February 7th to 14th.

Sunday 7^th February.

            Today was a full on drive in the Hyundai as we intend to visit the Tahune Air- Walk which is located about 25 km west of Geeveston which is 60 km south of Hobart. Our route took us via Huonville and Franklin where we stopped at the Wooden Boat Centre. It appears that most boats in this area are constructed of wood as opposed to steel, cement or fibreglass. They range from clinker style rowing boats up to similar clinker construction cabin cruisers.

Next we moved on to Geeveston where over coffee we discovered an absolute surprise event awaited just around the corner in Geeveston.

Assembled in the local park were the greatest collection of vintage, veteran and restored vehicles as well as a large number of motor cycles and muscle cars.

We were able to locate almost every car we had owned in the years gone by.

Ranging from a restored 1938 Ford 4 door V8 sedan, several absolutely gorgeous 1952 Holden sedans fully restored to original condition and one modified with a floor change gearbox, bucket seats, modified dashboard layout and beautiful mag wheels. Whilst this particular example was heavily modified it was by far my favourite car on display. EJ and EH Holden’s featured heavily and as with most cars on display all were immaculately restored. There were many examples of Mini’s and quite a display of XW and XY model Falcons (GT and otherwise).

The cars were so good that I spent very little time looking at the motor cycles.

We then moved on to visit the true purpose of today’s trip, the Tahune AirWalk.

The Tahune AirWalk allows visitors to walk high above the forest canopy and the magnificent Huon Pine trees. These giants of the forest soar high above even the highest walkway of the suspended structure of the walk which is 49 metres above ground level. Breathtaking views are obtained all along the suspended structure with the final section being a cantilever section of 50 metres in length suspended by overhead cables only.

After leaving the AirWalk structure a forest walkway leads to a suspension swing bridge over the Huon river, with a second swing bridge a little further on which crosses the Picton river.

On our return trip home, we took the much longer route via Cygnet, Gordon, Snug Margate and Kingston back to Hobart. The scenery along this coastal road is magnificent with views out onto the D’Entrecasteaux Channel.

Monday 8^th February.

            Today is a public holiday in Hobart to celebrate the annual Hobart Cup and also the Hobart Regatta. Gail prepared a picnic lunch and we set off early anticipating big crowds and parking being a problem. We were fortunate to find a parking space close to the Regatta grounds adjacent to Queens Domain.

The visit to the fairgrounds atmosphere was somewhat of a nostalgia trip as I recall taking Tracy & Colin here in 1968 when Gail was in the St Johns Hospital in Hobart with peritonitis. Colin was still small enough then to be in a stroller with Tracy tagging along and helping with the pushing.

We had our picnic sitting in the grandstand overlooking the water activities on the Derwent river. It was particularly hot in the brilliant sunshine, so much so that by about 2:30 pm. we felt we had enough sun for the day so made our way back to the car.

Another place on our bucket list to visit in and around Hobart is the Shoreline Hotel in Howrah where Kevin worked as a casual barman during our time living in Hobart. We crossed the Tasman bridge and although so much has changed with respect to roads, roundabouts etc. in the intervening years since 1968 when I worked there we were able to find our way to the Shoreline Hotel.

Well, how it has changed. The hotel previously sat on very large corner block of land with bushland all around. This international hotel was a real beacon on the landscape then, but now it is part of a huge shopping precinct. The exterior has obviously been updated but still very recognisable. We parked, then went inside to have a drink and a look around. The barman who served us was of mature age so I asked him how long he had worked there. “Sixteen years” was his reply.

When I told him that I had worked there in 1968 he immediately stated, “that would have been the old hotel” before complete remodelling and refurbishing prior to him beginning working there.

The timing of our visit coincided with the live TV broadcast of the Superbowl 50 in San Francisco, so while we soaked up the atmosphere of the hotel for old times’ sake we also watched the concluding stages of the Superbowl.  

Today is the first day we have been able to see the top of Mt Wellington clearly so decided this would be a good time to make the drive to the top.

On reaching the summit we walked to the various viewing platforms to get the best panoramic views of Hobart and environs far below. The clear sky and clear air was ideal for scenic photos. The road to the summit is still quite narrow in places so extreme care is necessary particularly when oncoming traffic appears.

After spending an hour or so on “the top of Tasmania” we descended to Hobart where we went out for dinner overlooking the Derwent. Our vantage point for dinner allowed us to see the last few legs of a yacht race in progress. At the present time it is still quite light up until about 9:30 pm. permitting a lot of outdoor activities such as sailing on the Derwent.

Tuesday 9^th February.

            Another day out touring was our plan for today with a visit to Bothwell.

