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Jacqueline Wills
Jacqueline Wills

Jacqueline Wills

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  • Quick NZ Trip ❤️
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    Heading home

    3 maart, Nieuw-Zeeland ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    After a beautiful weekend with about 70 ladies I had another early morning but very much looking forward to getting home and seeing our little Banksia today.

    I certainly need to catch up on some sleep at some point 😄Meer informatie

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  • Quick NZ Trip ❤️
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    Arthurs Pass

    28 februari, Nieuw-Zeeland ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Today was our final day of our holiday, we headed off relatively early towards Arthur's Pass.

    The scenery was spectacular as usual and the little township of Arthur's Pass was super quaint. I hadn't even thought about doing any walks today but when we saw all the cars parked Bart pulled in for me to have a look. There was a waterfall walk that said it was 1km (it ended up being 1km each way 😄). Bart said he'd seen enough waterfalls so was happy to wait in the car. Admittedly I did say it was only 1km, which is what I thought!

    So dressed in my jeans and Frankie's (not exactly hiking wear!) I headed off, it ended up being pretty much 1km primarily made up of stairs 😂 when I was heading up a family coming back down looked at what I was wearing and said umm there are a lot of stairs! I smiled and waved and told them that was totally fine and continued on. Which then made me count them. There ended up being 397 steps.

    We then continued towards Methven and got stuck in some serious road works! The traffic control lady came along after we'd been waiting for at least 5 minutes to tell us there was at least another 15 minute wait. At least that gave me the opportunity to get out of the car and grab some photos 🤗

    We stopped at Sheffield for one of their famous pies for lunch and then continued to Methven where Bart dropped me off and he continued on to Christchurch to drop the car off and then head home tomorrow morning.

    The ladies on the committee arrived just as Bart was leaving so I was able to give them a hand unpacking which kept us busy for the rest of the afternoon.    Meer informatie

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  • Quick NZ Trip ❤️
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    Hokitika

    27 februari, Nieuw-Zeeland ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Last night's accommodation at Franz Josef Oasis was by far the best we've had on this trip. It even included a complimentary breakfast, and it was such a treat to have muesli and toast for a change! 😄

    Before leaving Franz Josef, I couldn’t resist heading out to see the glacier. So, Bart kindly drove us back to the glacier car park.

    We took the short walk to the viewing platform, and then I ventured off on the additional tracks to Sentinel Rock and Peters Pool while Bart waited patiently in the car. Good thing he had a few YouTube videos saved for entertainment! 😄

    Afterward, we made our way to Hokitika for lunch, then headed out to Hokitika Gorge. I don't understand how they work out their walk times! It said the walk out to the "beach" (swimming area at the gorge), but we did the return trip in just 40 minutes! I get that we walk fast, but seriously! So far on most of the walks you can usually almost halve their estimated times.

    The water in the gorge is stunning, such a beautiful color, and definitely worth the walk. It will be even better once the second swing bridge is repaired so you can do the full circuit.

    We arrived at our final accommodation at Hokitika Beach, only to discover there was no WiFi... 🙄 but thankfully, it finally came back online.

    Tomorrow, we’re heading over Arthur's Pass to wrap up our quick loop of the South Island.    Meer informatie

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  • Quick NZ Trip ❤️
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    Fox Glacier

    26 februari, Nieuw-Zeeland ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Today was amazing! When we woke up, it was still really foggy, and at check-in, they told us they were still deciding whether the glacier trip would happen. I was glad we were the second group scheduled to go up.

    We headed across the road for breakfast and returned at our designated time. After the safety briefing, we were given waterproof pants, jackets, socks, boots, gloves plus a waterproof bag to carry any personal items. Then, we were off!

    Our group of 16 required four helicopter trips to get everyone to the glacier. Once we arrived, we split into two groups of eight. Side note: I love helicopters! On the way up, the pilot dropped the helicopter in sideways between two peaks, which was incredible. The 6-minute flight felt way too short.

