From Sorell we drove up the Tasmin Highway north along the east coast. Although a major road it was interesting when towing a large caravan! Paul did a great job. Accommodation is a bit hit and miss as we approach the Australia Day long weekend but we lucked out with Bicheno. A lovely little town with loads to do and great access to the Freycinet National Park which is the main reason for the destination.
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Port Arthur, Tasmania (Wk 11)
View of The Penitentiary through oak trees Port Arthur totally exceeded our expectations in terms of scale, historical significance, scenic beauty and poignancy (both convicts suffering and the 1996 massacre).
If you are ever in Tasmania, Port Arthur is a must. Your ticket includes a 45 minute introductory tour and a 30 minute catamaran tour. Both were fabulous and gave a good insight to allow further exploration later in the day. We thought that the introductory tour starting with recognition of both the aboriginal past custodians and the 1996 massacre was particularly well done.
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Hobart, Tasmania (Wk 10)
Mt Wellington Love Hobart! We have both enjoyed our short stay here (even if our caravan site was not picturesque).
Easy 45 minute trip from Huon Valley to Hobart Showgrounds. We picked the Hobart Showgrounds for convenience being a 15 minute bus ride into the CBD.
We have traveled around Hobart on the hop on / hop off bus, visited the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) by catamaran on the River Derwent, shopped at the Salamanca Markets and walked on (not to 🙂 ) Mt Wellington.
We depart tomorrow morning (Monday January 20th) for a short drive to a free camp at Sorell for 2 nights. Sorell allows us a shorter drive to Port Arthur which is our next tourist destination.
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Huon Valley, Tasmania (Wk 10)
We’ve arrived! Unbelievably there is some smoke but it still feels fresh and looks green after NSW and VIC. We are both relieved and excited to be visiting Tasmania.
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Spirit of Tasmania (Wk 9)
Spirit of Tasmania We spent a couple of nights in Werribee South, Melbourne before departing for Tassie.
We did a bit of sightseeing around Werribee and went into Melbourne on the train to see some old UK work colleagues for a lunch in Williamstown, Melbourne.
Tomorrow (12/01/2020) we embark on the Spirit of Tasmania from Geelong (Melbourne), arriving on 13/01/2020 at Devonport. We very excited to be visiting Tasmania.
Werribee South Caravan Park 
Werribee South 
Queuing to get onto ferry 
Sunset over Melbourne 
Sunrise over Tasmania (taken by Paul waiting for breakfast; Alison still in bed with kwells 🙂 ) -
En-route to Tassie via Echuca (Wk 9)
After 3 nights in Orange and 1 night at the Narrandera showgrounds we are in Echuca for 3 nights.
Echuca is in northern Victoria on the banks of the Murray River (the other side of the river is NSW). Its position at the closest point of the Murray to Melbourne contributed to its development as a thriving river port city during the 19th century. The town is now a tourist destination for its historic paddle steamers and river activities.
We enjoyed going on a paddle steamer along the Murray River and walking around the recreated historic town. I would definitely recommend a visit if you are in the area.
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Big Lap Re-plan due to Fires (Wk 8)
The dreadful fires on top of the continuing drought has led us to the conclusion we cannot continue with our plan of NSW Southern Coast, Canberra and the Victorian High Country .
So after a re-plan to keep us safe and not endanger others we are off to Tasmania on January 12th for 5 weeks returning on February 18th. We are both really happy with the decision and will plan to do the part we missed out on at a later date.
So see map for our plan up to June 2020 (subject to change at the drop of a hat 🙂 )
We are in Orange for 3 nights and then head off to Melbourne via Narrandera (1 night) and Echuca on the Murray river (3 nights).
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Christmas Break (Wk 6-8)
The caravan is parked at Paul’s cousins farm while we are in Sydney for Christmas.
Our adventure restarts on Friday January 3rd when we will head for Huskisson in Jervis Bay.
Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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Merriwa (Upper Hunter, NSW) (Wk 6)
Silo Art My plan was only to post ‘destinations’, Merriwa was a ‘free camp’ on the way to Molong to break up the driving (we are aiming to keep to under 5 hours a day). However, Merriwa is such a lovely country town I decided it deserves its own post.
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Hawks Nest (Port Stephens) (Wk 5)
View from Mt Yacaaba towards Hawks Nest Short drive for 3 nights (13/14/15) in Hawks Nest staying at a caravan park right on the beach.
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