• Jacqueline Wills
  • Bart Wills
septembre 2022

Tasmanian Adventure

Driving down to Tassie in the 79, looking forward to all the little towns and places we'll find along the way đŸ€— En savoir plus
  • Russell Falls & Horseshoe Falls

    17 septembre 2022, Australie ⋅ ☁ 12 °C

    This morning was beautiful and foggy when we woke and it wasn't raining 🙌 after a quick breakfast we headed out to do the Three Falls Walk. This walk encompasses, Russell Falls, Horseshoe Falls the Tall Trees walk and Lady Barron Falls.

    We are so glad we waited and didn't try to do them in the rain yesterday because it was glorious today. The sun even came out!

    Russell Falls is spectacular! Back in the 1800's a gentleman called Louis Shoobridge found them on his land and wanted them preserved, he had a 300 acre section made into a reserve in 1885 and in 1917 it was incorporated into Mt Field National Park.

    It's a very easy walk to the Falls, they have made it wheelchair accessible as well.

    From there it's a short 10 minute walk to Horseshoe Falls. I had a lyrebird walk right in front of me and then start scratching around, it wasn't bothered by us at all!

    Horseshoe Falls is well worth the short walk, you do start getting used to beautiful waterfalls and the amazing green scenery along the way!
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  • Tall Trees & Lady Barron Falls

    17 septembre 2022, Australie ⋅ ☁ 13 °C

    We headed onto the short Tall Trees loop that you can continue onto from Horseshoe Falls.

    The trees in this area are just amazing and photos just don't show their size and height. The Eucalyptus regnans are just majestic.

    You then cross the fire trail that heads up to Lake Dobson and start walking towards Lady Barron Falls. This is another beautiful easy walk. It takes me much longer than Bart because I keep having to stop to take photos 😄

    After you leave the Falls you continue through large mossy trees till you get to a fairly long group of stairs that take you back up to the fire trail where you can walk back to the visitors centre or the Campground.

    The full Three Falls loop was a bit over 7kms. Next stop - The Styx Valley...
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  • Styx Valley

    17 septembre 2022, Australie ⋅ ☁ 12 °C

    We packed up the rooftop tent and headed to the Styx Valley. Also known as The valley of the Giants. This is the area where conservationists chained themselves to trees to get the government to stop logging in the valley. They were successful with large areas being kept as conservation areas.

    We headed first up to what's called the carbon trail. An area that is one of the most carbon dense in the world. The track heading up was very overgrown and we weren't sure if it was worth it. But when we got there and headed into the 1km circuit that was only marked by pink tape. It was just amazing.

    Totally untouched, no proper paths your climbing over branches and walking under tree ferns. Each turn is another incredible tree. I think it's probably one of our favourite walks we've done. At the end it almost spits you out of the rainforest into the clearing its quite incredible.

    Then headed to the Big Tree Reserve where we made lunch on the side of the road before heading around the easy 1km board walk circuit and then across the road there is a track that takes you down to the Styx River.

    The plan was to head down to the Tolkin Track but we passed it which worked out well because we ended up at the Chapel Tree. Another drive where we wondered if it was going to be worth it. Three times Bart had to get out to cut branches back away from the road.

    The entrance sign has fallen off so it was only because we had a map we found it. It was another short 500m walk from the road following pink tape again but we rounded a corner and there was one of the biggest trees I'd ever seen. You could fit 10+people inside it! Bart didn't have to even duck to head inside!

    We then headed back to the NP Campground for the night. We've had such a great time at Mt Field NP.
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  • Mt Field to Bruny Island

    18 septembre 2022, Australie ⋅ ☁ 11 °C

    This morning we packed up and said goodbye to Mt Field NP đŸ˜„ we've had such a good time here.

    We headed through New Norfolk which is a lovely town (picked up some supplies at Woolies) and continued down through Hobart to Mt Wellington. But we (probably more me) had totally forgotten what day it was đŸ€ŠđŸœ‍♀ so started to head up the windy tight road to where the walks started and there were so many cars heading up and down. The carpark was packed! So we pretty much just got out of there. Note to self don't go to Mt Wellington on a Sunday!

