Week one from Tuesday the 21st January

 Before leaving Latrobe, we stopped at the local tyre service outlet and had them balance all our van tyres.

Our next stop was the small town of Railton, just thirteen kilometres away. Ken Tame insures our van, and as part of the insurance, we must also be members of the Caravan and Motorhome Club of Australia. Membership entitles us to cheap accommodation at their CMCA Parks, which costs just $7 per night. 

With the Australia Day weekend approaching, we initially booked three nights but have already extended our stay for another three nights to cover this period. We plan to head to Cradle Mountain, but we will watch the weather before booking to ensure the best weather for our stay. During our stay at Railton, we drive out daily to see the towns and sights.

There are two CMCA parks in Tasmania: the one where we are staying and another in southern Tasmania, at Geeveston.

Railton is known for its topiary. Over the past ten years, the residents have been busy growing and shaping shrubs into wonderful characters.

Even Railton is embracing the murals.

It's January 23rd, our first day of wet weather. This morning, the outside temperature was just thirteen degrees. Mind you, the rain is just misty and annoying. Ros has an appointment for a haircut this morning before we drive the twelve kilometres to Sheffield to view some of the murals the town is renowned for. It was cold, with misty rain falling, as we walked the streets before having coffee and meeting Ludo and his alpaca, Pedro. 

Today, we drove north again, bypassing Latrobe as we took some minor roads to Braddon Lookout, with expansive views across farmlands below and looking out to the northwest with ocean views towards Turners Beach and Penguin. 

We rejoined the Bass Highway before taking the Turners Beach exit to visit the Berry Patch, where we enjoyed delicious coffee and strawberry tarts. I also picked up a large container of freshly picked strawberries. The Turners Beach Campground was very busy, but at $10 a night, you have to expect that. Sardine City has generators everywhere, which is what you must expect in Tasmania at this time of year.

Turners Beach left a lot to be desired. It certainly isn't like the lovely beaches we have at home.

 We enjoyed lunch at Penguin Brewing Company, but we sat inside, and the occasional spit of rain and cold breeze made it quite uncomfortable to sit outside on the deck.

Today, January 25th, we headed southeast, taking minor roads towards Elizabeth Town and briefly joining the Bass Highway into Deloraine. We then drove another thirty kilometres towards the turnoff to Liffey Falls. We took the dirt forest track for about one kilometre before a sign stating the road was only suitable for short-wheelbase vehicles. As the trees started encroaching over the track, we turned around and returned to Deloraine, where we parked, walked the main street, and purchased fruit and lunch before heading home.

Today, January 26th, the camp host at the CMCA park here at Railton put on a sausage sizzle and supplied lamingtons for our Australia Day celebration. After lunch, we enjoyed a quiz on Australia and several games, which we all enjoyed. Our Chev, "Betty," needed a little TLC, which was a quick wash after negotiating a few dirt roads the day before. Otherwise, it was just a lazy, relaxing day. 

Another recce today is to Cradle Mountain via Claude Road from Sheffield. It rained during the night, and Mt Roland was shrouded in mist as we left Railton and passed through Sheffield. We'd heard Claude Road through Gowrie Park, and Moina was douable towing a van, but it was not the best. Even though this route is shorter, there are long, very steep sections with 15 and 25 km/h corners to negotiate for much of the way until reaching Daisy Dell on the Middlesex Plain, where the road flattens out for about 10 kilometres before turning onto the Cradle Mountain access road. It also rained the whole journey, with much of the road and surrounding country covered in thick fog.  

On our return journey, we turned left onto the Belvoir Road before joining the Murchinson Highway and passing the turnoff to Waratah and then taking the Ridgley Highway that would eventually take us through Ridgley before joining the Bass Highway for 46 kilometres before reaching Latrobe to shop with just another 14 kilometres to our camp at Railton. This road from Cradle Mountain is much broader, in better condition, has no sharp bends and is more enjoyable than the other road. 

Our recce today was to determine our route for our four-night stay at Cradle Mountain. 

Spirit of Tasmania

In February 2024, we successfully booked our travel on a night sale, which included a cabin for our crossing to Tasmania on January 20, 2025. We could not book our return trip from Tasmania then, as bookings are only open for up to eleven months in advance.

Finally, on June 4 2024, we booked our trip to Geelong for May 20. Once again, we will be travelling on a night sail with a cabin included. 

Four months should be ample time without being rushed. It will also allow us time to bunker down when the weather is less than ideal, which we understand is a regular occurrence in Tasmania.

Before boarding the ship, we stayed for several days in Point Lonsdale and parked our van on my brother's driveway. 

In preparation for our boarding date, we checked the route to the terminal from Point Lonsdale to ensure a smooth and worry-free journey. Boarding starts 2.5 hours before departure. Since our departure was at 18:45, we left Point Lonsdale around 15:00 to travel the 35 kilometres to the terminal.

We've heard about the facilities, or lack thereof and the difficulties of boarding the Spirit from Port Melbourne, but since the move to Geelong in late 2022, the process for boarding the boat has become so easy. In just fifteen minutes of arriving at the terminal, we were checked for our vehicle and van length, given our passes, which included our fobs to access our cabin and went through the security check to ensure we were not carrying any fruit, plants, honey or other items not able to be taken into Tasmania. They even removed the fire starters we use for our campfires.

Ros was concerned about seasickness, as she doesn't travel well on ships. She had arranged with her doctor, who gave her a script for seasick tablets.

