Tasmania Continued

Friday January 11- Rest day! Since we had just come back from the Overland Track, we had a quiet day today with the family and just hung out in Margate. We slept in, dried our tent, did laundry, ... , the usual. Mieneke brought some delicious fresh bread for lunch!

Bruny Island




Saturday January 12- In the morning all of us went to downtown Hobart - Marieke and Henny to Salamanca Market and together with Harry we did some outdoor-gear shopping (gear is surprisingly expensive in Australia so we just bought some trail maps). For the afternoon we went to Stenerik's place for Erin's first birthday party. And since Alex, Yuki and Erin were flying back to Japan on Sunday - their goodbye party as well. Fun and sunny afternoon spent eating and drinking in Grove!

Muskee family on Fluted Cape

Sunday January 13- Day trip to Bruny Island! With the five of us (Harry, Henny, Marieke and us) we took the 7:45 ferry to Bruny Island, not far from Margate. The weather was fine for some activities; cloudy and at times a little rain. After coffee and delicious cake at the Hothouse Cafe, we walked for three hours to Fluted Cape and back. A lovely walk through the woods with nice views from the top of the steep cliffs. Before we drove back to the ferry we had "lekker" straw/rasp/blue-berry ice-cream! We have certainly enjoyed some delicious locally grown fresh fruit this Australian summer. Always nice to have a home-cooked meal ready for you after a full day out; Mieneke had dinner ready at 6 o'clock sharp.

Frenchman's Cap

Monday January 14- For Monday morning football we saw the Patriots win! Crazy that they broadcast American TV on the local public Aussie stations. We picked up our Nissan Tiida rental car and did some shopping and packing for our Tasmanian road-trip. Maurits' parents picked up Mieneke and we cooked the last family dinner in Margate.

Maurits in the mud!

Tuesday January 15- We said goodbye to Harry, Henny and Marieke and by 7:30 we were on the road to Frenchman's Cap - a mountain in the Central Highlands of Tasmania (that looks like a French Cap). We got to the trailhead at 11, had an early lunch and set out on the 17 km trek to the Lake Vera Hut. It was a clear, hot and humid day. And there was tons of mud in the 'Sodden Loddens.' Many pools of waist deep mud that we had to scramble around. Hard going... We are not 'hard-core' so would have preferred boardwalk! Pretty tired by the time we got to the hut at 6- we thought briefly about staying in the hut but since there were quite a few people sleeping there that night, we instead setup our tent.

LB in the rain-forest of Frenchman's Cap

Wednesday January 16- It rained during the night and still rained when we made breakfast. Being able to cook and sit inside is the great advantage to camping close to a hut! The previous night LB had gone to sleep with a slightly bloodshot left eye. This morning it was REALLY red. Given the medical facts: non painful, no change in vision, no trauma...etc- LB was nearly certain everything was fine- but it looked bad. With glasses on instead of contact lenses, we set out to summit Frenchman's cap. The first part of the walk was through thick temperate rain forrest with many steep sections. The humidity in the forest combined with the rain and very slippery tree roots made walking with fogged-up glasses super frustrating. Needless to say our pace was slow- so after about an hour Maurits asked LB if she would like to turn around- considering it would take at least another 9 hours to make it to the summit and back - LB chose to turn around. Back at the hut we enjoyed a mid-morning coffee and chocolate to lift our spirits:-) Since Maurits' family was still in Tasmania, we decided to make our way back through the mud that afternoon so we could spend another day with them. Since we were going back to a warm, dry house, we did not care as much about getting our boots wet and muddy. This made travel back a little easier- except for one time when LB fell into the mud up to her mid thighs! By the time we made it back to our car at 5:30 the weather had completely cleared (of course). This made it a nice drive back to Margate where we surprised Maurits' family with our return.

Surfing the wind on Mount Jerusalem

Thursday January 17- After a short internet search LB was certain that her still-very-red eye was not a problem- just a sub-conjunctival hemorrhage that would clear up in the next week or so. The day was spent resting and drying out our wet gear. That evening, Harry and Henny treated Marieke, Mieneke, and us to a wonderful dinner at the revolving restaurant at the Wrestpoint casino. Beautiful sea-food, views, and company!