    We went back down the road to the Cascade brewery for lunch and looked at a new plan of attack as to where to head next.

    We were only about half an hour away from where you get the ferry to Bruny Island so decided to head there today and try to do some walks in the morning (apparently it's not going to rain tomorrow đŸ€ž)

    So we headed to the ferry and only had to wait 10 minutes for the next one.

    I hadn't really looked into Bruny Island but it had come up a lot on searches about Tassie, I don't really know what I was expecting.

    We stopped in at the Bruny Island cheese factory on the way past but it was packed. So we thought we'd head to the lighthouse but then realised it would be another hour driving to get there and back to the campsite for the night.

    But we went down to Cloudy Bay because it said there was a free campsite there so thought we'd check it out. That way we could go look at the lighthouse tomorrow morning. It turned out to be just a muddy very uneven carpark with a long drop toilet.

    So after having a look at the beach and doing a very short walk around a bit of the foreshore we headed back to Neck Beach Reserve Campground and set up.

    This site is quite good and well protected and we managed to park near the shelter đŸ€—

    Going to try to get going early tomorrow and get the Fluted Cape Circuit done and possibly The Arch (but we'll see how we go for time) then head back to the mainland and keep heading south.
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  • Bruny Island walks

    19 septembre 2022, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    We set the alarm for 4.50am and at 4.30am it started raining! So Bart packed up the rooftop tent in the dark and in the rain 🙄 all because I was wanting to get a photo of the sunrise from the Truganini Lookout.

    It stopped raining when we arrived 15 minutes before sunrise and walked to the top but then the heavens opened again. The sun didn't end up coming out till I'd walked back down (Bart gave up well before me 😄) to the beach, which meant I had to run back but only did half of the lookout walk to get a photo.

    We drove around to Adventure Bay to the start of the Fluted Cape walk and had breakfast before heading off.

    The track starts along a black sand beach before heading up. The track was super muddy and it was the first day I chose to wear joggers instead of my boots đŸ€ŠđŸœ‍♀ and white ones at that 😭 they were black by the end of the circuit.

    We did the circuit anticlockwise, hoping the track going up would be less muddy, it wasn't! It was muddy pretty much the whole way up. I was really hoping it was going to be worth it, since I'd talked Bart into doing it 😬 It was!

    We got to the top and were only disappointed that we hadn't brought the done up with us. It was magnificent! Scary a bit (for me) but breathtaking. Bart enjoyed heading out to the edge just to make me freak out 🙄

    We headed back down along the cliff edge which was much nicer than the middle track we had come up. We even saw a wallaby with a baby joey just chilling alongside the track.

    This is a track I would definitely not take children up unless you want to come back with less! The dropoffs are huge and there is no protection whatsoever. But well worth doing. It was a 7km loop and took us 2.5 hours, but if the track was dry you could knock half an hour off that time and that was with taking a lot of stops to admire the view.

    We stopped in at Bruny Island Cruises for a coffee before heading back across the island towards the Ferry. On the way we stopped at Get Shucked, oyster farmers that sell direct to the public for a late oyster morning tea đŸ€—

    Now on the ferry headed back to the mainland.
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  • Mount Wellington

    19 septembre 2022, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    We were planning to head south to do the South Cape walk, but after reading a few reviews it didn't seem that great so we decided we'll add Port Arthur into this trip, but was too far to head today.

    After getting off the ferry at Kettering we thought we'd try Mount Wellington again, seeing we didn't get up there yesterday and we wouldn't be coming back past again so it was today or next trip 😄

    We headed back up the windy road for 10kms.

    The peek is 1,224m above sea level and on average 10 degrees colder than down in Hobart. When we were up there it was 3.7° but felt like -4.5° đŸ„¶

    The view is spectacular and well worth the drive up. I would have loved to get to the Pipe Organs but it was a 3 hour return walk. We walked about 20 minutes down the track to get a little closer but you didn't get a good photo from there. It's a next time walk.

