just finished booking our tickets on the good ship ss spirit of tasmania, heading out on the 31 jan 2009 back on the 11 feb 2009, should have 11 clear days over there by my reckoning,

we were there about 10 years ago so about time we refreshed our memorys of the place

anyone got any suggestions as to where to go apart from port arthur, strahan, launceston, hobart, cradle mountain and dove lake, we intend to have another  look at bay of fires

we will take little blue with us this time so that should open up all the free camps and the spots that we couldnt get in to with the motorhome last time because of insurance issues with the hire company which wouldnt allow us "off bituman"

Dave, I'd suggest you have a look around the Tarkine Wilderness. The dirt road from Arthur River that eventually gets you to Zeehan will take you all of 10 days if you take your time or you can drive along it in 5 hours.... Just make sure the ferry @ Corrina is working though it runs daylight hours all year round...
MIND BLOWING AREA this is and you may even spot a Thylacine if you are very lucky LOL.
 Saw a doco on Dove lake the other day and there is now a ferry on it for those  like myself incapable of walking around it......
You could also call in at Nabowla and see my "family" home.... And you have to do the ABT Railway absolutley, positivley....

http://www.puretasmania.com.au/default.asp?pID=46

http://www.touringtasmania.info/tarkine_map.htm


http://www.corinna.com.au/Location/Barge.aspx

There is a little berry farm somewhere up near Elephants Pass, absolutely divine, Fresh berries and ice cream with a fantastic view, life don't get any better.
  Can't remember the name but will see if I can look it up.A must do.

keep them coming I'm writing them down, just had a look at those websites Basil, there goes $400 just in the train and boat and $40 for the ferryman, never mind thats why we work I guess, and I will do that trek up through the tarkine, might see if I can get more time, yeah right as if!!!

G'day Dave,

Hope you have a great time in Tassie.  Sorry can't help with what to do and see, we haven't got there yet.

Best Regards and Safe Travelling.
John

Go Dave! I'm hoping to head that way in Feb, or earlier if possible, while it's still warm. The bones hate the cold.
I don't know how the school hols affect the traveller, but I'm goind to try and avoid them as well.
Safe and happy travels, and stay upright.
Cheers Granny

Dave, I'd suggest you have a look around the Tarkine Wilderness. The dirt road from Arthur River that eventually gets you to Zeehan will take you all of 10 days if you take your time or you can drive along it in 5 hours.... Just make sure the ferry @ Corrina is working though it runs daylight hours all year round...
MIND BLOWING AREA this is and you may even spot a Thylacine if you are very lucky LOL.
 Saw a doco on Dove lake the other day and there is now a ferry on it for those  like myself incapable of walking around it......
You could also call in at Nabowla and see my "family" home.... And you have to do the ABT Railway absolutley, positivley....

http://www.puretasmania.com.au/default.asp?pID=46

http://www.touringtasmania.info/tarkine_map.htm


http://www.corinna.com.au/Location/Barge.aspx

Dave, You are going to be nonstop if you hope to see half of that in 11 days. I tried it a few years ago and evn though I now live in Tas, I still haven't seen it all. I would suggest you pick what you consider more important to you and take your time at them. One thing you will see though - even though much of the state is in drought, record rain since the beginning of November means there is a lot of greenery about! That will be a shock to someone from your area. Perhaps we may meet up when you get here. Cheers

gday lyndsay welcome to the forum mate, I hope you enjoy it half as much as the rest of us do, I think you will find us a freindly bunch, some really top notch people in here, proud to call them freinds as far as seeing it all, I know what you mean, I reckon I'll start at devonport, 6am drop off for us and we will have a look at launceston for a day spend the night there and then head towards cradle mountain have a look for a day and find a camp then head towards the tarkine early the next day drive through and head for strahan do the train and boat over two days (5 days gone) down to lake sinclair stay the night shoot through to the gordon dam on the gordon river road then down to hobart take a look at the market and mount wellington and chocky factory then out to port arthur if we have time I would like to do the huon valley road again, if we see what we want to see well then good if we dont, well, I guess when we retire we will have to spend twelve months over there so life is full of hardships but we endure, it will be all go and I swore I would never do the fast pace again but so much to see so little time, if you see a blue flash and a very frazzled Dave behind the wheel, say gday and give us a wave as we fly past as far as rain goes, I was told we received 3 inches here in pirie so I may even see my lawn again after close to 5 years of drought, but yeah green will be good after all the gold (wheat and barley stalks) and brown that I have seen lately, might be able to finally get the dust out of my larynx

oh no!!! the dragon will be devastated, hmm!! oh well I'll cross that off the list, more time down at port arthur

We spent new years eve 2001 at the Mole Creek campground, donation box pinned onto a tree at entrance. Pick your own spot, hot an cold showers, firewood and fire pits provided.
We had a motorhome, backed up to the creek, we were the only people there, watching the flames dancing, listening to the babbling brook, squaffing a few reds welcoming in the new year.

King solomn mines just up the road and well worth a visit.

