Ross & Campbell town

When we were given a day off from our work - we wouldn't call it work, how can you call something you love WORK????? 95kms We travelled on the Tasman Highway north of Swansea until the road forked and we turned off onto the Leake Highway and travelled NNW.
View Larger Map We travelled through heavily wooded country & the climb had some bends in the road. Our first find was approx 4km down a dirt road, it opened out to Lake Leake - they have a Tavern which is only open from Thursday - Sunday, available for accommodation and meals. A camping ground, trout fishing with people who obtain a license. Travelled up the Leake Highway until another fork in the road, 16kms to Ross to the right or less than 1km to Campbell Town, of course we took the one into Campbell Town. Campbell Town is a town in Tasmania, on the Midland Highway. Population of approx 1,000 residents. Campbell Town Post Office opened on 1 June 1832. Today, the town acts as the only major rest area on the Midland Highway. One of Campbell Town's features is the convict-built Red Bridge, the oldest bridge on the National Highway. It was named by Governor Macquarie after his wife, Elizabeth Campbell, as was the river passing through the town, the Elizabeth River. The bridge and causeway, were built as a part of the original main road. Construction was commenced in 1836 and completed in 1838. It consists of drystone abutments and timber top, although the top has been replaced, the stone abutments are original, making this a rare example of early Australian stone work. Campbell Town is also home to The Foxhunters Return, a colonial Georgian coaching inn, which retains all its original outbuildings and continues to function as an inn for travellers along the highway. Built by convicts around 1833, with the main building constructed under the direction of stonemason Hugh Keane. After admiring the lovely old buildings and "Red Bridge" we noticed wood carvings in the park next to the bridge. We thank travelled along Midland Highway to the historical town of Ross. Ross sits on the banks of the Macquarie River, Ross is located 78 km south of Launceston and 117 km north of Hobart and is one of Australia's most appealing convict-built stone villages. What’s special about Ross? Well it is because it is the home to the Australia's 3rd oldest bridge, or its cobble-style paths & grand old elm tree lined main street, & arguably the finest 19th century village in Australia. Walk down to the Ross Bridge, designed by John Lee Archer, possibly the most beautiful of its kind left in the world. The detail of its 186 carvings by convict stonemasons was deemed of such high quality that it won the men a free pardon. Like other parts of Tasmania's Midlands, the Ross area is famous for its superfine merino wool. I purchased wool to make Drew a scarf at the Tasmanian Wool Centre where we found a Heritage Museum and Wool Exhibition. We then visited the Female factory where convict women were kept just out of Ross. PHOTOS: 1-Post Office; 2-Old stables near Catholic Church; 3-Catholic Church; 4-Bridge sculpture; 5-Female factory ruins; 6-Bridge

St Helen's to Swansea

As we pulled away from our overnight stay in St Helens we travelled with the inlet on our left hand side, there were white caps on the bay as the wind whistled around our 4 x 4 and caravan. As we travelled south the angry surf pounded the beach with the wind behind it encouraging the waves. Black swans were everywhere as we entered Scamander. Scamander is a small town at the mouth of the Scamander River between St Helens & Swansea, on the north-east coast of Tasmania. The town is a popular holiday destination because of its wide, sandy beaches and views of the ocean. Recreational activities include surfing, swimming and fishing for bream in the river. As we travelled south we past Ironhorse point, where there is a brewery and winery. We entered into Bicheno - where we stopped to have something to eat, still raining. Bicheno is a town on the east coast of Tasmania 185 km north-east of Hobart on the Tasman Highway, with a population of 853. The town is primarily a fishing port and a beach resort. The town was named after James Ebenezer Bicheno, the British Colonial Secretary for Van Diemen's Land from 1843 to 1851. The first historical reference to the place that was to become Bicheno was made by James Kelly during his circumnavigation of Van Diemen's Land. He landed here (when it was known as Waubs Harbour) to dry his provisions. From 1803 Waubs Harbour was used as a whaling port. Bicheno was proclaimed a township in 1866. The hinterland was established for farming in the mid-1840s and continues today. Coal was discovered in 1848. In 1854 the harbour was expanded to provide port facilities for the coal mines at Denison River. The coal was transported to the port via a 5‑km horse-drawn tramway. The use of Bicheno as a coal port was short-lived. The discovery of gold in Victoria saw most of the residents depart in 1855 and for nearly a century Bicheno became a sleepy little fishing village. Fishing has continued to be the lifeblood of the town with substantial quantities of crayfish, abalone, scallops and trevally. In recent times it has become a popular tourist destination, with a range of accommodation, craft shops, and a visitor centre. Visitors are also attracted to the Little Penguin colony on adjacent Diamond Island. A famous resident is the world champion swimmer Shane Gould
View Larger Map We have arrived at the place of our dream job. Please look at the website - do not forget to book if you want to visit. http://www.swanseacottages.com.au/