    Once we all had our crampons on, we started our hike up the glacier. The sun hadn’t reached the mountain ridge yet, so everything had a beautiful blue hue. Surprisingly, it wasn’t as cold as I expected—I'd brought a jacket, but didn’t need it. Bart ended up taking his off during the hike.

    The pace was pretty slow, and our guide had to stop occasionally to break up the ice with his pick due to yesterday’s rain. We got to explore some crevices and small caves. Water was flowing everywhere. When the sun finally rose, it warmed up quickly.

    We filled our water bottles with glacier water, which we just finished off—sadly, it’s gone now!

    Before we knew it, it was time to head back down to our helicopter flight back.

    Afterward, we stopped at Lake Matheson for lunch, and I took a quick walk around the lake. Honestly, it wasn’t worth it—the clouds had rolled in, hiding Mt. Cook, so the usual reflections in the lake were nowhere to be seen, and the lake itself wasn’t very visible either. Most of the walk was through rainforest, which reminded me of Tasmania’s trails.

    Next, we headed to Franz Josef for the night, and we ended up in the nicest accommodation we’ve had so far!    Meer informatie

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  • Quick NZ Trip ❤️
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    Wanaka to Fox Glacier (via Haast Pass)

    25 februari, Nieuw-Zeeland ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    We woke up to a very overcast sky, and after checking the forecast, we realized we were heading straight into rain! After Bart worked his Tetris magic on the Suzuki with our luggage, we set off toward Haast Pass, stopping at Lake Hawea first for breakfast. The sky ahead was absolutely incredible, and we could see that we were driving right into a whiteout.

    The rain hit just as we reached the end of Lake Wanaka, so there was no point stopping at the Haast Pass lookout—visibility was zero! Bart did stop for me at both Fantail Falls and Thunder Creek Falls, though, and I ran down the walkway to snap a quick photo before dashing back to the car. At Thunder Creek Falls, two busloads of tourists were just getting back on their buses as we arrived, but I managed to be so fast that we slipped out in front of them! Score!

    I'm sure Haast Pass would be breathtaking if the mountains were visible, but I had to settle for Bart describing how stunning it looked and how lucky they were to have perfect weather when they passed through last week 🙄😂

    Before leaving, we had checked that the road was open, so I was surprised when we saw signs halfway through saying the road between Haast and Fox Glacier would be closed from 12:30 to 4:00 PM (due to a landslide). Apparently, they’ve been closing the road on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Luckily, we had left Wanaka early and arrived in Fox by 12:30 PM.

    With the rain coming down hard, there wasn’t much we could do except get some work done this afternoon. I’d hoped for a walk if the weather cleared, but that wasn’t happening!

    The forecast says it will be clear tomorrow, so here's hoping. We’ll find out if our heli-hike is on at 8:20 AM tomorrow 🤞    Meer informatie

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  • Quick NZ Trip ❤️
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    Rocky Mountain hike & Real Guns!

    24 februari, Nieuw-Zeeland ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    After a quick breakfast, we made our way to the base of Rocky Mountain for our morning hike. The trail definitely lived up to its name with several rocky sections. The view from the top was absolutely stunning. We were so glad we started early because as we descended, the parking lot was packed and we saw so many people heading up!

    Next, we drove along the road to see if we could make it to the top of Treble cone, but the mountain was closed off. Still, we got to enjoy watching paragliders coming in—it was the perfect day for it.

    We then decided to head toward a spot we’d seen from the top of Rocky Mountain. After a few kilometers of rocky, unsealed road, we reached a fork where the road turned towards where we wanted to head but it was private—dang! We didn’t let that stop us, so instead we continued straight on through the ruts (poor little Suzuki!) until we reached the river. Bart was quite convinced the Suzuki could handle the sand, but thankfully he didn’t risk it. Even though he thought I was being the fun police, though!

