Wednesday the 27th of December
Up at 5.30am to leave by 6.30am for Geelong.
Leave at 6.50am
Heavy rain
Arrive at 7.50am.
Quarantine take my wood and petrol. Opps, should have read the fine print.
In the front of the que but not boarded till 60% of cars fill top deck. Vans on deck 5 or 3. Next time Tan and Jett go in by foot and reserve a 4 seater table with books and water bottles (non expensive stuff you can walk away from). Book movie tickets fast for day sail.
We watch the creator in cinema 2. Boat rocks and rolls slightly and Hugo sleeps for 2 hours. We end up spending lots of time in the room. Jett helps with Hugo in the play area.
We arrive at 8.50pm and make it to Ulverstone by 9.25pm.
Large site for 2 nights but tight road to back in from.
Quick set down and were all in bed by 10.30pm.
Hugo sleeps in his bunk for the 1st time and jetts used the Cafe dinette watching Apes and eating 2 minuet noods.
Nice start. Xxx
Thursday the 28th of December
HUGO gets us up at 6am.
I get to know the new coffee machine while Tanya chases Hugo around the caravan park in her Nightie.
Jett and leo sleep in till 8 then we head out for supplies. Never again! $100 of food and $300 of junk.
No wind, sunny at 24 degrees. It’s a beautiful start to Tasmania.
THEN Tan goes to the toilet while Leo dislocated his thumb in the end of a chair arm rest. Daddy to the rescue. All in the space of 2 minutes!
A heavy westerly WIND kicks in but we soldier on to the waterside and beach which turns out to be protected from the wind. I take Hugo to the beach and we find a timber structure to play in. Leo launches his parachute ball off the surf life saving club balcony.
Pizza truck turns up along with a pancake truck for dinner and desert followed by a movie. Jett stands up for his little brother at the jumping pillow. Devices were overload today so we’re weening them off starting tomorrow.
Friday the 29th of December
Hugo sleeps till 7am!
Slow start on the pack down. Kids sleep in. Tan runs to woollies again.
We leave by 10.30am and the crew trying to fit 3 caravans on our site and the one next to us have already arrived!
Van is super heavy fully loaded with water.
We stop at Penguin for a photo and free books from the Tardis. Train rolls through (no boom gates again).
Then onto our 1st HIP camp for the trip.
We arrive and there is a van already there in the 1 flat spot. I 4×4 around behind him and set up. we have a view of the ocean and cliffs, a vineyard, a valley, a forest and hills. It would be realy nice if this westerly wasn’t blowing us away. I get ribs on the BBQ to slow cook but it keeps blowing out so I wrap it in foil. (outdoor kitchen Version 2 needs a wind shield). It starts raining so we hit the road for the most westerly point of Tasmania (the edge of the world). There is a 4×4 track to a shack so we go check it out. The water is amazing. If only for good weather. We check out the local pub and have a quick drink and some games.
We get back and the BBQ has blown out. Start again!
Tan nearly looses the car down the valley. I manage to get it out in low 4×4.
Rain and winds keeps us in the van all night. We have both rooms going while we struggle to put Hugo to bed. Think he is sick. He come and wakes us at 1am. I end up in the bottom bunk which was actually really nice. Love this caravan
Saturday the 30th of December
Hugo go’s off at 5.52am.
Heavy wind and rain all night.
I make pancakes for breakfast and gourmet sandwiches for lunch.
We hit the road to explore the Tarkine trail.
1. Arthur River and the edge of the world. Super windy.
2. Couta rocks. I try and buy a Cray fish off the locals but have been beaten by a fish co-op.
4. Julius river rainforest. This was a massive highlight. Beautiful cool climate rainforest.
5. Then we try the pub for dinner. It’s booked out. Lucky I defrosted venison back steaks. Dinner is Beautiful and everyone gets stuck in.
Leo and I have a fire and we watch Buzz light year while Tan puts Hugo to bed.
Sunday the 31st of December = NEW YEARS EVE
Up early to use toilets at the beach. Heaps of surfers out and the free camp area is packed for new years eve.
We hit the road at 9.30am and head for the NUT. We do the chairlift and 2km circuit around the summit. Lunch at the NUT Cafe. Tasmania scallop pie. Then we head for Queens town. Roads are super windy and I’m on the breaks a lot. We loose the coffee machine out of the cupboard! When we arrive I realize I didn’t level the airbags before we left which explains why everything was projectile launch from the cupboards on one side! Opps.
We set up and cook venison burgers. Tan and I play Qwerkly and stay up for the countdown along with Jett.
Good buy 2023, it was a rough year.
Add new years resolutions for DEAN and TAN.
Monday the 1st of January 2024! – new years day
Woke up with a damb head cold. Running noes, sneezing and coughing. Might have what Hugo has had for the last 2 days.
We all decide to take it easy with a small trip (30mins) to Lake Burbury to practice fly fishing. Jetts a natural and Leo gets in too. Ive decided to try free camping at lake Pedder for our next destination.
Tuesday the 2nd of January
We’ve had the worst night yet. Hugo up at 2am till 4am screaming. He’s got moller teeth comming through and were out of baby Panadol.
Then I get us all up at 6.15am to leave by 7.15am. We need to be at Straughn to catch the Gordon River Cruze. We just make it on time with 5 minuets to spare. we head west out the heads then back through the port towards the Gordon river. This is the 2nd largest port in Australia next to Port Philip bay.
Hugo and Leo harras the Captain and Tan and i take it in turns chasing Hugo.
When we enter the river the boat switches to electric and slows down. This is one for the worlds most special heritage forest so they dont want to disturb the shores. At the end there is a walk with a tour guide that describes all the amazing trees. There are Huon Pines here over 2000 years old.
Then we land at Sara Island. The original convict colony before Port Arthur. The tour guide is amazing and Hugo falls asleep on my back.
When we get back i buy a Huon Pine bowl. i love this timber and we head back to camp.
We love the tour but it was very difficult with tiard kids.
