The past year has been one incredible journey for both of us. We began in Melbourne on June 17, 2016 and finished in Melbourne on June 7, 2017. We traveled 94 legs and put 39,808 km (24,736 mi) on Ranger and 16,876 km (10,486 mi) on Silver. We feel so lucky we had no dramas with either vehicle. And throughout it all we saw the most amazing countryside and wildlife. Having our two travelogues will be invaluable to us when…
The Western Tier is a range of mountains that spread east-west across the top of Tassie. We should have given it more time and delved a little deeper but since this was the final leg of our 2-month journey we had begun to think about what would transpire once we were back on the mainland. Once a centre for industry, Sheffield has reinvented itself as an arts community. The famous Sheffield murals trace the history of the area with pictorial…
The northeast coastal area was not intensely explored although we did drive out to Cape Portland at the tip. The scenic road from St Helens to Bridport was mountainous, wooded, and super winding so towing was a challenge. There were plenty of tempting unsealed side roads but the rainy weather made exploring them with the caravan a bit risky.
Tasmania is yet another region that prides itself on it’s bread basket. It’s traditionally been known as the apple state but more recently is getting some notoriety for its wine, cheese, oysters and wild salmon. The dining choices were plentiful and we wrongly assumed that you had to be in the “big city” for a decent meal. Cafes were often wonderful options, but usually for breakfast and lunch. I took a photo of every memorable meal (so it would remain…
Tasmania’s east coast has arguably the best climate in the state. After Cradle Mountain, Freycinet National Park is the most popular tourist attraction. On a typical clear day a breathtaking view of Wineglass Bay is the reward for after the hike to the top of the popular trail. However, the entire coastline offers plenty of scenery that amazes.
Mapped below are several regions we explored at different times during our criss-crossing of Tasmania. As we headed south the weather became more clement and we had an excellent day for a fast cruise along the east coast of Bruny Island. Bruny is one of those isolated spots accessible only by vehicular ferry, a 15 minute ride from “mainland” Tassie. The 100-km long island is actually made up of North and South Bruny, separated by a narrow isthmus. Our favourite…
We could live here! Tasmania’s capital, Hobart, has an exceptional geography for nature and sport lovers with Mt Wellington looming over it and the wide Derwent River flowing into the Southern Ocean, creating miles and miles of winding coastline that begs exploration. The city of 225,000 souls (half of the state’s population) gets an average of 24 inches/626 mm of rain each year with average summer temps of 70F/21C and winter temps of 52F/12C. Sounds a lot like the Bay…
We spent a couple weeks in January in one of our favourite spots, Bright, Victoria then back to Melbourne to prepare for our two month sojourn in the island state of Tasmania. On the mainland Tassie is known as the land of two-headed people. I guess that means they are different from their “overseas” relatives. We’ll see about that. We were taking a large ferry-boat across the oft roiling and inhospitable Bass Strait for 9 hours. The day before our…
We’ve taken the month of January off from our travelogue to give us all a break. But of course February got away from us and we still haven’t written a word on Tasmania. I guess it’s about that time but it may take me a bit to get into the swing of this again so bear with me as I try to get my creative juices flowing again. And the trigger finger on my camera.