    Instead of driving to the other side of Hobart to find somewhere to camp I started looking for somewhere to stay for the night and found a cute B&B called the Battery Point Manor, which was originally built for a prominent family back in 1834.

    And it's walking distance to the Salamanca district. Will have a look around the area in the morning.
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  • Hobart to White Beach

    20 septembre 2022, Australie ⋅ ☁ 12 °C

    We walked down to Customs House Hotel last night for tea which was so nice. It worked out well because they had a scallops 2 course special (seafood chowder and curried scallops on rice) which suited Bart to a T đŸ€—

    We then meandered back to the B&B through the narrow, dimly lit streets, admiring the beautiful old homes in the area.

    This morning we checked out of our room (they were happy for us to leave the 79 in their carpark, yay!) and headed off to find somewhere to get breakfast and have a look around.

    I think it was the best way to see the area, there are little plaques on a lot of the houses giving you the history of the property, we had such a great morning walking around Battery Point reading up on the history on a lot of the homes, most dating back to the early 1800's. Then headed down to Salamanca, along the wharfs and into Hobart.

    In fact the oldest registered B&B in Australia is at Battery Point and is called Barton Cottage.

    We called into the Lark Distillery which is the oldest whiskey distillery in Tasmania. The founder even had to get the laws changed so he could legally make whiskey, as the production of whiskey in Tasmania had been banned for over 150 years.

    After some lunch at a little Cafe we headed back to the car and headed down to White Beach Tourist park which is 10 minutes from Port Arthur.

    Tomorrow morning we head off on the Tasman Cruise with Pennicott Wilderness Tours and then have a look around Port Arthur.
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  • Tasman Island Cruise

    21 septembre 2022, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    This morning we had a Tasman Island cruise booked with Pennicott Tours which was exciting. But what ended up being more exciting was that our rooftop tent was dry this morning when we got up! The first time in 21 days we have been able to pack up the tent dry 😄 Bart was stoked!

    The Cruise starts in Stewart Bay just outside of Port Arthur.

    It was fantastic. Just as we got out of Stewart Bay we came across a huge pod of dolphins who were feeding which was so great to watch, then they headed out along the magnificent coastline of steep cliffs, weaving in and out of rock pillars. It was so good.

    Bart and I managed to get the two front seats on the boat so we had a great view, but when the boat would stop to look at a sight the water would rush in around our feet 😄 we quickly learnt to keep our feet up on the side ledges.

    We even came across a couple of humpback whales đŸ€— which we watched playing for a while. But as the boat turned a rather largish wave came over the bow and covered both of us and the couple sitting behind us as well. Fortunately you get waterproof jackets when you board. But the one size fits most doesn't apply to my husband who ended up wetter than the rest of us 😹.

    The scenery was fantastic and on our way back in the dolphins found us again so we spent the last 10 minutes watching them frolick around the boat.

    If your ever in this area I'd highly recommend this tour.
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  • Port Arthur

    21 septembre 2022, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    After we got back from the cruise we headed down to Port Arthur and made lunch in the carpark before heading in (it's so handy being able to make toasted sandwiches in the Cruiser)

    We found out that it's $47 per adult to enter but if you waited till 3:30 it was only $25 per person. Seeing it was 2:30 we figured we'd wait for an hour before heading in and go for a drive around the area .

    We walked in on the dot of 3:30 and ended up doing a whirlwind tour 😄 I'd heard that it was just very touristy and wasn't expecting much so was pleasantly surprised at how much we both enjoyed looking around.

    After going to Norfolk Island a couple of years ago there was quite a bit of history that obviously related to what we had seen there.

    It's great to see how they are maintaining the buildings and just the sheer scale of them. I just love the thickness of the walls!

    It's hard to believe such a beautiful place had such a violent past.

    The open air memorial at the Briad Arrow Cafe, for those that were killed in the 1996 massacre is nicely done as well.

    It was a great end to the day after the mornings cruise.
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  • Cape Raoul Track

    22 septembre 2022, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    This morning was our last on the Tasman Peninsula, so we thought we'd do the Cape Raoul Track that Cyndy told us about đŸ€—.

