Port Arthur

We set off for our next stage of the great circumnavigation of Tassie, which was the Port Arthur Caravan Park. Turns out that about 3 houses, a small shop, the caravan park and the famous, or infamous maybe, ruins are all that is here.
We arrived before the Hardy's and had set up, had lunch and were about to sneak off, when they arrived. We said our hello's and goodbye's in the same sentence and set off to explore some of the famous landmarks we had heard and read about. The first stop was at the Blowhole, followed by Tasman Arch and Devil's Kitchen. The Blowhole was a bit of a let down with the gentle seas rolling in and barely wetting the rocks so we headed up to the Arch and Kitchen.
What an amazing formation cut out in the rocks by the relentless power of the ocean and battering winds over hundreds of years. The only disappointment was that it was a bit hard to see into the bottom of the towering cliffs due to the fences that were quite clearly built to stop tourists seeing it properly..... and slipping down 200 metres of sheer rock face and killing themselves as they splatted on the rocks below. I think i got some good photos though, and despite the kids not showing a great amount of interest i am telling myself that they enjoyed seeing it. There were some amazing views across the ocean and neighbouring cliff faces too, that can never be accurately reflected in photos. Hopefully the kids will remember it for years to come.
Q little bit further up was the memorial statue of the Dog Fence. I can only hope that the statue of the dog wasn't life-size, as this thing was frightening to look at even though we knew it was made from steel. apparently these dogs were chained up in one big line across the small neck of land separating the island from the mainland, close enough to share a bowl of food, but not close enough to rip each others throats out.... which they absolutely look like they would have if they could. They also used to have these dogs on floating pontoons on the water to stop any would-be convicts from thinking a quick bath while escaping would be an easy option.
There was also an old original Commanders quarters that we looked through, all in very original condition except for the roof which was renewed to stop the weather destroying all the old history housed within. Turned out to be a very interesting afternoon, but the kids were getting ratty at this stage, so we headed off for an ice cream before returning to camp for beer o'clock.

Bruny Island

Rob and Nicole decided they were heading to the Skywalk and then down to the hot springs at Hastings today. We had recently done a skywalk and zip line on our last holiday so we opted out and chose to do our own exploring and chose to go to Bruny Island instead. We got to the ferry via the local marina and headed across the water. There has certainly been no injection of funds into this ferry anytime over the last 10 years and despite my scanning for some life jackets, there was none to be found and thankfully none were needed.

We got off 15 minutes later and set off exploring. Turned out to be a rather big disappointment actually. There was NOTHING. No petrol station, no shop, no playground.... Nothing. We did find a great set of steps leading up to a magnificent lookout right in the middle of North and South Bruny Islands, where the waves pounded the shore on one side, and was as flat as a lake on the other. We drove through a couple of little "towns" (consisting of about 4 houses) before finding a pristinely maintained shelter next to a single swing and had some lunch. It was here I discovered on the other side of the bushes was the most perfect beach with perfect sand and perfect water. We headed into the water and enjoyed the serenity for a good hour, before moving on to look at Adventure Bay. With a name like that, it had to be exciting. Or not. Just another beachside suburb (this time with about 50 houses), but still no petrol station or supermarket. We also found a cheese shop where the cheese was made right there in front of you - Bruny cheese - but I wasn't a fan of any of it so we moved on to the fudge factory. This was a bit of a let down too as it just seemed to be an over commercialised shop front, but apparently it was also made in the very next building. 

It was about now that we had seen enough open paddocks and winding roads, so headed back to risk our lives on the return ferry ride. 

Kids were tired by now, the arguing is more commonplace than breathing, so it was time for me to get back to camp and  settle in for beer o'clock. 

Snug

This morning we packed up in a semi hurry and headed off to our next destination - Snug. We have heard a lot of reports this is a nice place, and so we were looking forward to it.
It was only an hour and a half drive away, so we actually got there before 12 and had to check that it was ok to come in (check-in is normally 2pm or later). All was good and we got a couple of nice big sites with our own en-suite that turned out to also be an en-suite for anyone else in our immediate area......
For the first time in our holiday, this meant that we didn't feel like it was a school day and have to pack all the lunches for our day of exploring... (When I say we, I guess I really mean Tracy and Nicole).
I had read that there was a local waterfall walk nearby so I announced that I was going regardless of what anyone else wanted to do (yes.... very unlike me I know), and started getting things moving. Everyone else was super keen and donned their best walking clothes and we bundled into our cars. The drive was only 16Km and the walking trail was approximately 45 minutes return. The walk itself was really nice, as always, but once again the very dry recent Tasmanian weather meant that it was simply a walk to an almost dry wall of rock. Again, we stood and imagined what it could look like if there had been any water flowing, whilst the kids clambered over every conceivable rock to get to the highest and most slippery place for a photo opportunity, seemingly completely oblivious to our tame requests for them to get down, stop, come back, and any other versions of attempting to stop them falling into the stagnant pool of black water at the bottom of the cliff.
Rob had chosen to wear his best hiking thongs on the walk.... again.... and this time it was just too much. There was a blowout. No left thong for Rob anymore, so it was barefoot back up the hill for him. And somehow he made it without any scratches or other injuries.
Not sure what was going on, but by the time we got to the top, i had enough sweat pouring off me to rival the flow from the so called waterfall we just visited. I had a quick lok around only to see that no-one else appeared to have even started sweating, so I immediately started calculating the extra weight of the SLR camera, the GoPro and the car keys in my pocket to announce that I had a significant Power-To-Weight ratio disadvantage and that was the reason.... (and quietly started thinking that I needed to work on my fitness levels at some stage this year).

