Day 9, Friday 3/1/2014, Kingston and Tahune

Everyone was up and ready to leave the cabins by 8am.
The rain and wind have settled a bit today and it's perfect. It was lovely to be doing something as a whole group, heading south through Huonville, up into the mountains to the Tahune Treetop Walk. Gorgeous! First we watched a DVD on the Huon Pine, then a short hike along the Huon River followed by 112 stairs up to the treetop walk and then 2 swinging bridges over the Huon and Picton Rivers.

Eliza got a huge thrill today doing the "hanglide" flying fox across the Huon River after a demo from Gary.

After lunch Leah, Gary, Eliza and Amara went their own way, food tasting their way back towards Hobart to get their tent poles fixed.
Parkes and Williams families had a lovely afternoon. First we checked out the timber boat museum at Huonville at Clyde's suggestion. So interesting! The timber boats are so beautiful and romantic. Huon is the perfect timber for boats as it doesn't rot. You can sign up to do a 7 week course and build a dingy, or a 1.5yr course to build a small yacht and get your ship wright certificate.

We detoured to the east, taking the southern coast road back to Kingston to visit roadside farms, buying cherries, strawberries, apples, cider, cheese and liqueur.
Pagan cherry and apple cider was great. They were the first to think of cherry cider, deciding to use their reject cherries for this rather than dumping them. I suggested cherry wrestling events rather than dumping them which tickled his fancy.
Our favourite farm was GrandvEwe sheep property. They sell sheep cheese, and liqueur made from the sheep milk whey (with vanilla), yum!
Our pleasant drive ended back at our cabins via the beach at Kingston. Dinner was wine, cheeses, salmon, cherries, strawberries and sourdough.

Most then had a very early night. Col watched cricket with Gary for a bit, Leah and I looked through some photos, with me running back and forth to the washing machine. I then watched LoTR2 while also reading GoT.

Day 8, Thursday 2/1/2014, Hobart to South Kingston

Not much sleep last night! Very loud wind and flapping tents. There was dirt blowing into our tent from every possible gauze section, my hair full of it. Winds up to 70 notts (140km/hr) overnight.
Lucky Morgans slept in the car. They had about 7 split poles in their tent. William's tent is now starting to split away from the floor.
Ours and the tent the teens are in fared well, about the the best in the campground. Lucky we had our tent angle facing the wind. There is stronger wind forecast for Saturday at 50 to 150km/hr.
There were tents and tent bags blowing across the river.

Fiona wanted to move to a flash hotel, Col happy for a more protected camp ground and Gary wanting to go straight back to The Spirit of Tasmania.
A compromise was needed to keep this group and trip on track.
After packing our tents we headed in to a cafe in the old section of Hobart to discuss our options and decided to head to the Tourist Information Office to find a cheap, safe alternate accommodation for the next 3 nights.

It was a perfect outcome, managing to book the last 3 cabins (all together) just south of Hobart, near Kingston. They are on the scout grounds. This has turned out to be the perfect central spot for out adventures down around the Huon Valley and gives everyone a break from the weather.

Williams and Parkes then got the ferry back up the river to the MONA art gallery. Morgan's drove as Gary gets seasick but had trouble parking and went out to lunch instead.

The boat trip was surprisingly smooth, the boat cutting right through the swell. The art show begins in the boat which is fascinatingly decorated. I enjoyed a tasty apple cider on the way.
MONA was amazing. Very different, interesting! I even love the building which is built into the sandstone point, with huge walls of carved out sandstone, metal beams and glass.
There were little rooms going everywhere on 4 levels of surprising and sometimes shocking stuff! I felt like I was touring inside someone's head (nightmare). We sent a text to Leah warning her it was probably not appropriate for the kids. It was a sensory overload, at times quite X-rated, and some disturbing stuff. But I loved it. So interesting!

After checking into our cabins we all had a coffee and Christmas cake in William's cabin to plan our swinging bridge and treetop walk in the morning, followed by farm stop tastings, after which Leah and Gary will drop their poles off to a camping guy who will take them home and fix them by Saturday.
Just got an accommodation offer off Seren via Facebook. Thanks heaps. We may have needed that, but were lucky to get these cabins.

Day 7, Wednesday 1/1/2014, Hobart and Mount Wellington

It was a fairly late start. Everyone was tired after the noisy, late night. It's cold, windy and drizzly. Col and I packed up our Foxwing awning and kitchen to use our car to drive into Hobart. Parking seemed impossible until Fiona Googled it and found a field to park in a few blocks north of the harbour with a free shuttle bus.
I got there with only 10 minutes to spare to find Clyde. Just as they were about to leave Col, Jordan, Jack and I found him and had a chat at his yacht. They had sailed through 60 nott winds during the Sydney to Hobart yacht race and he had a gash on his face from ducking under a wave (that went over the boat). He hit his face on a winch handle. Lots of big hugs. Miss you Clyde! It would have been fun to help them sail back. Might have to do that one day!

Time for food and wine tasting at Macquarie Pier which was mostly undercover, plus strolling along some galleries and shops. The kids stocked up on some more warm clothes and raincoats at a 75% off Katmandu sale.