Devonport to St Helen's

As stated we left the Spirit of Tasmania early in the morning. We landed in Devonport Devonport is a city in the northwestern part of Tasmania, situated at the mouth of the Mersey River. Devonport is the major regional centre of the northwestern part of the state. During the 1850s the twin settlements of Formby and Torquay were established on opposite banks at the mouth of the Mersey River. Torquay was the larger community with police, post, magistrate, at least three hotels, shipyards and stores. From 1870–1880 the shipping industry grew and work was undertaken to deepen the mouth of the river. When the mouth of the river could support a shipping industry the first regular steamer services commenced operating directly between the Mersey and Melbourne. In 1889 the Bluff lighthouse was completed and the turn of the Century saw the railway make a significant difference to the Formby community. It combined a railhead and port facilities in the one place. A wharf was created on the west bank close to the railway and warehouses and situated in the main wharf area. The railway brought a building boom to Formby. In 1890 a public vote united Torquay and Formby, and the settlements became the town of Devonport. The first photo was of the beautiful rolling hills just near Devonport, the next photo was of the climb up over the forest - national parks while driving into St Helens. We firstly had to call into Launceston Betta Electrical - to get our new WACO fridge installed - beautiful - it works. On our way we saw the competitors of the Targa Rally. This is a rally which travels the roads of Tassie. We then travelled up to Scottsdale and over to St Helens where it was blowing a gale, in the 4 x 4 we could feel the wind blowing the caravan. We finally pulled into the Big 4 Caravan Park - St Helens. The cost was $34 for the night, we parked near the amenities, but overnight it was worse we experienced hail, high wind and rain which meant that we were late starting on our trip to our "dream job" in Swansea.
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Spirit of Tasmania

Wednesday 17th April 2013 - today is the day to we sail to Tasmania on the "Spirit of Tasmania" - we did not sail until 7.30pm - but we had to go to the storage area where we collected the caravan by 4.30pm - drove to Port Melbourne. It was 4.50pm as we drove to our first security check where the vehicle and caravan was examined by quarantine officers and then asked to drive forward where we were instructed to drive into one of the four lanes - they had caravans & trailers & campervans in one line, 4 wheel drives in another lane and cars in two lanes. We did not park up until 6.50pm, walked up to our cabin, settled into the bar at approx 7.10pm with a chardonay & shiraz in hand waited for the ship to leave the dock. We enjoyed the journey over the Bass Strait while sleeping, as we were last on, we were first off at 6.30am.

