Heading Back to the Mainland

We left Bridport on Wednesday, May 14, and returned to Old Mac's Farm in Launceston. Last time, it was very busy, but this time, we are camped near the powered area, and there are just fourteen vans in total here, and only two vans in the powered sites. 

Google decided to take us on a merry cross-country trip to Launceston on both B and C roads just to remind us how much we enjoy driving on these Tassie roads. 

We absolutely love Launceston and prefer it over Hobart. This time, we stayed for just two days, and one of those days included a tour of the Boags Brewery after catching an Uber into town. Unfortunately, the 200-year-old building where the tours conclude is currently being renovated. While we could sample some of their beers as part of the tour price, they didn’t serve food. I made up for this by purchasing two Wizard Smith’s Ale cartons to take home. 

While the days here have been lovely, we've experienced very cold nights, with the car covered in heavy frost each morning. Thank goodness for our diesel heater.

The drive to Devonport was straightforward. After navigating some minor roads through Launceston and merging onto the Midland Highway, which then becomes the Bass Highway, we spent the last four days in Devonport at the Abel Tasman Caravan Park, just a three-minute drive from where we will board The Spirit for our return journey to Geelong.

After setting up in Devonport, we headed south to Latrobe for lunch at Belly's Bar and Grill on the main street, which we both thoroughly enjoyed. We then shopped at the local IGA before heading back to the van for a quiet afternoon.

We spent our days exploring Devonport while waiting to board the boat on Tuesday evening, May 20. The Saturday and Sunday before our sailing date were extremely cold, with daytime temperatures only reaching 12 degrees. Our phone app's wind chill factor indicated that it felt like 7.5 degrees. The app suggested that the temperature on Sunday, 18 May, was 0 degrees but felt like -5.4 degrees, something I can believe given the amount of frost around. We may have delayed our departure a tad too long!

On Sunday, May 18, we travelled south for 6 kilometres to Anvers to have lunch at their café. They are well-known for their chocolates, all made in-house, and they offer both self-guided and organised tours by appointment. After reading reviews, we opted for two different varieties of toasties; however, we both left feeling disappointed with our choices. These toasties did not compare to the ones that Ros makes.

On our second last day, we headed east towards Port Sorell and enjoyed a coffee at the Rocky Gardens Café. Rocky Gardens produces homemade jams, jellies, relishes, chutneys, and sauces from ingredients grown in Tasmania. We especially appreciated their raspberry jam and have several bottles to take home.

We are very pleased with our fuel efficiency over the past four months, given the types of roads we've travelled. Our Chevy and van together weigh nearly 10 tons. There are not many straight stretches; most roads consist of steep hills, and as we all know, what goes up must come down.

We were scheduled to depart from Tasmania at 6:45 PM on Tuesday, May 20. Unlike the excellent parking options in Geelong, there were not many available in Devonport before our departure. Therefore, we arrived near the boarding area at 2 PM and were surprised to find that we could queue just behind the entry gates until they opened at 4:15 PM.

We finally boarded in the dark, stashed our gear in our cabin, and made our way to the bar for beers and wine as the ship slipped its moorings in the Mersey River just after 7 PM. After enjoying dinner, we retired for the night. Thankfully, for Ros, the swells on our crossing to the mainland were even smaller than those we encountered in January.

Our van was located on deck 5, and we were the first to be called to exit once the ship was secured. Unfortunately, it was still dark outside at 6:30 AM, and Corio Quay Road into Geelong was closed off. The closure signs were located further on, near an industrial area where trucks were coming and going, which made for a tense drive until we finally reached the A10 Princess Highway into Geelong. After that, we missed our turn onto the Bellarine Highway and ended up navigating side streets until we found our way back to the highway towards Point Lonsdale and my brother and his partner’s place.

Bridport and The Lost Farm

We had previously booked an unpowered site, number 193, at the Bridport Caravan Park based on the recommendation of Jodie and Kurt, fellow Bushtracker owners. We had camped alongside them at Geeveston and Old Mac's Farm near Launceston.

To avoid backtracking, we headed to Bridport on the northeast coast. Staying here also allowed me to play golf at Barnbougle 'The Lost Farm,' a links-style course that runs along the coastline and overlooks Bass Strait. US Golf Digest ranked it the fifth best course in Australia and the 23rd best in the world.

Barnbougle offers three courses: the first was 'The Dunes,' followed by 'The Lost Farm,' and the third, 'Bougle Run,' is a fourteen-hole short course featuring 12 par-3s and two par-4s.

My tee time at The Lost Farm was at 10:20 AM on Friday, May 9. It was a fine sunny day, but unfortunately, the calm winds that had been forecast did not materialise. Instead, we experienced a westerly wind at times gusting to well over 35 km/h, making conditions very challenging, especially from the 15th hole onwards, with the wind blowing relentlessly.

On one of our days, we enjoyed lunch at the Bridport Distillery, sampled their Lavender and Lemonchello gins, and later purchased a Lavender gin.

Lunch at the Bridport Pub was also enjoyable.

A tramway ran 28 km between Forester and Bridport to transport sawn timber for shipping to Melbourne. The Bridport Pier was burned down by arsonists in 1938, and in 1941, an electrical fault destroyed the remains of the pier.

On Saturday, May 10, we travelled to The Pipers Brook Vineyard, also known as Jansz, for Ros to enjoy a sparkling wine tasting. We were surprised to learn that this vineyard is located at the same latitude as the Champagne region in France, which is 41 degrees. Here we enjoyed a delicious cheese platter before purchasing half a dozen bottles, including the Pontos Hills Vintage Cuvee 2018, which can only be found at this cellar door, as well as a vintage rosé.

