Maria Island, the forgetting of brakes and success with squid!

Stopover at Triabunna for a couple of nights in order to take the ferry to beautiful and car-less Maria Island (ex-convict settlement and home to various unsuccessful business ventures for a passionate but somewhat Italian entrepeneur). Stayed at the Triabunna Caravan Park where Kate was tormented by ladies in the laundry who were all curious to know what her husband did for work in Melbourne. Sash made firm friends with a lone elderly French cyclist who couldn't speak a word of English and who didn't speak with any other travellers but was happy to engage in exchanges with Sash when they pointed at things and the French dude said the word in French and Sash looked at him in slight confusion and said the word in English, and so on. We piled our bikes and us onto the ferry to Maria Island. The Captain gave us an informal and odd commentary which included an excited announcement that the bay was chock full of enormous schools of squid which could be caught with virtually no effort. He showed us his depth monitor screen and told us that the regular dark shapes were actually gazillions of squid. He gave an excited Bill precise instructions about where and how to catch them. He also advised us to grab some super-fresh fish n chips for dinner from the van near the ferry terminal when we returned.

Maria Island was pretty cool with lots of cycling tracks on which we were determined to transform into action family. Unfortunately Sash, who has only just learned to ride his 2-wheeler, forgot the concept of brakes on the first steep hill. After gathering a lot of speed and with Bill cycling madly behind him trying to grab his arm, he veered into a fallen tree and came an almighty crash. Could have been much worse. Kate took him up to the rangers house where a kindly and possibly over-concerned ranger spent an incredible amount of time and effort patching him up (risk management, or boredom?). By the end of it he looked like he had just been released from intensive care after a major car crash. Of course Sash was thrilled with his patches and bandages and immediately jumped back on his bike to burn after Bill and Zara to show them. The rest of the day was more peaceful. We explored painted rocks, ate boiled eggs and bananas, checked out the museum, rode to the reservoir and saw a wombat! 

We wished we had bought sleeping bags and food for dinner, because you can stay overnight in the old convict cells on the Island. But we hadn't, so we took the ferry back to Triabunna looking forward to fresh fish n chips and then the catching of more squid than we could ever eat. But the fish n chips van was closed on Tuesdays and not a single squid was around to be caught. Not sure whether the captain was just trying to entertain his passengers or whether he just mad.

New friends, the 'best view in the world' and exciting news from Melbs

Onto the much raved about Freycinet National Park - home of the 'best view in the world' - over Wineglass Bay. Spent a very wet night next to Moulting Game Reserve (internationally acclaimed birdwatching site AND seasonal duckshooting hotspot - go figure...) then moved into our campsite in the national park - right on a lovely sheltered beach just near Coles Bay. Spashes of squid ink all over the town jetty got Bill's blood boiling and a new routine of night fishing with various new friends and a hipflask began. The campsite was beautiful but we felt a bit packed in - too close to our neighbours so thankfully they were mainly very nice (except the couple who stopped to comment loudly and unflatteringly on every aspect of our set-up without realising we were in it!). We were lucky enough to meet Tony from near Davenport and his lovely three children -Tia, Dana and Will. Not only were they great company and endless hours of beach fun for the kids, they had three kayaks and were kind enough to paddle Zara and Sash around the little bay. Our bold Zara decided to take the oars and we watched her heading out to sea until Tony paddled out to turn her around. We also joined Tony and his gang on a hike to the Wineglass Bay lookout, down to spectacular Wineglass Bay beach, then back around to the car. It should have taken 5 hours but with Sash's little legs it took a bit longer... Zara did the entire walk hand-in-hand with very sweet 9yo Dana. We are looking forward to catching up with them all when we pass through Davenport on our way back to the boat. We also enjoyed a few glasses of wine and dinner with Michael, Julie and their three lovely daughters. Zara found a good friend in Aja and they spent much time reading eachother jokes from Zara's collection, and riding bikes up and down the campground. Bill and Michael hit the jetty together - without much luck but plenty of good conversation.

Homeschooling with Zara is going well. We have been taking it in turns to teach for one hour each weekday morning. Like most parents we are over-interested in our child's possibilities and tend to go straight for the harder stuff instead of focusing on the basic curriculum as provided by the distance ed school. Bill, who has been teaching maths, almost has Zara on long-division! So we've decided to slow the pace and make sure we are covering the basics as well! But it's great fun for all of us and Zara is even begging for school on the weekend. Let's see if our mutual enthusiasm remains...

Oh and while at Coles Bay, we were totally thrilled to hear about the peaceful arrival of two special new people in Melbourne - our niece Freya Marlo, and little brother to Ada, Henry David! Massive congrats and big kisses to Tom, Aimie, Cole and Liz, Dave and Ada! We can't wait to meet Freya and Henry when we pass through Melbs next month!

Bicheno - penguins, devils and a blowhole

The Bay of Fires was beautiful but we were camping on black sand so became unrecognisably filthy within the first hour. In serious need of washing we headed south to Bicheno where we stayed a couple of nights in a caravan park where we could scrub ourselves and our clothes clean. Also caught up with the local fairy penguin colony in the driving rain. We were wet, but they were cute. We learned that penguins are blue not black, and a group of them is called a parcel. Who knew? Then more Tassie wildlife the next day when we visited the first of many Tasmanian devil conservation parks. Kids were thrilled with feeding the farm animals - particularly a fat goat they named 'big greedy guts'. But the most amusing thing for Kate about Bicheno was her first sighting of the old-men-comparing-caravans phenomena. Conversations can go on for hours and provide the male grey nomad with obvious enjoyment. A few sympathetic old fellas smiled at our piles of boxes and generously suggested a tour of their massive caravan where 'there is a place for everything'. Kate is a bit concerned that Bill is showing the early signs of becoming an old man obsessed with his equipment (in a manner of speaking) but fortunately he hasn't bailed up any other fellas for lengthy discussions. Yet... Sash on the other hand has come out of his puzzle-doing shell and has started bailing up elderly couples in caravan park kitchens to tell them poo jokes and smack himself on his head for their amusement.

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Davenport to Bay of Fires - have we peaked too early?

Arrived in Tasmania to a full day of rain. All felt a bit deflated. We stocked up then drove through the drizzle until we got to the Bay of Fires on the upper East Coast of Tassie. Found a nice beachside camping site and the rain kindly stopped in time for us to spend many hours wrestling poles and tent walls until we'd set up. After dinner we decided to check out the beach - and wow! It's gotta be the most beautiful beach we've ever seen. Lombok-blue water, white-white sand, rocks for hopping and rock pools for poking. Checked the guidebook and apparently it's been voted the second best beach in the world. Not surprised. So we've spent a gorgeous first week with improving weather, swimming, jumping off rocks and lolling on the beach. No fishing joy for Bill, although Sash caught a flathead in a brief pause between listening to audiobooks and Gotye on the jetty.

Daytrip to cheese place, rainforest walk, and a hike up Mt William for Zara and Kate (while boys fished). Somewhat reluctantly moving on tomorrow. Half-worried that we have come to the most beautiful on earth as the first stop on the trip...

Melbourne - Devenport TAS

The boat from Melbourne to Devenport was, as predicted by one and all, fun. All pretty excited so much silliness... Our cabin overlooked the ramp where cars drove onto the boat which provided at least 30 mins glued-to-the-window entertainment for the kids. Had a drink in the bar - tried to watch some of the men's tennis final (no joy). Not a rough passing - all slept well but had to wake pretty early to be ready for arrival at 6am.