On Our way to Central Australia

People told us we were crazy (some still do) but we decided to drive to Central Australia. People told us we should fly. "It's a long drive" we were told. It was a really long drive, we covered 5500 km in 12 days, but we came to Australia to see the country, not the economy seating on a Jetstar flight. We rented a pop-up caravan that we towed from Adelaide to Alice Springs. It certainly made life interesting - it was very warm all day and at night we froze our tushies off. It was the middle of winter!




Heading down the hill into Adelaide. It was absolutely crazy windy that day - I'm wondering how many of the "emergency arrester beds" were used.

Our home away from home for 12 nights. The sleeping area is where the windows are and then there was some room for a small table and some stools oon the floor. That came in handy when we huddled around the propane lamp at night trying to keep warm.

Our front yard/ kitchen area. Gourmet meals cooked and enjoyed here. One thing campgrounds in Australia offer is a barbeque area where you can cook your food. Kennedy is standing in front of our handy counter area.

The caravan came with this lovely loft bedroom reached by a small ladder. We took loads of extra blankets and we used every one of them.

Heading out of Port Augusta and onwards to the "Red Center"!

Beautiful sunsets almost every night.

We passed lots of wind farms. They seem to be quite common place up there.
This is pretty much the scenery we saw - for many, many days....
A roadhouse! Spuds Roadhouse to be exact. These were always a welcome sight cause it meant you could buy gas, food and drinks. It also meant that there were other people out there - which was very comforting some days....

...cause once you left Spuds this is what you saw.

The girls decided that this was the perfect place to sit and eat some lunch at Spud's.
Back on the road after lunch. Apparently we're taking a little of the local wildlife with us on our windshield.

This is only the onset as it was such a huge trip that it really needs to be split into parts. We covered a lot of territory and saw a lot of great things that I can't do justice to in a single blog. At this point we were only beginning to understand the charm and mystique of the center, but we were hooked!

The Force is With Us...

Imagine our excitement when we discovered that there was a Star Wars exhibit at Scienceworks in the city, a mere 45 minutes drive from here. Imagine that you were a young child when the original Star Wars movie came out in 1977 and that you have seen all the Star Wars movies since then and now that you are just a teeny bit older than that, you still love the movies, as does your 7 year old daughter. You would go check out the exhibit! And that is exactly what we did. Everything in the exhibit was used in the movies - Luke's landspeeder from the first movie, many lightsabers, costumes and other bits. It was really interesting, although I must admit that finding out how they did some of the stunts and scenes was like finding out what all your Christmas presents are before you open them.



X wing fighter. It measures about 1m x 1m. Guess it had to be that small to make all those turns.
















Chewbacca and Han Solo. Harrison Ford was obviously not that big because the costume is quite small.

This looks like some sort of homemade plumbing thingy.

I had no idea that there were so many different types of lightsabers in the movie.

Darth Vader. This one was Alex's favorite. She loves Darth Vader. Although when she asked Santa for a lightsaber she wanted a blue one like Luke's.

Storm Trooper.

Yoda this is. Cute he is.

A Jawa. They were the ones that sold C3PO and R2D2 to Luke's uncle. If you google "Jawa" it describes a Jawa as a small rodent like native of Tatooine. Doesn't really help...

Snow Trooper from when Luke got lost in the blizzard on Hoth.

Wampa from Hoth.

Alex with Darth Vader and Padme Amidala. Or for those not in the know - Alex with Darth Vader and his Mom.

Kennedy with C3PO and R2D2. Hard to imagine there were people in those costumes.

Luke's landspeeder from the first movie. It was built over the frame of a 3 wheeled British Car and then the tires were movie magicked out of the scenes. Unfortunately that info sort of ruined things for me...

The Millenium Falcon. It measures about 1.5 metres in diameter and weighs enough that it took 3 men to lift it. It was manouvered in the scenes by wires that were attached to it's frame.

For a group of Star Wars fan we left the exhibit quite excited. It was really cool to be able to see all the stuff from the movies and to get an idea of how it all worked. Items like Darth Vaders helmet look like George Lucas paid a visit to his local Home Depot to put the costumes together. It was really odd to see regular things like tubing and duct tape on something that looked so spectacular on the big screen. As an adult you it's like finding out a magicians secret and may make me look at the movie differently I'm not so sure that a 7 year old will care.

In Search of the Tasmanian Devil

For as long as I can remember I have wanted to visit Tasmania even though I didn't know where it was. When I was watching Walt Disney as a kid I would be fascinated by the animal that used to drive Bugs crazy and I wondered what kind of place would have such a strange animal. when we found out last year that we would be coming to Australia I was determined to visit Tasmania. I was pretty sure that Disney was slightly inaccurate but wanted to check it out for sure. On the school holidays in April we flew to Tassie for 4 days. It was fabulous! We flew into Launceston, where we stayed for a night and then drove out little rental car down to Hobart for 2 nights.


There it is!!

Cute little house in Launceston.
Row houses in Launceston.

Mexican food for dinner at the Prickly Cactus. Yummy!

Night time in Launceston with our little car parked downtown.

On day 2 we took the girls to the Platypus House where we learned loads about Platypus including the fact that they weigh only about 2.5 Kg and poop once a week. Fascinating stuff!
At the Platypus House they also have echidnas. Despite their appearance they are actually not related to porcupines but are related to anteaters as they use their sticky tongues to eat their food.

Even though they are harmless it's a little disconcerting having them walking around your feet.