Pretty 'Rocket' flower

Friday January 18- We continued our 'Tasmanian road trip' with a second doei (goodbye) to Maurits' family- we will see them again next May in South Africa. We were headed north to The Walls of Jerusalem National Park where we planned to do a 4-day, 3-night backpacking trip with Liz and Ian. We drove through the pouring rain and met Liz and Ian for a coffee in Campbell Town. Luckily by the time we got to the trailhead at 2:30 it had stopped raining, so we could enjoy the 6 km walk to that nights campsite at the Wild Dog Creek tent platforms. Half of the walk was through the forest and the other half more open through lakes and grassy fields - very enjoyable. We are still not 100% sure how nice it is to stay on tent platforms: they provide a nice flat camping spot which is comfortable with our camping mattresses, but because the tent is lifted off the ground it gets fairly breezy causing it to be a cold, cold night.

Our camp in Dixon's Kingdom

Saturday January 19- After a night on the platforms we decided we wanted a more 'wild' place to camp, so set off down the trail with all our gear. The walk was quite pleasant- a ton of boardwalk passing through open fields with views of the 'the walls'. Since there were already many tents in the wooded area Liz had camped before near Dixon's Kingdom hut, we continued down the trail a few hundred more meters in search of another spot. We found a spot and set up our tents, but were not 100% happy because the ground was fairly wet. We were worried that the ground water would seep through the bottom of our tent. Luckily, as we set out for a short afternoon climb of Mount Jerusalem, we spotted a beautiful flat, dry, wind-protected camp spot with a great view. When we came back from Mount Jerusalem, we moved our tents. After we had set up camp for the second time, the weather started to clear so we decided to finish the day with an hour-long walk to Lake Ball. It was fun to find our way to the lake with Liz and Ian as our guides (there was no trail) and to enjoy the late afternoon sun after a cool, cloudy, windy day.

LB on Solomon's Throne (King David in the background)

 

Sunday January 20- We woke up to the sun beating down on our tent with crystal clear skies- it was going to be a hot day. The Australian sun is super powerful! Great day to keep our tents set-up and go for a day walk. We took the well constructed trail up to Solomons Throne and then continued on an unofficial trail to King Davids Peak. We took our time and enjoyed the expansive views of the Overland Track (where we had been two weeks ago). That afternoon we made the most of the sunny day by relaxing back at camp with a book in the shade. It would have been a perfect afternoon, save for the many mozzies and march flies (big black flies that sting) trying to get us! It was fun camping with Liz and Ian- much talk about food and gear. Ian was proud of his 'old-school' gear- including his father's backpack from the early 1980s (likely as old as us!) and a thin foam sleeping mat. Liz has a food drier so she made gourmet meals which she then dehydrated- much healthier than the salt-filled freeze dried meals we had bought at the store. But we did enjoy our melted and resolidified chocolate!

Liz and Iain

Monday January 21- Another beautiful day - this time luckily more wind to make it more comfortable and a dry tent in the morning! We had breakfast, packed up and walked to the turnoff to The Temple (a small peak). Liz and Iain went straight back to the car, but we wanted to climb one more peak. We said goodbye after a fun couple of camping-days! Another lovely view from the Temple-summit. We took our time getting on the trail and got back to the car at 3pm. The last stretch in the forest was very hot and humid! Luckily we were going downhill. We got in the car and drove to Deloraine - a pretty little town in Central Tassie. We found (Tripadvisor) a great B&B called Bluestone Grain Store. A beautifully restored old building, lovely owners, excellent! In addition we had a fantastic dinner at Restaurant Red - try the Moo Brew Pale Ale. 'See you again in Deloraine!'

Part of the Overland Track seen from the Walls of Jerusalem

Tuesday January 22- Not unexpected - an excellent breakfast at the B&B! On top of all we had really good internet - so nice :-) We checked out, did some shopping and drove to Mount William National Park in the North East of Tasmania. We found a beautiful campsite at Stumpy's Bay #2 - just behind the beach and dunes, where the sounds of the crashing waves lulled us to sleep. We walked along the beach, relaxed at our camp and after dinner we finally saw a wombat!