    Since we finished our walk faster than expected, we had more time, so decided to head to Arrowtown. When Bart visited last week, they made it there in just over half an hour. But, of course, we ended up stuck behind slow drivers and for roadworks, so it took us a full hour! By the time we got there, it was so packed it just wasn't worth stopping! We drove around, and Bart pointed out where they had been the week before, then headed back up the winding road toward Wanaka and the Real Guns rifle range.

    Real Guns was a blast! Bart had only two others in his group, both police officers. As usual, he was a natural. When they got to shotguns, he hit every clay target except the second last one, so 9 from 10 was pretty impressive. He made it look easy, so when the others had their turn, I think they expected it to be just as effortless. The lady only hit 2 out of 10, and her partner got 4, so I was pretty impressed by Bart. After the 22 and shotgun, we had the option to pay extra to try other guns, including up to a 50-caliber.

    Bart chose to shoot a Remington 700 in .308 caliber, and nailed it! They start relatively close at 200m then got further out! Out of six shots, he hit his first five managing a 335m hit — I think he surprised himself! He had an absolute blast.

    Overall, it turned out to be a fantastic day, even though we didn’t get to do the glacier walk.    Meer informatie

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  • Quick NZ Trip ❤️
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    Wanaka

    23 februari, Nieuw-Zeeland ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    This morning, we left Tekapo and headed to Wanaka. The drive past Lake Pukaki was stunning, though the clouds were so low they obscured Mount Cook.

    We passed the Clay Cliffs, but since we were in a tiny Suzuki Swift, we decided it wasn’t the best idea to take the 9km dirt road to reach them. You can still see them quite clearly from the main road though. The drive through Lindis Pass was as beautiful as always.

    Wanaka was buzzing — we were surprised at how busy it was. After checking into our accommodation for the next two nights, we went for a walk and grabbed some lunch.

    A quick stop at the information center changed my plans for tomorrow 🙄. I’d been really excited about doing the Rob Roy Glacier walk, but found out that you need to ensure your rental vehicle is allowed to access the road, and it needs to be a high-clearance vehicle 🤦🏽‍♀️. So, I switched gears and found some nearby hikes closer to Wanaka. Tomorrow, we'll be doing the Rocky Mountain and Diamond Lake walk in the morning. Then in the afternoon, we booked Bart a shooting experience at a local rifle range, which he’s super excited about, seeing that he will get to shoot semi and fully automatic rifles that you normally couldn't 😄.

    We took a walk to see the famous Wanaka Tree and then just had a relaxing afternoon.

    To top off the day, we had a video call with Banksia (and Jamin & Talecia). At first, she had no idea what was going on, but seeing her made my night ❤️.    Meer informatie

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  • Quick NZ Trip ❤️
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    Lake Tekapo

    22 februari, Nieuw-Zeeland ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Yesterday, I arrived at the Adventure Moto depot about 20 minutes before the group returned, it was great to watch them all roll in with their bikes covered in dust even though they’d just driven through a thunderstorm on their way back to Christchurch. They had pulled up and put on rain jackets but even so Bart was freezing by the time they arrived back. I couldn’t help but feel for the young guy who had to wash all 17 bikes today 😬.

    This morning, after Bart had to repack all of his things, we made our way to Lake Tekapo, stopping at the Ashburton Aviation Museum and then at Geraldine for lunch. We got to Lake Tekapo by mid-afternoon, and the unit we’d booked had a washing machine, so we were able to wash all of Bart’s clothes without having to hunt down a laundromat.

    I absolutely love Lake Tekapo. Every time we pass through, it feels a bit different. I do prefer it when there’s snow on the surrounding mountains, but the color of the water is just stunning at any time of the year.    Meer informatie

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  • Quick NZ Trip ❤️
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    BNE to CHC

    21 februari, Australië ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    After an early start this morning, I'm now waiting to board at Brisbane Airport, heading to Christchurch to meet Bart. He's been there for a week already, enjoying a motorbike tour with Ultimate Adventure Moto. Excited for a week ahead of re-exploring the South Island together!Meer informatie

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  • Tasmanian East Coast
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    Home again

    22 juni 2024, Australië ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    This morning we managed to get everything back into our bags and headed off to give the motorhome a quick gurney down at the local carwash (if you don't you have to pay a cleaning fee!) then headed towards the airport, we were early so found a spot where you could watch the planes come in. Though they are few and far between, I was expecting a plane every 10 minutes or so but there were about an hour between, but it was worth the wait.