    The track is part of the Three Capes Track. We ended up walking 16kms, after adding in the seal lookout and took us 4 hours (with stopping a number of times to admire the view).

    The Track starts by going through a mixed forest of eucalyptus and rainforest trees before opening to the first lookout which is spectacular. You then follow the cliff line (though you feel safe because there is a small stand of trees between you and the cliff edge 😄) before coming out onto a plain that is covered in shorter more dense trees and shrubs.

    The paddymelons don't mind you walking past them at all and just hop off the track for you to walk by.

    Cape Raoul is just amazing, we stopped here to have a sandwich (lovingly made and packed by my husband đŸ„°) and then headed around to seal lookout, where you can see and hear the seals down below. It also gives you a great vantage point of Cape Raoul.

    You head back the same way you came so our return trip was quite a bit quicker.

    We had one more stop to make before leaving the area and the was to the Remarkable Cave. It's a very short 10 minute return walk, but I was disappointed that you can't actually get down to the cave floor. They have board walk that you have to stay on now đŸ€·đŸœ‍â™€ïžđŸ™„.

    Now it's time to start heading north once more.
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  • Hobart to Oatlands

    23 septembre 2022, Australie ⋅ ☁ 13 °C

    This morning (after a not so great experience at a Big 4 caravan park) we got up early and headed back to Hobart. We only went in there so we could get some laundry done, but even that was sooo expensive in comparison to other places.

    Back in Hobart, we decided to split up, Bart went to the Maritime Museum while I had a look around the city then I met him and we went though the Tasmanian Museum (which was free đŸ€—).

    After a lovely lunch at Mures on the wharf we headed north, stopping at the Killara Distillery that we had been recommended to stop at by our Accountant while we were here.

    Kristy who owns it is the daughter of the Lark Distillery owners so grew up in the industry. Because we were the only ones there we got the full tour and even got to taste the whisky prior to it being barrelled. It was also the first distillery we've been to that we weren't charged to taste the Whisky and Gin!

    We headed onto Oatlands our stop for tonight to another freecamp near a lake. So much nicer than a sterile caravan park, where everyone is jammed in next to each other!

    The rain started when we arrived so we'll explore this place tomorrow when it's hopefully drier đŸ€ž Oatlands has the most sandstone homes from the colonial period in Australia. The Callington Mill Distillery is also here.

    Fun fact, the longest serving hangman in the British Empire lived in Oatlands. He was an ex convict and worked as a hangman from 25 to his last hanging at 71! He was paid per person that he hung and was sent all over Tasmania hanging people! 😬
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  • Oatlands & Tunbridge

    24 septembre 2022, Australie ⋅ 🌧 5 °C

    The rain didn't let up all night so my cute husband packed up the rooftop this morning in the rain (again 🙄) There wasn't even a shelter nearby to have breakfast in, so we went looking for a Cafe. Fortunately we found one open (everything else in the town opens at 10am!).

    After breakfast the rain had eased to a drizzle so we headed down towards the History Room museum and found a little cottage that was 'open for inspection' it was actually being auctioned off today so we had a look inside. Oh boy, the entire inside would have had to be redone to make it liveable, but you could have made it super quaint. It did sell for $380k.

    Then called into Callington Mill Distillery and sampled some of their whisky which ended up being the cheapest whisky to purchase so far in Tasmania.

    The History Room opened at 10am and the gentleman manning it today was so helpful, he had grown up in the area and took us around the displays explaining each of them to us and giving background information along the way. He then gave us a key fob (after leaving a refundable deposit with him) which gave us access to the Court House, Gaol and the Commissariat. You can just go let yourself in and have a look around these old buildings. It was excellent.

    We ended up spending so much more time than we expected to in Oatlands as there's so much interesting history there. We had savoury crepes for lunch from the pancake and crepe shop. The owners were from Brisbane too and gave us a bonus of scones, jam and cream to take with us!

