Tasmania -Day 4

 Evandale & Cataract gorge

Our first destination for today was Evandale, a gorgeous little town approximately 15 mins from Launceston. We had been told that each Sunday Evandale hosted a local market.

The market  was wonderful and we spent a bit of time looking at all the bric a brac and goodies for sale.

Evandale 

Evandale itself was a lovely little town, with many lovely period style homes and shops. It was well worth the visit……..

Evandale

Miss S discovered this "milk bar"

When we entered the store we found this . . . .  .original store shelves absolutely gorgeous !!!!

We headed out to see Clarendon House, a national trust house located 10 -15mins from Evandale. Unfortunately the house was not open, despite the signage out the front of the house and their website saying that it was to open.

one of the gorgeous buildings on the Clarendon house site, i couldn't photograph the house as the gates were locked

After the disappointment of not being able to see Clarendon house

We returned to Launceston to see Cataract Gorge

On arrival at the gorge we caught the chair lift across the gorge, the view was amazing, the river flowing through the gorge was swollen due to recent rain and it was clear to see that some of the paths were submerged.

the gorge suspension bridge

We walked around the gorge crossing the suspension bridge, I think you could definitely spend many hours wandering around the Gorge, and it was obviously a favourite place for locals.

The parkland surrounding the gorge was gorgeous with a combination of  Australian and European plants. 

the lovely rotunda

There were quite a few peacocks wandering around and we were fortunate enough to see this Peacock displaying all his finery.

a very cheeky and showy peacock

the show is over folks, (he looked at us as much as to say ......can you leave now)

After the gorge we headed into town for a late lunch and a visit to Prince’s park.

Prince’s park is lovely and is located in the centre of Launceston. Within the Park was a Monkey enclosure that houses Macaque Monkeys, which were a gift from Japan to the people of Launceston. We spent quite a bit of time watching the Monkeys as they groomed each other and wandered around their enclosure.

The park also has a conservatory, with the most beautiful orchids and flowers

the stunning flowers in the green house

This beautiful structure is the jubilee fountain, a gift to the city to Commemorate Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee.

the Red Feather Inn, 

one of the gorgeous buildings in the village of Hadspen where we are staying

we also came across this mile stone located next to the Inn

a mile stone, indicating that Launceston is just 8 miles away

a very full and busy day, but very enjoyable

the Knights

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Tasmania day 2 & 3

 We slept in till late on Day two, probably due to the early start on day one.

After a long discussion with the very informative and very friendly owner of the Painters Island caravan park we decided that we would give Glenrowan a miss this time, and catch up on some much needed rest time.

So we departed Wanagarratta at some time after midday

Wangarratta to Port Melboune day one

Wangarratta

The drama's commenced immediately with the discovery that for some reason ( as yet we still don't know why). . . . our GPS decided to freeze and lock all maps, making it absolutely useless as we headed towards trying to navigate our way through the middle of Melbourne.

Thank goodness with three iPhones and two iPads in the car we had google maps and managed to negotiate our way through heavy traffic, with only a little stress . . . .  . yep i had to tell marc 3-4 times that we needed to turn left.....

those that know us well will know why we took this shot . . .  . we miss our little boy

our first sight of Melbourne

The spirit of Tasmania or as Miss S dubbed it the spiz tiz

We watched for an hour as they loaded shipping containers on

Miss S was impressed with the bike hire available for just $2:60 a day

Finally we got to drive aboard the Spirit . . . and let me say here that i felt that the whole process was really well done . . .  .

Inside the cargo hold where Bridget and the Prado would spend the next twelve hours

The view of Melbourne from the deck of the Spirit

I would love to say that it was all smooth sailing on the spirit but it wasn't . . . .

Marc being wise had a few beers and crashed out early

myself and Miss S were enjoying the facilities too much and stayed up ......way beyond the time we sailed through the heads and into a sea with  waves of 4-5 metres high

and if you

 (like me) are wondering how high that is

imagine the prado sitting on top of bridget and then some.

Well i won't say how we spent our night but i know i went to sleep feeling the boat crash down and climb back up the next wave, all the time envisioning our trailer and car being smashed up against the hull of the boat.

our path across the Tasman

our first sighting of Devonport

Devonport

Breakfast was at the Christmas Hills Berry farm, Miss M ( who is not travelling with us) would have loved this french toast filled with chocolate accompanied by home made raspberry jam cream and fresh raspberry's 

fantastic service, definitely would recommend this cafe 5 star rating, great service

The cosy fire we sat beside as we enjoyed our breakie .......

our first view of Launceston

one of the gorgeous heritage buildings in Launceston 

a gorgeous heritage street in Launceston

Trust me there are many more of these shots to come.

