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It was now almost sunset and after leaving the park we went in 10 km on the dirt to the Friendly Beach camp area, but as this is Good Friday it was packed. We went back to the main road and then up the coast road to a free camp favorite of Deb’s near 4 mile creek. Here you can pull off the road and camp right next to the beach.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/819/4...c7a408df_z.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/788/4...ee97e698_b.jpgTassy-97 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We even had some fresh oysters on the half shell. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/889/4...d9885d03_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/802/2...e8873a60_b.jpgTassy-101 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/842/2...8e5fb6f6_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/822/4...b73bb4eb_b.jpgIMG_2437 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
After a cozy night we headed north again and stopped at Deb’s batch in St Helen’s.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/830/2...f768e69f_b.jpg Her neighbors had saved us a camp spot on the beach at "Cosy" Corner south and so after stocking up we made for the beach. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/791/4...6c8e2df0_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-04-05 at 09.57.29 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/848/4...89a02bff_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/838/3...00164377_b.jpg |
Tonight we cooked up a rabbit (a gift caught by Deb's friend) Paella (complete with squid caught today by Wolfgang) cooked over an open fire for our Easter dinner. The only tragedy was that the possums cat burgled the tent and stole some of the kids Easter candy!
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/889/4...2e6d644a_b.jpgTassy-107 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Tassy-108 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/803/3...80e70282_b.jpgTassy-111 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/799/3...5acdc4f0_b.jpg |
The weather is still holding out and we want to make it to the north east tip of the Island.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/881/2...47760469_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-04-05 at 09.59.29 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr From the camp we stopped at Deb’s to do a quick load of laundry. Heading north on the C843 we stopped at the very good pub in Weldborough. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/814/4...f28ac02b_b.jpgTassy-120 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/817/4...0e148922_b.jpgTassy-121 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We arrived to Cape Portland beach and wind farm just before 4. The Petal point Camp near by was wind swept at the beach, and crowded with long termers in the sheltered area. You can stay here 40 days and then move one spot over and stay another 40. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/889/2...b2f5f2be_b.jpgTassy-123 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/824/4...cd2f9fb4_b.jpgTassy-122 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Since it was still early we back tracked on the dirt road to the Mussle Bay also dirt road and to the very nice camp spot here. The road thru the park is very Savannah like and there are dozens of Forrester Kangaroos. The camp site is sheltered in the trees, but with direct beach access. The place is also full of tame and friendly wallaby! There is another amazing moon tonight. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/934/4...e0d87e3f_b.jpgTassy-124 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/928/4...1e69da1c_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/872/2...04f1738a_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/939/2...e2bac1dc_b.jpgTassy-133 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The plan today is to get within striking distance of Cradle Mountain. It is always rainy weather there, but it is forecast for cloud, but no rain for tomorrow. We hedged our bets though and booked a hotel for the night.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/798/4...bf1f48e7_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-04-06 at 11.47.36 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr The accommodation on the mountains fully booked and so we chose a small motel in Sheffield (City of Murals). We set out order cloudy skies westward. The first stop was at the Iron Pot Vineyard, where after a tasting and lunch we found they have amazing food, but not very good wine. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/851/4...6a294af9_b.jpg We continued north west to Narawntapu National Park. Here we hiked the Archer’s knob summit track and then walked back along the desolate and isolated beach. This park is also a reserve for the Forrester Kangaroo. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/899/2...a0aae422_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-04-06 at 11.56.28 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/865/4...e8d61801_b.jpgTassy-137 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/915/4...4c48ecf9_b.jpgTassy-138 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/800/4...211a3137_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/905/4...46e45965_b.jpgTassy-141 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/856/4...000286f2_b.jpgTassy-142 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We stayed on the single lane back roads thru Railton to Sheffield. We were still stuffed from our massive lunch and after checking into the hotel we had nice hot showers and snuggled under our electric blankets! https://farm1.staticflickr.com/785/4...b9fcf822_b.jpg |
