The Tassie Trip - Part 3

Saturday Feb 4th: It has stopped raining Yeah!! Visited the markets conveniently located at the Showgrounds where we are staying - interesting array of produce. Then packed up and headed south. Free camped at a spot near Tumburumba called Paddy's River Flats - very pleasant next to a stream. Stayed here for the next two nights.




Sunday 5th Feb: Big day sightseeing. Drove up to Thredbo in the Snowy Mts. - nice scenery and very windy steep drive. Caught the chairlift up Mt.Kosciusko and then finished with a short walk to the lookout. Stayed at the same spot.



Monday 6thFeb: Another day at Paddy's River. Went for a 8klm walk retracing the path of explorers Hume and Hovell. The track went most of the way next to a creek - very bushy. Had lunch in Tumburumba then another did the Sugar Pine walk - magnificent.



Tuesday 7th Feb: On the road again. Nice drive along the banks of the Murray River and free camped at Pigs Point Reserve - sound revolting but very nice.

Wednesday 8th Feb: On the road again. Bright was a very touristy town. Visited a very historic town of Beechworth - a good climb - then on to a free camp at Pioneer Bridge.

Thursday 9th Feb: Getting closer to Melbourne. Went via Glenrowan and saw a few Ned Kelly sights. Mansfield was a pleasant town on the way. Ended up in a free camp at Tolangi - nestled in amongst the forrest - this was the area of the tragic bushfires.



Friday 10th Feb: Travelled into a Big 4 Caravan Park at Coburg - thank God for the GPS.

Saturday 11th Feb: The free camping has been great but the van battery was flat when we arrived in Melbourne. Have decided to buy a generator so free camping becomes a little easier. Preparing for an early start tomorrow as we have to be at the Port by 7am.

The Tassie Trip Part 2

Sunday 29th January: Big day on the road. Travelled through Glenn Innes, Armidale, Tamworth and ended up at a free camp at Premer. Well almost free - $10 donation to the Lions Club. Rained most of the day. Had a stop at Guyra to visit the Lamb and Potato festival. Bought a Lamb and Potato pie for tea - delicious. Premer was like a town from Deliverance - every "house" had at least 3 car bodies in the yard.


Monday 30th January: Another big day on the road. Travelled via Gulgong, Wellington, Cowra and ended up at a free camp at Binalong - home of Banjo Patterson and various bushrangers. Met 3 strange Muslims on the way at Boorowa. Saw the first sunshine of the trip - hooray!!!!

Tuesday 31st January: Uneventful drive into Canberra. Set up camp at the Showgrounds -quite a few caravans in. Drove to the top of Mt. Ainslie to get a birds eye view of Canberra then started our tour of all the Big Attractions. Visited the New Parliament House- very impressive and then the War Memorial - stayed for the playing of the Last Post at closing time - very moving. Went for a walk around Lake Burley Griffin.



Wednesday 1st Feb: Not so early start and visited the Australian Institute of Sport. Nice to see where $45 Million of our money is spent. The interactive games area was interesting. Visited the National Portrait Gallery and saw a few familiar faces. Then went into the High Court and sat in on a taxation fraud case. By the end of the day the rain had set in.




Thursday 2nd Feb: The rain is really set in. Went back to finish touring the War Memorial and found Uncle Greg's name on the Honour Wall - so many names so many stories. In the afternoon we visited the Mint - unfortunately they weren't giving out samples


Friday 3rd Feb: Another rainy day!!!! Shopping at Aldi's then went into the city to have a look around. Very pleasant city centre with Malls and plenty of shops. Bought some thermals for Tasmania - Marg can't wait to try hers on. Visited the National Museum in the afternoon.

The Tassie Trip - Part 1

Saturday 21st January: Spent 5 days on the Gold Coast visiting the family and stayed at Main Beach Caravan Park. It rained continuously and we thought we better get going before we got flooded in. Travelled via Canungra, Beaudesert, Boonah and then over Cunningham's Gap to Tenterfield. Spent the night at Bluff Rock rest area 11km south of Tenterfield. It rained heavily all day.