    After an uneventful flight home we arrived to a very happy Indy (Sean and Chloe had dropped her home again for us in the afternoon).

    We had a wonderful two weeks away but it's so nice to be home again, really looking forward to our own bed tonight and seeing Banksia tomorrow! ❤️    Meer informatie

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  • Tasmanian East Coast
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    Final day in Hobart

    21 juni 2024, Australië ⋅ 🌙 6 °C

    Yesterday we travelled from Mt Field to Hobart stopping at New Norfolk for most of the morning. As we were driving through Bart spotted a large number of old trucks, so we immediately pulled over to check them out. They ended up being part of an antique shop that is huge! The building is an old Asylum and it just goes on and on. We probably spent nearly 3 hours looking around. I totally expected Bart to find something that he wanted to get (and yes he did but it was just a $26,000 motorbike - so that's still there, for now anyway 🙄) I did walk away with a 1970's dominos set. Which I was very happy with.

    We got to the caravan park where we are going to spend our last 2 nights and I got some much needed washing done.

    Today, we headed out early to get a bus into the city (fortunately it comes right past the caravan park) we spent the morning walking around the city, stopping at Mures Seafood for lunch. Then headed off for the afternoon on a Pennicott Cruise down the Derwent River to Stormy bay, past Iron Pot Lighthouse and around Betsy Island.

    Pennicott do the best cruises if you are ever in Tasmania they are well worth doing (last trip we did the Wilderness Cruise out from Port Arthur - a very different cruise to this one, but spectacular) this cruise was more sedate and you didn't get wet which we appreciated seeing how cold it was.

    Because it was the Winter Solstice the sun set at 4:40pm so the lighting when we got out there at around 3:30pm and on our way back in was just beautiful. There were so many rain bands around us we had a rainbow somewhere pretty much most of the trip.

    It was a fantastic way to end our holiday. Now to pack up the van, try and get everything back in our suitcases tomorrow morning and off to the airport again. I know my darling husband is really looking forward to the warmer weather again!    Meer informatie

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  • Tasmanian East Coast
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    Mt Field National Park

    19 juni 2024, Australië ⋅ ⛅ 6 °C

    This morning we headed off from Miena towards Bothwell a very Scottish town with even the street signs being tartan! It has the oldest continuously run golf course there and where Angus beef were originally brought in from Scotland.

    We continued on to Hamilton which is a smaller town (I was expecting something bigger) but again very old and quaint, we stopped beside the river to make lunch and decide where to head next! We were planning on staying in Hamilton for the night but we were there so early and there wasn't much to see so we decided to continue on.

    Instead of heading to New Norfolk as we originally intended, we decided to detour slightly west up Mt Field instead. Mt Field is one of my favourite places so I was very excited, even though it means Bart will be in the cold for at least another day 😬.

    We arrived just after 2 and parked up before doing the Russell and Horseshoe Falls walk and then meandering along the river. Once it was dark, I headed back out with my head torch to Russell Falls to try and see glow worms. Saw lots of animals running away from me, but not too many glow worms, I don't think it was quite dark enough 🤷🏻‍♀️ but what made it all worthwhile was it started to snow lightly as I headed out, it was so beautiful being in the slowly falling flakes and the complete stillness around you. Though I did walk back very quickly after seeing the glowworms 😄    Meer informatie

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  • Tasmanian East Coast
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    Miena

    18 juni 2024, Australië ⋅ ☀️ -2 °C

    After a freezing night, it was still bitingly cold inside and out with water even freezing in the tap in the motorhome! I felt sorry for Bart while he tried to wind up the power cable and grey water hose to stow it again. It was covered in frost and freezing!