Today it is cloudy, but as advertised not raining.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/898/4...68f73782_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-04-06 at 11.58.40 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We drove up to the Cradle Mountain ranger station. From here you have to take a shuttle the 8 km to the Dove Lake trail head our to road works on the very narrow access road. We packed our luck and set out on the Dove Lake Circuit. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/897/4...a665b195_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-04-06 at 12.01.08 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/870/4...d7f0ede7_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/788/4...4ce4f0b5_b.jpgTassy-147 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/911/4...9522c5b2_b.jpgTassy-148 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/914/4...11da7696_b.jpgTassy-149 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr It was in fact sunny much of the time, but despite that the summit of Cradle Mountain was in the clouds. On the shuttle ride back we saw 2 huge Wombats! Leaving the park we were again going north to the coast road and made for Stanley and a hike to the Nut. We had to make a few stops for foraging!!! and photos. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/895/4...c72ef4cc_b.jpgTassy-151 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/874/2...28665ac0_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/823/4...48a1ffa6_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/849/4...51c72d1f_b.jpgTassy-156 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr It was now an hour from sunset and we had about the same distance to cover to get to the free camp at Marrawah. We did arrive here just before dark and in time to set up the tents. It was a bit drizzle and luckily there is a nice shelter here that even has flush toilets and BBq’s. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/943/2...a36fd376_b.jpgTassy-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/830/4...63cc7f4c_b.jpgTassy-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We have a big day ahead of us as we are in the far north west and want to make it back to Hobart in the far south east tonight. It was raining on and off all night and we could a least hang the tents in the shelter for a while.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/813/2...44b57c6e_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-04-06 at 12.06.25 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We will do this by going on the remote west coast road thru Corinna, where there is a punt cable ferry that saves a 100 km on the way to Zeehan. The road is paved 49 km from Marrawah on the C214 to where it meets the C249 where you turn onto a narrow and sometimes rough dirt road that continues until Zeehan. The road wanders up and down rolling hills and curves along on its way south. There is very little traffic here and this is why it make a great location to release the Tasmanian Devil’s from the breading program. This will lessen their change of becoming road kill, which is what has decimated their numbers. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/868/2...5633a1be_b.jpgTassy-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/824/4...0d909eb5_b.jpgTassy by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr In Corinna there is a lodge with expensive coffee and an office to but the 25$ ticket for the 5 min cable ferry ride, but it saves over 100 km if you have to go around. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/974/4...468205ea_b.jpgTassy-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/968/4...4ef5ca22_b.jpgTassy-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/866/2...53bfe505_b.jpgTassy-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We made a pit stop for mushroom foraging and a short interpretive walk in the forest. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/828/4...62c9dde3_b.jpg We decided in Zeehan to make the side trip to Strahan to check out the wild west coast surf. The beach here is covered with wiggling sea foam. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/872/4...9a917a28_b.jpgTassy-19 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/962/4...d2cf0537_b.jpgTassy-9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/872/4...d5192c23_b.jpgTassy-10 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr It is getting late in the day and we have 301 km and only 3 hours of day light left. Instead of another night of free camping we all felt it would be better to just keep going and make for Hobart tonight. We did stop briefly in Hamilton to finish off what food we had in the car and take a break from the road. We finally got to the city just after dark, showered, and all hit the sack. |
