They have their caravan tucked up nicely on the front driveway allowing them easy access to the house when they need it.

First stop was to Strathfieldsaye to visit Trent, Donna & the grandkids. Very hot and windy day, so we were pleased to get here and put the airconditioning on.

We all went to Brodie’s Tavern for dinner, then home for a chat, then early to bed.

Tomorrow we head to Geelong

Was great to catch up with this wonderful family, the kids have grown so so much.

Organised my breakfast and lunch, Brian will most likely purchase something on board. Set the alarm, all set to leave here about 6.30 am

Tasmania, here we come.

Eldorado Caravan Park $49.00

Wait for Quarantine

Look what we parked behind - not the same as Marg’s model but the 19ft one.

We had to wait for a while in line but we eventually boarded. The system they have there is extremely well run. All the staff we very helpful.

After parking we had to climb stairs from Level 3 to Level 7. That was a bit of a trial for my poor hip. Had a bit of a look around then found our recliners on the 8th level. They were pretty well aged but the ones we had weren’t too bad. I managed to stay there most of the day while Brian went walkabout fairly frequently. The crossing was good - not too much swell. \240We both took Kwells just in case of seasickness, but the tablets actually made us feel very ill. I won’t be taking them again.

It was a long day but it seemed to go surprisingly fast. As we were in the last group to board, we were one of the first to disembark.

Once off the ship we drove to Forth, about 12 kms away to a free camp just for tonight. Easy tea of Spaghetti Bol

Early to bed tonight, it’s amazing how tired you get when you don’t actually do anything.

Forth Campground - just the edges of the local oval. Lots of vans there though.

Tasmania is certainly a hilly place, it’s hard to find a flat bit of road. We got onto the freeway for a while which was a much better road. We decided to go to Stanley today and prop there for a few days and explore just in the car.

Mileage was only about 120kms but it took us a couple of hours to get here.

Stopped at Wynard and spotted a seafood place at the wharf. I was hoping they may have had g/f but of course they didn’t ☹️☹️☹️

Brian had a lovely looking piece of gummy shark and I settled for some chips ( which were beautiful and crisp)

Arrived in Stanley, set up. Nice caravan park, looks like a lot of renovations have been done recently. The spot we have is actually on lush green

We wanted to do a river cruise at Arthur River ( about 80 kms away) which we have heard is very good but when I went to book it, they had no availability while we are here.

Needless to say I was very disappointed so I came back to the van and booked the other 2 trips we want to do in Queenstown & Strahan. Even then, we were lucky to get on them.

Decided to ring the Arthur River people again to say we could stay until Saturday if there was any chance of getting on Friday and what do you know, she said she’d squeeze us in. Lucky I took the chance and rang.

Had a Roast butterflied lamb and veges for tea.

Having trouble with our new Smart TV - we tune it in but it looses the signal frequently. We are hoping it’s the area and not the TV - we’ll try again in the morning.

Got a few things planned for tomorrow but we are looking forward to not having to get up too early.

Big 4 Tassie Holiday Park - 4 nights $180

After lunch we decided to go to the Nut, which Stanley is noted for and see what it was all about. No one can answer my question as to how The Nut got its name. The locals just look at you and say” it’s always been called that “

Took the chairlift up, now that was a bit scary. Safety doesn’t seem to be a factor here. You just jump on the seat quickly, pull a very insignificant bar ( very old style) on your lap and off you go. It only takes about 5 mins but that was enough.

The chairlift coming down to pick us up

Views going up

Our caravan park, you can actually see our van in the middle road,just before the curve

The wharf area

Getting off was just as risky, you pull up the bar and just hop off and swing to the side as quick as possible, otherwise the seat collects you. Fortunately we seemed to do everything we were supposed to

On the top they have a scenic walk with viewing platforms as you go around. The idea was that we would go to the first one- about a \240250m walk, then go back and catch the chairlift back down. But no, Brian conned me by saying that it was only another 500 m or so!!!! So off we went and went and went

500 m turned into 2 kms for the round trip, up and down all the way. \240My leg certainly got a working out today.

A view of the town from the first lookout

I had to prove to you all that I actually walked it

Saw a couple of little padamelons on the way. They are a cross between a wallaby and a small kangaroo. Looked a bit like the Quokka’s at Rottnest Isalnd

Lots and lots a steps up and down and the up again

The dotted line is where we walked

After we staggered back to the car, we went for another drive around to see the Governor of Van Diemans Land residence. It was a beautifully restored property.

View \240of The Nut from the Governers residence.

