i love trees

My kids know that mum loves trees.  So driving through all this native bushland and seeing trees galore they know that mum is loving it.  Throw in a few starfish and she is happy.  It was very very low tide at Coles Beach where we stayed the first night, free camping in Devonport, after disembarking from The Spirit of Tasmania. (Feeling recovered from the hours of sea-sickness in mid trip - one vomit only between us all - but that's another story...)

Wild winds of Bass Strait

There were tiny starfish all over the rock pools, and my camera battery was about to crash so i took as many as i could! Only about five -

They were so gorgeous!

We stopped at the Raspberry Farm on route to Launceston. Yummm. We had heard about Cataract Gorge as a must-see, and we wondered how they would hide a humungous gorge right in the centre of the city, buts its really true! Seriously 2 minutes drive on the GPS up a hill and bang there is the most spectacular natural wonder you have ever seen.  Just amazing.  With a free public swimming pool up there too.  And peacocks wandering around quite common place.

Our friend with the amazing blue plumage

We saw one just as we arrived and we were taking photos and pointing and making a fuss and all the other people (locals?) were completely taking no notice at all.  Yawn.  Oh yes, another peacock.  Like it was just an ant or some other boring creature not worth photographing.   And in just a few minutes walk along the basin you come to the suspension bridge where every angle offers an amazing vista.

Cataract Gorge, Launceston, Tas

Falls under suspension bridge

Do you see the swimming pool?

Anyway, tomorrow we head to Platypus House to see the platypuses (platypi?) in action.  Hopefully.  The kids have hit the wall and i guess they are supremely exhausted.  We spent this afternoon at the caravan park, doing maths, to relax (!).  I guess my husband may have been onto something when he said those words "we are doing too much".  Maybe they all need some downtime. It makes me feel impatient as there is so much out there to see and do and we wont be back anytime soon.  But everyone has their limitations and maybe some early to bed nights might be headed their way (although, not mine, as you can see, i'm up blogging!!)

Sea anemone at rocks pools, Devonport, Tas (love this one)

Goodnight!

floods and more chocolate

On the news last night we watched all the flash floods around Melbourne and wondered if we would get through to eastern suburb of Balwyn. I am updating this in the car as we drive, delicately balancing the laptop on... top of my lap, actually.

So we just made it through, albeit with a very long delay as the Gippsland Hwy was reduced to one lane and we had to drive through a bit of floodwater too.  Great to have a 4WD!

Earlier this morning, on Phillip Island, we packed up in the alternating heavy rain and wind and drove straight back to the Chocolate Factory.  It was such a hit yesterday, for the factory tour, and this time we each ordered some real hot chocolate to warm up.  We've been listening to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on audio books, so the kids were pretty excited.

That done we drove to The Nobbies Centre on the far western side of the island and while the little ones and Dad slept in the car, the remaining 3 of us braved the bitter winds and ran along the fantastic boardwalk that lines the rugged coast.  We looked out to Seal Rocks, saw some strange unknown duck type birds, as well as a baby penguin in his burrow.  We stared at the Blow Hole and tried to look across to Tasmania (couldn't see it...a bit far). We will head that way tomorrow.

Some more pics

Here are a few more pictures from the trip so far. Matt

Kioloa locals lining up for breakfast. 

The Bega cheese factory (mmmm, cheese).

Our home on the road.

Mallacoota sunset bike ride, and rainbow spotting.

Tidal River, Wilson's Promontory

Shallow Inlet sunset (over the water)

in the swing of it

I am curled up in our caravan, listening to the rain softly fall on the roof.  i love the sound of rain on a roof! We are Day 9 of our trip, and arrived today at Phillip Island, Victoria.

There were so many intentions of updating this blog on an almost daily basis - but i have to say - i think life just gets in the way! So many interesting things to share - so many amazing sights - also a lot of very ordinary moments.  A Lot. Not much of my treasured 'thinking time' to muse over long-winded thoughts that i might like to blog about.

We are starting to settle into the swing of it - the caravan set / up pack / up routine is now easier.  The oldest kids have been wonderful at just playing and exploring.  Benjamin though needs a lot of attention. The first days i really wondered if our timing should have been different - he at only just 2 years old, seems to need so much more care than at home (sleeping difficulties, supervision issues, etc).  We are finding however that he is also settling in to the changes.  I don't think he will be happy to go back into a cot when we return! *Kerran cries* We have decided that having him sleep in the middle bunk is best, for access and using a bedrail, prevents him escaping.  He does still get kicked in the head overnight by whomever sibling he is sharing with (usually Hannah, sometimes Adam). Ah the perils!

We have just journeyed from Wilsons Promontory today.  What a truly amazing place.  I am sorry we didn't have more time to stay and explore. This national park is the most southerly point on the mainland, very rugged, and so beautiful.  At Tidal River on the Prom, we followed Loo-arnn walking track around the riverside, most of it on a boardwalk with stunning views from every side.  At squeaky beach the kids played hide and seek, and chased around the rock formations. They loved the 'squeaky' clean quartz sand.

The campsite there has a whopping 480 sites, which are usually booked solid all holidays long.  We opted for a small caravan park near the entrance to the park. We haven't yet 'free' camped as Matt found some issues with our new solar power panel (ie not working), we have other panels that are working, but it seems we might not be able to do 3 days straight without plugging into power. Don't even want to start explaining the TV problems, and then hard-drive issues (they don't like getting dropped). But on the flip-side - having less technology is actually blessing in disguise.  We have Vodafone contracts on our phones which we means we are basically not contactable! But that's okay.

i'd love to write more but i'm also planning in my head a full day of activity tomorrow.  Yesterday my husband started a conversation with me like this:
Matt: "We are doing too much.  We need to cut back".
Kerran: "Too much? We aren't doing enough! We need to do EVERYTHING."

Its true that the daily stuff of life is taking more time, ie just taking a child to the loo is an event in itself - even at the caravan park - there are keys to find, and signs saying 'must be accompanied by an adult'; multiply that by four and it really is a lot of running around.

But still; we are only here once, now, today, and so we really should do and see whatever we possibly can, right?  Right.