For our last day here we walked into the city and along the harbor for lunch.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/982/4...b36612aa_b.jpgTassy-20 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We caught the MONA ferry for the 30 minute cruise to the museum. This is a very unique experience of modern and instillation/experiential art. In the videos the people all are lip syncing to Madonna songs and it was so addictive to watch. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/957/4...9ca8880f_b.jpgTassy-21 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr This guy just sat here all day with the tattooed back. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/969/4...53d44bc4_b.jpgTassy-22 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr This machine is fed all day and makes one poop everyday at 2 pm (displayed until 4). https://farm1.staticflickr.com/982/4...5ea382cf_b.jpgTassy-23 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/824/4...d55371db_b.jpgTassy-24 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/978/4...0539c356_b.jpgTassy-25 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We dragged ourselves out of bed at 630 to get to the airport for our 8 am 1 hour flight to Melbourne and then the 3 hour wait for the 1230 and 3 hour train trip to Wodonga. Marg was there to pick us up and bring us home for the night and an amazing dinner of lamb shanks! It was so nice to be welcomed into their home again. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/843/2...ab82f663_b.jpgIMG_2475 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We have some serious miles to make in the next 3 weeks.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/956/4...e0d29f89_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-05-06 at 20.36.15 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Today we will backtrack on our route from last week from Wodonga to Corryong on the B400. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/808/4...0be39391_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/936/3...8603116b_b.jpg The town was packed with people in cowboy hats driving rigs with snorkels and winches! It is the “Man from Snowy River” festival up here in the Snowy Mountains. Just after leaving the town you approach the Victoria-New South-Wales boundary and we saw several police in the road and they signaled us to pull over (WTF we were not speeding). Nope they were doing mandatory alcohol blow tests at 11 am on a Saturday! https://farm1.staticflickr.com/823/4...05caa70e_b.jpgFILE3832 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/890/3...50184fc9_b.jpgFILE3834 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/860/3...9f6b1df2_b.jpgFILE3836 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We then turned south on the Alpine way thru the Murray River Valley towards Tom Groggin. From here the road is winding and very narrow. The locals like to drive in the center of the road as well.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/859/2...5248b9fe_b.jpgFILE3853 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr There are steep rises and switch backs towards the ski fields at Thredbo. You then drop down for 10 km to the reservoir at Jindabyne. Between there and Cooma you are on a flat open plain until you rise again into the mountains towards Bega. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/903/4...74d024ac_b.jpgFILE3876 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/941/4...1e6799bb_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/941/4...3c4c48df_b.jpgFILE3902 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Here we wanted to get to the coast so we found a dirt road crossing on the Doctor George Mountain road between Bega and Tathra. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/844/3...3e3a613e_b.jpgFILE3918 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/938/3...593fcf67_b.jpgFILE3924 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We then rode another 35 km north to the sea side village of Bermagui pretty tired after 505 km. We managed to get a room in the bunk house at the pub and walked over to the harbor for dinner. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/871/4...c710be6c_b.jpgFILE3935 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We have just sorted out this week that we have an issue with Indonesia. Canadians do not need a Visa for Indonesia and can get 30 days Visa free or can get 90 day Visa on arrival, but only at airports, some seaports, and at the one land border between Malaysia and Indonesia on Borneo. They do not do this at the border between Timor Leste and Indonesia that we will have to cross. This means we will need to get to the Consulate in Sydney today to discuss the issue. This is a 43 km ride across to the other side of Sydney and we left Mona Vale at 9 to avoid traffic. It only took us 45 minutes.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/966/2...1545a239_b.jpgSydney-14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/943/3...02cc82c3_b.jpgSydney-13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/807/4...32e02151_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/871/4...05c4365c_b.jpgFILE4038 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr There was a bit of a line up, but they have an efficient number system. The man who helped us was very nice. He was so apologetic that we as Canadians would need and Visa and that he would have to charge us the fee. We were so happy to get the visa arranged. He even pushed the 4 plus days for processing and said we could come and pick them up in the morning. |
Now back to Mona Vale to meet Chris and then we drove out to the North head at Manly .