    We then headed off on the last leg of our trip towards Hobart. We are going to take the road around the great lakes, one we've not done before. Our first stop was at Sheffield a super quaint little town with murals painted everywhere. We got out for a walk around to find an older man taking his alpaca for a walk down the main street 😄 he apparently did this every day.

    We then continued on to Deloraine another lovely old town where we had lunch in an old pub before heading out around the lakes to Miena. Apparently you don't want to stop for the night between Deloraine and Miena because it's so cold! If we are being told by Tasmanians that you don't want to stop due to the cold there was no way we were!

    On the way we stopped at Pine Lake walk which was lovely though freezing. Within 20m I was sorry I hadn't brought my gloves with me and something to breathe through. The air was almost too cold to breathe in directly. Then stopped again at the lookout over the big lake before continuing down the other side past Linawenee (the lady at the information centre in Deloraine said this was the coldest place in Tasmania!) to Miena where we parked up outside a hotel for the night 🤗 it may be a night for wearing a beanie to bed 😄🥶.    Meer informatie

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  • Tasmanian East Coast
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    Cradle Mountain Walks

    17 juni 2024, Australië ⋅ ⛅ 4 °C

    We woke to a freezing morning, I was expecting my watch to say 5am but it was 7! I'd bought oats yesterday so at least we could have a hot breakfast before starting out.

    By the time we got to Ronny Creek on the shuttle it was 10am and we headed up the track for Marions Lookout 1223m. There was quite a bit of ice around so you really had to watch your step, it took us about an hour to get up there, even with the stops for photos. We met a young girl who was doing a circuit track around to Kitchens hut along and back down to Dove lake via Lake Wilks, so we figured we'd give that a go seeing that the day was clear and we had brought sandwiches with us.

    The going was a little harder from this point with quite a bit of snow and ice along the track, thick in places and you really had to watch your step, with legs as short as mine it was impossible to keep up with Bart! He was gone!

    We stopped at Kitchens hut for some lunch and then continued on around the face of Cradle Mountain and Smithies Peak. It was so beautiful walking right next to these amazing rock formations, though you had to stop if you wanted to look at them, otherwise you'd end up on your butt!

    We continued on till we got to the link track down to Lake Wilks. This was super steep and sketchy. Very interesting when you had your jacket tied around your waist and you didn't want to get it wet in the water or snow! But you had to almost sit down to reach down to the next foothold!

    Once you get down to Dove lake you've got boardwalk the rest of the way which was so nice. We stopped and I asked a couple to take a photo of us in front of the boat house, seeing we'd had one taken there back in 2005. Before heading back up to get the shuttle back to the information centre.

    Such a lovely day, so glad we changed our direction of travel and headed across to Cradle Mountain, the coast is lovely but I'm an alpine mountains girl at heart ❤️    Meer informatie

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  • Tasmanian East Coast
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    Cradle Mountain

    16 juni 2024, Australië ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C

    Headed to Cradle Mountain this morning stopping at Phillips falls on the way. Google took us way past it, lucky wiki camps was more accurate, though we still drove right past the start of the track and I'm just thankful Bart was doing the reversing to get us turned around on the dirt road to come back again! We finally found the entrance and made it to the bottom of the falls. It was super steep getting down to it but worth the walk.

    Continued along the windy roads to Cradle Mountain enjoying the amazing scenery on the way. Stopped at the visitor information center and picked up our bus tickets to get into the park before heading off to grab some lunch.

    After lunch we headed back to the bus and into the park (getting in at 3pm which only gave us an hour, the last bus leaves the park at 4pm) so we decided to do the short 45 minute walk to Pencil Pine Falls and Knyvet Falls which actually ended up only taking 20 minutes! But it was pretty cool to see a wombat just mozying along eating.

