My Adventure – It Begins

It all began for me on a beautiful Summer’s day, on the 31st January 2022.

My original plan was to take six months to see the sights of Australia on my own. Day to day deciding whether to turn right or left, talking to locals about what to do, bowling, fishing, walking, talking, finding my self – finding my colour.

But plans change …….

So, now it has started like this. The first three weeks of my adventure are being spent in Tasmania with my Dad. He turned 80 on Tuesday. So its a sort of birthday, bonding, while ya still can sort of trip! I love my Dad, we are very similar in lots of ways – which did worry me a little (ok a lot), would I last three weeks travelling with probably the person most like me (or would it last three days and we would end up killing each other)????

But here we are – we’ve lasted five days without needing to dig a hole for one of us. In fact far from it we’ve lasted five days and it’s been f**king brilliant.

We boarded the Spirit of Tasmania on January 31st (whilst Dad was still 79). I have travelled a few times this way to Tasmania – driven the vehicle onboard and then grabbed a seat and enjoyed the 9 – 11 hour voyage across Bass Strait. No different this time. We didn’t bother with a cabin, nor reserving a recliner – just “grab a seat” and go. It was a remarkably calm voyage. Port Phillip Bay and Bass Strait were almost “glassy calm” and there was hardly any movement onboard. The voyage went very quickly with Dad and I conquering the “Crossword Puzzle Double Spread” that appears in the Monday Herald Sun – Yep conquered the bloody lot between the two of us.

So we found out the following about Spirit of Tasmania (there are actually two – Spirit I & Spirit II). Both were built in Finland (love this place) in 1998 and were first used as ferries between Greece and Italy (originally named Superfast III and Superfast IV). They were rebranded Spirit of Tasmania (I&II) in 2002 and began travelling between Melbourne and Devonport on both day and night sailings. Deck 7 is where the “cheap seats” are located and we found a lovely spot next to one of the windows. There was a nice restaurant that served breakfast and lunch and was very popular. There was also a bar/coffee shop that got more popular as the day went by. There was also a decent snack shop with hot and cold food as well as a reasonable range of drinks. A cinema showed the latest Bond movie – had already seen it or I would have been tempted to waste away a couple of hours. Staff were very friendly and were keen to strike up a conversation.

We arrived in Devonport a bit later than expected as there had been an incident in the port a couple of days earlier when one of the concrete carriers (The Goliath) had an argument with a couple of tug boats and caused a “minor” oil spill which they were still dealing with (bugger – had a nice little fishing spot picked out on the River Mersey that was now a “no go – too oily” area).

Our home for the next few days was a little outside of Devonport in Port Sorrell. We were welcomed by the delightful Michelle and her family at the Lions Port Sorrell Caravan Park. She had “hand picked” a lovely spot for us to pitch our tent – “nice and flat with some decent grass” was how she so eloquently put it. It was getting pretty dark by the time we found Site 87 and managed to pitch the tent in the dying embers of the day’s sunlight – no swearing or “short words exchanged”. Apart from Dad having a flat mattress – a good night was had by both of us. I did venture out for a bit of a beach walk just after Midnight (typical Simon sleep behaviour) and did some contemplative thinking by the rolling waves – which was only interrupted by some rain (quickly followed by a hurried retreat to the tent).

Tuesday saw Dad’s birthday. We explored the amazing Freers Beach which is a stone’s throw from out camp site. A good hour long walk which seemed to fly by as we enjoyed the beautiful scenery and cool sea breeze. We did a bit of shopping at BCF – #1 item a self inflating mattress for Dad (well worth investing in just to stop his “woe is me” moaning about sleeping on a flat mattress the night before). Went out and about and visited the Spreyton Cidery – well worth a visit. A lovely spot, nestled in the orchards that grow the fruit used in making the delicious beverage. Spent a good hour here taking in the beautiful scenery and enjoying a tasting paddle of their six most popular ciders (and one delightful ginger beer).

Drove from here to Deloraine where we had a cup of tea next to the picturesque Meander River. Surprisingly we ran into a couple from Dad’s bowls club in Christies Beach (small world hey?), had a bit of a chat – the usual “what are you doing here” dance you do when coming across someone you know far from home.

We then went to the Devils Gate Dam. The dam forms the famous Lake Barrington. A world renowned rowing venue that hosted the world rowing championship in 1990 and has hosted several Australian rowing championships. The dam walls are 84 m tall and are some of the thinnest walls on any concrete arch dam anywhere in the world. Well worth the visit if you ever get the chance.

Wednesday saw us get back to nature a bit. After our morning beach walk we ventured down to Mole Creek Karst National Park. Which is a beautiful spot. The big draw cards of the park are the limestone cave systems that are located there – we had a crack at the King Solomon Caves (my favourite of the two main ones imho). We ran into a couple who shared the tour with us who were long time Territorians – we reminisced about shared places, people and stories (her claim to fame was owning the 1999 Melbourne Cup winning horse). The cave system was discovered in 1906 and is an impressive example of a dry cave with limestone formations dating back up to 45 million years. The tour of the caves goes for about an hour and is an amazing experience.

We then ventured to Liffey Falls which lie within the Liffey Falls State Reserve. A nice meandering walk through a remarkable temperate, mossy gum forest leads you to the Liffey River and a number of free running waterfalls. Could have spent a long time in the river bed listening to the river running over the rocks and taking in the warm sunshine – a truly magical place.

Thursday saw us head to Burnie. Walked about the town for an hour – was dead as a dodo. Even my favourite Maker’s Workshop (a longtime spot of pilgrimage when in Tasmania) was shut – permanently – much to my sadness. Decided to have a cup of tea and then skedaddle and head up to Hellyer’s Road Whisky Distillery – initially for a tasting of their truly amazing whisky. Dad decided he was going to have lunch while we were there. We both had a delicious flight of the liquid gold they so expertly distil in this idyllic location overlooking Emu Valley – about 5 minutes drive out of Burnie. Could have spent a lotta dosh at this place but walked out empty handed.

Friday saw us pack up camp -ready to relocate to Bridport further East along the North Coast. A mostly uneventful “decamp” saw us head off for an enjoyable 90 minute drive taking in some beautiful scenery. We arrived at the Bridport Seaside Caravan Park and found our site – wow what a beauty. Overlooking a secluded beach only accessible from the park – literally 20 metres from the water’s edge. A super efficient camp set up and a refreshing swim saw us head out for a visit to Bridestowe Lavender Farm. It is 106 hectares of lavender plants and is the largest lavender farm in the southern hemisphere. Unfortunately they had just completed harvesting the pungent flowers and so, although still spectacular for the scale of the estate, we missed the purple hew of the flowering plants.

While we were having a cuppa we ran into a lady and her daughter enjoying some lavender ice cream. They suggested we go to a small town called Legerwood where they had an interesting carved war memorial. The township planted some trees in 1918 (as did many a town community in Australia) to commemorate those who had fallen during The Great War who had enlisted from the town and surrounding area. In 2004 the trees were in poor health and the community decided that they were not able to be saved and so used the wood from the trees to make carved figures of those the trees commemorated – they are quite a spectacular memorial and it seems sad that they are in such an out of the way place (had to travel along a few km of windy dirt roads to get to the township). They are a poignant reminder of a horrific experience for many communities around the world.

Fish and chips for tea – the business is up for sale and would be a nice little money earner judging by the number of tourists milling around the town. If you’re after a sea change maybe go to realestate.com.au

Just listening to the waves roll on the beach – then off to sleep land (maybe – although knowing me I’ll lie there for f**king hours and get bugger all sleep).

Til next time ………