Home on Wheels - HERE WE COME!

Well, finally we are back enjoying a holiday but unlike our last trip we took to Cairns the weather gods are on our side this time.

But I need to go back to step. This is a holiday of a few firsts.

•        First time enjoying a show in the city the night before our flight
•        First time travelling with another couple
•        First time in a campervan
•       First time travelling together in Tasmania

I have to say at the moment it’s a great success.

Moulin Rouge was at the Regent Theatre which I’m sure you are aware is a beautiful old theatre. It kind of set the scene the for the stage show we were about to see. I have been a big fan of the movie of Moulin Rouge and when I saw it was showing in Melbourne, I was keen to go. Terry hasn’t seen the movie but I thought it would be something he would enjoy as well.

When we were planning the trip, we mentioned this to Ruth and Mark and they almost reluctantly agreed to come as well. Neither had seen the movie and didn’t think it would be something they would enjoy.

The show is amazing and while the story line is the same as the movie, the music was quite different and brilliant. It was like a trip down memory lane as they pieced a number of similarly themed songs into one. The show is everything you would expect if you were to go to Moulin Rouge in Paris. It was funny, it was sad, it was clever, a bit raunchy and hugely entertaining. After the show had finished, the other three declared it was fantastic and Mark’s comment to me was that I could pick the next show to go and see. I think that’s a compliment. What a great start to our holiday!

Next morning, we were shuttled of to the airport we had plenty of time to enjoy a nice breakfast. The flight was smooth with the best part of going to Tassmania is that the flight is only about an hour. It felt like we had no sooner took off and we were landing again. A taxi was really easy to get and we headed off the Tassie Motor Shack to pick up our new home for the next ten days. I have to say that this company is an absolute pleasure to deal with. They are a small family run business and Jo has been super helpful and accommodating from our first contact.

Our van is a brand-new Mercedes Sprinter van and so far, is awesome! Although is it just over 7m long, Terry says it’s really comfortable to drive and easy to manoeuvre. 

As I sit in bed typing this, it feels very cosy and I think we’ll get a good night’s sleep.

However, I digress, after getting a training lesson on how to operate the van with all it’s features, we headed off to get stocked up for a few days. I decided I would try the click and collect at a Woolworths that was on the way to Port Arthur (our first night’s stop). This worked out really well as we didn’t have to waste any time wandering around a supermarket that we weren’t familiar with.

The timing was perfect, I booked it to be picked up between 1-2pm. When I received a message to say it was ready at 12:50. We were five minutes away. So while I packed the food in the van, the others went to get some “beverages” and we were back on the road within 30 minutes. This was far earlier than we expected.

Our original plan was to head straight the caravan park but with so much time up our sleeve we decided the make a few stops at places that we thought we would visit when leaving the Tasman Peninsula.

First stop was the Tessellated Pavement. This a natural rock formation that as a result of siltstone cracking under the earth’s pressure it develops a surface that looks almost man made. Terry thinks that someone has been out there with a demo saw and created the lines. It's something you can’t quite believe until you see it.

Next stop was the Tasman Arch. This is another natural rock formation that has occurred over thousands of years where the ocean has crashed against the shoreline wearing away the rock until it forms a cave. Then, over time the cave has collapsed at the back leaving the arch formation. Eventually the arch will collapse and the Devils Kitchen (our next view point) is the result. It is quite amazing the power that water has.

Another beautiful lookout in this area is the Fossil Bay lookout.

We headed back to Pirate Bay to.check out theTasman Blowhole. Everything so far had been quite spectacular and unfortunately this blowhole was little underwhelming. However, I think we may have visited it at the wrong time of day and the tide was a little low. I must admit the way it was formed was pretty amazing though. Hopefully the next blowhole at Bicheno puts on a little bit better show.

With sightseeing over for the afternoon, we made our way to the NRMA Tourist Park close to Port Arthur. The park is beautiful with an abundance of small wallabies bouncing around the camp ground. We decided to take the 20-minute walk to the general store to check out the pickup point for the tour we have booked for tomorrow. We walked on a bit further and found the entrance to Port Arthur, but as it was getting a bit late, we headed back to the van for some dinner.

The BBQ on the van is great and we enjoyed a really relaxing meal with great company.

I think this is going to be a great trip!