Further on we came to the Giant Photo Frame. Of course we had to have the obligatory photo taken

Back to the van to have a well earned rest.

Off to the Tarkines tomorrow

The Nut Chairlift. - $21 each return

The path into the Arch, beautiful large ferns and huge old trees

On the way back we decided to have lunch at a town called Irishtown. Unfortunately it consisted of about 2 houses and a cafe that looked very shut. Back to Smithton we went and had a very nice lunch at Hugo’s.

Filled up with diesel, then continued on home. Packed up a bit of stuff we won’t need. We have new neighbours tonight and upon having a chat, Brian found out that one of the guys ( who is also Brian) has a son that lives in St Arnaud. He visits him there regularly. Not someone we know, the son hasn’t lived there that long. Small world!!!

Brian has found a new use for my bike, doing the toilet

run. \240

Tomorrow we leave early to finally do our Arthur River Cruise.

As we cruised along we were supposed to see and feed sea eagles but they were very absent today. Saw \240one briefly but it wasn’t very friendly, very dense forest on either side of the river. Saw one of the sea eagles nest, it was huge and apparently takes a lot of building. They keep their nests for their life span.

The big mass in the fork of the tree is their nest.

Inside the boat.

After a bit of touring we stopped at the lunch stop. While one of the crew were cooking our BBQ we went for a bush walk with Emma, our captain.

Going was fairly rough and uneven but it wasn’t too far so I managed ok.

Back to the ‘hut’ for a very nice lunch. I had barbecued chicken with salad and even had a glass a beautiful cask sweet wine!!! With a lovely piece of g/f home made fruit cake.

Lovely way to array the cask wines.

Back on the boat, still no Sea eagles and headed back to the jetty . As we were coming in it was easier to see the river mouth

Lots of logs at the mouth, they become quite a problem

Drove back home, we were a bit tired by the time we got back. Packed up as much as we could to head of to possibly Strahan tomorrow.

Again Strahan is 253kms away so you would think it would be an easy trip. Our new neighbours tonight came from there today and said it took them 5 hours plus stops. It is apparently very hilly and windy. Should be interesting.

We may not make it all the way, might have to stop somewhere along the way.

Arthur River Cruise. $110 each Concession.

Beautiful old post office from original days. Still operates as a post office.

A helicopter has been hovering around a lot today. We saw it at the wharf - it appears to be a fire bomber, it had a large bucket attached to it.

On the way home we drove out to the Lookout to see the power of the Southern Ocean. It was very fierce - not a good place for a swim

Doesn’t look that bad, but it was

Home for lunch and a rest, then we went to see the play called -

We’ve been told by lots not to miss this and they were right. It consisted of 3 actors and a lot of audience participation. It was very funny. It was about convicts that escaped from a penal colony and made and stole a ship.

Very clever how they made the ship from what looked like scraps . Well worth the money.

The 3 actors - extremely clever

Most of the finished ship, couldn’t get it all in and some of the audience who participated. Thank god we weren’t called down.

Decided to go to the pub for tea but we were turned away for half hour or more as we didn’t have a booking \240This was strange as there were obvious empty tables around.

Decided to go next door. One thing we have noticed is the accelerated prices in the coastal towns. Certainly not a cheap option to go out.

On the way back to the van we caught the last bit of sunset

Back home, early to bed, ready for our Gordon River Cruise tomorrow

The Ship That Never Was \240- $25 concession each

Dinner - $88 at The Kitchen Strahan

Sat with a couple of very nice ladies, Lyn & Judy from Brisbane. We managed to chat for most of the day.

Brian went for a stroll and had a chat with the skipper. He even got to sit in the skippers chair and rev the boat a couple of times

Brian in his glory

Had a very enjoyable day going out into the ocean - through Hells Gate. As soon as we got out there the skipper turned the boat around and we went back into the bay. We then made our way down to Sarah Island which was a penal colony island before they built Port Arthur.

Our guide was extremely informative and very entertaining.

She was a bit of a character. It was interesting to hear what actually went on with the prisoners and what the expectation was re work etc. \240The prisioners sound ok but the governor and all his lackeys were certainly suss.

One of the ovens where they made bread for the prisioners.

The solitary confinement building. Very thick walls so they couldn’t escape

One of the barracks for the special prisoners who toed the line

Back on the boat for lunch. We were all given a boxed lunch which consisted of chicken & salad, coleslaw, a bread roll ( in my case - rice cakes & crackers), a brownie and some cheese and dried apricots. It was quite tasty.

