Tassie, the final chapter.

7 & 8/2. Went to visit our friend Gary, in St Mary's and had a cuppa. We then headed into the forest again.

9 & 10/2. We met up with our friend Mickie in St Helen's and have been invited to dinner. Fantastic.

11/2. We had a great time with Mickie and Knut. Sadly the weather was dull and we didn't get to see those beautiful colours in the Bay of Fires. It rained most of the night and we broke camp in the wet. By late morning we had left the rain behind us. There were a few more lovely little bays to visit before we started heading West again towards Devonport. Our last Tassie bush camp was great. No rain, wind, waves breaking, people, music or giggling girls!

12/2. It was a beautiful day so we drove along the coast west of Devonport then back to the camp site ready to get the ferry. Mickie had inspired us with some of her lovely photos of Sisters Beach!

13/2. We left Tasmania on yet another lovely day and had a calm crossing. We weren't sure we really wanted to get back home just yet given the awful weather still hanging over Queensland. We are tempted to head for Uluru!!

13 & 14/2. Drove till dark and camped up in the Murrindindi Scenic Reserve. This was an area devastated by the Black Saturday fires in 2009. We were so impressed with what has been achieved there and the camping area was superb. such a contrast to the bush camp sites in Tasmania which were usually scruffy with broken glass and rubbish. We had a great 10 km walk.

I woke up on Valentines Day to a tiny glass of flowers and a cup of tea. It was so sweet!

15/2. After about 70,000 kms with our truck we got our first puncture. Not bad eh!! We camped up by the Murray River. Only a couple of days till we get home now but boy it's got hot, 32 degrs and muggy. We aren't dealing with it very well, we're getting soft! I nearly forgot one of the most important mentions of the trip, we had lunch at Bonnie Doon! I never thought I would ever go there. The tranquility!! (For those of you who don't know about 'Bonnie Doon' please go and rent out the classic Australian film 'The Castle'. It is one of the best movies ever.)

16 & 17/2. Camped at the Murray River and Goobang National Park.

18/2. A long drive and HOME!!!

Heading up the East Coast.

4&5/1. Oh dear I haven't done the blog for a few days and can't remember what we did! Oh yes, we got the ferry to Bruny Island. Again, beautiful bays and scenery, lovely walks. Playing around on the sand caught us out. When I stopped to have a look at the photos Steve had taken, the truck slowly sank into the sand. We couldn't get ourselves out however hard we tried, and with the knowledge it was an incoming tied, I went in search of help. Thankfully a Land Cruiser was nearby and the owner was only too happy to help! I was there, ready with the camera, but it all happened so fast Steve and the truck were flying across the sand - backwards - faster than I could push the button. We smiled, afterwards, and learnt a lot.

It's sad that we had two nights in bush camps that left us with a sour feeling. Saxophone and bongo drums at 12.30 am and giggling girls with loud music!!! Whenever we are forced to stay in 'communal' accommodation there's always someone who wants to play music, LOUD. ' We are trying to be accepting of the youth but they make it so hard when they are so inconsiderate. Were we that bad we ask ourselves! I hope not.

6/1. Caught the ferry back and after a short stop at Richmond we headed up the east coast. We found a quiet place to stop for the night as far away from the crowds as possible and had a good nights sleep.

7&8/1. Went to visit our friend Gary, in St Mary's and had a cuppa. We then headed into the forest again.

9/1. We met up with our friend Mickie in St Helen's and have been invited to dinner. Fantastic.

South to Hobart and The Tasman Peninsular

26/1. Drove to the Tahune Forest Reserve and played around on some of the 4wd tracks. Had lunch by the river. Went and had a look the Tahune Air Walk then off to find a campsite. Good Australia Day!

27/1. A cold night spent in the forest. I just couldn't get my feet warm! Woke up to a fabulous morning again though. Showered, had a hair cut and then drove off to Southport Lagoon. It's only a short distance on the track but the book said 1 hour to do 6 kms and that's just about what it took. It wasn't difficult just lots of pot holes and very stoney but fun. The entrance to the lagoon itself was also stoney and muddy. I tried to go for a swim but as soon as I put my feet in the mud I sank and had to pull my shoe out. A pity as it was such a lovely drive and sunny day.

28/1. I walked back up the track in the morning and reached the 5 km marker before Steve caught me up in the truck. We had been told by a few people that Cockle Creek was a must to visit so that's where we headed next. Now if I say the whole of Hobart were there it would of course be an exaggeration, but only a small one! There were so many people camped up, it was heaving. Hardly a space to be found so we didn't bother. We had a fabulous walk along the beach, a lovely cool swim then lunch. It was so beautiful. The sea was turquoise the sky bright blue. It was just like being in the Whitsundays. Come on, this is (almost) the most Southerly point of Tasmania and it should have been, well, not like it was!

29/1. Campsites are few and far between now and we ended up driving the truck into the bushes, as far as we could to get off the road. The alternative was another awful campsite. It turned out to be quite lovely. A view of the ocean from our chairs and a White Bellied Sea Eagle flying around just finished the day off nicely. The forecast was for 29 degrs today followed by storms on Monday, rain on Tuesday (a high of 15 forecast, brrrr). Yep the best of the weather is deserting us, temporarily we hope, and we have decided to find a B&B tomorrow or at least till the worst has gone through. We took advantage of our last perfect day and drove up to Mt Wellington. It was absolutely awesome!

30&31/1. We found our last bush campsite before heading to Hobart CIty Centre. It was so hot we both just sat in the chairs and fell asleep! We got the truck fixed, I had my hand x-rayed then we had some retail therapy. Got a cabin at the closest campsite. Good decision as it absolutely poured all night.

1/2. Stayed in the field next to the RSL last night at Primrose Sands and spent a rather pleasant evening with the locals. In the morning we headed for Port Arthur and Eaglehawk Neck. The weather didn't know what to do so it did everything. We managed to dodge the showers and found our nights spot at Lime Bay. It really bugs me how people can be so inconsiderate to others. It was a rather nice place, Lime Bay and the campsite, but there's always some jerk who wants to play his music LOUD. We camped up outside the official site just to get away from them. That's why we try to find 'out of the way places. We are finding it harder to do that unfortunately now that we have left the West Coast.

3/1. Blow holes, caves, beautiful bays, historic sites and lovely views. I think that just about sums up our two days in the Port Arthur/Eaglehawk Neck area. Off to meet our friend Judy in Hobart today and find a cycling glove or something with palm padding to protect my hand.