The trip home included a slight diversion into a town called Margate, where there was an old train and several carriages that head been converted into shops, one of them being a Lolly Shop. the kids needed some more sugar to help them through their afternoon, so we all got a bag of something and let them have a bit of a climb on the train before heading back to camp for a quiet afternoon.

Mona - and I still wonder why

I had been told by many people that "we had to go to Mona - the famous Museum of Old and New Art", and Rob was going with or without us, so the scene was set.
We got there reasonably early and despite the lack of signage, we found our way to the top level, which was actually normal ground level. Turns out this place is almost entirely underground, and after seeing some of the stuff in there, i can suggest that this is to make it easier to fill in with dirt and concrete at a later date.
I always knew I wasn't the Arty Farty type, and after visiting MONA, I am now certain that I am not.
We were advised that there were certain sections with adult content, and so I was fairly wary about keeping the kids close so I could screen their viewing as we moved along the dark corridors.
I was so vigilant in my screening, that I didn't actually notice the 76 "Maps of Tasmania" pinned to the wall at a height just above the boys eye level and just below mine. It was only as Dylan asked me what they were that I actually looked at them and realised the varying depictions of a woman's most private anatomy was staring at all of us to admire if we so chose to. I chose not to and threw a modest description to Dylan's question as "Art". What I wasn't impressed at though, was the written description of this piece.... it was literally named as ..... No, I am not even going to reference it. Despite my many bogan traits, I still hate the C word, whether it be written, spoken or heard and i felt there could have been a hundred better ways to describe this row of genitalia pinned to the wall for everyone to admire and discuss all the differences. Apparently that must be a natural thing for Arty people to do.
Moving on..... I learnt that you can get a plastic bag and fill it with soil and put a plant in it, then hang it from a railing and call it art. Or you can loop some rope and hang it from an over sized hook. Or put a bag of coal in the middle of the floor which is just inviting all the kids to touch, only to be told off by security to not touch. Like I said, I don't think I am arty.

We finally made a bolt for the exit door before Tracy had a seizure over the darkness of the Art world and found a playground for the kids. Then we took off to find Seven Mile Beach, which we had seen from our climb up Mt Wellington the other day. It was horribly windy, however there was no way the kids were going to let us near a beach without letting them get in it.... so we did. Being the super responsible parent I am, i changed into my bathers and stood in knee deep water yelling at the 6 kids every 5 seconds to remind them that they were too far out, or too far down the beach. I finally decided it was too hard so I figured I was in Tasmania and they are used to seeing seals and whales in shallow waters, so i took my shirt off and jumped in with the kids. The water is actually amazingly warm and was only let down by the cool wind, but the 20-30 minutes spent in the water was really fun.... Until Tyler's body surfing involved a right hand punch fair square on my nose and sent me reeling backwards, floating in shore like a dead walrus about to get beached and photographed by hundreds of bemused tourists. That was it for me... and everyone else, so we dried off and headed back to camp....
Yep, beer o'clock.

Russell Falls - Mount Field National Park

There are 2 waterfalls that are not to be missed in Tassie - Russell Falls and Liffy Falls. We headed off to Russell Falls today in search of water. One of my excitements about the trip was that the roads were "almost" straight. I even got to the sign posted speed limit of 100km/hr a couple  of times. Whoo Hoo. 

Once again, the walks through the National Park to the waterfall was as amazing as the fall itself. 16 of Australia's tallest trees are along this walk...... And we didn't see any because I only found out that fact when we got home. Doh!  

The Russell Falls were pretty spectacular despite the lack of rain the Tasmanians have been complaining about over the last 6 months. I could only imagine how it would look if it was a complete wall of water. 

We then headed further up the steps and rocks to the top of this waterfall and a little bit further on to a feeder fall called Horseshoe Falls. Much smaller, but again, could only imagine how it would be with 50x the amount of water tumbling down. 

We set up by a creek for lunch and of course that meant the kids had to get in and get wet, led by super hero Captain Underpants (otherwise known as Dylan) with absolutely no fear. It did set the scene, however, for some great photo moments and even more memories of the kids enjoying themselves and pushing boundaries by always wanting to go deeper and farther than previously set limits. 

We called into the local berry farm on the way back and tasted / purchased some local wares and ice cream, before heading back for beer o'clock. I went for a bit of a stroll up the river after a few, and found some more great views of this place, which was then followed up with a great sunset (which looked a whole lot better than the photo below shows). 

