Port Sorell, Tasmania

Port Sorell

After the terrible drought in Victoria, it's heartening to see lots of agriculture going on here near Port Sorell. I stopped to admire the potatoes growing in the paddock and just up the road people were harvesting cabbages. Sprinklers were going everywhere, and crops were thriving.

Port Sorell is a sleepy little seaside town for people who want to get away from the the tourist hustle and bustle.

Penguin, Tasmania

Penguin is a pretty little town where the main street has an ocean view. Named after it's fairy penguin population, at twilight you can see the little penguins clamber ashore after their day feeding in Bass Straight. The best time to see them is during the summer breeding season (November until March).

Latrobe, Tasmania

The Cherry Shed

Axeman's Hall of Fame

Sherwood Hall

Bell's Parade

Bell's Parade

Reliquaire

Just 10 minutes from Devonport is the quaint little town of Latrobe. If you like cherries, The Cherry Shed is a must, they make cherry pies, cheesecake, wine, port, liqueurs, jam and ice cream. I bought a kilo of fresh cherries for $10 and they were large and delicious.

Just down the Road is The Axeman's Hall of Fame with photos and memorabilia about famous Tasmanian champion woodchoppers like the Foster family.

Not far away is Sherwood Hall at Bell's Parade, the house of Thomas and Dolly Johnson. Thomas was an ex convict and Dolly was part Aboriginal and they went on to have 15 children and ended up very wealthy, owning a string of properties as long as your arm.

Bell's Parade is a tranquil spot beside the Mersey River, if you come here at dawn and dusk, you are guaranteed to see platypus, they thrive in this area.

If you are interested in antiques, Reliquaire will blow you away, probably the most interesting antique shop I've ever been in. Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to take any photos and I can understand why, this place is unique and wants to stay that way. I saw some wonderful Art Deco pieces that were quite reasonably priced.

Devonport Night Sky

There is a park on the waterfront not far from the Abel Tasman caravan park where you can take your dog. Pip loves it here, when we let her off the lead she goes crazy and runs around like a maniac.





I've just heard something interesting, instead of putting your dog in a kennel on the Spirit, you can leave it in your caravan if you sign a disclaimer. Might just do that going back.

Devonport Night Sky

Devonport, Tasmania

I took these pictures on a cruise of the Mersey River today.

After driving off the Spirit, we arrived at the Abel Tasman Caravan Park and thought we were in heaven. Our site has green grass instead of dust and dirt and for the first time since leaving Sydney in early December, there are no water restrictions so we can wash the car and the van. After the bush fires and our travels around drought effected Victoria, Devonport is a very welcome change.

We'll stay here for a week, taking advantage of the 'stay for 6 nights and get one free' offer.

Spirit of Tasmania

We got to the pier at 7am and it didn't take very long to get on board, park and head upstairs into the ship. We had a quick look at our cabin, (very small with own ensuite) had some toast and coffee and read the weekend papers in one of the lounges.

We went into the restaurant for lunch at 1pm and had an overpriced meal which was rather disappointing, then returned to our cabin.

It took ten hours instead of nine to cross and towards the end of the voyage I noticed that parents with small children were at the end of their rope and people sitting near them looked about ready to commit suicide.

It cost a fortune and it's supposed to be a special deal because the kids are now back at school and it's not peak time anymore. Here's the special deal:

2 adults, 1 x twin bed cabin with porthole, 5 metre Grand Cheroke Jeep, 9 metre Jayco Heritage
1 x kennell, total $749.00.

But I enjoyed every minute of it.

City of Melbourne

War Memorial

Spirit of Tasmania

Port Melbourne

St Kilda

St Kilda

We are booked on the Spirit of Tasmania on Saturday morning and being strangers to Melbourne we decided to have a dummy run into town to the departure terminal at Port Melbourne. We had to measure the Jeep from the front of the bull bar to the back of the caravan, a total of 14 metres (the Jeep is 5m and caravan is 9m), which is a fair lump.

Coming from Sydney, it was a novelty to see the trams running everywhere in the city. Sadly, like the rest of the state, there is no green grass anywhere, even the lawns in front of the War Memorial are depressing to look at.

3,806,000 people live in Melbourne and 4,284,000 in Sydney and there has always been friendly rivalty between the two cities but I did notice one difference today.

Travelling 30 kilometers from Rockbank into the city and back, we didn't pay one toll. Coming from the Hills District in Sydney, 31 kms north west of the city, we would have paid $4.40 on the M2, then $2.72 in the Lane Cove Tunnel and finally $3 to cross the Harbour Bridge into the city. If you continued onto the Airport, it would be even more.

Eleven hundred people a week are moving to Queensland, most of those are from Sydney and Melbourne and when you add up the expense of living in a big city, you can understand why.