behind a tree. Using the cunning technique of walking around the tree, we stumbled upon a very surprised looking animal
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Camper van set-up for bed - we'd found a Tasmanian Devil. We never thought we'd get so close to one in the wild and it was quite a special experience.
The next camp was not far away at Lake Burburry. This time it was $6. The site was huge, and again the lake was lovely to sit by. It did rain a bit thought, so we were glad of the campervan. Moving on, we stopped at Little Pine Lagoon. On the way we were lucky enough to see an echidna, so we stopped the van and ran over to have a look. Like a big, flat fluffy hedgehog, they are monotremes (like the platypus) and so a bit special. Very exciting. We also stopped at Nelson falls, to have a walk through some of Tasmania's ancient rainforest. Little Pine Lagoon cost us about $4. A pit toilet but nothing else, but great views across the lake. Nobody joined us the whole time we were there. It was nice to have another night of peace. At 1000m above sea level It got bloody cold though, even in bed we were very chilly, there was even a quite thick frost on the outside of the van.
Tasmania
Oaklands - view from our camper van By this time we were running low on food. Sadly the only shop we passed was rather ill-stocked. Still, we got enough for the night and headed to Pumphouse Bay at Arthur's Lake as we knew it had hot showers. Oh dear. It was a bit industrial. Not a great view of the lake either, and quite crowded. I could have just left, but we needed showers. It was only about $4 again so we decided to stay. In the end, pointed the right way at the prettier bit, it was quite a nice stop. We saw another echidna too, which I chased around photographing until it started to look fed up. We made friends with an Australian couple next to us who shared their (excellent) home-made booze, and later on showed us where to find some possums (not a euphemism). Very cute. (The possums, not the Australians. Even after the booze).
Nearly at the end of our trip, we made our way to Hamilton. The campsite was ok and only $5, but we'd read about a free one nearby, so why pay if you don't have to? We found it about halfway between Hamilton and Ouse. Again,
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Oatlands sunset basic but a nice lake and quiet. We were a bit shocked when the couple nearby left their infant son in their tent and buggered off for half an hour. Hello? Big fire by tent? Lake a few metres away? Not great parenting.
The next day we headed back to Hamilton to use the campsite showers and laundry (coin operated, so we didn't feel guilty for using them even though we weren't staying there). Our last stop was Richmond. Again, we were on the look out for free camping. On the way through Campania, about 7km out of Richmond, we spotted a free site. So, we spent the day in Richmond (seeing Australia's oldest bridge, woo!) and then headed back there for the night. It was a decent stop, and not far at all to drop the campervan off the next day.
I'm not sure that I've really got across the beauty of Tasmania, or the fun we had. Really, Tassie has everything. Mountains, valleys, lakes, rainforest, cute towns and beaches. It's been a real highlight of our trip so far, and I do hope we get to go back one day.
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George
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It could be Shell Island (sort of - if it was windy and in Wales!)