19 Mar 10 - Geelong

By Craig: The purpose of the stopover in Geelong was to have an HF radio installed by a highly recommended installer based at Lara, as referred by a family friend and member of the HF Radio Club.
The reason for such a radio was due to our intention to venture into very remote desert areas by ourselves. The radio would provide if in trouble a life line to assistance, security of being able to call for medical help and Lou’s peace of mind. While Lou and Sam spent the day doing school at the caravan park, I spent the entire day assisting with the installation of the HF radio. I only intended to drop the car off but I quickly found myself enjoying pulling my car apart to assist with the installation. In 4 or 5 hours I learnt more about the interior of my car than I’d intended. I was even invited to share cold leftover pizza at lunchtime as I’d come quite unprepared.
After completing the installation of the radio, it was quickly realised that the standard UHF radio antennae bracket wasn’t large enough for the robust HR radio aerial and an extension was required. I quickly researched a couple of engineering firms in the Geelong area and found an obliging manufacturer from Reid Engineering who at short notice made up the extension.
The poor bugger had a crook back, it was Saturday and he’d only opened up the shop because his back ached sitting around at home, and yet he graciously took on the job. After visiting his workshop, he took the measurements, drill hole sizes etc, and after about an hour called me back to say all was ready. Upon arrival I took a glance at the finished product and to my surprise it was painted and a perfect fit. To further assist, I was even lent the spanner to help me secure the oversized nut on the HF antenna and prior to this had gladly paid what I thought to be a reasonable price for such a prompt job on short notice however, more again to my surprise, upon returning the spanner to his workshop, I was quickly palmed the paid fee with a pat on the back, a smile, and the words, ‘Have a safe trip’. Even after suggesting I pay half I was met with the shake of a head. We chatted for 5 minutes about our journey and then we were on our way. One day I know my opportunity will come to pay his generosity forward.

17 Mar 10 - Melbourne

By Lou: Had a week in Melbourne catching up with family and friends. It was all work for Craig as he made more repairs, modifications and improvements to the trailer. Sam had a trip to the zoo with Grandma which he loved and I swanned around getting spoilt by having all my meals made for us by my beautiful mum.

By Craig: The stop over in Melbourne was simply an RM (routine maintenance) for me during the day. Night time was catching up with friends and telling stories over a few red wines about our adventures around Tasmania. Maintenance included installing a new tap to the sink so that when we are in caravan parks we can just connect to mains pressure and more importantly was installing additional tail and blinker lights on the trailer for higher visibility. My other activity was sitting on the phone sourcing an HF radio and doing some trip planning.

By Sam: I went to Melbourne Zoo with Grandma and we saw lots and lots and lots of animals like lions and seals. My favourite was the elephants and the orangutans. I saw the new baby elephant that is on all worldwide TV. There was a movie about the orangutans' habitat being destroyed, and how they don’t label how they’re knocking down the habitat to make the product and so they ask you to call a number and you say "we want people to label that they actually do knock down the habitat" so people will stop buying it if they know it and their products will get lower and lower until the company goes to zero dollars. It was a very long long long drive home and I fell asleep.

13 Mar 10 - Kyle's 18th birthday

Was a very sad day today. Kyle would have turned 18 and had the world at his feet had he not made such a terrible decision that fateful night in November 2009. Despite all the wonderful experiences we've had on this trip, the shock and disbelief that he's gone is always bubbling just under the surface. We miss him terribly and can only hope he’s in a good place.

It still doesn't make sense and as a father I'm still coming to terms with it. I remember him as happy in one of my favourite photos.

12 Mar 10 - Spirit of Tasmania

By Craig: It felt like no sooner had we got to Tassie than we were leaving. We quickly remembered the routine of loading us onto the boat and packing us in like sardines. We departed Devonport and set course north across Bass Strait.
Tassie certainly deserved longer, unfortunately 4 weeks is all we had. But we certainly know of many places we would return to see. I enjoyed the day trip better than the night crossing, lots to do and see, making the 9 hours go very quickly. Before we realised, we were crossing the heads of Port Phillip Bay and heading back into the big smoke of Melbourne. As we pulled into our destination Station Pier Port Melbourne the sun was setting for the day, just as it was setting on the end of our trip to Tassie.



By Lou: Had a fantastic day trip on the ferry crossing from Devonport to Melbourne. The Strait was dead flat, it was sunny and there was heaps to do during the 9 hour crossing. We saw two movies in the cinema and there were children’s activities throughout the day including face painting, badge making and story telling. We all dashed outside at a certain hour to watch the other Spirit of Tasmania pass by.