The countryside between New Norfolk and Bothwell via Hamilton was perhaps the only area we found completely dry and barren to date in Tasmania. The quality of the road was excellent considering it is only a dual lane road. After looking around the small town, another picnic lunch in the park, a visit to the Weavers Craft Shop we returned to New Norfolk via Melton Mowbray, the Midland highway to Bridgewater.

Wednesday 10^th February.

            More touring from our base at New Norfolk. This time armed with another picnic lunch we were headed for the Franklin Dam and Strathgordon via Mt. Field National Park and Russell Falls.

Our plan was to bypass Russell Falls in the National Park and first cover the additional 103 km’s to Strathgordon and the Franklin Dam.

Passing through Maydena we proceeded a further 5 km only to find that the road to Strathgordon was closed due to fire hazards and bushfires ahead.

About turn, back to Mt. Field National park where we looked around the visitors centre then went on the 40-minute return walk to Russell Falls.

Russell Falls are another great example of a spectacular Tasmanian waterfall. Our picnic lunch today was a real gourmet feast. Sour dough chunky bread sticks, Mersey Valley original cheese, triple smoked ham, fresh tomatoes and to finish off, a delicious custard tart.

The scenery on this route was absolutely marvellous, following the river for quite a distance, then real wilderness sections. Upon return to New Norfolk we did some shopping in Woolworths to stock up on depleted items.

Thursday 11^th February.

            This morning was spent doing a complete clean up and sort out of the motorhome. Fridge and cupboards were cleaned out and the floor washed.

We also washed the sheets and towels in the caravan park laundry.

High on our list of things to do whilst in Hobart was a visit to Moonah West to see the houses we lived in some 46 – 49 years ago. So after lunch was the time for that.

On arrival in the general area we were confronted with extensive roadworks causing some streets to be closed and requiring us to make several detours. Eventually we arrived at number 16 Lawson street with the intent of taking a photo or two. Murphy’s Law dictated that there were multiple roadworks’s and trucks parked directly outside, however we still managed to get a photo. Nothing at all seems to have changed with this property which was the second house we lived in.

The first house, number 12 only two doors down the street was an entirely different situation. Although essentially the same from the street view the dug-out car parking space has been extended with the addition of steps up from this area to a side gate on the right hand side. The front façade of the house has taken on a more modern appearance with the installation of large aluminium framed windows. Looking up the sideway it was apparent that there have been extensive extensions to the house at the rear. The long steep driveway up to number 10 next door looked very dilapidated and overgrown, quite different to when the Manning family lived there.

We then drove to the Glenorchy regional shopping centre which certainly did not exist back in the early 70’s. It is a huge centre right on Main road.

Talking of Main Road, it is an absolute bun fight traffic wise. The road is quite narrow with vehicles permitted to park on both sides, reminiscent of Sydney Road Brunswick (except for the trams). It is a real challenge for the bus drivers to negotiate.

A visit out to the Cadbury complex confirmed what we had previously heard – factory tours no longer exist, however it was nice to see the extensive grounds and gardens are still there and beautifully maintained.

Friday 12^th February.

            Up early this morning as we have to return the rental car into Hobart by 10:00.

I drove the motorhome with Gail following at a distance from New Norfolk to the Hobart Showgrounds where we dropped the motorhome off then both continued in the car into Harrington street and returned it to Hertz. We covered just on 1,000 km in the car during the week we had it. Petrol costs were very good at only $86 worth including returning with a full tank.

We then walked back into town, had a look around the mall section of Elizabeth Street and another walk past 158 Collins Street (my office) to the information centre where we watched a couple of tourist type short films on attractions in Tasmania. Next on our list was a thorough investigation of the waterside area, in particular Constitution Dock and the IXL – Henry Jones complex. This historic sandstone building which was a jam production facility many many years ago has seen a new lease on life. The entire series of beautiful old sandstone buildings fronting the waterfront have been extensively refurbished including an up-market hotel, complete with bellboys, eateries, art gallery, a boutique and office space on the upper floors.

An open air courtyard still retained the remnants of overhead machinery used in the production and packaging of the jam products.

Fish and chips purchased from one of the many outlets on the waterfront and eaten there rounded off a very pleasant morning.

It is interesting to note that Tasmania is obviously catering to the overseas tourist trade and in particular the Japanese, as everywhere we go a lot of the signage is in Japanese as well as English. Even all the travel brochures in the info centre had an entire section devoted to their language.

After lunch on the wharf we visited the Maritime Museum. There is so much early sailing history surrounding Hobart that we managed to spend about 3 hours at the museum without even noticing the time pass.

We caught a bus from central Hobart back to the Showgrounds at Glenorchy, booked in for one night on a non-powered site.

Saturday 13^th February.