Thankfully, as indicated on my "Windy App," our trip across Bass Straight" showed maximum wave heights of just 1.6 metres. The drone of the ship's engines kept us awake on and off during the night. The journey across Port Philip Bay to The Rip, which is at the entrance to the bay, took three hours from the terminal, so during this time, we enjoyed drinks and dinner before retiring for the evening.

The bubbles in the wine glasses were caused by the throb of the engines as we made our way across the bay.

I used my Exploroz Traveller mapping software to plot our course from the terminal across Port Phillip Bay. Lastly, at 04:38, we were twenty-five kilometres north of Devonport, watching the lights come into view.

Disembarking went as smoothly as getting onboard in Geelong, and after leaving the terminal, we drove to Latrobe for our first night to shop for fresh fruit items that we could not bring across on the ship.

"Reliquaire" is a most unusual and fantastic shop in Gilbert Street in Latrobe.

Heading South through New South Wales and Victoria

 After spending Christmas with family in Newcastle, we returned home to finalise our preparations for our upcoming six-month trip in our van. We completed some last-minute shopping, flushed and refilled the water tanks, and loaded our van in preparation for our journey south in early January.

Initially, we had planned easy driving days over the next nine days, covering minimal distances; however, that changed after our first day of driving. On the first day, we travelled south along the Pacific Highway with the plan to either camp at the Bulahdelah bowling club or the RV park, but both were very busy when we arrived, so we continued further on, passing through Raymond Terrace, where significant roadwork was taking place to bypass the bottleneck at the Hexham Bridge and connect with the Pacific Motorway. After crossing the Hexham Bridge, we turned onto John Renshaw Drive and the Hunter Expressway before joining the Golden Highway to camp at Jerry's Plains Rec Reserve.

Talk about extremes of temperature. On our first day camped at Jerry's Plains, we sat outside till well after dark, with the temperature hovering around forty degrees. That night, sleeping with all hatches and windows open was exhausting. Then, on our second day, we encountered rain for the entire journey. We camped at Jaron Park, in the small settlement of Ilford just over 50 km south of Mudgee, beside the hall for a small donation. The temperature had plummeted to just eleven degrees, so it was on with the warm clothes. It continued raining all night, and I envisaged that we'd be using 4WD to exit the area, but all we ended up with were very muddy tyres. 

We had planned to camp on a property just south of Parkes, but we changed our route because the annual Elvis Presley Festival was happening then. 

Today was a short drive as we continued south along the Castlereagh Highway for just 55 km to our next campsite, Lake Wallace, about 12 km northwest of Lithgow. It's a free camp with 48 hours allowed, and the area is vast. The weather has remained overcast and cold, with occasional drizzle. We ventured into Lithgow today as we needed a few things from Bunnings, but it's not the usual store on steroids—it's just a very small one. We planned to stay another day here, but the owner of the fuel outlet in Wallerawang mentioned the weather would remain like this for several more days, so we decided to pack up and leave. 

Today's route took us further along the Great Western Highway to Bathurst, where we stopped at Bunnings to purchase a weather station and the hose fittings I needed, which we couldn't buy in Lithgow. Then, it was through Cowra and Young looking for an outlet selling cherries, but all farm gate outlets were closed. Luckily, there were cherries for sale at a rest stop south of Young, along with nectarines and peaches, so after the usual taste tests, we bought all three fruits. We passed through Cootmandura on our way to Junee, where we camped behind the RSL Services Club for free and, that night, enjoyed dinner and a few ales. 

We were now heading towards Griffith, passing through Coolaman and Ardlethan. It's sad to see the decline in these smaller towns, which have just a garage or a post office and nothing else to hold them together. We planned to stay at Lake Wyangan outside Griffith, but the area was arid, dusty, and unsuitable for caravans because of the sloping ground, so we rang ahead and booked into a caravan park for the next three nights.

Griffith, Like Canberra, was designed by Walter Burley Griffin. It has those distinctive radial-pattern roundabouts and tree-lined streets that we remember after living there for forty-odd years.

On day eight, we left Griffith and headed further south through Darlington Point, Jerilderie, and Deniliquin to bypass the Newell Highway. This highway is busy with trucks but, more importantly, needs repair. We spent the evening free camped behind the Mathoura Bowling Club, enjoying lunch and a beer.

Heading further south, we crossed into Victoria, passing through Echuca, Rochester, Bendigo, and Maldon before spending the evening at the Newstead Racecourse. This was our second visit to this site. The fee is $10 per night, and there are showers, toilets, and gas BBQs. Newstead is a small community of over one thousand people with a general store, a pub, and several cafes. We were here to visit Margaret and Paul, our dear friends from Canberra who now live in Castlemaine, just 15 km away. We also caught up with Margaret's daughter Sam, my goddaughter, and all enjoyed lunch at The Mill in Castlemaine, where the food is to die for. It's so good, in fact, that there will be a return visit. 

I also enjoyed a run in Paul's "bucket" with a 350 Chev V8 to power it along.

We took another short drive, just 162 km, on the road that passes through Daylesford, Ballan Anakie, and Geelong. We spent the next three evenings parked at my brother's place at Point Lonsdale. If you think Queensland roads are bad, I suggest you drive into Victoria. 

On our first evening, we enjoyed dinner at the restaurant at the Lonsdale Links Clubhouse, just a five-minute walk away from where we were staying. For golfers like me, this course is absolutely amazing. The fairways and greens are something to behold.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Point Lonsdale and were driven all over the Bellarine Peninsula.