We hired a motorhome for 10 days plus had 3 nights in Hobart and 3 in Launceston on the company.

Hi Dave off to tassie lucky you. It is a good idea to check out Bay of Fires again I hear the developers are moving in so best to enjoy it while you can. If you get the chance when you head inland from St Helens pop in to Pyengana and visit the Pub in the Paddock where they have some beer guzzling pet pigs if they havnt died from an over indulgence yet they were there last year and the area around it is beautiful and check out St Columba Falls nearby. And Stanley and the nut are worth a visit its lobster heaven there large southern rock lobster picked out of the tanks and cooked however you like not too badly priced considering they are expensive anyway and sit and feast in the park across the road and admire the view. chezgo

beer guzzling pigs, my great giddy aunt that is nothing short of sacrilige, however it does make them taste good!!! reminds me of when I was a youngster and one of my many jobs was emptying the slush bucket from beneath the beer taps, the publican had two horses down the back, I had a bucket of dead beer so the outcome was inevitable, horses water trough, bucket of booze, yep in she went, all went well for a long time, horseys loved the beer until one day we had a very busy day at the pub, three buckets went out to our little boozy mates, well pissed as a mute comes to mind, they were standing (barely) legs crossed leaning up against a tree, falling over themselves trying to regain their legs, swaying, falling over whinnying and I swear to god they were smiling, anyway the boss chose this time out of all the others to come out and have a break and a smoke, sees the horses "what the hell is wrong with them" he says "buggered if I know" I said, he races inside the pub and calls the vet (well I wasnt going to tell him I give the bloody things beer was I) vet arrives, administers a couple of needles plus a big hose down the throat (drenching) no effect, "must be a cerebral virus, we will have to put them down" he says. "no way" the boss says "we will wait till morning and just see" luckily the horseys survived the night and were very quiet and subdued the next morning but everytime I had a bucket in my hand from that day on, I swear the horseys would chase me up and down the fence wanting more, I had created alcoholic horseys!!, the boss used to comment on how much the horseys admired me, if only he knew!!

Hubby and I had the best seafood platter down near the beach in Boat Harbour at a cafe. Not a fried crumb in sight. Yum

Cadbury's don't have tours any more. Reason given is OH&S from people sticking their grubby fingers in the mix. They do still have the shop where you can buy the 5kg packs though. Much of the goodies come from NZ now. The Pub in the paddock at Pyengana still has the beer drinking pig! The original (Boonie) has succumbed to kidney failure (lol) and has been replaced with Priscilla. She can down a stubby of liquid gold quicker than most creatures I have known. Enjoy the trip.

Dave, if you go through Fingal in the ne corner drop into the pub and have the salmon rissoles and a cascade - they have real salmon in them....

she's on the list Basil, but oh boy it's a long one, it's a big affair trying to book the railway and boat tours, hell they are so backward and the website is so slow, but I managed to squeeze $476 in to their hands,
 
but I nearly gave up half a dozen times it just got so damn frustrating their website just keeps crashing, 

trying to book in to the strahan caravan park now (because of early tour departures) and yep you guessed it slow as a wet willy in the winter, never mind at least after these are booked I wont have to book anything else

well that was an ordeal let me tell you folks!! after 6 emails and 3 telephone calls to the lady at the money taking place in strahan we are finally booked for the choo choo and the boat, but oh boy I wont be doing it again, I wont put it in the too hard basket I will put it in the next to bloody impossible box, she just kept on getting the dates wrong poor dear, and her computer kept crashing just could not get it in to her mind the days that we wanted, she would book incorrectly, we would cancel, book incorrectly cancel, book cancel, and all with accompanying confirmation documentation, AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!   frustration plus!!! I would ring her neck on arrival but she sounds like such a sweet old thing over the phone

got a phone call back from cadbury choccys (my email address kept on bouncing back, funny how 150 other people can get through but cadburys cant)  and yes the tours are off, people kept dipping their  fingers in the vats (and I cant blame them, me and the dragon had our bathers ready) but she offered me a video in a room followed by a tour of the sales room where I could buy their products, all for 7 dollars, which was very reasonable, yeah right as if, I just said no thanks

-- Edited by dave06 at 14:33, 2008-12-17

just one more comment on the tassie trip, we booked in to the strahan palace (well at these prices it should be) $35.00 per night for a powered site if you dont mind, because it is "peak season", my great giddy aunt, dont these people realise this is the very reason we "free camp" because most cant afford their palacial surrounds, hell what would we use, 20 cents worth of water and $1.00 for power, these places really need to get a reality check I dont want to subsidise their luxurious retirement, at least it was easy booking in, perhaps others have heard of their prices

dave06 wrote:

---

just one more comment on the tassie trip, we booked in to the strahan palace (well at these prices it should be) $35.00 per night for a powered site if you dont mind, because it is "peak season", my great giddy aunt, dont these people realise this is the very reason we "free camp" because most cant afford their palacial surrounds, hell what would we use, 20 cents worth of water and $1.00 for power, these places really need to get a reality check I dont want to subsidise their luxurious retirement, at least it was easy booking in, perhaps others have heard of their prices

---

If you reckon $35 is steep why not travel the South Coast of NSW in Summer school hols..... Places like Merimbula, Pambula, Eden, Batemans Bay etc you will be asked for $60 - $100!!!!!!!!!!!!!! for a powered site and if you say Gee thats steep they will say sorry move on we have too many bookings to listen to you bleating about prices..... Then in winter you can get a site for $50/week....

