Week 7 Sun 1 April – Sat 7 Apr

Week 7 Sun 1 April – Sat 7 Apr

Hobart – 1 April

When we arrived on Friday, we were just about to start our tiffin (drinkie time) and low and behold someone is helling out to me “Hello Tracey”.  I turned around and there was Meg and her daughter.  Peter and Meg lived at Burpengary and we sold our X-Trail to them – a small world.  They had just flown in and were staying at Berriedale (what a coincidence) – see you can’t escape anywhere without running into someone close to home.

They caught up with us on Sunday morning and we chatted for over an hour before they headed off to Bruny Island.  We had breakfast and by lunch time headed off on foot to the MONA Gallery.  It cost $20 each to get in and then you can explore.  It is a very unusual place as it mixes modern with old art with a spice of controversy in some of the works.  We walked around the 3-4 levels for over 4 hours by which time my feet were sore and our stomach’s grumbling.

When we arrived back at base,  we were greeted by our goose (someone had dumped her in the park on Friday and she has sort of befriended us – squarking at 4.30 am in the morning to tell us she was up.  She is a cute thing and she was starting to get used to us – following us around all over the place (oh, and she loves weetbix!).

Geeveston – 2 - 4 April

We packed up on Monday morning (goosy watching everything and following everywhere) and as we left the park saying our goodbyes, as she knew we were off.  Heading south we stopped at Kingston for supplies and then made our way down the coast to Geeveston.  Such a pretty little town with wood carvings everywhere.  We camped in a big paddock just on the edge of town for a mere $5.00 a night.  There are no showers or close toilets but they are accessible at the back of the park – so not too bad.  This was a great spot – only one other van there and they were leaving tomorrow.

Geeveston has a couple of nice shops and a couple of good café /restaurants – so pizza was going to be dinner tomorrow night.

Tuesday as the weather was a bit showery but supposed to fine up later, we decided to go to the Tahune Airwalk, only 29 kms from Geeveston.  There are a number of small walks and lookouts on the way which are worth stopping at, particularly the walk in the picnic spot (which most people just drive by).  We finally made it to the centre by 1.30pm, paid our $25 each entry and then proceeded to do the circuit walk which takes you over 2 hanging suspension bridges, one over the Huon River and the other over the Picton River. Then we did the airwalk – an amazing piece of construction and great to get the views from the top of the trees rather than the bottom.  The counter lever at the end really does get a bit of a sway up but the views from there are great.  Another day down and it was off home to have our pizza.

Ida Bay 5-7 April

Tuesday we headed further south down the coast road (talk about windy!) to Dover (a pretty little town and then Southport (there is nothing here except the pub and caravan park) – but nice on the bay overlooking mountain ranges in the distance.  Then we headed for Ida Bay to go all the way down to Cockle Creek, but didn’t get any further as we found a nice camp spot at the Ida Bay Railway Museum to stay for a few nights over Easter (nice and quiet and not that busy), unlike Cockle Creek – it has been a long procession of cars, boats, vans just heading south for the Easter Break.

Ida Bay is a funny little place as this lovely old lady runs the railway stock on government owned track (which they won’t fund) and she is basically is keeping it going and spending all her own money investing into the place.  There is a train ride down to the beach which costs $28 each (for a 2 hour trip) and while there you can do a 1.5 or 3 hour walk to the Lagoon or the Bluff.  We only had 2 hours to spare – so elected to do the Lagoon walk – very nice.

There was nobody around tonight (no campers until Friday (so we enjoyed a lovely camp fire on a very mild Tasmanian night).  The weather has been very mild and great for travelling, but it is supposed to turn cold on Saturday – let’s see.

Good Friday morning – Hot Cross Buns and Billy Tea – now that’s just yum!!  We are enjoying a lovely cup of coffee and soaking up a day of sunshine before heading down to Cockle Creek to see the Whale Monument.  The trip down to Cockle Creek is only about 19 kms from Ida so a leisurely drive on the dirt road, which wasn’t too potholed.  The name Cockle Creek is deceiving as you imagine a creek, but when you get there the bay just opens up around a number of inlets and little beaches.  It is a magical part of the world and we can see why people travel to come down here.  But like being any public holiday – it was absolutely packed, tents, kids and boats everywhere in every nook and cranny you could park yourself.  There is absolutely nothing down this far, no water or showers or shops so you have to be self sufficient and bring everything.  At the very end where no more road exists, is the Southwest National Park and from here you can view the Whale Monument and do a 2 hour return walk to the Fisherman’s Point.  This is a great walk as you walk around the bays to the point over rocks and walking along the beach.  It is very picturesque and today the sun is shining, it is 26 degrees and quite warm.  It took us just over 2 ½ hours to do the walk as we had lunch at the point and after taking copious pictures, it was a nice afternoon’s stroll.

The weather tonight turned cold and after such a lovely day the rain is here again and the wind is strong.

Saturday morning we headed off to Hastings Caves which are really good – and big and so much inside to see.  This cave is only 1 of 2 cave systems that are known (the other in SA) that are of a dolomite formation. After the caves tour we strolled around the Hot Spring pool and the circuit walk through the forest.  A great place to come in any weather as the pool temperature is a constant 28 degrees.  We move on tomorrow to another place – haven’t decided where yet.