Spirit of Tasmania

A leisurely start to the day, with our usual walk along the beach before leaving Turners Beach. Taking the slow road via Forth, Don, Latrobe and ending up in East Devonport. The caravan park is deserted, no interstate travellers here. I tried a quick ride along the river, then along the coast to conservation point.

Conservation Point with Mersey Bluff in the background.

Our campsite is right on the Mersey, so when finishing dinner we listened to the lifeboat drill as the Spirit sailed out to Melbourne. We will head home tomorrow, with a flight to WA soon. It’s looking like we will at last get to step onboard Prime Thyme next year, till then “Joey” will do us nicely.

Bye Bye

Picnic Point

Another glorious day, with an early morning beach walkies for Rosie

Early morning at Turners Beach

After paying for another day we then walked to the Berry Farm for morning tea, or rather Cooper was carried there. However we did walk back along the beach, which he greatly enjoyed from his “happy” tail and high stepping march. As usual Rosie lived up to her “Cyclone Rosie” name with much growling at the sand and doing donuts….

I then assembled the bike again and did a 29K ride from the campsite to Picnic Point and back. There really are some superb tracks about, all well maintained with mown grass verges, etc. Puts Launceston to shame really…..

Leven River mouth looking towards Ulverstone
Trails everywhere, under / over the bridge, and back towards Turners Beach
My Smart Motion e20 folding bike, folds into a carry bag with wheels attached.

Sunshine

At last the sun is shinning ! An excellent walk on the beach this morning, what a difference low tide makes. Cyclone Rosie lived up to her name, and even Cooper and H went for a run !

Salty smells are the best !

I then met up with the “Dad’s Army” cycling group at the Berry Farm and cycled to Ulverstone and back. A late lunch walk to La Mer cafe down the road was supposed to be followed by another beach walk, but the tide was too high. Postponed till later, an excellent day in all.

The excellent La Mer cafe is right on the foreshore.

Wet and Wild

Well the last couple of days haven’t been anything to blog about, rather wet and windy. We got a couple of walks in, but that was about it. The weather forecast wasn’t looking good for Stanley either, so we cancelled and have relocated to our favourite spot at Turners Beach. This has good cycling and 2 excellent Cafes within walking distance, as well as being right on the beach. Mind you Rosie mis judged high tide and almost got swept off her feet by an errant wave. Most indignant, especially being towelled off..

Lunch spot in Penguin
High tide at Turners Beach and Rosie gets wet…..

The 4 other couples in Caravans relocated to Ulverstone, but the site didn’t permit dogs being close to a Penguin breeding colony. We shall catch up once the sun re appears….till then, Cheers.

MG Motorhome ?

Well Covid continues to play havoc with our travelling plans. Not only are we prevented from travelling overseas, but a 3 day lockdown in Hobart saw us forced to cancel our planned trip south.

Fortunately the cycling division of the MG Car Club, yes I know, also has a further sub division of caravan enthusiasts, yes I know even more weird ! So we invited ourselves along to their north west coast jaunt

3 Sisters

So after loading the dogs, and an assortment of clothes, it is spring in Tassie, we headed north. Joining 2 caravans at Frankfort’s Blue Barn for morning tea, we enjoyed the scenic drive from Ulverstone to Sulphur Creek along the coast. A quick stop at the 3 sisters nature reserve for the dogs, then back on the main highway to Wynyard. By 3 we were all settled in, 4 caravans and 1 motorhome. Although a small caravan park it’s right on the beachfront, and has loads of walks for the dogs.

“Joey” our Aida Eyre
Beach access behind our pitch

Unfortunately there’s been a lot of air/sea activity around the area. A small boat has been missing for a day, and 2 bodies were recovered as we were setting up. 1 person is still missing, so there will be more patrols tomorrow. It was a slightly subdued group tonight, and with the wind howling we’ve retreated to our van. Everybody has their bikes, so it’s off cycling, weather permitting.

They call it Scrabble, I call it drinks and nibbles.

Easter Monday

Our final day at Spring Beach saw a visit to a pop up bookshop at Triabana, followed by a river walk for the dogs. We then drove to an lookout with amazing views over all the bays, islands and passages.

Then onto Spring Bay distillery, with some pretty good gin ! Whilst the dogs had an afternoon nap I fitted in another bike ride, along the coast looking at Maria Island. We have loved our Easter break with friends.

Maria Island

Easter Sunday

After yesterday’s heat, it reached 32 degrees ! and warm night, things have cooled down.

Dale and I started the day off with a ride around Orford in his freshly restored Pale Primrose Jaguar E type. He’s done a lovely job 👍

After morning tea on the deck we took the dogs for a walk around the river, with its stunning views to Maria Island. Despite Rosie getting a grass seed stuck in her paw, skilfully removed by H, they really enjoyed it and are both snoring soundly after a cheesy lunch. We will attempt to FaceTime WA this afternoon, whilst tonight we will meet up with some fellow Jaguar owners for drinks, nibbles and then dinner out. A wonderfull way to spend Easter.

Spring Beach

We had a gentle start to the day, packing up and then making our way to our friends near Orford. I had forgotten about the steep gravel drive but we made it to the top of the road and have levelled up Joey…

View at bottom of drive….

This afternoon I managed a bike ride back to Orford, along a coastal path, Shelley Beach and return. It was good to stretch the legs.

Orford
Coastal Path

Tomorrow we are off to a vineyard, Rosie and Cooper have a lovely lounge to stay, and behave in……..

Richmond

Taking advantage of our first free motorhome service in Hobart we have decided to spend Easter on the road. We free camped along the road at Kempton so our next day servicing was done by midday at A&K Caravans. Then over Grasstree Hill Road to Richmond and a caravan park. Seeing our dogs we were given a lovely open grassed site.

Today we walked into town and the the bridge, the oldest in Australia. It’s a lovely Georgian town, with beautiful sandstone buildings.

Richmond Pub, before opening !

By now the dogs were flagging, they have only got little legs and Cooper was feeling hot. Time for a coffee, cake and water bowls all round.

The onto the bridge, stunning and not too many people around, so good for pics. It’s supposed to be 29 degrees today, it’s certainly humid, so we’ve headed back and the dogs have crashed.

The caravan park is filling up, it’s going to be busy over Easter, but we have a cunning plan……our friends Dale and Gale have a beachfront property near Orford, so we will be heading that way tomorrow !

Homeward Bound

What is it about Day 3 of the Topless Tour that it always rains…..the 5th running was no exception with a wet start for brekky. Chester and Sally in the MGA had no room for a hood, so got wet…

Due to the rain we decided to head straight for Campbell Town and home via the Lake Leake Highway. We followed the A just in case of problems, but with rain easing and little traffic, good time was made.

The Book Cellar

The book cellar offers a vast range of reading material, and didn’t disappoint this time with 4 books on canals selected along with coffee. The traffic had greatly increased so we said our good byes and headed home. Many thanks to all the organisers, participants and my navigator H. A good time was had by all, thanks for the pic Hung, he said it needed no caption…..😃…..I’m not so sure…..Cheers till next time.