RETURN TO DIARY

Were back in Perth, surprise!!!!!

We decided to leave Tasmania a couple of weeks early as we had seen most of the lovely island and were missing our family and friends. Unbeknown to most we travelled home over 10 days with phone calls disguised during this trip by describing what we were doing in Tasmania, where they thought we were, when we were actually driving back across the Australian mainland.

Unfortunately now that we are back in Perth we have got a list of things a mile (kilometre?) long to do so this webpage was not a high priority on the list. We have been away from Perth for almost 2 years and it is good to be back.

While in Tasmania we noticed the Bumble Bees which we haven't seen in Western Australia. These noisy, furry bees are sometimes up to 25mm long with bright orange bands of colour circling their bodies.

Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake

Cradle Mountain was the attraction and the 6 kilometre walk around Dove Lake was 2 hours of not too energetic exercise for me as it was mostly flat, hard gravel or boardwalk. We had a nice warm day with only a touch of rain at the end of the circuit. We had lunch on the rock to the left and the rest of the walk went thru various groves of vegetation including some rainforest. A small waterfall was at the far end coming off the mountain.

This is a typical pose for Sandy as she waits for me to finish taking numerous photos at each and every attraction we visit. (Thanks for the idea of OOB Margie, cool.)

Ross and Jackie are happy travelers we met on the road years ago who have now settled in Tasmania. We met them for the last time this trip when we set the van up on their front yard so we could join them to see the attractions of the Sheffield Steam and Tractor Festival.

Apart from the steam tractors they had a Tractor Pulling competition with this triple V8 powered tractor winning the day with a time of 6 seconds for the pull.

They also had a run with an old 6hp steam tractor and it wasn't as fast as the one above but it pulled the heaviest weight without even looking like stopping.

Don't get too excited as most of these machines only travel a bit faster than walking pace. Everything in Tasmania is done slowly even the racing!

The Steam Tractors were a big attraction with the boilers kept hot for most of the day and regular display drives around the venue.

The steam tractor was the only power available in times long gone. This demonstration showed a hay baler and thresher in action with a belt from the steam tractor driving the machine. 6 people were required to run the setup. If that was the case these days, there would be no unemployment.

Just in case you missed them last month here's another timber boat with a steam engine for propulsion that turned up at Sheffield. Beautiful!

On Thursday we tried to book a day trip back to the mainland but the day trips were only running on the weekends and that weekend was full. The next night trip was Monday the 13th and luckily for Sandy it was as calm as the first trip 4 months before with no wind and 1 metre swells. With the amount of ginger tablets she swallowed Sandy didn't suffer too much this time but she still couldn't sleep. I had a Business Class Seat this time on which I managed quite a few hours sleep without resorting to lying on the floor like I did on the trip over in the Cruise Seats.

On the way home we drove thru the Grampians where back in January 2006 a fire roared thru the hills destroying 40% of the vegetation. This was the same fire that scared us when we were camped on the Murray River at that time.

Extract from January 2006 diary

Sandy woke me at 3am and the caravan was full of smoke. We took the torch outside and the forest was thick with smoke! We couldn't see or hear any fire and decided that it was from the bushfires at the Grampians, 100's of kilometres away which turned out to be true. A bit scary when the only way out is back thru a state forest.

Leaving Halls Gap a sign said the road ahead wasn't suitable for caravans. After checking at the local Police Station we decide to give it a go. Compared to Tasmanian hills it was a piece of cake!!! The new vibrant green growth coming out of the ashes of the fire was a brilliantly stark contrast to the black, burnt trees beside the road. At one stop Sandy found dried leaves that had melted into the surface of the bitumen road during the fire, modern fossils!

115kms east of Border Village, behind some sand dunes, we camped for the night and had our nightly drinks with this panoramic view across the Great Australian Bight.

The next night from a bush camp near Caiguna we were entertained during our extended Happy Hour with a magnificent light and cloud show as the sun set in the west.

Now were back in Perth, lots of friends to visit, appointments to keep, maintenance to do and things to buy. I don't think next months webpage will be very big, if any at all, we'll see what happens. When we leave Perth soon we will travel via our favourite campsite on Ningaloo Reef to Broome where we will be staying for 3 months in Cable Beach Caravan Park.

After that we may be going to USA for 6 months, motor homing their West Coast and National Parks. Plans can be laid but it doesn't always happen until it happens!

Stay safe, Peter and Sandy.