    After getting back to the motorhome we headed to Cradle Mountain Caravan Park where we're booked for the next two nights. Looking forward to a bigger walk tomorrow 🤗.    Meer informatie

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  • Tasmanian East Coast
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    Launceston to Honeycomb Caves

    15 juni 2024, Australië ⋅ ☀️ 8 °C

    We booked a tour of the James Boag Brewery this morning so we headed into the CBD early to find parking. We ended up parking at Bunnings and walking across the bridge back to town, so much better than trying to find parking on the streets with a motorhome!

    The tour was great, we had a young girl leading it who did a great job, so much to remember. I was really surprised at the end that the tastings weren't just a little taste, each beer was a middy size glass! So we went downstairs afterwards and had a pizza for lunch before heading back to the van. We are heading to Honeycomb Caves campground tonight so we grabbed some head torches from Anaconda so we could explore the caves 😄

    The drive to Honeycomb Caves was beautiful, when we arrived at the campsite, the sun was just starting to go behind the mountains even though it was only 3pm! But the colours were amazing. We donned our head torches (after rugging up a bit more 😄) and headed down into the caves. Bart easily got over the stream but by the time I got down there he was gone and I was a bit nervous jumping over it. So headed up and went down another entrance but still couldn't see him. By the time I came back to the start I could see his torch and he was wondering where I was. He came back and helped me over the rocks which enabled me to follow him around through the caves. It was amazing, it brought us to another opening and there were lots of smaller cave entrances that we didn't try and when we turned our torches off to check for glowworms (we didn't see any) it was pitch black in there, so very glad we stopped to get them. The phone torch would not have cut it!

    Came out to a very crisp evening and headed into the van to preserve as much heat as possible, I think we'll be keeping our beanies and long johns on inside tonight 😂    Meer informatie

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  • Tasmanian East Coast
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    Bay of Fires to Launceston

    14 juni 2024, Australië ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    Today was a bit annoying 🙄 We started by heading to Ansons Bay because we'd heard so much about it but the road ended up being dirt most of the way there and it was easier to keep going than turn around. Then when we got there we wondered why anyone would want to go there?! Totally not worth going to, the only interesting thing we saw was a 'Banksia' street sign 😂.

    The next stop I'd had on my list was Eddystone Lighthouse, well that was going to be another 20km of gravel road and we weren't supposed to be on any gravel with the Motorhome! So we headed towards Gladstone instead. It still took another 40 minutes of driving slowly before we found bitumen again!

    Ended up being nothing worth note at Gladstone so continued down to Little Blue Lake which redeemed the day by being beautiful! We stopped there for lunch and thought we'd walk to cube rock, not realising it was 5km one way and by the second stream that we couldn't get around and would have had to walk though it decided it just wasn't worth it, so headed back to the van.

    We then re looked at where to head next because we were planning on doing a loop back to St Helens today and stopping at a couple of waterfalls on the way back, but it was getting too late in the day to do that and there wasn't much point in going back to St Helens otherwise. So we decided to head towards Launceston and travel back to Hobart down another path to the one we took last time.

    On the way we stopped at Derby Tunnel (it remains from a tin mine). I think all the workers must have been my height because I could walk though without ducking once, poor Bart had to duck straight away and still walked into the roof (lucky he had a beanie on!) so he stopped and I continued the length of the tunnel and back, it only went about 200m. We then tried to find the monument, there's a sign and then nothing! After consulting wikicamps found where you had to get off the track and go bush uphill and we found it.

    Derby is actually a really cool little town, if you're into mountain biking it would be the place to come. It was the nicest town we'd driven though.

    The road between here and Launceston is extremely windy but fortunately there weren't many cars around and we could take our time without worrying about holding people up.

    Stopped for the night at a Big 4 caravan park to charge everything up and being able to put the heater on tonight was lovely. Walked up the road to a food van eatery for tea which was so lovely.    Meer informatie

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  • Tasmanian East Coast
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    Bay of Fires

    13–14 jun. 2024, Australië ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    After a very quiet night we left the chain of Lagoons campsite and headed north, stopping at Scamander for coffee to find a skate park with a bench next to it with Travis cut out in the back of it! 🥰

    We then headed to St Helens point and went on a short walk around from Beerbarrel beach.

