Comfort Inn Sunrise Devonport

... There's lots of dramatic coastlines, pounding surf, deserted beaches and more Tasmanian Devils than you could shake a pitchfork at. I've stayed with Rob and Vanessa in Hobart for a couple of days, I met them on the Fraser Island tour a few weeks ago. It's fabulously kind of them to put me up. Today, the 16th, I've explored all over the Tasman Peninsula. There are caves, blowholes, forests, beaches, cliffs and lakes all over the place! It's very ...

... point to purchase our parks pass and get some brochures. The woman manning the desk was really helpful and passionate, without being too enthusiastic. She gave us some good tips about walks to do around Freycinet.

The rest of the evening was spent in our cabin, playing some music and watching the moonlight on the water. We farewelled the lights of the heads as they glittered in the distance. The waves started to move the boat into Bass Strait and rocked us gently to sleep.

... the sand dunes in Arthur River has definitely been a highlight and the chance to glimpse a Tazzie Devil feasting one night - priceless! The 6hr 8km trek to the top of Cradle Mountain also rates up there although I’m not sure the days of muscle suffering afterwards will support that! This truly is the forgotten wilderness down here!!

Hobart saw us enjoy the delights of the Cadbury factory (yum but a tourist ...

... off. Lol I should just order for the two of us. lol

If they didn't win me over with their service and atmosphere/decorations, they sure won me over with coffee and dessert. Lol They made the best coffee...11/10 to the Jailhouse Grill waitress.If ever we are in Launceston again, we are going back for sure.

So that was the end of another day in Paradise... more of Launceston tomorrow...

... off by heading into the Pancake Parlour for lunch. Peter had a treat and had Strawberry pancakes with cream and ice-cream while I went savoury with Sweet Baby Prawns (with cheese and seafood sauce, grilled) Yummo...
The pancakes were to-die-for and were just the right size for a light lunch.
After lunch we headed into the Great Maze and with a list of items you have to find e.g. Teddy Bears House (which I thought would be a little cubby but it ...

It's a bit later, but we've been flat out & finding internet hard to come by. Anyway, we left Torquay, drove up through Geelong (had a bit of a look around), then up toMelbourne to get on the ferry. The trip was pretty good - after waiting over an hour just to put our car on! Upon reaching Devonport, we drove across the North coast, checked out a few sites, then headed down into Cradle Mountain. We came an extra day early to Cradle Mountain so ...

... a spotlight on a grassy field and we would see 5 or 6 of them jumping around. All you hear is a thump, thump which is their tail hitting the ground. We also spotted a black possem, which look very different from American Opossems, and got within 5 feel of it by blinding it with the spotlight. Pretty cool. The next day (saturday), we headed off to Sandy Cape. This was a serious four wheel drive trail. A lot of trucks have ...

... dorm beds, with our books. The following day we decided to explore the nearby "Bay of Fires" which was claimed to be the second most beautiful beach in the world according to a vote by travelers. While it was very pretty, with sand like talcum powder, we're not sure about it's dubious claim to fame. It was great, but the water was freezing and we both agreed that the second most beautiful beach in the world should surely have perfectly warm ...

... to prison on Tasmanina. Apparantly Australian Prison was bad... but for a second time offender, Van Diemans Land as Tasmania was formerly known, was hell on earth! It was an account from the criminals and we learned of them building a ship to escape the prison and sailing to Valdivia in Chile; especially of interest to us as we had recently been there ourselves. As their were only the two guys in the play they soon enrolled the help of some of the audience ...

... and behind are lucious green forests and further back the mountain ranges of the Tasmanian Highlands. Hiking over the dunes and walking over, around, and through the vegetation, avoiding tiger snakes, and low hanging branches was the order of the day. After an hour trekking we arrived at the beach, via a run down a near vertical sand bank, and had a spot of beach cricket, united nations style, England vs Auistralia vs Japan vs Germany, after 2 innings needless ...