Wombat!

LB at the Bay of Fires

Wednesday January 23- We were good tourists today! We had brekkie, packed up, climbed Mount William (216 meters !! - 1 hour return), drove to Eddystone Point, saw the lighthouse, had lunch, walked for 2 hours on the Northern Bay of Fires beach, drove to Binalong Bay on the Southern End of the Bay of Fires, setup camp at Seaton Cove and after dinner walked on the beach some more. A great day with comfortable cloudy and sunny weather!

Maurits looking for the Mount William summit

Wallaby

Thursday January 24- Last day of our 'Tassie-road-trip'. After enjoying a windy breakfast on the rocks with the waves crashing in, we packed up camp and headed for a short walk where the road stops at The Gardens (small beachside community) to view one last beach on the Bay of Fires. On our way back to Margate, we stopped at Freycinet National Park for a beautiful walk to Wineglass Bay. This is the most popular walk in Tasmania and well worth the visit- beautiful coastline with green mountains in the background. Since we knew Kate's Berry Farm (rasberry ice cream!) closed at 4:30, we raced up the many steps on our way out from Wineglass Bay and made great time...we were eating icecream by 4:15! We had Adrian's house to ourselves that night because he and his girlfriend Sarah were taking a holiday break in Bali.

Maurits in the Bay of Fires with Eddy's lighthouse in the background

LB on the cliffs at Eddystone Point

Friday January 25- After 5 weeks as our 'home-base', we left Adrian's house today. After laundry, a quick cleanup, and two last cups of coffee on Adrian's beautiful expresso machine, we were off to Mieneke's house to spend our last three nights in Australia. Nice quiet night spent watching the semi-finals of the Australian open on the tellie.

Maurits at Wineglass Bay

Saturday January 26- Happy Australia day! Although the typical celebration includes a snag on the barbie, we celebrated with Mieneke, Fred, Liz, and Iain at the local Asian restaurant. Not as authentic but still very fun:-)!

LB on Wineglass Bay beach

Sunday January 27- We had some plans to go on a last big bush-walk, but we only made it on the 90 minute Truganini track not far from Mieneke's house. Lazy as we were...

Typical Tasmanian trees (gum/eucalyptus, bush-fire-burnt & pencil pine)

 

Monday January 28- Our last day in Australia! We had a farewell lunch with Mieneke at Brooksfield in Margate - lovely! We packed our bags, said goodbye :( and drove to the airport. We had a great time in Tassie! We'll be back!

Mieneke and Maurits

 

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The Overland Track

Wed January 2- On this cold Tasmanian day (Harry even lit up the fire place), we prepared for our Overland trip. We went to the store, prepared our food and packed our bags. In the late afternoon Adrian - 'our landlord'- returned home from his seven weeks of work as an officer on a boat (huge oil tanker.) Great to meet him (again) and his girlfriend Sarah. Mieneke, Wilma and Gary came over for dinner and in later in the evening Fred and Liz stopped by as well.

Cradle Mountain

 

Thu January 3- Maurits was pretty sick during the night. Most likely the same potent bug that had infected Laura Beth and Henny before ... but luckily in the morning Maurits was feeling well enough to go to the Overland Track - a 6-day 80km trek from Cradle Mountain to Lake St Clair in Central Tasmania. Maurits walked the track 15 years ago (1998), when he lived in Tasmania and loved it! Around 10 am we were in the car with Wilma and Gary on our way to Cradle Mountain. Wilma and Gary were taking the ferry back to Melbourne and were very nice to drive us to the start of the trek. It was a beautiful day, pretty warm: the start of a heatwave. We had lunch with the 'pe(c)king ducks' in Perth and around 3pm we arrived at Cradle. After saying thank you and goodbye to Wilma and Gary, we setup our tent at the Discovery Holiday Park just outside the National Park. Nice campsite with luckily a couple of fridges so we could protect our cheese, salami and chocolate from the heat!