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/844/4...8b8e4066_b.jpgIMG_2486 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/905/4...2c1ab970_b.jpgSydney-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Chris is a captain on one of the harbor ferries and was able to get us on the famous Manly ferry. This leaves from Manly beach and crosses to the city at the docks between the Opera house and the harbor bridge. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/939/4...7524919b_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/952/4...4da9b2df_b.jpgSydney-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/904/4...32f03131_b.jpgSydney-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We rode over and back up in the bridge with the crew. The timing could not have been better as we pulled up alongside the opera house just as the sun was setting behind the harbor bridge. The new addition to the boats in the last few weeks is they sell beer and so we had a brew on the return trip. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/947/4...3597a8a0_b.jpgSydney-12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/960/3...d5ce7590_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/830/4...445a11a3_b.jpg Then it was again back to Mona Vale for a traditional Aussie BBQ. At breakfast in the back yard we had a constant stream of feathered visitors including huge white cockatoo, multicoloured lorikeets, and Galah (red breasted cockatoo or as Sara likes to call them “the pink headed parrots”) at the bird bath. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/967/4...ea993f22_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/950/4...207c701c_b.jpgSydney-14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/911/4...973ac2ce_b.jpg |
This morning we headed back the 43 km to the embassy and picked up the visas!
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/903/3...2e384884_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-04-10 at 18.18.13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/813/4...ccec86a6_b.jpgFILE4047 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/846/4...eb4d6392_b.jpgFILE4049 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/979/4...aba156d3_b.jpgIMG_2662 (2) by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We are going to stay in the city tonight so was can do a walking tour. Dan found a deal at the Star casino and when we arrived there at 1030 am they said “of course you can check in and we will upgrade you to the best room no charge! This turned out to be a 2 story suite with a kitchen and 2 bathrooms. The upstairs ensuite is bigger than most hotel rooms. The entire front wall is 2 stories of windows overlooking Darling Harbour and the Harbour bridge. WOW! We set out to walk to the opera house and back and by the time we got back at 5 pm , after 10 plus km , we were exhausted and tucked in to watch James Bond on the big screen! https://farm1.staticflickr.com/811/4...41520408_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-04-11 at 18.48.19 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/827/4...a56d4fb3_b.jpgSydney-16 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/828/4...967bd2d0_b.jpgSydney-17 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/868/4...3562570f_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/908/4...acc32494_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/790/4...bafa5e04_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/974/4...9d120339_b.jpgSydney-21 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/947/4...1e494b1b_b.jpgSydney-25 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/912/4...4c283ab6_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/904/4...1654958a_b.jpgSydney-24 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/829/4...4d1b9a10_b.jpgSydney-27 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/829/4...26a7ea95_b.jpgSydney-28 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We have opted not to go north on the “coast highway” as it is rarely on the coast and we will head inland to the hills.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/814/2...b784a8e4_z.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/804/4...47af3cca_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-04-11 at 18.05.21 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We did have to first book it 129 km north on the M1 freeway (this after 30 minutes just getting to it from the city). We took the exit here onto the B68 and rode 38 km to Maitland. The road surface is paved, but it is actually mostly patched pot holes. Then we turned off onto onto The Bucketts Way north to Gloucester. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/887/4...5bb6c081_b.jpgFILE4059 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr This is a curvy road thru the hills and farmlands. There is almost no other vehicles. We stopped in Gloucester for a late lunch. This was the largest of the towns we went thru, but they are all quite well kept and look prosperous. After lunch at 2 pm we had 214 km to go to Armidale (the highest city in Oz). The road surface here is smooth and we saw about 4 other vehicles all the way there. We had a long day at it was after 5 so we opted for a small motel just at the edge of town. This place has lots of motels and unlike most places we have been there are very few no vacancy signs. This worked in our favor as we bargained and got a large discount. The rooms have a kitchenette and so we walked the 5 km round trip to the Coles supermarket to get dinner fixings. It must be James Bond week and the next in the series and the last Bond was on tonight (no better than the terrible one last night). https://farm1.staticflickr.com/857/4...15c25ffd_b.jpgFILE4062 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/912/4...dc306585_b.jpgFILE4091 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
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