Murray Bridge

Well here we are in South Australia and are taking life slowly. Although we are on the way home we intend to do it at our own pace.

Some figures may be of interest. We have been away for 84 days and have travelled 7412 km. We will be very close to 10000 km when we are home again. Fuel consumption is about 25L/100km (about 11.3 mpg) We have used around 1850 L of LPG at an average cost of 75.4 cents/L. Cheapest fuel was 42.9 in Melbourne and dearest 117.0 at Nullabor. Average cost of travel is a biyt less than 9 cents/Km.

We are currently in Murray Bridge about 80 km east of Adelaide. As the name suggests it was an important road crossing of the river but is now bypassed by a newer highway.

Today's pic is of Binalong Bay, St Helens.

Back on the mainland.

We crossed on the 'Spirit' last night and it was very rough for about the first 4 hours. I had taken a seasick tablet which seemed to work for me but Rosemary (no tablet) was sick. After about midnight the seas seemed to smooth out. We were woken at 6:10 am and disembarked by 7:20 am.

We were aware that the closest entry road to the Western Freeway passed under a 2.7 m railway bridge. Our van is at least 3 m so we had to find an alternative route. A combination of our map book and the gps had us safely on the freeway by 7:30 am.

The big surprise is we turned left at Melbourne rather than right. Yes we have pointed the nose for home and should be back in Perth in 2 to 3 weeks.

Today's photo is from Swansea Caravan Park. We are currently in Horsham.

Launceston

We are back here as our last stop before boarding the boat on Saturday night. Today was a driving day from St Helens to here. There was mail waiting for us here and also a second hand camera that I will use for macro (closeup) shots like this one. Saves swapping lenses.

St Columba Falls

This waterfall is 90m high and is located in rain forest about 40 km from St Helens. Again very steep and winding roads to get there and back.

The Bay of Fires.

Today was a bright clear day without the wind of the last couple of days. Went to the Bay of Fires to see the reddish orange lichen that coats the rocks making them look like embers. The beaches are lovely pure white sand and the water is a sparkling turquoise. Very pretty indeed.

Rosemary wanted to show you the 'brassy broad' I met near the beach.

St Helens

Today was a moving day again. This is as far as we go along the east coast and we have less than 10 days left in Tassie. Won't be sad to leave the mountains behind but we have enjoyed the shorter distances involved in touring an island.

Rosemary's back is "out" at the moment and she was unable to drive today - we took less than 2 hrs so it wasn't a problem for me. Means a couple of days close to base until it corrects itself.

Strong wind for the next 2 days as a couple of cold fronts cross - they bring very little rain to the east coast as the mountains to the west score most of the moisture.

Todays pic comes from the Swansea Museum.

Swansea

Swansea is another charming little coastal village about 140km from Hobart. There is a well established oyster industry here. It is across the Great Oyster Bay from the Freycinet Peninsular - a National Park of some note.

You may be wondering why this post has taken 8 days since our last - Rosemary has had a 'virus' of some sort with a high temp and severe aching joints. She has spent 4 days in bed and is slowly recovering. Today we went to the Tannery Mill and also to a berry farm. The Mill has been restored and was used for many years to process wattle bark to be used to extract the tannic acid used in tanning leather. The berry farm is not in season but we sampled their coffee and cake.

Salamanca Markets

These are held every Saturday from 9am to 3pm. The area is about twice the size of the Hay St Mall and it was crowded all day. There was plenty of street theatre and busking and loads to eat and look at. We went by minibus direct from the caravan park which made life easier. We have decided to spend 3 more nights here in Hobart and will attend Mass tomorrow in Australia's oldest Catholic church.