The Beautiful East Coast of Tasmania

Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee off to check out the fishing

Beautiful Dora Point in Humbug Nature Reserve

We can't catch fish but we can dance!!

Bay of Fires

More beautiful red rocks in Bay of Fires

Rob and Charlie trying to open Rob's door after Charlie locked it with his key which then wouldn't  unlock it!! Oh dur!!

Success but Kathy is warning Charlie!!!

Charlie doing his "Oliver Twist" thing

The "famous" Pancake Barn at Mt Elephant - they were yummy

The quirky sign

One of the beautiful bays in Freycinet National Park with The Hazards in the background

View in Freycinet National Park - you can just see Wineglass Bay in the distance

Charlie loves the serenity

A little echidna

Well after our house sit we headed over to the East Coast of Tasmania to catch up with our friends Rob and Kathy.  We met them at Humbug Nature Reserve and had a couple of days in a campground there before we decided to head just up the road a few kilometres to Dora Point.  It was a beautiful free campground and we were lucky enough to find a camping spot big enough for both of us as it was still the summer school holidays.  We spent about a week there and the boys tried their hands at fishing and we all also went out kyaking a couple of times because the water was crystal clear and very safe in the bay.

On the January long weekend the camping areas filled up very fast and we had a couple of guys and a girl ask if we minded if they camped next to us with their tent and boat.  They were locals from Devonport and went out in the boat and caught a great feed of flathead which we were invited to share.  So Kathy and I made a couple of salads and they cooked the flathead for us, together with some oysters and we had a great night with a few glasses of wine/beer.

From Dora Point, Kathy and Rob headed back over to the North West as they were leaving Tassie sooner than us and still wanted to see a few things around that area.  We headed south down the coast as we were catching up with our Tassie friends, Don and Miffy in Snug.  It was a sad goodbye with a promise to keep in touch and hopefully meet up again for more happy hours.  We really enjoyed their company and hope to be life long friends.

We slowly headed down the coast staying at a couple more of the free camping areas.  We decided to drive up Elephant Pass and go to the "famous" Mt Elephant pancake kitchen.  I am soooooo glad we didn't take the caravan up there - it is so narrow and windy with signs on some of the bends "long vehicles toot horn"!!  Charlie tells me to close my eyes - ok I will, just as long as he doesn't.  I grip the edge of the seat, my knuckles go white and I yell at him to keep both hands on the steering wheel when he waves at other drivers!!  Anyway we made it up (but of course we had to come down as well) and had a lovely savoury pancake.

We then headed off down to the Freycinet National Park and free camped at Friendly Beaches which again was spectacular.  The sound of the surf at night is just so relaxing.  We went into the lovely little town of Coles Bay and then out into the National Park where we did a couple of bush walks and saw some amazing scenery.  The weather was absolutely glorious and the water crystal clear.

After 2 weeks on the lovely East Coast, eating beautiful seafood, fish and oysters we headed back down towards Hobart and our friends where we stayed for 5 nights and did a few day trips from there but that will be the subject of a separate blog.  Until then its Adieu from The Wandering 2s.

Launceston and surrounds Jan/Feb 2013

Charlie and his "girls" while we were housesitting at Hillwood

Railton - a small town with lots of topiary

Penny Farthing historical village of Evandale

Sheffield - a town of murals

This was quite a unique mural

Me amongst the lavendar at Bridport

One of the beautiful old oak trees at Bridport Lavendar farm

One of the spectacular wood carvings at Campbell Town

The sundial at Campbell Town

Part of the "convict pavement" at Campbell Town - small offences, big punishments!!

The convict built bridge in the historical village of Ross

Me at the site of the old Female Factory at Ross - they had it hard in them days!!!

One of the cute little buildings in Beaconsfield

Outside of the Beaconsfield Mine Heritage Centre

The interpretive wall at Beaconsfield Mine Heritage Centre

The pirate ship at Seaport, Launceston

Part of Cataract Gorge, Launceston

Another view of the Gorge

The bridge over Cataract Gorge

The quaint Swiss shopping village of Grindelwald

Well its been such a long time since I last posted a blog due to the computer playing up and then me having my accident that I've really forgotten what we did so will have to let the pictures speak for themselves,.

We did a 3 week house sit on a property at Hillwood which is on the northern side of Launceston and looked after over 30 rare breed of  chooks and 2 big dogs.  Charlie became quite the farmer and for a couple of weeks we had a lot of eggs and so he was pickling them, I was baking (yes I can!!) and having yummy freshly laid eggs for brekkie. 

 From here we went and did lots of day trips around the area including Beaconsfield which was the site of the major mine disaster quite a few years ago.  The mine is no longer in use and has been turned into a very interesting museum.  We also visited the quaint little towns of Railton where practically every garden has some topiary in it and also Sheffield which is known as the town of murals.  Some of them were very spectacular and unique and we spent quite a lot of time walking around and looking at them.  We also visited the amazing lavender farm at Bridport where we sampled lavender icecream and I bought some lavender bodycream products.

We visited the historical village of Ross which has the famous convict built bridge - it is amazing how they could have done such a wonderful job.  We visited the yummy bakery and had a vanilla slice which was the best I've ever tasted and also another scallop pie - its funny how I can always remember the food!!  We also went to Campbell Town which had some magnificent wood carvings and also a rather unique sundial which actually worked.  There was also the convict pavement with plaques inserted into the pavement on both sides of the road documenting the convicts who arrived there and also their "crimes".

We visited Cataract Gorge and spent a lovely day there just wandering around and also spent half a day at the quaint Swiss shopping village of Grindelwald.

All in all we had a peaceful and relaxing time in this area which was during all the devestating bushfires in Tasmania so we were in the best part of the State while they were raging.

Anyway that's all for now - hoping to update our travels soon up until my accident but for now its Adieu from The Wandering 2s.