    We headed up the road and detoured off the highway to look at Tunbridge which has the oldest wooden surfaced bridge in Australia. It's currently closed for renovations but still good to check out.
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  • Ross to Symmonds Plains

    24 septembre 2022, Australie ⋅ ☁ 10 °C

    Ross was our next stop, this town is so pretty and well worth the detour off the highway. It's full of beautiful old buildings and the streets are tree lined. We walked around the main street, down to the picturesque bridge that we came over coming into the town, up to the beautiful Uniting Church on top of the hill, then down to the Convict Female Factory that had heaps of information inside.

    Bart said the whole area both Oatlands and Ross reminded him so much of England and said I didn't need to visit there now 🙄 don't think he gets out of it that easily 😄.

    We left Ross to head to Campbell Town for a free overnight camp only to find it was closed due to flooding when we got there. So we got back onto wikicamps and found that the Symonds Plains racetrack had camping available if you were self contained, so I called to check and yes they were happy for us to use it. We are now set up next to the racetrack for the night (and the only ones here đŸ€—)

    Tomorrow we are hoping to climb Ben Lomond before heading towards Devonport. Our adventure here is all too quickly coming to an end 😭
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  • Ben Lomond to Launceston

    25 septembre 2022, Australie ⋅ ☁ 7 °C

    We got going early again this morning and headed into Perth and found a little shelter with a bbq to make bacon and eggs for breakfast 😋.

    Then headed out to Ben Lomond NP to find that the top of the mountain was covered in cloud, but I was hopeful that it would clear by the time we got to the top.

    It was a pretty drive there through Evendale and then very green sheep pastures. The new spring lambs are running around the paddocks following their mothers, they really are so cute.

    The drive up Jacobs Ladder wasn't as bad as we were expecting (no worse than going up Bellthorpe range!) But the sheer rock cliffs are just spectacular. It's hard to take it all in, the cloud around just added to the atmosphere.

    We drove up to the ski resort which is basically closed down for the season now apart from the Cafe that is closing next week till the new ski season.

    We weren't sure if it was worth doing the 3.5 km trail due to the cloud but set off to have a look anyway. The trail was beautiful, lots of lovely different grasses and moss covering the ground and the rocks have orange and black moss markings as well. After coming across a couple of old huts we headed up to the summit (1572m) pretty much climbing over largish rocks the whole way up. We got to the top just before a big cloud bank came and enveloped us and completely whited everything out!

    I was glad Bart had his GAIA app running to see which direction to start heading to get back down. Instead of going back down the way we came up, we made our way down the other side of the summit following what we thought was the path but ended up being animal paths 😄 but we made it, without getting our feet too wet.

    It ended up being a great walk, but will be good to come back again and do it in summer because apparently on a fine day you can see all the way to Cradle Mountain.

    We left Ben Lomond (after stopping in the camping area to make some lunch) and headed towards Launceston. Thought we'd go and do the Cataract gorge walk but you have to pay to park, and once again we forgot it was Sunday! So we headed up to the Sentinel lookout which is a short 2km walk (though our watches said 1.6km) down to a cantilevered platform lookout.

    I'm standing there taking a photo and Bart just has to walk up behind me and start jumping (yes you can see through the floor) 🙄 seriously can't help himself. He thinks it's hilarious đŸ€ŠđŸœ‍♀

    We decided to find accommodation in Launceston so we could leave the car there and have a look around tomorrow before heading to Devonport to get on the Spirit. Found a quaint historic hotel The Art Hotel that used to be a bakery, built and run by a convict.

    Last night here, has been such a wonderful trip hard to think it's coming to an end!
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  • Launceston

    26 septembre 2022, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 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.
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  • Tasmanian adventure over 😭

    26 septembre 2022, Australie ⋅ 🌧 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 😄.
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  • Melbourne to Goulburn

    27 septembre 2022, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 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 ♥.
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  • Home again!

    29 septembre 2022, Australie ⋅ ☁ 20 °C

    Home again after an amazing trip,
    đŸ„° 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 đŸ˜„ 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 đŸ„°
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    Fin du voyage
    29 septembre 2022