On the summit of Cradle

Fri January 4- Day 0 Overland Track- Day hike to Cradle Mountain summit (12km)

Not a great night of sleep... A possum tried to get into our backpacks; he/she was after our food! Maurits smacked the possum in the head a couple of times, but not until we moved our large backpacks into our little tent were we left in peace. The next morning at 8am we were on the shuttle bus to Dove Lake for a day-hike to the summit of Cradle Mountain. It was a very hot, crystal clear and windy day. Via Marion's lookout and Kitchen Hut, we climbed to the summit of Cradle. Not an easy climb with a lot of rock-scrambling and boulder-hopping. We had lunch on the top and enjoyed the view - we could see for a 100 miles! On the way back it really started to heat up, with temperatures around 35C (high 90's F). We walked back via the Face Track and Lake Wilks, and of course the camp store for some icecream on such a hot day. We picked up our Overland Track pass, had a shower, a cold beer and dinner.

Later in the evening we heard from Maurits' parents, who were in Sydney for a short trip, that huge bush-fires had sadly devastated large areas in the East of Tasmania. Many homes had been burnt down on the Tasman Peninsula where we had been just days before. There were luckily no fires near the Overland Trek- but there was a complete fire ban for most of our trip so we had to cook on special fire platforms or in a hut.

On the way to Waterfall Valley

 

Sat January 5- Day 1 Overland Track- Ronny Creek to Waterfall Valley (10km)

Rain at 6am! A short-lived shower that gave us a wet tent to carry.. Bizarre.. As soon as the rain stopped it turned out to be another spectacular day; sun, no clouds and windy. We packed up and rode the shuttle-bus to the trailhead at Ronny Creek. The first section of the Overland Track followed more or less the same trail as yesterday, but after the turn-off to the summit of Cradle Mountain we were on new terrain. The track was fairly easy going; lots of boardwalk, but also plenty of uneven rocky stretches. We decided not to climb Barn Bluff, a distinct peak next to Cradle Mountain. Yesterday had been hard enough and the climb would have been more difficult than Cradle Mountain. We arrived at the Waterfall Valley hut and campsite around 2pm. The scenery included a lovely valley, very picturesque, lots of Wallabies, loud Tasmanian Hens, Currawongs (a raven look-a-like) trying to steal our food and beautiful plants and flowers. Luckily no snakes! We setup our tent, relaxed and enjoyed the sunny afternoon.

Wallaby with Joey

Thirsty!

Sun January 6- Day 2 Overland Track- Waterfall Valley to New Pelion (24.5 km)

We woke up to a dewy and misty morning in the valley which turned once more into a crystal clear day. Like all the mornings on the track we got up at 6, had porridge for breakfast, packed up and around 8 we were on our way. Today we walked mostly through a beautiful open landscape with great views of the mountains. It got hot early on and we were happy to fill our water bottles at Windermere - the track was very dry and the little creeks were not running. We wanted to camp just before the forest of Frog Flats (a local tip from Wilma and Gary), but there was no water nearby so we continued to New Pelion. The last stretch was hard-going; we were tired, very hot and the tree-rooted/rocky/muddy trail did not help. Around 5:30 we were happy to arrive at the New Pelion hut/campsite! We setup camp and had a much needed wash to clean the sweat and smell off. Pelion hut is beautifully situated with a lovely view of Mount Oakleigh. We made dinner on the hut's veranda and enjoyed the warm evening. As all the nights, we left our backpacks with food in the hut. This way the possums left us alone...

The permit system limits the Overland Track to 60 people per day. In general it was fairly quiet and there was always plenty of room to pitch our tent. Most huts hold about 30 people and have 'bare' bunks where you put your own mattress and sleeping-bag on. The huts did fill though - on a first come first serve basis. We found that quite surprising; it gets so noisy with people snoring and rolling over, and a bit smelly without showers- we prefer the tent!

