KI OK

Kangaroo Island has provided empty beaches, wonderful sunsets, a large full moon and deserted camping areas - just what we like.

The short hop on the ferry led us to follow the north coast before taking a very badly corrugated road out to the lighthouse at Cape Bourda. Flinders Chase NP gave us the chance to observe fur seals in close proximity in and around spectacular Admiral's Arch as well as visit the Remarkables - photogenic granite rocks with a churning sea behind.

At the various lighthouses we visited there were descriptions of some of the many shipwrecks that occurred on this stretch of coast - the first landfall in many weeks for ships from the UK bringing supplies or settlers.

A couple of bush walks took us to deserted wave lashed beaches and we camped the night at West Bay with the place to ourselves, a memorable sunset and nocturnal visits from a bush tailed possum and a small wallaby.

Here at D'Estree Bay we are camped yards from the sea with a couple of pelicans standing offshore in the shallows and mainland Oz visible in the far distance. There have been very few people around as it is a fairly pricey destination for a weekend visit - we were lucky in that they had a special offer on for caravans and rather surprisingly decided that our modest set up would qualify.

We return to the mainland on Monday with Sarah getting started on her long journey home on Tuesday.

Recent photos here and our whereabouts here

The accompanying slide show is a return to New Zealand's Fiordland which we were visiting just over a year ago.

Victoria's Outback

After the floods of January much of the central Grampians' access roads and track network had been washed away and thus the area was closed. However Mt. Sturgeon to the south and Mt. Staplyton in the north both provided good walks - the latter particularly so with an airy scramble to a lofty viewpoint proving to be a highlight. Quiet Parks camping near thought provoking aboriginal drawings was much appreciated after which we headed through the vast Victorian wheat fields with sleepy hamlets dominated by enormous silos.

Occasional clouds of locusts coated the windscreen in a smeary mess but were prevented from clogging the radiator by a smart new skirt as we drove to the Wyperfeld and Murray Sunset Parks which jointly are half the size of Wales and are bisected by just the one major road.

We had got in to Little Desert Park but access to the campground was very silty and with the isolation we did not want to risk getting stuck but Wyperfeld was fine and we spent our first three night stay of the trip there. Good cycling along sandy tracks through the mallee gave us access to a number of walks in the dry desert scrub with occasional vantage points providing views across the endless landscape. The bird life was noisy and varied ranging from large but wary emus to inquisitive superb fairy wrens, raucous galahs and sulphur crested cockatoos.

The mercury hit the 30 degree mark by day and did not fall much overnight but at least we were able to use our solar shower again to great effect and despite the long holiday weekend very few people arrived to share the solitude.

Murray Sunset contains old salt workings at the Pink Lakes where we stayed a night in isolation and enjoyed a ride round the Pioneer Track past the old salt stockpiles which were once carried by Afghani and Pakistani camel teams to a rail head 3 days away. The lakes were indeed a surprising pink hue due to a small organism that can tolerate water 800 times saltier than the sea and is comprised largely of beta-carotene.

A shift west took us in to South Australia where the fruit and veg. police inspected our stores before we headed south to the Fleurieu Peninsula from where we will cross to Kangaroo Island for a few days before dropping Sarah at Adelaide airport in ten days time.

Pics here, locations here

This post's slideshow is a compilation of photos taken during our travels of the trusty van which has now completed 220,000 miles, half in our ownership over the last 6 years. Considering the many months we have spent living in it the degree of wear and tear is minimal with a few cushions and curtains looking tired but otherwise serviceable - perhaps whilst Sarah is home I will get round to a spring clean!

West, north, south, west again, east and now north again...

We enjoyed the Great Ocean Road with its spectacular coastal scenery but found it busier than we prefer so retreated in to the empty Otway Ranges for peaceful camping, a sighting of a platypus and some good mountain biking at Forest on my 51st birthday. Cape Otway provided a good walk out to the lighthouse and a surprisingly close encounter with koalas out in the eucalyptus forests.

Sarah has managed to rearrange her travel plans to get home a week early on the 23rd of March so she can join in a girls weekend - full marks to Singapore Airlines for free amendments and Qantas for a full refund. Less marks to the car hire company who wanted almost double for an extra week so lost the booking completely.

Thus we have a fortnight to reach Adelaide so continued along the coast via under sung Port Fairy with its gun battery and stumpy lighthouse and on in to South Australia. Here we enjoyed the delightful and empty limestone coast, climbed a few extinct volcanoes and marvelled at the distances we have covered and have to cover - the 1200km indicated from Sydney in a straight line to Cape Northumberland has in reality been 12000 miles ( not a typo ) but of course we did cover all of Tasmania, my route to Perth will be almost as indirect if the outback floods have receded and the roads are passable.

Mt Gambier's blue lake was remarkable after which we returned to Vic. collecting the stash of fruit and veg. we had hidden back over the border as there are strict controls against fruit fly in the region.

Dartmoor was a sleepy village with some clever wood carvings and after enjoying the walk to the top of long extinct Mt Napier where the flat reality of outback Australia unfolded we are now in Penshurst on a campsite near the park - excellent facilities, only one other guest and handy for the village - good value at £6 a night.

The Grampians beckon for this week and the Little Desert, Big Desert, Wyperfeld and Murray- Sunset parks will be our target again subject to access prior to the run across to Adelaide.

The slide show returns to the start of our NZ trip in September 2009.