            Since leaving home I have had a minor concern with the inner off-side tyre on the motorhome. From time to time I have thought the pressure looked a little low and my attempts to inflate and check generally yielded little result. In fact, I think I was letting more air out than putting in. So before leaving the Hobart this morning I visited a Bridgestone tyre outlet in Argyle street to have them remove the wheel and check for a slow leak. Upon checking the pressure of this wheel with an accurate truck gauge it was found to have zero pressure. Obviously the outer dual wheel had been carrying most of the load. Being Saturday morning this particular dealer did not have the staff to do much more but he referred me to a better equipped Bridgestone dealer in Derwent Park Road at Moonah. So back we went where upon removing the wheel it was discovered that the only problem was a quite loose valve stem extension which allowed the air to escape. On reflection I believe this add-on extension may have been incorrectly refitted when I purchased six new tyres prior to this trip. To my relief there was no visible damage to the tyre as the outer wheel being correctly inflated had prevented transfer of the load onto the “flat” tyre.

We refuelled in Sandy Bay, visited a “Ship Loads” store which is like a giant Reject Shop. We have noticed a few of these stores in our travels so curiosity finally got the better of us.

Onwards to Kettering where we were in nice time to que for the ferry to Bruny Island where we intend to spend a few days as well as visit friends Kerry & Peter who live on the island. $54 return for the motorhome was quite reasonable.

You would not believe the coincidence – while we were waiting to board the ferry there was a knock on the door and there were Kerry and Peter waiting for the same ferry. They had just returned from an Eagles concert in Launceston and were heading home. Upon boarding the drive-on drive-off ferry we were parked in the centre row at the very front with a magnificent view of D’Entrecasteaux Channel.

The 20 minute or so crossing allowed us to have a good conversation with them.

As Gail & I have planned to do a Bruny Island cruise tomorrow from Adventure Bay, we have arranged to visit Kerry and Peter Monday afternoon and stay overnight in the motorhome at their place.

The ferry lands at a jetty on the northern island of Bruny, however most interesting things are on the Southern island which is joined by a very narrow neck.

Peter recommended a nice camp spot in a National Park at “The Neck” so upon disembarking we made our way south to this spot where we set up for the night.

Sunday 14^th February.

            A leisurely breakfast of porridge and fruit, then we departed to have a further look around South Bruny Island. First stop was Alannoh on the western side of the island. Alannoh is a quite small settlement however it houses an Hotel, a school, general store, community health centre, library and a police station.

We spotted several caravans parked behind the hotel so dropped in to make enquiries. Non powered area for fully self-contained vehicles (ours) with a daily donation of $5 to cover mowing the site etc. As we have booked to do the Bruny Island Coastal Wilderness Cruise this afternoon from Adventure Bay we moved on at this time with the possibility of returning here late this afternoon to overnight camp.

Then back to the east coast township of Adventure Bay where after a short drive around we parked and made our way to the Bruny Island Cruises booking office.

Our afternoon trip departed after a briefing at the booking office at 2:00pm.

A short walk along the roadway led us to the jetty to board one of four identical boats.

Known as the Yellow Boats they are designed to cruise in all weather, every day of the year. All identical boats are 12.5 metre Naiads, each powered by three Yamaha 250 hp outboard motors and are purpose built for the rugged coast of Southern Tasmania. They have 40 open-air seats all facing forward which ensures excellent all round viewing. All passengers are fitted up with a full length heavy duty waterproof poncho style outer protection against the inevitable spray that will most certainly be encountered. Lap style seat belts are also provided and must be worn when the craft is under way, generally at quite high speed.

Their manoeuvrability enables them to get extremely close to the cliff faces despite the huge swells we encountered. They are also capable as we experienced to cruise inside several deep sea caves.

The duration of the trip was 2-1/2 hours, full of excitement all the way. We sped between a huge column of rock and the cliff face with barely a metre to spare on each side of the boat. Outward bound we hugged the rugged coastline stopping frequently for photos until we reached Boreel Point where the Tasman Sea intersects with the Great Southern Ocean. This is where the necessity for seat belts became apparent as we thumped and bumped into a huge swell to cross a large open water section to reach the most southern point of Bruny called Tasman Head.

This is where we saw hundreds of Australian fur seals lazing in the sun all over the rugged rocks and cliffs. We were rather fortunate with the weather as we had encountered some rain earlier in the trip but the sky cleared and the sun emerged as we reached this furthermost point of the trip. After spending time up close and personal to the colonies of seals we returned to Adventure Bay by an almost direct line from the Southern Ocean, then the Tasman Sea and finally into the calm waters of Adventure Bay.

Back into the motor-home for a warming cup of coffee, then returned to Alonnah to camp overnight behind the hotel. We had a Pizza and chips from the hotel for dinner.