Tarraleah and New Norfolk

We moved out the next morning to head through to New Norfolk and encountered another fine example of Tasmania's winding roads. I swear the distance between towns would be half what we travel if they were straight. 

We came across the most bizarre place on the planet called Tarraleah. There are 5 houses all perfectly immaculate and identical in the left of the road and a resort/caravan park/cafe for the resort on the right. That is it. No playground, no public toilets, no shaded seats at a park, no shops...... Nothing. Turns out this whole "town" is owned/run by a group I am going to refer to as a cult. The staff running the resort live in the 5 houses and I have absolutely no idea who maintains the vast expanses of lawns. 

We set ourselves up and had lunch and found another amazing lookout just up the road where the massive pipes funnel huge amounts of water down the mountain side into the Hydroelectric plant below. 

We then set off again for our next destination - New Norfolk. This was going to be our 1st "long stay" of 4-5 nights. 

On arrival, Tracy and Nic set off to feed the addictive pulling power of the local Woolworths, whilst the kids and I set up the van. The sites here are all gravel, but there is enough grass around the park to give the kids the space they need to mess around on, with the best part of that being that it is too far from our van to hear them!  

Today (Saturday) we headed into Hobart and spent the best part of 3 hours fighting our way between 10,000 other people at the Salamanca Markets. Luckily it was a beautiful 27 degrees and with lots of shaded park area to sit in nearby, it wasn't an overly bad experience. 

After lunch, we headed off to look at the view from atop Mt Wellington whilst the sky was so fantastically clear. The road up was a bit hairy at times being only 1 and a 1/2 lanes wide - not good when a 36 seater tour bus is coming down the hill on the opposite direction!  It took nearly 30 minutes to get to the top on this "road" which placed us 1260m above sea level. The view was incredible. Nothing more can be said. Many more photos and videos in our diary to be shared with people later on. 

Time to head back to camp now. Beer o'clock... Again. 

To Lake St Clair

In true Barry fashion, I cant just get in the car to go somewhere without stopping at every tourist attraction along the way. Nicole and family were following behind us this time, and I am not convinced that she was prepared to actually stop and look at stuff, as Nic appears to me to be definitely the " I just wanna get there" type of gal. Luckily, (for Nicole), I was going too fast to stop in time for one of the lookouts across the lake. The fact that i was actually going over 40km/h was surprising enough, considering that the local government here appears to have had competitions with road builders to see who could build roads with the most sweeping bends and be the most difficult to travel when towing 2 and a half tonnes of caravan. Very rarely were we driving along a flat section of road that didn't have 35Km/hr bends, or that were such a steep decline that I was forced to go that speed in 2nd gear just to ensure that my brakes weren't smoking more than a teenage delinquent by the time I reached the bottom of the hill.
We stopped for a look around Queenstown and to have some lunch. The descent into town had us thinking we needed to keep our doors locked and driving through, but it was really nice in the middle of the town. We went for a walk and stumbled across the B end of the Strahan - Queenstown rail journey, and got some good close up views of the Steam train and carriages. Lunch was of course at the local playground, and then we were off to Lake St Clair.... sort of.....
I came across a rest stop with a short 10 minute walk to the Nelson Falls. These were pretty spectacular despite the trickle of water running down them. Apparently Tasmania has missed out on nearly 2 metres of rain in the last 12 months, and water is actually hard to find outside of the massive lakes and dams. All the creeks have enough water flowing to keep the trout alive, but the locals are all saying that they are surprised at the lack of rain so far..... we have had 0mm since arriving on the island 2 weeks ago, which is completely opposite to what i had been expecting on this trip.
We then set off again and as I realised it was now after 3pm and we still had over 100Km to go, I agreed to stop no more and get to camp.
Lake St Clair caravan park is actually a very small part of a private company that has a huge restaurant in the middle of the National Park with about 50 Chateaus and cottages dotted throughout the area. The local concierge showed almost zero interest to us lowly campers, and neglected to tell us that it would be easier to get a wheel barrow into our reserved spot, than to try and reverse in 11m of car and caravan between the gum trees on the single lane path.... or that we had to be careful getting out of our caravan once parked due to the neigbouring site being close enough to smell any escaping flatulence. ( Luckily for us that our neighbours were Nicole and Rob, and apparently theirs doesn't stink.... according to them).
We did however get told the forest was alive with tiger snakes, so that made us feel much better.
The park itself was a great location, but unfortunately being squeezed in so tight and therefore being conscious of the amount of noise the kids were making, made it a little stressful... but I sat down and had a few drinks to forget about it, as only a true seasoned camper would do.
Tomorrow we are doing some walks... Rob and Nicole are taking Tyler and Dylan with them and Ned to do a 13Km walk, whilst Tracy, myself, Kayla, Gracie and Patrick are sticking with a a shorter 5Km walk due to Tracy's knee still not ready for the tough runs.

Loving this holiday life.

(Queenstown park with an amazing backdrop)

 (Queenstown monuments to the miners and the history of the town)

 (The Steam train being turned around ready to head back to Strahan)

 (Photo bombed in the nicest way, at Nelson Falls)

 (my amazing reversing skills got us wedged in)