Morning mist

LB at Lake Windermere (Mountains Oakleigh, Pelion East, Ossa and Pelion West in the background)

 

Mon January 7- Day 3 Overland Track- Day hike to Mount Oakleigh (8km)

We had a warm and clear night with spectacular stars! We were wondering why we brought our heavy and hot sleeping bags... Since today was a 'rest' day, we did not pack up our tent. After breakfast we climbed Mount Oakleigh - across the plain from New Pelion. The climb itself was pretty easy, but the hot sun (even at 9am) lack of breeze and the spiderwebs made it a tough 2 hours to the top. The view from the top was excellent on this clear day. A lovely overview of where we came from and where we would be going. Around 1pm we were back at the hut for lunch. We saw some big mud-holes close to New Pelion (Tasmania is known for its muddy walking conditions) and we saw some 'purists' walking through the waist-deep mud. We decided to walk around the hole... In the afternoon we went for a swim in the river at the Old Pelion hut, a 15 minute walk from New Pelion. We jumped in with all our clothes on and gave ourselves a good wash! Great to cool off and refresh a bit after all these days of heat!

Mount Oakleigh from New Pelion Hut

On the summit of Mount Oakleigh

Tue January 8- Day 4 Overland Track- New Pelion to Kia Ora (11km)

The day the weather changed! Our day started with sun in the forest going up Pelion Gap. We could see the weather-front coming though... On top of Pelion Gap we decided against going up Mount Ossa (Tasmania's highest peak) - it was very windy and we did not want to get caught in the approaching rain. Instead we went up 'nipple' mountain (Pelion East) - a short 2-hour return trip. As we got close to the summit the wind picked up ferociously! Getting to the top required some serious rock-scrambling. With the crazy wind we decided against this and returned to Pelion Gap. Around noon we arrived at the Kia Ora hut/campsite. We setup our tent just before the rain started. While we lunched in the hut it poured outside! And it got pretty cold.. What a change to yesterday! The rest of the day we hung out in the small and relatively older hut. It got very busy in the small space - we guessed about 32 people slept in the hut that night! With all the campers in the hut as well trying to cook on the limited table-space... Pretty chaotic! We chatted with a lot of people including some guys from the Australian Air Force who had the biggest blisters we had ever seen- LB even helped bandage their feet with some blister packs and all purpose duct tape. Around 7 we were happy to be in the quiet of our tent. And this night we did zip up our sleeping-bags all the way!! Brrrrrrrrrrrrr!

LB on Oakleigh with Ossa in the background

Maurits on Oakleigh (Pelion East is the little stump on the left)

Wed January 9- Day 5 Overland Track- Kia Ora to Narcissus (19km)

A night filled with wind, rain and wet snow - cold! As we got out of the tent we could even see snow on the peaks around us! Crazy... We had now left the open plains and entered the forest and temperate rainforest. It rained and drizzled constantly on this chilly day, but the rain did add a nice touch to the lovely forests we walked through. We had lunch and warmed up with a hot drink at the brand new Bert Nichols hut. A massive hut compared to Kia Ora. After lunch we continued in the rain to Narcissus. A welcome change to walk in the cool weather; all in all an excellent day for bush-walking! We setup our tent and hung out in the Narcissus hut (small like Kia Ora). It was good fun hanging out in the not so busy hut - talking to the people we had gotten to know in the last couple of days.

The weather is coming in...

Snow on Pelion East!

Thu January 10- Day 6 Overland Track- Narcissus to Cynthia Bay (17.5km)

Only 1 in 4 Overland Trackers walks the 5 hours from Narcissus to Cynthia Bay. The majority take the ferry... but not us! The weather was cloudy with some drizzle as we set out on our last leg. The track was pretty hard going with lots of slippery tree roots and fallen trees. After eating our last food at Echo Point, we arrived at Cynthia Bay at 1pm. Harry, Henny and Marieke had also just arrived and they had brought a delicious lunch! Fresh bread, fruit and orange juice :-) A great finish of a great trek!

On the way back to Hobart we saw quite a few burnt areas. We did not pass the major burnt area on the Tasman Peninsula, but we did see many acres of burnt land. It had been a massive disaster last weekend, with temperatures reaching 42C (110F) in Hobart.