11 Mar 10 – Launceston to Port Sorrell

By Lou: Had an overnight freebie stay under the Batman bridge about 35km north of Launceston, quite the popular spot. Camped next to a family from Qld who have sold up their home and are just wandering around Australia, finding a bit of work here and there (he’s a builder) and looking for the next place to settle. All well and good but with 4 kids ranging in age from 8 years to 14 years old!!! They’ve been on the move for 7 months and seem to be managing home schooling well. They are in a camper trailer setup like ours but understandably the 14 year old girl is hanging for her own bedroom and the kids are starting to ask to just plonk somewhere. Quite the dilemma as the parents feel there’s still half of Australia to see before they decide where they want to settle but the kids are saying, ‘stop’.

Had a great day for our last in Tasmania. I was keen to drive the Tamar Valley, renowned most recently for the controversy over the proposal by Gunn’s to build a paper mill there. Not only is it a pristine location supporting small family business’ but the government created a special bill with very few checks and balances to allow it to get to development phase.
We didn’t get to see the proposed site (I didn’t know which town) but we did drive past the Beaconsfield mine so Sam could reconcile the reality with the TV footage of Todd Russell and Brant Webb emerging from the mine after spending 14? days trapped underground. He remembers it as the “TV show that made mummy cry”. Couldn’t really see a lot from the road but the 4 buses of tourists queued up outside deterred us from a tour.

From there we toured a seahorse facility at Beauty Point and marvelled at these strange creatures. It’s a privately funded breeding program that services national and international clients and I’m sure our entry fee kept the program running for 2 more years.

Then we went for a drive as far north as possible to Green’s Beach just to see the end of the highway and wave at Narawintapu National Park. We had paid for a 2 months visitor’s pass to national parks and were keen to get a stamp in our “parks passport” for every one we went to. Craig drove the car and trailer into the park, we all said, “Hello Park” and then we drove out smug in the knowledge we could legitimately say we’d been to that park. The reason for the quick stop was that we were on a timeline to get to a tour of Boag’s brewery in Launceston and raced back to start the tour with a minute spare. Was interesting to see the place but let’s face it, the tasting session was what we were all there for.


After that we enjoyed a short walk through beautiful Cataract Gorge and then made a bee line to our last night’s stay in Tasmania via very beautiful countryside.
Given we had to be on our way to the ferry by 6:30am we decided to lash out on a cabin. All motels and cabins in Devonport were booked so we found a cabin 20 minutes down the road at Port Sorrell. When we arrived the cabin hadn’t been cleaned due to a small oversight but the cleaner immediately launched into action while we chatted with the colourful owner. She drove Craig and Sam to the local bottle shop to save us lugging the trailer around and we each scored a souvenir pen. All of that made up for the fact that to bend over the bathroom basin to clean your teeth you had to have your backside poking through the doorway, which rendered the broken sliding door a moot point. Would love to have stayed a few days but as is the case nearly everywhere, there is just not enough time to do everything.

By Craig: North Tassie was a quick trip from Bay of Fires to Port Sorrell via an overnight stop at Batman Bridge. The highlight for me was a visit to Launceston and the Boags Brewery. The tour of the brewery was interesting, the taste testing great and the reviewing of old advertising campaigns priceless. One of the past year's campaign posters caught my eye and now I'm a Boags convert.
However due to another similar advertising campaign I still enjoy a bourbon (4 Cougars thanks!).


Another delight was to see the smile on Sam's face when he got the opportunity to dress up like a brewery workman, complete with vest, glasses and earplugs.

9 Mar 10 – Bay of Fires

By Lou: We pitched our tent right behind the sand dunes of picturesque Bay of Fires, just out of St Helen’s. Although grey skies and windy the water was a beautiful deep pale blue colour. We survived a pretty wild storm no problems but is was just miserable trying to cook and sit outside in the cold. So again... off for a drive! The nearby town of Bicheno was small and quiet but we had a bit of a walk around.

By Craig: A great opportnunity to chill out, sit around a campfire and relax. Had a quick run up a 4WD track in the nearby State Forest. It was also a great location to complete Sam's school assignment on the water cycle.

6 Mar 10 – Freycinet NP

By Lou: We set off early to secure a campspot at Freycinet National Park because it was a long weekend and found pretty much the last free spot. The campground itself wasn’t much to write home about but the general area is beautiful. I had intended to walk to see the view over Wineglass Bay but the weather was yucky and the preference was for a wineglass in a warm pub so we just did a drive to Cape Tourville lighthouse from which point you can just get a snippet of a view into Wineglass Bay.
The P&O cruise ship that had been at Port Arthur days before sailed into view and we perched on a rock with the binoculars and watched her pull in and out of Wineglass Bay.



By Craig: Freycinet provided an opportunity to view Wineglass Bay from the lighthouse and a unique moment to see the clouds so low down close to the ocean was spectacular.