Roundtrip Tasmania


Approaching Hobart
our camper

After Victoria, I did the jump over to Tassie to meet with my friend Suzy. I had visited her during my first Australia voyage, but she moved to NSW in the meantime, so I was really happy she did not only help me with advice during the preparation, she went over all the way from Sydney to show me the island of her heart. There was no doubt that would be the very best version to get the most intimate view of Tasmania, but I had no idea how great it was going to be. I enjoyed the most perfect travel guide one could possibly find. We had the camper so we could go where ever we liked, see remote places and close friends, enjoying great possibilities without giving a damn how the wheather was going to be like. And: with my "drive on right hand side"-reflexes I did not need to drive the brand-new camper through the civilization. I took over when the chances for serious damages were somewhat smaller.

front part of the camper
front part of the camper
Suzy ready for the first drive

After loading our stuff and getting familiar with different devices, we headed for Hobart and the South coast to meet friends and get provisions. Suzy and I met when sailing the Eye, and that was a good exercise for driving a camper on Tassie roads. So we quickly developed the command "sea conditions!" which meant to check, secure and lash everything that might move. During more than a week driving around, more and more details entered the checklist, we ended up with one person doing the first check, the other the second one - for security reasons. Also - like on our old freighter - we had huge storage as if there was a whole bilge to fill up. And in all the luxury the camper (locally called a Winnebago) provided, the water tank only took 100 litres. That isn't much for up to 6 people which might find accom and all meals, washing, toilet and shower. So even that reminded us to the routine of an ocean crossing.

Cherries in February

And - what a delight - it was cherry season in Tassie! Maybe mankind managed to introduce the trees there without their European pests, maybe they fight the pests here stricter than I would like to learn. Anyway, they were marvellous!

Also, Suzy as the local expert later helped me with some of the information provided here.

 

heading for Hobart city
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by IKO