Pyengana

We left St. Helens under overcast skies, with the weather forecast predicting a 70% chance of rain. Our journey along the A3 Tasman Highway to Pyengana covered 27 kilometres, and I enjoy these short drives.

Pyengana offers two camping options: the Pub in the Paddock and the Pyengana Recreation Ground, less than half a kilometre apart. The pub allows free camping, while the recreation ground requests a donation. Given that the camping area at the recreation ground is quite spacious, we decided to stay there. Unfortunately, the weather worsened, with strong gale-force winds and rain blowing sideways. I’m relieved we aren’t driving in these conditions, especially on these rough roads.

We had heard about Pyengana Dairy, known for its automatic milking system that allows cows to come in for milking by themselves. We were eager to see this in action, especially since the dairy is famous for its fantastic cheeses and milk products. It was the first dairy in Australia to use a robotic milking machine. These machines utilise lasers to locate the teats and udders, attaching with suction. Each cow has a collar monitored by a computer that tracks how much milk she produces. Other dairies in Australia are now implementing similar robotic milking systems. Afterwards, we ordered coffee, which we both agreed was the best coffee we'd had in Tasmania to date and bought some cheese before heading back to the van, where the rain and wind continued as before.

We had planned to visit Mt. Paris Dam, about 30 kilometres away, but much of the drive was along unsealed roads. Given the current weather conditions, we decided to cancel our plans.

In Tasmania, roads are classified as A, B, and C based on their condition. However, we discovered that even A-rated roads can be in poor shape, featuring uneven surfaces, broken edges, and narrow sections where the bitumen is several inches higher than the surrounding roadsides. The A3 Tasman Highway we drove today, from St. Helens to Pyengana, exhibited all these issues.

We prefer to have lunch out and eat something light for dinner so that we aren’t going to bed on a full stomach. So, we decided to head over to the Pub in the Paddock to see what was available for lunch. Ros enjoyed her glazed pork with mash and vegetables, while I had a black Angus steak with garlic prawns. We followed this with beers and wine before returning to the van and bunkering for the afternoon as the wind and rain continued relentlessly. We were surprised that our batteries had risen to 95% given the terrible weather outside.

That night was the most frightening night we have ever spent in the van, so neither of us slept. The gale-force wind gusts hitting the side of our van were intense, and the sound of the rain pounding against the fibreglass cladding was deafening. At one point, we thought the van might tip over, and we even considered trying to move it, but we quickly realised it would have been impossible.

The next morning, we packed up and headed to Bridport a day earlier than planned, as the wind was beginning to pick up again. The road was littered with leaves and small tree branches as we made our way up through Weldborough Pass and down through the small village of Weldborough.

Coastal Run

It was time to head back to the coast after skipping the school holidays, Easter, and ANZAC Day. The area north of St Helens, particularly the Bay of Fires, is very popular during this period, making it nearly impossible to secure a camping spot.

We originally planned to drive only as far as St Mary's, but since we were making good time, we decided to continue to St Helens. Apart from the caravan parks, there are two camping options here: one is free, while the other costs $30 per night. We chose the paid campground because it was closer to town, allowing me to enjoy a beer or two during lunch at the Easy Tiger brewery and restaurant. The meals were delicious, and we both savoured our Thai-inspired dishes.

Before returning to the van, we completed our postal vote for the federal election at the local hall and shopped at the IGA. Today's weather is cold with blue skies, but unfortunately, it’s pretty windy, with the wind chill registering at 9.3 degrees Celsius at 2 p.m. We need to turn on the diesel heater before showering this evening.

We left our campsite just after 9 a.m. for the 14 km journey to Swimcart Beach in the Bay of Fires Conservation Area. The dirt road from the main road was filled with large potholes, but it improved once we reached the camping area. We decided to set up at the first site we encountered since the access road further down was very overgrown, and we wanted to avoid scratching 'Betty' on the way. Fortunately, the winds were not as strong as the previous day, although the wind chill made it feel significantly colder than the current temperature of 14 degrees. The forecast predicts lighter winds in the coming days, so we’re hoping they got it right, which might mean we’ll extend our stay.

Our remaining days at Swimcart Beach have been nothing short of amazing, with perfect weather during the daytime. Our diesel heater has kept us comfortable while we've experienced cold nights and mornings. With very little breeze during the day, it truly has been tremendous. We can see why this campsite is called 'Millionaires Row.'

We drove north of our campsite to view an area known as ‘The Gardens’, with its white beaches, rock pools, and lichen-covered granite rocks. 

On our last day, the weather was less than ideal. The sun did not really break through the cloud cover until just after 2 p.m. Our batteries this morning were at 83% and only rose to 91% by 3:30 p.m.

We returned to St. Helens for two days and stayed at the same campsite that charged $30 per night. This allowed us to catch up on laundry and shop before heading inland. The weather was cloudy and windy, but the wind helped dry our clothes. We had read rave reviews about Skipper's Seafood by the waterfront, so we decided to go there for fish and chips. I ordered the blue grenadier with chips, while Ros just ordered chips for herself. Unfortunately, one of my pieces of fish had a peculiar taste, so I had to throw it away, and the chips were tasteless without any tomato sauce. Overall, it was not a pleasant experience.

On our last day in St. Helens, we returned to the Easy Tiger brewery and restaurant to sample a variety of nibbles along with their in-house pale ale, which we both enjoyed.