After we done checking out the Platypus House we drove back into Launceston and headed for Cataract Gorge. Right within the city is this beautiful little area. It was absolutely pouring but it didn't deminish the beauty of the place. Cataract Gorge reminded me a lot of BC, could've been the rain, might've been the landscape but it was a comfortable, familiar place.

See what I mean - It looks like BC!

Alex beside "her" bridge.

A shot of the bridge and the gorge. This place is beautiful in the rain, it's probably stunning when the sun is shining.

We climbed up a trail to get this shot. Funny thing about rain is that you get a lot of these places to yourself.

Probably the only time since we've been in Australia that we have actually needed our rain coats. It was raining so hard I'm not sure how useful they were.

Our own little drowned rat.

In the afternoon we headed down the Midland highway for the 3 hour drive to Hobart. We pulled into the little village of Ross for a pit stop and ended up spending some time checking things out. It was a very historical village with heritage buildings and a wool museum (yes we did the tour -yawn).

A building fom the 1800's





Ross is famous for this historical bridge.
The Uniting Church in Ross. It actually borders on the old Female Factory (prison) site.

Site of the old barracks. The spire from the Uniting Church is in the background.

We got settled in Hobart and the next morning we headed out to Port Arthur. We stopped at the Tasmanian Devil Refuge on our way. Finally I could see this strange little creature. Will it spin? Will it drill through trees? Are there any rabbits nearby?

The famed Tasmanian Devil. They have poor vision, poor hearing and are poor hunters. They are opportunistic feeders in that they will eat anything left over from other animals kills because they can't catch anything themselves. They can't really chase anything and catch it because they just aren't smart enough.
Tasmanian Devils do have really strong jaws that can snap large bones in half easily.

They fight amongst themselves a lot and have scars to prove it. They chase each other around the inside of their enclosure and then chew on each other.

The mystery of the Tasmanian Devil now solved we could move on to other parts of the refuge. We decided that the devils are a crazy but fascinating creature with their purpose on earth uncertain. We've put them in the "they're so ugly they're cute" category.

At the refuge they have a bird show. All the birds have been rehabed and live at the refuge. Some are missing feathers and claws from being in the wild that prevent them from flying away or catching their own food.

A Peregrine Falcon that has been raised at the refuge from birth. As a result he never learned to hunt for himself, so he never goes far from home.
Alex is holding Kermit,who is a Tawny Frogmouthed Owl.

Kermit camoflauges himself by staying very still and pretending he's part of the branch.

So cute they're ugly I say...

At the back of the refuge is a large penned in area that has numerous kangaroos and wallabies in it. They are very friendly and didn't seem to mind all the people walking around and petting them.

Lots of kangaroos and geese. Also lots of goose poop!

This picture still looks a little weird to me. It is a joey having a drink from it's mother. I didn't think they did that when they were that big. I think that's why it looks so weird...

Our entire afternoon was spent at Port Arthur http://www.portarthur.org.au/. Port Arthur is a historical site in Tasmania where convicts from England and Ireland were sent upon conviction in the mid 1800's. Their crimes included an assortment of crimes including "suspected of stealing bread" or "suspected of treachery to the King". It was a very renowned prison in it's time. Upon entering the museum part of the site you are to find the card that matches the one given to you when you pay. When you find "yourself" you can read about your crime and what happened to you after you came to Port Arthur. The kids really enjoyed this part of the tour.

Rhiannon found her match!
The penitentiary, originally built as a flour mill.
Small river that comes in from the
bay and winds through Port Arthur. It's quite a picturesque place despite it's history. It used to be a thriving community in the convict days.

Guard tower

Looking down behind the penitentiary.



Looking at the penitentiary from the bay.

Isle of the Dead where the convicts were buried.

Church built with convict labor.

Inside a cell in the Asylum.


Cell block "C" in the Asylum


The view from a cell.

When we travel we have been staying in cabins at caravan parks. They are great with kids as you can cook your own meals and have your own space.

A kitchen area, bathroom and a small bedroom for the girls with 2 bunk beds in it.

A small bedroom with a queen sized bed for us.




At the Salamanca Market in Hobart. Your 2 hours are up by the time you read all the small print.

Lots of different stalls at the market. You can buy food, jewellery, crafts or just about anything.












Market day is popular in any city. There is always a huge amount of people.

After a morning at the market we wandered around trying to find somewhere to eat lunch. Down at the harbour there were a few fish and chip places to choose from. It was delicious!

Waiting patiently for the food to be ready.

Steve and the girls at the very top of Mount Wellington, just outside Hobart.
The view from Mount Wellington. At 1270 metres tall the view is spectacular!

Of course they had to climb all over the rocks at the top. What's a mountain if you can't climb it?


This is the sign in the little info booth at the top of Mount Wellington. It tells you how your car may not start and your remote locks may not open due to the elevation. You get to read this after you've gotten out of your car, locked it and walked across the parking lot to the info booth to read the signs inside...

Of course they give you emergency numbers to call but will you get a signal on your mobile????

Family photo op.



Steve in leg irons at the Richmond Gaol just outside Hobart. Not a bad idea when he just doesn't listen...

...or maybe when the kids are having the same trouble.

Tasmania was one of my favorite places to visit so far. It's rugged and beautiful with just enough history and culture to be really interesting. The places we visited were just a few of the many that Tassie has to offer. We were there for 4 days and it really was not enough, there is so much more to do and see. We found the Tasmanian Devils that we were searching for and discovered that they are a good fit for such a unique part of Australia. They don't spin or drillholes through large trees. But I think I saw a wabbit...

http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=bi5EcXjfzro