Suddenly the sun came out and a trip up Mt Wellington seemed the go while it wasn't shrouded in cloud. Our Hema navigator tried to take us the back way which is now blocked off by private properties. Whoops! So I used Maps on the iPhone instead and got great instructions. The mountain is so much higher than it looks from Hobart. Seemed to take forever to drive up. It is only 1200m, but as it is directly from sea level it felt so high. The view was spectacular and the wind wild! 56 notts.  you had to hold onto the tower at the top to not get blown off. The kids were lifting their feet and the wind could hold them sideways! During the gusts you couldn't physically walk against it. I played with a panoramic photo. Bruce and Fiona left early as they thought their kayaks would get blown off the car.

Leah, Gary, Eliza and Amara had arrived there before us (as we got lost) and were leaving as we arrived. Just as we were about to leave a rainbow appeared and I had to run over to get a photo, needing to push through the gale to get back to the car.
The wind was so wild back at camp that Leah and Gary's tent was flattening to the ground with each gust, then popping back up. Eliza was scared, so they set up their beds in the car.
That night the pole popped through the the top of Bruce's tent which then collapsed. Fiona stayed nice and snug in the collapsed tent while Bruce made a huge rubber washer out of a football to plug the end of the pole. It worked very well as it was much larger than the hole.

We had our Foxwing out for tea and it did OK tied down well, but packed it away for overnight. It was lovely to see the stars in the night sky for the first time.
Jordan entertained everyone last evening after tea reading out a quiz from her diary (bought in Melbourne) about personality traits. This prompted some interesting and insightful conversations. Col and Bruce were testing their new kayaking jackets in the wind. Jack is desperate to have a go in the kayak. Hopefully the wind will ease up for tomorrow. The other plan for tomorrow is the MONA art gallery.

Day 6, Tuesday 31/12/2013, Cradle Mountain to Hobart

The first fine day. Such a shame we can’t climb to the peak (with a 5hr+ drive to come) but so relieved to have fine weather for packing up camp. 

Our site of Col, Cheryl, Jordan, Jack and Jess all woke at 7am and were fed and packed by 8:30am. Not bad for tents and mattresses. I’m writing my diary and Jordan and Jess are having a shower while waiting for everyone else to finish. The aim was to leave by 9am. It’s now 10 minutes away. Not sure if that will happen. J
It turns out Morgans are heading on a different route today, so we could have left 30 minutes ago. Williams and Parkes are heading along the Highland Lakes Way (a few km’s of unsealed but smooth road) and Morgans are heading down the main highway. Beautiful mountain and lake scenery. I enjoyed our stops at a little boutique, Salmon and Ginseng Farm and a vineyard where we topped up with some yummy supplies. After getting fresh bread from the bakery we stopped at the lakes edge for fresh salmon sandwiches. 

We arrived at the caravan park North of Hobart, on the river at about 4pm with Morgans not far behind. Camped right on the river’s edge with 15 ducks swimming at our feet. Popped out a bottle of champagne and broke out the salmon pate and bikkies. 

We all caught the 7:10pm local bus into Hobart wharf to watch the fireworks. I couldn’t believe it took an hour. Still so far from Hobart.
First we grabbed some fish n chips and then sat on the end of Elizabeth Street Pier. I was desperately looking for Clyde’s boat but Lisa told me ‘Endeavour 2’. It’s ‘Venture 2’. I got his number off Phoebe but there was no answer. 

After watching the 9:30pm fireworks everyone jumped back on the bus for a 1hr trip back to camp. Couldn’t sleep anyway as kids in the camp enjoying New Year’s Eve were screaming and playing all night. I was so disappointed when Clyde phoned me at 11:30pm and said to bring my group onto the yacht for the midnight fireworks. Everyone was in bed and it was too far away. It would have been a perfect way to bring in the new year. L
He leaves at midday tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll be able to see him before that but it’s so difficult to move a group of 11 people in time for anything.

Day 5, Monday 30/12/2013, Cradle Mountain

The idea of kayaking today was canned with the consensus that it was too freezing (especially if you fell in the icy water) and no sandy entry for the kayaks. The day started at 4 degrees Celsius with a wind-chill factor of -5 degrees Celsius, alternating between rain and drizzle.
A lot of the morning was just spent hanging in the kitchen/fireplace, but then after becoming a bit stir crazy we decided to do a 6km boardwalk hike (Ronnie's), in the rain (adults plus Jack). Jordan and Jess took Eliza and Amara to the Rangers Hut/interpretation centre for a shorter walk and a look around, then back to the fire to play cards.

It was lovely to take Leah and Gary out for a break, but I’m not sure if they enjoyed hiking in the rain much. Other tourists were upset that the entire Cradle area was covered in cloud all day. The peak was not to be seen. While at the info centre we booked in for a Tasmanian Devil experience, picked up at 8:30pm from reception.

The afternoon was spent in my camp chair by the fire with my book and a coffee, then progressed to my bed for a nap and more reading. Col snuck in a bit of a nap as well. Jordan and Jack went and bought frozen pizzas which they cooked for us in the pizza oven in the kitchen. Nice.

First we got to pat the little Devil, very nervous creature, then watch them be fed. They make a cool sound screaming at each other. We also saw some spotted quolls. Very cute. They are fast and twitchy and remind me of squirrels. The bus tour then included driving along the road with spotlights. Bruce (“Fred”) up the front with the driver, spotting wallabies, pademelons and wombats. It’s amazing how many there are. And we spotted a Tassie Tiger, I have the photo to prove it (on Fiona’s camera as mine died. I think it’s my 18-200mm lens playing up, bugger).