After that was cleared away we sailed down the Gordon River. Nothing too interesting there. At one stage we stopped so that anyone who wanted could go on a Nature Walk. Brian went, I declined that one.

Back to base after that. Tour took from 9am to 3pm.

Ran out of gas in one bottle this morning so we had to go and replace that bottle when we got back.

Had a bit of a sit in the sun before we cooked dinner.

Brian has had the solar panel out all day, so we thought we’d be fine with our battery tonight but as soon as we turned the heater on, everything went out again.

The battery definitely needs replacing, which we can’t do until Hobart. The next 3 nights we are in a caravan park so we’ll be fine, but we have 3 nights after that free camping. Could be interesting .

Off to bed very early tonight.

World Heritage Cruise. - $279 concession per double.

Gas Bottle - $35

This is just one example of very very many turns

Got to Queenstown about midday, the 41 kms took us about an hour which wasn’t too bad,

Driving into Queenstown

Hills or should I say mountains all around us, the town is set into a bit of a gully. Looks a lot bigger than Strahan.

First stop was to see if we could source a new battery for the van. We found the local RACT garage, Dilbeys, \240where he did have the one we were looking for. After a bit of a chat we left with our expensive battery - $365

Brian fitted it when we got back, so now we hope all our troubles with loosing power while free camping will be over. We’ll find out next stop!

Just had a bit of restful afternoon. Tomorrow we’ll have a look around.

Queenstown Cabin & Tourist Park - $149 for 3 nights

Dilbeys Gargage - battery $365

Expensive day today.

Lots of BIG mountains surround this little township.

Back at the van, charged up our bikes as they were both pretty low, didn’t achieve much at all today.

Brian went for another ride later in the day, I declined as it came in pretty cold.

Pleased that we now have clean sheets, towels and clothes - at least for a while now.

Tomorrow we go on our Wilderness Rail Journey.

Groceries \240- $50

Bec,our guide

Waiting on the station for the latecombers

Our steam train

Our first stop was at Lychford Station, where Brian panned for gold. Every day they put in 2 gold nuggets. Unfortunately Brian didn’t find one.

Next stop was at Rinadeena, ascending 3 kms along the famous ABT track, alt of it was very steep going. In fact, the track has a special line in the middle to help it ascend up the line.

This is where the steam engine changed to the other end of thce carriage for the trip back to Queenstown.

This was when we got into the station

This was when the engine changed ends

Back to Queenstown, had lunch with out new friends, \240Marg & Darren

After lunch we \240decided to go and look at a couple of lookouts.

First one was on the road we will be going on tomorrow, very hilly, bendy and scary. Going up all the way, I hope the poor Prado can pull us up these very steep hills. I’m \240NOT looking forward to this one. Fortunately this is the last of the really hilly and windy roads, I hope.

Iron Blow Lookout

You can still see the copper residue around the edge of the water

The overhang path we had to walk out on. My visit was extremely short

The second one, we got there to a big sign saying that there were snakes on the track. We didn’t even bother with that one.

A lookout half way up the mountain overlooking the town

The town view from half way up the mountain.

Back to the van, packed up abit for tomorrow.

Had chicken nibbles and salad for tea , plus a couple of nips of whiskey - a friend in St Arnaud gave us a bottle and we have managed to get through half of it . Not a bad drop.

If this blog seemed to be a bit off, blame the whiskey.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

and after a bit of lunch we went to see The Wall. This is a magnificent display of hand crafted sculptures done on great big planks of Huon Pine. Unfortunately no photos we allowed but it was a tremendous display

Outside there were some metal sculptures that you could photograph

This eagle was just outside the door.

On the way back we drove out to Lake St Clair, but we couldn’t go in as we haven’t got a Parks Pass.

Back at the van it was rest time before we headed over to the pub for tea.

Now this was an experience!!

First off, the bar fellow tried to give me a flat glass of Sparkling, the last 1/2 glass that was in the bottle. When I asked how long the bottle had been open, he said ‘only 2 days’ \240I told him it was flat so could I have a fresh one. He told me it was ok as it lasted 3 days before going flat. I insisted so he reluctantly gave me a fresh one. Then he only 3/4 filled the glass so I asked him to top it up - he refused to as he said it was where the standard drink line was. Then we went and sat outside in the sun at some tables and the same guy came out and told us we couldn’t take alcohol out there. Funny how later there were guys sitting out there drinking beer!!!

