Showing posts with label Devenport. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Devenport. Show all posts

Sunday, 30 November 2014

19 - 20 November 2014 - Devenport, Kelso


We drove our caravan off the ferry and after consulting our maps we decided to drive towards the north-west coast via Launceston. We ended up in a lovely caravan park in Kelso at the mouth of the Tamar river on the opposite bank to George Town. Before we even managed to check in a wombat came strolling through the park. We setup and then headed to George Town to do some shopping. We stocked up on groceries as well as some fresh fish from a wholesaler, we had a cup of coffee and shared a slice of carrot cake before heading home.

We strolled to the beach with a G&T before returning to prepare the fish for dinner. The wombats started emerging from their burrows and we could see them wandering around along with a few wallabies. During dinner we felt the caravan rock and looked outside to see a wombat sauntering off after either bumping into the caravan or having scrached himself on it. We were told that wombats have pretty bad eye sight.

In the morning we drove to Beauty Point to see Seahorse World, Platypus House and Echidna Garden. Seahorse World farms seahorses to be sold as pets all  over the world. The tour was fascinating and we saw seahorses from the US, Australia and the Phillipines. They also saw Weedy Seadragons and other fish as well as having the opportunity to hold a seahorse. Right opposite Seahorse World is Platypus House and Echidna Garden. We saw a number of platypus and were given a fascinating talk and insight into the lives of the Platypus. Next was the Echidna Garden where we were introduced to 3 echidnas which had just been given some food. These three echidnas were busy using their long tongues to lap up their food from little bowls before marching all around us looking for more food. They were just adorable.

Back at the caravan we had lunch, did some blogging and relaxed while it rained softly on the roof. As the afternoon progressed it started raining heavier and continued most of the night. The wombats came out and were all over the place but we did not manage to get any decent photos due to low light. During the evening the caravan bumped and rocked as a wombat used it to scratch his back and when Vlasta opened the door she saw this head looking up at her from under the caravan!

Our caravan in Kelso
A wild Wombat wandering through the caravan park

Seahorse World
West Australian Seahorse
Baby Seahorses
Pipe fish, a relative of the seahorse
Holding a seahorse!
Weedy Sea Dragon
Platypus resting under a piece of wood
Platypus happily in its emclosure
Echidnas enjoying their meal
Echidna nose

18 - 19 November 2014 - Ferry to Tasmania


We had arranged a late checkout from our caravan park so we had a late rise and breakfast. We quickly went to Officeworks to buy a new kettle and some USB thumb drives as I wanted to give Dave some e-books. We dropped off the USB drive and then prepared for our ferry ride to Tasmania. We needed to be at the ferry terminal no earlier than 5 pm, so we headed out at 4 pm with the caravan in tow. We arrived right on 5 pm and went through customs, collected our boarding passes then waited for about an hour before we drove the caravan on board. We had to drive up a steep ramp up and over the bow of the ferry and into the depths of the ferry. It was a tight fit but we managed well and headed to our cabin.

After dropping off our overnight stuff in the cabin we explored the ferry. There was not a lot to look at so we ended up having a beer to celebrate before heading to the buffet restaurant for dinner. We ate too much but enjoyed the view as we steamed across the bay to the open sea. We were rather tired and it was getting late so we decided to turn in for the night. Sometime shortly after hitting the sack the sea became quite rough but fortunately it did not affect us.

We were up early in the morning (4:30) to shower and watch the sun rise as we approached Davenport for the 6am docking.

Boarding the ferry
Leaving Mebourne on the Spirit of Tasmania
Port Phillip Bay
Sunrise just before arriving in Devonport
Arriving in Devonport