    We continued onto St Helens township and picked up some supplies from the local IGA and fresh bread for lunch at the bakery. After fueling up we drove to Binalong and stopped on the side of the road to make some sandwiches, then drove out to The Skeleton track. It was very overgrown and you had to push through some sections but once we got to the point the rock formations were excellent.

    We then headed to 'The Garden' I had expected a lot more rich formations but found when we got there the area had been named for the wild flowers that were found in the area. We stopped for the night at another freecamp Cosy Corner South.

    Went for a lovely walk along the white sand beach before retreating into the motorhome when it got too cold outside 🤗    Meer informatie

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  • Tasmanian East Coast
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    Wineglass Bay & Bicheno

    12 juni 2024, Australië ⋅ 🌬 8 °C

    This morning we still had a gale blowing, it started late last night and had the motorhome rocking 🙄. We packed up and headed out to the start of the Wineglass Bay track. It was well worth doing, though I can feel my knees now. The section between the lookout and the beach is basically stairs, it says up the top that there are 1,000 stairs so don't start if your not up for it 😄 though I did count them on the way back up and only got to 911!

    We then headed to Bicheno to check out the blowhole - which was going off, but it was freezing in the wind! So we made our way to the Lobster Shack for lunch. Bart got half a garlic lobster and I had the lobster burger which was an experience for me, but I got through it.

    We stopped for the night at Lagoon Beach campgrounds, a freecamp about half an hour from Bicheno. It's a great spot near an inlet and next to no one here! 🤗    Meer informatie

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  • Tasmanian East Coast
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    Freycinet National Park

    11 juni 2024, Australië ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    It was much warmer this morning when we woke as it was very overcast and threatening to rain. By the time we'd had breakfast and packed up the motorhome it was starting to sprinkle so we decided to head to the lighthouse first. By the time we're got there it was a fine misty rain and I was the only one with a rain jacket 🙄 so left Bart in the warmth of the motorhome and headed up to get some photos. It was actually beautiful out and the colours were fantastic. I only saw one whale, on the short walk to the lighthouse. We then headed down to Sleepy Bay, the rain had started in earnest then so we waited till it eased a little before I headed down to the cove to check it out. We decided to just poke around the area and leave The Wineglass Bay walk till tomorrow because it's supposed to be clearing, though it did stop raining after lunch. So we headed to Honeymoon Bay and back up to the lighthouse so Bart could have a look as well.
    Lovely relaxing day 🥰    Meer informatie

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  • Tasmanian East Coast
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    Triabunna to Freycinet National Park

    10 juni 2024, Australië ⋅ ☀️ 5 °C

    After a very cold start to the day we headed north towards Freycinet National Park, stopping at Swansea and the spikey bridge then got to Devils corner at lunch time which worked out well 🤗 Bart enjoyed some oysters and we shared a pizza and did a sneaky wine tasting before heading to Freycinet National Park for the night.Meer informatie

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  • Tasmanian East Coast
    1
    1

    Heading off

    9 juni 2024, Australië ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Poor Indy wasn't very happy when we left this morning, fortunately Sean is heading over to pick her up later. On the way to the airport we found out we had been upgraded to business 🤗 which was very nice. Hopefully we have enough warm stuff packed! 😬Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • Tasmanian Adventure

    Home again!

    29 september 2022, Australië ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Home again after an amazing trip,
    🥰 After leaving Goulburn we called in to see Cyndy on the way through Sydney.

    We then headed to Tuggerah to meet Trav and Abi for lunch which was so nice and didn't leave them till around 3pm hoping to make it to a free camp at Macksville for the night.

    We got to Macksville just after 6pm to find the free camp spots just weren't suitable for a rooftop tent 😥 by then all the caravan parks were closed so we started calling around to see if we could get accommodation somewhere.

