York Town Watermill Cottage Campsite

Summer has finally arrived and any chance to get away in the 5th wheeler is high on the agenda. Keeping up with my blog is getting harder and harder. Its either going to work or going camping. There is not much spare time.

York Town has a relatively new low cost campsite, so we had to check it out. What a fabulous place, 4 acres of well mown grass, a small lake, plenty of low trees and shrubs for windbreaks, lots of space to lay back and relax without intruding on fellow campers.

Four vans met up for some relaxation, the weather was perfect, the setting was ideal with a communal fire ring , a shelter for when the weather was less than perfect.

Peron Farm Campground

Low cost campgrounds seem to be a growth area in campgrounds and caravan parks. Peron Farm is one such campground still in its infancy. It has a very flat area still being developed , give it 12 months and it will be a great place to spend a few days. A fabulous camp kitchen made out of a shipping container with plenty of shelter if the wind gets up.

Greens Beach, Narawntapu Lookout

A great view of the coast after a short walk to the Greens Beach, Narawntapu lookout was only a short drive from Greens Beach.

Cicadas were making an amazing noise for such a small insect. There must have been thousands of them. You couldn’t see them without searching for them but they certainly made a racket. Apparantly it was mating season

You had to look to spot a cicida as they blended in to their surroundings very well

Gathering around the firepot with fellow vanners is always good. It just caps off a great day and a warm fire is a fantastic place to meet others.

A good fire just brings strangers together

Veronica just had to try the stocks out. Her lovely son in law, Nick thought it would be fun to stick a twig through the latch. Hubby Peter also had to get in on the act, daughter Petrina had the camera ready, I couldn’t help but put the picture on my blog. Good thing Veronica has a sense of humour.

 

 

Easter at Lake Gairdner

Easter from March 24th – 28th 2016 was spent with our youngest daughter Fiona, her hubby Jason and their two children Charlie and Ellie, along with Jason’s daughter Olivia (Ollie) at Lake Gairdner, Moina. A charming little free camp on the edge of Lake Gairdner. It is also used as a stopover for backpackers visiting Cradle Mountain who baulk at the prices charged by the caravan park near the gates to Tassie’s premier tourist attraction. Its a shame most of them are not self contained.

Jason is into gold prospecting and gem fossicking, so this was an ideal spot with lots of old mines in the area.

An old mine processing area

Checking out an old mineshaft

Charlie is panning for gold

Looking down on campsite from the road, plenty of room

Lake Gairdner from a distance, campsite is to the left

Ellie is helping dad

Charlie toasting marshmallows

A good family weekend was had by all, even though we were above 500m and the weather was a bit cool.

Triabunna

We are on the road by 9.00am as a lot of campsites are full by 12.00pm. The road from Campbelltown to Swansea via Lake Leake has a good surface. The first half is mostly up hill, while the next section is mostly down hill with a few slow corners.

We arrive in Triabunna around 11.30am and the first free camp is chock a block. We head across the road behind the pub and there is plenty of spots. Four 5th wheelers and a motorhome all get to park next to each other. Ten minutes later another three vans come in and the camping area is almost full. It is a good thing we were on the road early.

The Spring Bay Hotel has opened up the rear of the pub to free campers

 

Tom and Phil checking out how things work under Tom’s van

 

The vans are setup and its time to catch up on all the gossip

 

The spare ground to the left is only free for about ten minutes. Vans roll in very quickly

An ideal setting with the pub in the background

 

Campbelltown Stopover

This weekends trip is to Triabunna. I have taken Friday off work as there are a few spare drivers. Straight after my Thursday shift is over and a quick shower at work, Dianne has parked her car in the carpark and we are off to spend the night at Campbelltown. A marvellous stopover, for a short run to Triabunna the next morning. We arrive around 7.30pm, a quick setup  and a walk around the camping area reveals there are five of the Devil Wheelers setup for the night all round the park. Everyone is friendly and almost half of the 19 vans there are from the mainland. There are lots of mainlanders in Tasmania for the summer.

The Campbelltown campsite behind the Red Bridge is a great place for a stop over as it is close to most places in Tasmania. It is central to everything.

Thomas and Anne Baster, “Crocodile Wheelers” from Queensland have planned to join us for the weekend. We spent 4 days with them at a Crocodile Wheelers weekend in Bucca on our trip to Queensland last year.

Thomas and Anne Baster

Great Keppel Island

We were up at 6.30am this morning and had the van hooked up and on the road just after 8.00am to catch the ferry to Great Keppel Island and have a look at the lower sections of the Great Barrier Reef. We even managed to see a great sunrise over the islands out to sea.

Photo later

We parked the ute and van in a bus parking bay (as there was none expected today). We had some great views of the coastline as we headed for Great Keppel Island. There was a little swell and we had to watch our step onboard but after dropping off the island passengers we were then transfered to a sheltered bay on a neighbouring island to board the glass bottom boat

Pictures later (no data left)

We were back in port just after 1.00pm after having lunch on Great Keppel Island and checking out the recovery from Cyclone Marcia.

photo later

We were treated to an eagle that had set up its nest on top of a light pole.

Photo later

Our 1st stop for the night was unsuitable and after some quick phone calls we came across a great caravan park at Cool Waters Holiday Village at Kinka Beach. It is not the sort of caravan park that I would normally choose but it had a great atmosphere and a great unpowered area that the office staff had not made us aware of and if it had not been for a groundsman who gives us the heads up after showing us the site recommended for us by the office staff. We had views of water, plenty of room and we weretreated to a great sunset as well.