Tasmania Xmas 2005

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Pics from Tasmania now uploaded for those that are interested.

Interesting holiday - really enjoyed Tasmania, but we faced new holiday experiences that, perhaps next time round, we would do differently..... Namely a) Get a bigger campervan - it was a bit of a shuffle with Noah's schedule & stuff and b) understand that little ones get bored whilst driving - severely restricts the schedule. I would also not hire a surfboad for 10 days given that a) the water was 12 deg and b) there were no waves whatsoever.

The route took us from the capital Hobart, heading North up the east coast to Port Arthur (that's Port Aaaaaarrrrrthuuur with a broad west country accent), up to Wine Glass Bay, Bay of Fires, the remote Mount William National Park, then headed West inland to spend Christmas at Nigel & Jo's (my second cousin once removed) at Weegena, nr Deloraine in Mid-North Tasmania about 30mins west from Launceston.

Many thanks to Nigel & Jo, whom we had never met before, and very kindly offered us a place to stay at Christmas - brave if you'd never met someone before. My Dad knew Nigel as a child, but Nigel essentially left the UK in the late 60's to travel the world, finally ending up in Tasmania. I had met Nigel's Dad Norman (to the English)/Elwyn (to the Welsh) at my Grandmothers funeral and on another occasion - sadly Elwyn passed away the year before last, but my Dad always said we should look up Nigel if we ever made it to Tasmania.

They made us really feel welcome and (I think!) enjoyed Noah's presence at Christmas (aside from chasing the cat, food on the floor, dominating, etc, etc). Before retiring Nigel built a well known maze in Westbury. He started growing it in 1982, and it opened in 1992. That's patience for you.

Running out of time we skipped past Cradle mountain (visibility = 0), down to Strahan on the Mid West Coast to take a one day cruise up the Gordon River into the National Park / Rainforest. This follows the tale of the Huon Pine - a very rare slow growing tree that lives for up to 4000 years and never rots due to the high concentration of oil. The Huon pine was one of the reasons why Sarah Island penal colony was built - boatbuilding - and also one of the most nortorious and terrible places to be posted to. The story of the final escape of the prisoners as the island was closing (to Chile) is told in the very funny (and Tasmania's longest running) play - The Ship that Never Was. The tale of Sarah Island was told in Marcus Clarke's 1860 book - For the Term of His Natural Life, and subsequently made into a 1927 movie, then a Hollywood movie - starring Anthony Perkins, in 1982.

From there we scarpered back to Hobart via a breathtaking drive through the National Park.

Take Care.