Yeah I did read somewhere ( and from personal experience I know) that the Tasmanian Worksafe people were the ones who got upset at the non sanitary hands helping themselves - some people are just sickening with their behaviour where chocolates are free....When I did the tour there were all manner of geriatrics sticking their fingers into everything, YUK!!!!
You can still swing by the "reject shop" and get the seconds cheap.... But I doubt you will have time Dave to buy 27 KG of choc mint creams let alone eat them.

Basil I try to stay away from anywhere during school hols, absolute madness then and as for $60 a night in someones paddock they can keep it, $100 tell em they are dreamin, who could afford to travel at those rates, not me, actually I'm not that fond of choccys, I still have easter eggs dating from the stone age, I just dont eat them, I would personnally find a chocolate factory tour the equivelent of a night watching tv, absolutely mindnumbingly stupifying, but the dragon wanted to see it and what the nagasaurus wants, the nagasaurus gets, otherwise I dont get to smile for a while, life becomes a wee bit miserable

Dave when in Tassie we found a free camp where you can stay for 6 weeks for nothing!! It is called Griffen Camp and it is towards the east coast about half way between St Helens and St Mary's.  It is run by State forests and extremely well kept.  Toilets, rubbish collections and the ranger even comes in everyday and sets your fire. Nestled right on the river - it is just a wonderful place.  Lots of days trip to do from there - Ben Lomond National Park - one of the most amazing!!! geological formations you will ever see with a 24 hour licence, if you get to the top. The Great Knights - which is one huge tree and a beautiful surround - lots to see and do.  We went into St Helens, for a shower each day down on the wharf at the public toilets there - beautiful and free, about an hour???
The Pub in the paddock, a little town called Mathina?(not sure of the spelling off hand) old gold mining town with so much to offer with its gold fields.  Great place and highly recommend it.  Might think of more - but off tomorrow to McLaggan and the Bunya Mountains for 10 days.
Merry Christmas all
Take care and drive safe

Lynne and Barry

yep I agree there are a lot of free camps through the centre and up the top but we could only find two over by strahan and they were a bit far away given that we have to be at the centre by 8.30 a.m by the time we get to strahan we will be low on food and water and need to do some washing as well so it all works in to stay at the park we will probably stay at the park in hobart as well for the salamancer market and mount wellington and we want to have a look at hobart and dont want to drive in and out all the time all other nights will be free camping so 2 or 3 nights out of 10 is not too bad and about average I know we will not see everything on this trip as well but there is always next year if this pans out right, we also intend to go up to uluru around july or august this year (2009) with a bunch of people, going to take our camper trailer which we havent used for god knows how long so that will be interesting, so we are always planning at least 3 trips at a time, so much to see so little time to see it, beats sitting home I can tell you, and when I am home I'm thinking about being "out there"

just one more thing seeing as to how this post is so popular (and I thank you for all your interest) if you are thinking of doing the same and booking your ticket with the tt line (spirit of tasmania) do not book as pensioners, if you have not done so already, join up with cmca and the discount offered through the club is higher than the pensioner discount offered by the spirit. currently (at peak season rates) it is 40% so not to be sneezed at. 

how much saving I hear you say , I'm glad you asked, it adds up to some $62 per person return saved, so the membership cost of the cmca pays for itself twice over just on the one return trip 

your motorvehicle, if less than 6 mtrs, rides for $74 each way, no deduction on that

just a little tip to remember  

Re CMCA ....

Well worth joining .. They have some great discount arrangements with some CPs ...  eg. Sydney Lakeside at North Narrabeen gave 50% discount (according to our neighbour on the adjoining site) when we were there February.  We only got 10% with Big4!  Significant if you are there for a long period @ $40/50 per night for a powered site!

I think that they have lots of info for members on free parks for motorhomes .. I think also that caravanners can become non voting members too.

graham the c.m.c.a. stands for the CARAVAN AND MOTORHOME owners CLUB of AUSTRALIA any one with a caravan or motorhome or camper is more than welcome we also have people with camper trailers and tents, it is a fantastic orginisation and offers a hell of a lot for travelers whether it be full time or part time, voting is not a problem it is only when the club officiants retire or new members to the board are required we have discounts for tyres, parks and travels, the benefits are enormous and we are just like minded people helping like minded people I cannot recommend the orginisation highly enough, and fully endorse the travelers to join, the benefits very quickly outweigh the cost I am a member of the cmca but I do not derive a payment or reward of any kind from recommendation caravanners are more than welcome, they make up a large percentage of our members

Is there an age limit? We are not pensioner age yet.

no age limit, just sharing a common interest, same as here, all welcome