We then ordered our meals. I had a Sri Lankan curry and Brian had Sticky Pork Ribs. This same guy had to check with the kitchen staff to see whether the curry was g/f. I said to him, it says it is on the menu. His reply was - they make it fresh every day so I’d better check ??

Well, that curry was not made that day, it was cold, dry and stringy. The best part was the rice.

So when another waiter came to collect the plates he asked how we enjoyed the meals. I told him mine was not nice

By this stage the staff must have thought I was the customer from hell. I have never complained about a meal but I did 3 times in one night.

And to top it all off, it cost $99 - for the worst meal I have ever had. $15 for not even a full glass of Sparkling, $12 for a beer and the rest for 2 meals.

Brian’s Pork Ribs

My cold chicken curry.

Inside the pub

Came back to the van and watched a movie from Mary’s thing that she lent us - it’s a hard drive with about 200 movies on it.

New battery is working fine, we haven’t run out of power at all, thankfully.

The Wall. - \240$22 each entrance fee

Pub - $99. 2 meals and 2 drinks.

Brian could see fish jumping about in the water so he got his trusty fishing rod out and thought he’d have a go

Unfortunately, the fish were smarter than him - no fish.

Met the guy in the caravan not far from us, Wes who decided to take Brian fishing on the rocks

Wes and Karen are from Port Macquarie and know the Watsons (Jayco dealers)

It was a fair distance away but that is the 2 of them

Still no fish ☹️☹️

I was sitting reading my book when I felt something wrong with my tooth - the one on the plate. It just fell off in my mouth, so first thing we have to do in Hobart is find a dental technician. So I am now walking around with a big gap in my teeth.😥😥😥😥😥😥

Tonight was the first time we have had a chance to have a fire. It was lovely sitting outside by the fire with the lake in the distance.

Found a little echidna burrowing away in the dirt. They are really different here, more fur and less spikes than on the mainland. Everything is different over here!!!

Watched another movie - The Book Club which was quite amusing, then off to bed. Not quite as cold tonight.

Perhaps the idea of sitting in the water was to attract the fish ???

Later in the afternoon Wes encouraged Brian to have yet another go. Had his rod in for about 10 mins when we got a surprise visit from the Inland Fisheries Officers. Oops!! - no fishing licence

We explained that we thought we didn’t need a fishing licence as we don’t in Victoria but that is not the case here. He

Perhaps the idea of sitting in the water was to attract the fish ???

Later in the afternoon Wes encouraged Brian to have yet another go. Had his rod in for about 10 mins when we got a surprise visit from the Inland Fisheries Officers. Oops!! - no fishing licence

We explained that we thought we didn’t need a fishing licence as we don’t in Victoria but that is not the case here. As Brian was removing the fishing rod from the lake I explained that he wasn’t really a fisherman - he doesn’t even have a tackle box with him. He was just having

Perhaps the idea of sitting in the water was to attract the fish ???

Later in the afternoon Wes encouraged Brian to have yet another go. Had his rod in for about 10 mins when we got a surprise visit from the Inland Fisheries Officers. Oops!! - no fishing licence

We explained that we thought we didn’t need a fishing licence as we don’t in Victoria but that is not the case here. As Brian was removing the fishing rod from the lake I explained that he wasn’t really a fisherman - he doesn’t even have a tackle box with him. He was just having a bit of fun and hadn’t caught anything. He was a good fellow and just gave us a caution.

Perhaps the idea of sitting in the water was to attract the fish ???

Later in the afternoon Wes encouraged Brian to have yet another go. Had his rod in for about 10 mins when we got a surprise visit from the Inland Fisheries Officers. Oops!! - no fishing licence

We explained that we thought we didn’t need a fishing licence as we don’t in Victoria but that is not the case here. As Brian was removing the fishing rod from the lake I explained that he wasn’t really a fisherman - he doesn’t even have a tackle box with him. He was just having a bit of fun and hadn’t caught anything. He was a good fellow and just gave us a caution.

Perhaps the idea of sitting in the water was to attract the fish ???

Later in the afternoon Wes encouraged Brian to have yet another go. Had his rod in for about 10 mins when we got a surprise visit from the Inland Fisheries Officers. Oops!! - no fishing licence

We explained that we thought we didn’t need a fishing licence as we don’t in Victoria but that is not the case here. As Brian was removing the fishing rod from the lake I explained that he wasn’t really a fisherman - he doesn’t even have a tackle box with him. He was just having a bit of fun and hadn’t caught anything. He was a good fellow and just gave us a caution.

Trying again.

Early night - off to Hobart tomorrow.