Back home in Margate, Adrian had been diving for abalone (a shell fish). We had a high class gourmet sea-food dinner on the barbie!

View from Echo Point

The finish at Lake St Clair with Marieke and Henny

 

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Christmas in Tasmania

Tue December 18- We were on a plane...the entire day!! After yesterday's flight from Punta Arenas to Santiago, we flew to Los Angeles, with a stop in Lima where we were not allowed to get off the plane. In LA we had early-morning coffee and ice-cream! Then we got onto a China Eastern flight (1.5 Yelp stars out of 5 - but we actually thought it was not bad at all) and flew to Shanghai.

Longest bag-tag ever...

Wed December 19- Another day on the plane... After crossing the international date-line we lost most of this Wednesday. We arrived in Shanghai 1.5 hour late. Surprisingly nobody of China Eastern even mentioned that we were late... But we made our connection onto the Melbourne-bound flight just fine. And after having been through quite a few checkpoints, the Chinese X-ray man found the leftover camping lighter in Maurits' pocket.

Adrian's bush retreat in Margate (with Mount Wellington in the background)

Thu December 20- Last day of travel...phew! In the Australian morning we arrived in Melbourne where we met Maurits' parents Harry and Henny. We had a celebratory wake-up coffee and together we flew the last leg to Hobart. The first landing attempt of the JetStar pilot in Hobart was aborted due to high winds... a little scary... but an additional scenic loop later we landed safely. Around 3pm, after 61 hours and flying three-quarters around the world (18,920 miles / 30,449 km) we arrived in Tasmania!

A little background on Tassie. In the 1950's a cousin (Eppie) of Maurits' grandmother (Grietje) emigrated from The Netherlands to Australia and ended up in Tasmania. Despite the distance Eppie and Grietje always kept in touch and visited each other. Maurits did an exchange year at a high school in Hobart (1997-1998) and lived with Mieneke (Eppie's daughter) during that year. Mieneke and her siblings (Fred, Stenerik and Wilma) are our parents' generation and their children are our generation. Maurits loved Tasmania which marked the start of his 'bushwalking' career. All in all a perfect place for a family reunion and outdoor activities!

Mieneke and Wilma were awaiting us at the airport and together we drove to the town of Margate. We stayed at Adrian's (Fred's son) 'bush retreat' - a lovely house in the outback. Adrian himself was not going to be home until January 2nd - he is an officer on a oil-tanker and had to work during the holidays. At Adrian's place we unpacked, had a shower and enjoyed some real (as in 'non-airplane') food made by Mieneke and Wilma. We were exhausted and went to be early to give our swollen ankles some relief! Sitting upright for days seems not so good for your circulation...

Wilma (left) and Mieneke (right)

Fri December 21- We were still pretty tired today. So apart from hanging out with the family not much happened. Our ankles were less swollen though...

LB, Maurits, Henny and Harry on Mount Wellington

Sat December 22- In the morning Wilma took us to Salamanca Market- a touristy arts and crafts market in Hobart. After a nice lunch we drove to the summit of Mount Wellington, just outside of Hobart. It was a very clear day, nice and sunny, and we enjoyed the gorgeous view. For tea (as dinner is known in Australia) we had our first Aussie barbie (bbq) at Mieneke's place in Mt Nelson.

The Tasman Peninsula with Cape Huay in the far distance

Sun December 23- We wanted to do a little internet, so we went to McDonald's. We were able to upload the blog, but other than that the internet was almost as bad as the surprisingly expensive coffee. We did our Christmas-food shopping and went for a walk around Adrian's house. More family-time as Wilma and Mieneke came for dinner.

Fishers Point at Cockle Creek

Mon December 24- We went for a walk in the morning-rain in the Margate bush. In the afternoon we prepared the appetizers for Christmas Eve Dinner and then went to Fred's place in Sandy Bay to celebrate with the entire extended family. A great family reunion!

