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.