Last Days In Tassie.

It is hard to believe the six weeks have gone so quickly. Our last days in Tassie were very different to the first days we spent there. When we arrived there was an air of excitement, as we prepared to leave, we both felt pretty flat. This is indeed a beautiful island, and I can honestly see why people just love to come back. The quality of life here is much different to the main land, different in pace, lifestyle, fresh air, scenery, definately the cold, wildlife, but I think one of the things we appreciated most was the beauty and how it was accessible for everyone to enjoy.

After leaving Swimcart Beach we headed inland through St. Mary's to a place called Fingal. We had heard that you could free camp there with electricity, and the road to Launceston was a lot less hilly and windy than the road though Scottsdale to Launceston.Our camping spot was right in the middle of town, in the town park, beautifully kept lawns, Sheep pastures behind ( as well as the railway track). We were camped next to this old Sawmill Kiln.

Fingal is a mining town, with coal mines on the way into Fingal. It reminded us a little of home. Fingal is where we saw the first trains operating in Tasmania. They were carting coal, but again, so different to back home. At home the coal would be piled high in the buckets, here they were almost level with the top of the bucket. Fingal obviously is a very old town, and had some lovely buildings, especially churches.
We might have missed the tulips, and the Lavendar, but the poppies were in full bloom whilst we were here. Fields and fields of pale pink flowers. They were such a pretty sight. Mind you I always thought Poppies were red, so it was a nice surprise to see all these delicate pink flowers.

Whilst we were here, we took a drive up to Elephant Pass to sample the Pancakes. A beautiful spot up in the mountains. It was wet and raining the day we went. Lots of low cloud cover, which made the whole place look misty. The pancakes were divine, and definately worth the drive. The restaurant had an open fire burning, which only added to the warmth and atmosphere of the place.
After leaving Fingal we drove back towards Launceston. Rather than stay in Launcestion this time, we chose to stay at a beautiful Caravan Park on the River in Longford. It is places like this that we could easily spend a week or two at.We arrived at Longford at Lunchtime, so after setting up the van and getting
a couple of loads of washing done, we decided to go for a drive up to Poatina. We had heard quite a bit about the place, also had watched the guys from here with their glass blowing at the Deloraine Craft Fair, and as it was only 37kms from where we were staying, we decided to take the time to make up there.
On our way home from Poatina, we passed through this little town called Cressy. It was the gateway to Salmon Fishing in the area, and I couldn't resist taking these photos because I have a very good friend back home who lives in Church street and she is a keen fisherwoman, so I knew she would appreciate these photos. As it was still light when we got back towards Longford we decided to go and visit a little place called "Evandale" - quite a historical town, and just beautiful. We loved it. Mind you there isn't much about Tassie that we don't love.
We were fast running out of time to see this lovely area. I had also hurt my back again so needed to try and find a chiropractor. So miss mine back home. I was fortunate enough to get an early morning appointment. We left there and headed up to Low Head to see the oldest still operating Lighthouse in Australia.
After leaving Low Head, we headed off to find the Bridestowe Lavendar Estate. Unfortunately we were a couple of weeks too early to see all the Lavendar fully flowering. It is just starting to flower now, so we could see the purple tips. The lady there told us it was a bit later this year because of all the rain and overcast days. We could only begin to image how spectacular this would look when out in full bloom. The fragrance here alone was just beautiful.
We also had lunch here - the most beautiful Lavendar pancakes with Lavendar ice-cream. So yummy that Steve could have licked the plate ( he didn't really) Good value at $8.50
The weather hadn't been good for the past week, and it wasn't predicted to get much better before we left and we still hadn't been to Cradle Mountain. Sunday was supposed to be the best day, so we decided that we would leave Longford on Saturday head to Devonport and then take the drive to Cradle Mountain on the Sunday.

As we left Longford on Saturday, the sun was shining and it was a beauitful day, so we decided to pull in at Deloraine ( only 40 kms away) drop the van at a Caravan Park there and head up to Cradle Mountain whilst the weather was good. Best decision we could have made.
We decided to pass through Westbury on our way to Deloraine. It has been in the news quite a bit since we have been in Tassie. Not necessarily for good reasons, so when we saw the sign on the side of the road we detoured through there and took the back road to Deloraine.

Cradle Mountain was as beautiful as everyone has ever told us it would be...

The wildflowers were stunning .

The Boat Shed at Cradle Mountain.


I loved the wildlife. We saw several wombats, one came up to within a couple of feet of us. It totally made my day. I have only ever seen wombats in the zoo before and then they are usually curled up in a log. To see this one up close and personal was such a bonus to a beautiful day. They are so furry and cuddly looking.
We honestly had the most perfect day up there, the sun was on Cradle Mountain. A rarity apparently at a place where it rains or is covered in cloud over 300 days of the year. So thankful we didn't wait until Sunday, because we woke up Sunday morning to overcast skies, low cloud coverage, and it was freezing cold again.

We decided to spend another day in Deloraine, we were camped by the river and it was such a lovely spot.

We decided to go for a drive to Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm for lunch seeing as it was only 7 kms out of town. Honestly this place is a must visit if you are in Tassie. Their pancakes and waffles are to die for. We were also fortunate enough to be able to get some freshly picked raspberries to take home as well.

Monday came soon enough and it was time to pack up once more and this time head to Devonport ready to leave the following day. We kind of left Deloraine with a heavy heart. We honestly were not ready to leave here. When we got back to Devonpart, we booked into the same park we stayed at when we first arrived in Tassie.
It was a good opportunity to catch up on our washing (nothing nicer than seeing clean washing flapping in the breeze, and also to get the caravan repacked before we headed back to the mainland. This caravan also had amazing gardens, everything in flower. These flowers were just outside our van. Couldn't resist photographing them.

We were able to pay a little extra and stay at the park until it was time to board the ship later that afternoon. It also allowed us to do quite a bit of running around.
We needed a new deep cycle battery, a new tap for the caravan, a few spare parts - things that would be easier for us to locate here rather than try and do in Melbourne when we got off the boat. I was still having back issues, so we went looking for a chiropractor again as well.

We managed to get everything that we wanted to get done, even fueled up so that we could head off the moment we got to Melbourne before the rush hour traffic.

Just as we drove out of the caravan park, the rain started bucketing down. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. We at least were able to sit in the car out of the wet until it was time to board

And so ended this part of our holiday - a holiday along awaited for, a holiday in the planning for three years. We were very sad to be leaving and we hope to get back another day for a lot longer visit.