Seymour - Melbourne

Total mileage: 112 KMS Left Seymour around 9.40am. We drove to the Puckapunal Army Base, thinking we could walk right in and look through the museum which is there, BUT, we were confronted by armed guards at the entrance which is a couple of hundred meters from the actual base. And guess what!!!! they would not let us in. We turned around and headed towards Melbourne. We travelled down the Hume Highway until the turn off to Kinglake and Wittlesea which were devastated by the fires in February 2009. Kinglake is a town in Victoria, 46 km north-east from Melbourne's Central Business District. Its Local Government Area are the Shires of Murrindindi and Nillumbik, and a population of 1,347. The town was one of the worst affected areas during the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009. The Black Saturday bushfires were a series of bushfires that ignited or were burning across the Australian state of Victoria on and around Saturday, 7 February 2009. The fires occurred during extreme bushfire-weather conditions and resulted in Australia's highest ever loss of life from a bushfire; 173 people died and 414 were injured as a result of the fires. As many as 400 individual fires were recorded on 7 February. Following the events of 7 February 2009 and its aftermath, that day has become widely referred to as Black Saturday. The following video will show you how close to devastation Kinglake became. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=JTA3hwyEXnI After purchasing some home made jam and pickles & lunch at the local cafe we continued on our trip. It was an uneventful trip which did not take long on our way into the big metropolis of Melbourne with the help of "Sally" our new GPS and she did not lead us astray even to the storage sheds where we left the caravan until we sail on Wednesday. One of the photos shows you that there is a slab of concrete which is where the Kinglake Service Station which sells petrol, we found out that it caught on fire and actually exploded with all the petrol catching fire. We were also told the shops across the street caught on fire in the roof, but they were saved.

South Melbourne

Drew and I have a few days where we have to supply our own entertainment during the day - so today we went for a walk around South Melbourne (home of the wonderful Sydney Swans AFL team). Had a coffee & smoothie at a very lay back coffee lounge which was on Claradon Street, dropped off our external hard drive at MGC Computer Australia - 237 Park St, Sth Melbourne 039681 6800. Very organised We wandered into Crystal Palace Lighting in Park Street, Sth Melbourne and after speaking to Tony who told us to go down and take a look at the new "The Block" TV house - Drew saw Keith (project manager) they were filming when we were there, they are transforming the BizzMotel into five luxury units.

Sunday outing to Mt Dandenong

Yesterday we travelled to Skyhigh in the Dandenong ranges. Less than one hour from the Melbourne CBD you can be SkyHigh – on the uppermost reach of the Dandenong Ranges, amid cool fern glades and lush towering native forest, looking at the big picture, from the Mornington Peninsula across the majestic sweep of Port Phillip Bay, surrounded by Melbourne’s growing urban fringes. After sunset the southern sky, brilliant in the clear mountain night, is imitated by a spectacular carpet of city lights. Loved the views, we were not blessed with clear weather as the smoke haze blocked the views. For our Perth people think of Roleystone and it is very much like that but with a view of Melbourne you would not believe.

Wangaratta - Glenrowan & the drive into Seymour Victoria

Ned Kelly country - Wangaratta is not on the highway, so we turned off the highway, coming into Wangaratta we noticed lovely parks and gardens, drove down the main street looking for somewhere to park and look into the tourist information centre, we found a park a couple of blocks away - just a suggestion to Wangaratta Council please if you want grey nomads or any other traveller with a caravan, we need more parks closer to the cente of town, we were happy to walk, but some may not be able to walk. Still loved the feeling of Wangaratta - people were lovely and helpful especially in the tourist information centre, would be the best we have visited, the presentation - especially of their products of the area. After speaking with the staff at the information centre we travelled to Glenrowan where this was Ned Kelly's last stand,so to speak. Some history - Edward "Ned" Kelly (June 1854 or 1855 – 11 November 1880) was an Irish/Australian bushranger. He is considered by some to be merely a cold-blooded killer, while others consider him to be a folk hero. Kelly was born in Victoria to an Irish convict father, and as a young man he clashed with the Victoria Police. Following an incident at his home in 1878, police parties searched for him in the bush. After he killed three policemen, the colony proclaimed Kelly and his gang wanted outlaws. A final violent confrontation with police took place at Glenrowan on 28 June 1880. Kelly, dressed in home-made plate metal armour and a helmet, was captured and sent to jail. He was convicted of three counts of wilful murder and hanged at Old Melbourne Gaol in November 1880. His daring and notoriety made him an iconic figure in Australian history, folklore, literature, art and film. In August 2011, anthropologists announced that a skeleton found in a mass grave in Pentridge Prison had been confirmed as Kelly's. We attended a visual/theatre re-enactment of the Kelly gang's last days, it was a very good experience done well. The cost was $25 pensioner, or $27 adult.