    We ended up trying 8 different townships and there was not one room available from there to Grafton! I found a free camp in the carpark of a hotel in Grafton. Ended up being a lot longer drive today than expected but at least tomorrow we should be home by lunch time.

    We should have had a 4 hour trip home today, but were stopped for an hour by a pretty serious traffic accident on the Pacific Hwy, with a helicopter being brought in to get someone to hospital.

    We made it home safely just before 12 noon. Talecia was here to meet us with Kyla and a puppy she's minding at the moment which was so lovely.

    Now we have time to unpack, wash and repack the 79 to head away camping tomorrow for the long weekend with Sean and Chloe 🥰    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • Tasmanian Adventure
    Thr Kelly Homestead replica2

    Melbourne to Goulburn

    27 september 2022, Australië ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    We had a slightly rockier trip home on the Spirit and had been advised that we needed to be up and ready to go by 4:45am for 5:30 disembarking. The wake up call came but with the news that we would be disembarking at 6:30!

    Once off the ship we headed straight out of Melbourne city, trying to get out before peak hour started.

    The rain that had followed us around Tasmania continued on the way north. We called into Glenrowan and had a look around the Ned Kelly museum there and the historic sights before continuing northward.

    The cloud formations on the way up have been just amazing.

    With the band of bad weather around us and the forecast of storms, we thought it best to not put up the rooftop tent and found accommodation in Goulburn for the evening. After trying a number of hotels we ended up getting the last room at the Posthouse Motel.

    Looking forward to seeing our Trav and Abi tomorrow on our way though Newcastle, and finally being able to see Abi's ring in person ♥️.    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • Tasmanian Adventure
    32

    Tasmanian adventure over 😭

    26 september 2022, Australië ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    Well we are on our way back to the mainland again! We've had an amazing time and will be back again much sooner than it took us to come back since our last visit (in 2005!)

    We've loved the walks, the amazing scenery, the fresh crisp air and the slower pace of life here.

    Here's also a video from the Queen Victoria Museum for a bit of a laugh 😄.    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • Tasmanian Adventure
    Blacksmiths WorkshopHerbert King

    Launceston

    26 september 2022, Australië ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    After a lovely evening at the Art Hotel we left the car in their parking area and set off to look around Launceston. Another town with great old buildings and plenty of history.

    They really have the best outdoor/hiking/camping shops down here with plenty warm weather jackets, vests and clothing you just don't see in Brisbane (I guess the temperature down here makes all the difference). Lucky they aren't in Brisbane or I'd end up spending a fortune at them 🙄😄.

    Thought we'd go through the James Boags Brewery but they are closed on a Monday so continued along the river walkway to the Queen Victoria Museum Arts Gallery.

    I definitely pre judged this one 😄 (Bart loves museums and reads every plaque). This one has been built where the old train workshops were. It's like everyone put down their tools in the mid 1900's and just walked out. It's pretty amazing. Though I don't need to inspect each piece of machinery as much as my husband does 😅.

    When we walked back into the central part of the museum I saw old cars inside one door and tried to distract Bart to get him past the door before he saw them 🙄 didn't work. But it was very interesting.

    Upstairs they were displaying a collection of photos from HJ King, he took photographs throughout Tasmania from the early 1900's. His most famous photo is the one of a Tasmanian tiger looking over Cradle Mountain (though this photo was created by him with a compilation of 2 photos).

    Interestingly it mentioned that he was a Christadelphian, he was also one of the first people to do aerial photography with aerial photos of Launceston on display. He also did a number of movies of Tasmanian animals for the museum which were showing in the museum cinema.

    If you are ever in Launceston this is a must do attraction. Not only does it have heaps of interesting displays and information is also free!

    After lunch we headed back to the car and headed off for Devonport taking each exit off the highway to detour though the historic towns, our favourite being Deloraine 🌸 the Cherry blossom trees along the river are in full boom and just beautiful.

    The rain has started again in earnest now, we managed to have a great last day before it started. All that's left now is to board the Spirit of Tasmania and head back to the mainland.    Meer informatie

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