Good news is that we have had about 18.5 mm of rain at home - that is the most we have had for ages.

The night lights of Hobart from our van, featuring Mt Wellington

Good news from the house sitters - the 28mm of rain we had is already turning the lawn green again. Don’t think much went in the dam though. Hopefully they’ll get some more soon.

Dental Technician. \240- \240$150

Vietnamese lunch. -$42

Gluten Free Bakery $22

Nails - $43. ( cheaper than home)

Our front yard at home.

The big Red Bus

Good view of Mount Wellington.

The route where we went.

And the names to the letters

It was a really good way to have a look around the city. When we got to the Cascade Brewery we decided to get off and have a look around. We had just missed a tour so we opted for a tasting paddle instead - Brian did, not me

Beautiful historic building

Brian settling into his tasting paddle

The order they were in . His favourite was the Draught.

I had an alcoholic Ginger Beer. I haven’t had a Cascade one before but it was really nice.

Before we knew it, the hour was up and we got back on the bus.

Back to the Information Centre at about 1.30pm. Collected the car to drive around to the restaurant- BlueEye Seafoods - that we were having lunch at. Tash & Liss had a meal at this place when they were here a few months ago and said it was great. Brian had Scallops and I had G/f \240battered fish and chips. Both were really yummy.

Unfortunately I had left my phone in the car, so no photos.

Drove back to the van just in time as the heavens opened again. We’d only just got inside. This was a huge storm, lots of thunder and rain. This rain is the first decent lot \240we’ve had since we’ve been here. We did have a bit earlier on, but not much.

Had a bit of a rest, we’ve had a big day.

Tomorrow is a visit to MONA - Museum of Old & New Arts.

Rissotto for dinner tonight.

Hop On Hop Off Bus. - \240$60

Lunch - BlueEye - $69

Cascade Brewery - $29

An amazing metal structure built to resemble a cement truck on a trailer and truck.

The kids playground, someone had a great imagination

First thing we came to on the 3rd level was the VOID restaurant, good marketing skills - selling coffee, food and cocktails.

We didn’t partake.

The first walk was to go down a long corridor with a sheer rock wall on one side.

This part of the Museum is underground, imagine cutting through that rock - this was only half of the length

Everything was featured with a very dim light which was hard on me as I felt a bit unsteady. The art was certainly very diverse. Brian did make a comment at one stage that he has never seen so many unclothed people in so many various positions 😂😂😂😂😂. He actually phrased that quite different but I wrote it in nicer terms.

It was very easy to become quite disorientated- rooms just kind of kept going off each other in all kinds of directions

Made it the next floor and joined a queue to see - we weren’t quite sure. It ended up being a space that was filled with engine oil - lots of it, right up to the walkway. The walls reflected off the oil

You can see the level of the oil here

But from above you can see it more clearly. That’s the little walkway that only one person can go out on at a time. No touching anything !!

Wandered around this level for quite some time - I think we got quite lost at times.

Came across a very interesting display of the human bowel. This machine is fed every day so that it replicates the digestive system - from start to finish. It was originally designed to allow people to understand the process and to discover any blood particles or nastys that may be present.

It apparently ‘poops ‘ at 2pm each day. We didn’t hang around to see that bit.

We came across a Porsche that had been expanded to resemble a bubble car and also a replica of a collapsed army tank that had been made completely in pure leather. You could smell the leather

Look at the work involved in making this.

Poor car was so blown up, waste of a good Porshe

We were trying to get up to the top floor but kept going around in circles. Eventually we decided to go to the lower level and find the circular elevator we had come down on.

Finally made it up into fresh air.

Made it back up the steps to the food area for some lunch \240 Brian had a fish burger that was enormous and I really went all out with a small plate of hot chips. Plus we added a very nice gin & tonic. Also had a to add a lovely Sorbet as dessert

This place was enormous, you could have taken a 1000 photos and you could stay there for days to see everything.

We stayed for about 3 hours, by then we were both tired from walking around and I was starting to feel a bit claustrophobic from being underground and in the dim lighting.

Certainly something worth seeing \240- we were surprised with all the diverse art on display.

Home for a little rest again, for some reason both of us are feeling tired at the moment.

Brian went for a bike ride to Woolies for some bananas, milk and bread - I was wondering if he could find his way back, but he was fine.

Cooked Mussels in a chilli Sauce for Brian ( with crusty bread). I had leftover Rissotto

Tomorrow is a bike ride into the city.

MONA - $80 for both of us.

Lunch & drinks $46

Woolies - $9