Christmas eve - clockwise from LB (top left) - Iain, Maurits, Gary, William, Alex, Yuki, Erin, Mieneke, Wendy, Stenerik (Harry, Henny, Wilma, Fred and Liz not pictured)

Tue December 25- We had Christmas breakfast (and presents) at our place together with Mieneke, Wilma and Gary (Wilma's husband). In the afternoon we went to Stenerik's house in Grove for coffee and dessert.

The southern ocean at Cockle Creek

Wed December 26- Our first Australian bush-walk! In the early morning we drove to Mount Field National Park where together with Wilma and Gray we walked along the Tarn Shelf. A lovely alpine walk, picturesque, very open, with excellent views. Harry & Henny did an excellent job and finished the 7 hour circuit walk! They were going to be sore for the coming days... On the way home we stopped at Mieneke's place who had made a lovely dinner for us.

Bushwalkers Wilma, Harry, Henny, Gary and Maurits at Mount Field

Thu December 27- Today we went for a day-trip to Cockle Creek in the South of Tasmania, together with Gary, Alex (Stenerik's son), his wife Yuki and their 11-month-old daughter Erin. We had another nice day with plenty of sun. Since yesterday had been a hard day, we just went for an easy beach walk to Fishers Point. At the end of the day Alex and Gary did try to dig for some cockles (small clams), but only found one each- not enough for dinner... Luckily, back at our home Mieneke and Wilma had come over and made dinner - how convenient!! :-)

LB at Cockle Creek

 

Fri December 28- Another day-walk; we went to Cape Huay on the Tasman Peninsula. Unfortunately LB was sick and could not come along. Alex, Yuki and Erin had caught some potent germ and given it to LB.. With Fred, Iain (Fred's son), Wilma and Gary we walked the 5-hour return trip to Cape Huay. Beautiful coastal scenery on a lovely day! In the distance we could see some yachts from the Sydney to Hobart race. Back in Hobart, Liz (Fred's wife) had prepared a BBQ at their place in Sandy Bay.

Fred, Harry, Henny, Gary and Wilma on top of Cape Huay

Sat December 29- After some morning shopping in Hobart for our camping trip, we picked up Maurits' sister Marieke from the airport. Marieke unfortunately had to work during Christmas and therefore could not come any earlier. Back at our place in Margate we relaxed, did some grocery shopping and in the evening had a 'stampot' welcome-dinner at Mieneke's place.

Harry, Henny and LB at the docks

Sun December 30- With the 5 of us we went to the MONA (museum of old and new art) just north of Hobart. Interesting museum to say the least, nice building and location, but our verdict; too chaotic and lack of theme. After lunch we visited the Hobart docks to have a look at the Taste of Tasmania (food-festival) and the Sydney to Hobart yachts. Maybe the boats were more beautiful and 'artsy' than the stuff in the MONA :-) In the evening at our home Fred, Liz and William (Fred's son) came by to say hi and bye. William was going back to work in Perth (WA) tomorrow.

Sydney-Hobart winner 'Wild Oats' at the Hobart docks

Mon December 31- For New Year's we went to Stenerik's second home in Seymour on the East Coast (aka the Tasmanian Riviera). The house is still under construction, but there is a 'shack' (like a garage), a couple of caravans and plenty of room to camp. We arrived around 3pm, setup camp and went for a walk on the beach. Lovely place and the weather was nice! We were with quite a large group: Stenerik and his wife Wendy; Wendy's sister Jan, husband Adam and son James; Alex, Yuki and Erin; Mieneke, Fred, Wilma and Gary; and the 5 of us. We had a BBQ for dinner and sat around the 'rocket' (an old boiler converted into a campfire) waiting for midnight to arrive.

New Year's eve BBQ - clockwise from LB - Harry, Gary, Fred, Stenerik, Wilma, Mieneke, Maurits, Marieke

Tue January 1 2013 - Happy New Year!! After breakfast we packed up our stuff and went for another beach-walk. The weather was not as nice anymore; the cold wind and light rain prevented us from having a New Years day swim. We got back to the shack for lunch and after saying goodbye we drove the 3 hours back to Margate.

The beach at Seymour

 

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