Until Tomorrow! 

The knights

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Tasmania - day 1

 It was an early start this morning. we left Newcastle at 03:39 am and travelled through the dark heading south.

Newcastle to Wangarratta 

over 700 kilometres in just over 8 hours.

the first leg of the journey was driven by the man of the family, we passed through Sydney with no problems at all. . .  .actually it was busier on the freeway

the first stop was Sutton forest just south of Sydney

for a quick breakie at Macca's

after breakfast

it was Mrs T's turn to take over the wheel, for her first drive of the Prado / Bridget combination

travelling as the sun came up

the second stop was just south of Gundagai 

were Marc took back over the wheel

Just after one pm we crossed the NSW / Victorian border

and arrived at Painters Island caravan park, Wangarratta.

setting up for the night took around 15mins. . . . gotta love Bridget

the lovely surrounds of the Painters Island caravan park

one of the historic hotels in Wangarratta

another gorgeous historic building in the heart of Wangarratta

all up we made good time 

and had no issue's with either the car or the van

we had a lovely dinner at the 

"Sydney Hotel", Wangarratta

and i suspect will all be having an early night

until tomorrow

The Knights 

Stockton Beach and a few mods

Late July, 2012 we decided to give the van a run to Stockton Beach Caravan Park. It was a quick trip. From home and was really just about getting the opportunity to out the annex up.









After returning from Stockton I took the time to out a Toy-lok on the A-Frame. The toy-lok gives us the ability to lock up our bikes etc in a secure way.








Wanting o make sure we have plenty of power when on free sites we also had a solar panel installed, so now were set!









So only a few days and we head for Tasmania stay tuned for more.


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Bridget

The Arrival and First Crusade



Friday 1 June 2012

Well Friday 1 June 2012 was a significant day in our household as "Bridget" came home after a seemingly easy entry into the world.  The day was even more significant as it was 12 years since we lost Mrs T's dad, "Bill".  Bill would have loved to see the new caravan and to crawl all over it working out how everything worked so I was personally delighted that "Bridget" came home on a day that we will always remember.

So it was an early start arrving at Jayco Hexham at 8am to get a hand over from our salesman "Geoff".  Let me say that Geoff has been great to deal with and I would recommend anyone looking to buy Jayco at Newcastle talk to him.

Just like a loving father I welcomed "Bridget" into the family

So with all in order we headed for home with "Bridget" and despite having issues reversing into driveway in the past I had no problems putting "Bridget" in place on this occassion.

So once at home we have started to put our little touches into our home away from home.  We wanted to make sure that "Bridget" is bright and so you can see we have chosen nice bright colours to decorate her with.

So after sitting in the driveway for a few weeks we were very eager to get away for what would be "Bridget's" First Crusade and on the weekend of 22 June 2012 we headed off to Koala Shores Caravan Park at Lemon Tree Passage.

What started off as small gathering during the planning quickly escalated as our camping family, also known as the "Coights" quickly lined up to help us celebrate the "First Crusade"



The Vans all lined up at Koala Shores



So all up 6 families joined us which totalled three caravans, two Jayco Camper Vans, a roof top camper and two families enjoyed the comforts of cabins.



Driking and talking what else do you do when camping?



Plenty to do at Koala Shores.  The big kids having fun



Watch the Prado!

The best thing about Koala Shores is the water and whilst it was too cold to enjoy the water it is always nice to enjoy the sunset vista!





Easter 2012

Well the time has come for our last trip in the Jayco Swan.

The Prado is packed and the Swan is hooked up and in the morning we will be heading off.

Stay tuned for more.

Knorit Flat

A weekend away in February seen Mrs T, Cooper and myself head to Knorrit Flat.

Located north of Wingham on the Nowendoc Road this private camping ground is very picturesque.

Large, reasonably level grassed river flat camp sites provide a great spot to sit and watch the river.

No camp should be without a fire and dinner was cooked both nights in the camp oven.

We had great weather and it was warm and balmy and all in all we had a great time. Next time we will do the rapids down the river.