Otherwise the recent pics are here and our whereabouts here.

We have also added a search facility so if you want to find a place we have been to etc. you can now do so easily.

Monkeying Around in Tassie and Victoria

After Launceston we headed inland intending to walk the Walls of Jerusalem but low cloud prevented this so a return to the coast put us at Baker's Beach within easy reach of Devonport for a trip to the cinema to see Sanctum in 3D - good film but not sure about 3D. Watching the ferry to Melbourne leave at sunset was impressive given the narrow channel available out to the stormy seas.

A return to the hills and some excellent bush camping at Lake Rowallan enabled us to do our planned walk despite the unusual fall of four inches of snow overnight. We met another Swiss couple on a round the world trip http://www.offintothehorizon.com/ and at dusk saw a spotted quoll nosing around outside.

Sarah enjoyed a days riding in the forests around Lake Barrington before we headed off to the coast for our return sailing to Melbourne. A group of suicidal bikers nearly caused grief on a series of tight hairpins - two came off in spectacular fashion but seemed uninjured despite the damage to the bikes.

On a fast stretch of road whilst heading for the ferry we experienced a sudden and alarming loss of power so pulled off to inspect - all seemed well but we could not get the revs up so limped slowly in to town where I replaced the fuel filter and all was well again.

The ferry crossing was very enjoyable with Tasmania retreating in to a glorious sunset and Melbourne appearing lit up at dawn as we again crossed Port Phillip Bay.

We are now exploring the Victorian goldfields with beautifully preserved heritage towns and villages, warm weather and empty camping areas. We will head down to the Great Ocean Road after the weekend and then to inland to the Grampians over the next week or two.

Pics are here - hope you enjoy the new feature on the blog - a slideshow of other pics we have taken which will change at each new posting.

Locations once again here - we have noticed that Google must have photographed the area during the drought as many of our campsites are unrecognisably greener after the January rains.

Top notch Tasmania

Cape Huay at the southern tip of the Tasman Peninsula provided superb views to the seas way below and after the absorbing remains of the convict days at Port Arthur we headed back through Hobart and followed the east coast north. Freycinet was we felt rather over done and we found scenery and isolation more to our liking on the north east tip of the island with wonderful coastline, camping areas empty now that the schools are back and a large high pressure system ensuring that we have enjoyed the views in their best light. Some conservation fishing off the beach ensured that we enjoyed pork chops cooked on the gas barbie supplied at Stumpy's No.4 campground - it is amazing the free provision of facilities to enjoy life outdoors in the most remote of places.


An afternoon snorkelling revealed hidden treasures beneath the blue sea followed by a remarkable sunset which rounded off a perfect day in the Waterhouse Conservation Area.


We are now in Launceston to enjoy a couple of museums and the impressive Cataracts Gorge before heading inland to the mountains for our final week or so.


We met up briefly with one of the Swiss couples I had met back in October who are engaged in a similar tour and have come away with some good ideas for onward travel plans.





Photos here and updated locations here

More from Tassie

The island continues to amuse and enthrall us as we continue to enjoy good weather with sunny skies and fresh conditions. Having a dongle here in Oz has so far proved invaluable especially as much of the info about walks and wildlife is available online and downloadable.

It also means we get to post more often although I guess coverage will drop off once we head west in a month or so.

After a rewarding walk in the Hartz NP we headed inland to stop at historic Oatlands which reminded us of stone built Cotswold villages and had a free camping spot overlooking a lake which reminded us of villages in France. This put us conveniently in position to enjoy a combined day at the Tasmanian Cattlemen's Association annual get together and Ross Rodeo with both events providing spectacular displays of horsemanship and stockmanship in very much a no nonsense atmosphere. H&S, fears re liability and an aversion to risk seem to have knocked the stuffing out of similar rural events at home so the approach here was very refreshing.

We have now moved on to the Tasmanian Peninsula once guarded at Eaglehawk Neck by ferocious dogs to prevent convicts escaping the penal colonies of Port Arthur.

The tessellated rocks were fascinating but the blowhole somewhat benign given the current calm sea conditions. Quiet Lime Bay nature reserve is our base for tonight and a daring red necked wallaby has already inspected our set up. The chances of seeing a Devil are slim but we will probe the woodlands with a light after dusk.

A few photos here and the recent locations here which update daily , regards to all.

The Edge Of The World

South West Tasmania has rewarded us with stunning scenery, a variety of wildlife and reminders of an inglorious past.

The ingenuity of man was impressively portrayed at Lake Gordon hydro scheme where the 140m high dam held back Australia's largest freshwater body of water. Nature hit back with the wilderness of the World Heritage listed South West National Park where we barely scratched the surface at Lake Pedder.

Bruny Island provided good walks, sea eagles, albatross, tiger snakes, echidnas, dolphins and stunning cliff scenery before Hobart's impressive architecture and dark history filled a very wet day.

Cockle Creek to the south was as far in that direction as we can go in this country with a walk to South Cape Bay emphasising how far from anywhere else we were. The spectacular bay with churning seas was more than half a world away from the next land mass - South America's narrow southern tip.

Sunny but cool weather has been ideal for us and we have met some interesting people perhaps most notably a couple from Devon on a year long trip and just about to head to New Zealand. We now head north briefly to a Cattlemen's event before returning to Hobart to continue our circuit via the Tasmanian Peninsula and the east coast.

Pictures Locations updates daily