January 26    Devonport – Greens Beach

Waking up to the sun rising over Devonport, 4 weary travellers excitedly showered, dressed and made their way to the reception area ready to disembark and begin exploring Tasmania.

We had already booked into Peron Farm Campground for the night, so this was our first stop. The scenery was beautiful as we wove our way through the hills and farms. We had the campground to ourselves and were welcomed by the very friendly owners.
After pitching the tent I didn’t so much rest as pass out due to a very restless crossing  (boats and I don’t get along….although I wasn’t sick just unsettled).

We had seen that Greens Beach was holding a free family day of activities for Australia Day so we headed down to check it out.
The kids loved climbing into the fire truck and spraying the hose through a target. We enjoyed a sausage sizzle for lunch (after using all our fresh food before quarantine on the boat a free sausage was great) and took part in some beach games.

Our entry into the sand sculpture competition spiked the interest of the local press and we ended up with an interview and our picture in the paper the next day. You can view it here 😊

The afternoon saw us all chilling after a big 24hrs. We capped it off with a very Aussie dinner…lamb chops and damper.

January 27-28    Greens Beach – Grindelwald – Quamby Corner

The next day we headed out to Grindelwald to visit Nan. We were excited to see her again and had a lovely morning tea which turned into lunch. She showed us around the beautiful swiss village and treated us with such a feast that we were full through till dinner. Clarissa introduced Gran to Quirkle (a game we like to play thats a bit like dominoes) and we all enjoyed some time catching up.

After spending the night at a beautiful farmstyle caravan park called  Quamby Corner, the next day was set to be a relax day. We washed clothes and played games….it was blissful! French cricket and water fights were on the agenda as were Clarissa’s nails while we had power for the heater. 

The evening saw us head to Westbury to catch up with Uncle Trev, Auntie Ruth and Evie. Nan joined us too and a wonderful evening unfolded. We were treated to a BBQ with homemade baguettes which the kids described as marvellous. Sweets was choc mint ice cream, homemade and delicious. Great conversation and time with family saw the evening disappear before we knew it.

January 29   Quamby Corner – Launceston – Myrtle Park

An early rise and pack started our Sunday so that we had time to drive the 45minutes into Launceston to attend St Johns Anglican Church to hear Uncle Trev preach. The building was gorgeous  and the fellowship very warm and welcoming. We headed to lunch at a local cafe for some more family catch up time and then parted ways for the afternoon.

We headed into the town centre of Launceston to see Cataract Gorge.  It is literally right in the middle of town! We drove into the national park but couldn’t find somewhere big enough to park Blu (he is rather particular when it comes to parking spots) so contiunued back towards town again. We found the perfect free spot and jumped out for a walk. The veiw was simply stunning!

We walked along the path to one side and enjoyed the gorge and the garden that grew around the edges. An impromptu photo shoot began as Adrian always tries to get interesting angles and stylised portraits.  It was lots of fun and the kids are turning into little models with their own go to poses (we don’t have to encourage them, they are the ones usually asking for photos to be taken a certain way 😄). I think they turned out rather well.

 

We continued our walk around to Penny Royal where we enjoyed an ice cream and the waterfall within the walls of the historically themed village. We didn’t stay long as our legs were weary and it was quite warm. Knowing how cold the evenings had been getting we sought out Target in the hope to find trackies for Adrian and me (they hadn’t made the cut when I packed as 1 set of warm clothes each was the limit….that has since expanded due to necessity). With coziness in our bag we headed out to Myrtle Park campground for the night.

What a beautiful spot it is! We bought some firewood and marshmallows and set up for the evening.  After dinner and a shower it was dark enough to head down to the river (just 10m from our site) in the hope that we might catch a glimpse of a platypus.  After searching for a while we wandered further upstream where another couple were looking for the elusive animal too. Then we saw it! Floating in the current and diving down to feed. It was amazing and we all watched in awe as this gorgeous little platypus worked his way across the river.

A wallaby came swimming down the river much to our amazement. We watched as it found the rocks just below the surface and then hopped out to the shore as if its perfectly normal for  wallaby to take a dip.

 The kids headed off to bed delighted to have seen one of God’s more unique animals. Adrian and I watched the embers die down as we discussed the day and enjoyed the warm glow of the fire.

Michelle xo