Washington winch ,Moscow Villa and Eastern High Country

The young bucks had ruined our sleep somewhat and I was hesitant to stay another night but the returned later and only two remained to sleep the day away in their swags but since their were other campers around we decided to explore nearby Mt Nugiong .
We took a lunch and passed some amazing scenery and an awesome golf club/campground that would have been awesome to stay at if we had known.
Near the summit we found the remains of a bygone logging era in Washington Winch I recommend people explore this region for themselves .
Another geocache found at the above sight and we headed down to Moscow Villa a summer hut of nearby log cutter An Chow a local legend it seems .
Bennett's plains hut was only a little further on so we lunched there in the warm sunlight amazed at the two huts and surrounds and how life was much tougher back then but they wouldn't know any other way I suppose.
Lunch done for the day we boarded the high country cruiser to the next spot on our little geo map the logging workers huts below in camp oven flat where the remains of an old bus used to transport the workers up and down the hill .
Of course we eventually found this geocache which also had nearby the grossly remains of a feral kitten hanging in the tree on the roadside.
The track out back towards Ensay was fairly straight forward and then into grazing land before meeting up with the Alpine Way where we went back up the hwy to our camp at Swifts Creek and were pleased to discover the hoons from the night before had all shot off.
Chicken schnitzels and chicken snags were the order of the night while we sat arou d the fireplace to warm up then another movie since it wasn't too late .

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Smoko to Swifts Creek

With only a little rain overnight we awoke to a lovely green grassed smoko campsite the kids rode their bikes for awhile and we explored the Ovens river as we ate our toast and coffee/hot chocolates .
We packed up fairly quickly and began the slow sojourn up Mt Hotham with its roadworks ,landfill repairs and fire/flood recoveries to be endured.
As it turned out only 15 minutes up the hill we encountered our first road stop where there was a massive landslide being repaired and only half the road was even accessible as we waited we seen many large rocks slide and roll down the hill towards us but stopped just ahead by the front end loader strategically positioned to stop any minor avalanches for traffic every fifteen minutes, up ahead it was only a few minor slips and single lane access the fire and recent floods had really changed the place for us this time.
We neared the peak of St. Bernard near our famous blue rag track and the kids were overjoyed to see snow for the first time this year but the mrs wasn't so keen as it was near some steep drop offs so to rub it in a little we stopped at a nice vantage point to do a nearby geocache overlooking the range to the west ( alas we were muggled and dnf'ed the geo!).
There was a lot of cars at mt hotham summit on works for the snow season but we only caught a few snaps and pushed on to Dinner plain for lunch in the glorious sun but was a chilly breeze once we absconded from the car .
We spent the next 2 hours looking around doing some geocaches and tourist tracks before Leaving to head towards Omeo with a brief stop at a lookout towards Mt Kosciusko to the north.
Omeo wasn't really anything to stop for this late in the afternoon so we kept going past the Victoria Falls turnoff (I wish we had of camped here a night but we didn't find out about it till later in ).
Down the rd a bit more i tried to find some nice sights by the Tambourine river but there was none so we booked into Swifts creek a mere $14 a night powered with fairly good amenities.
The night panned out quietly with a movie for all before bed .
To spoil the night some hillbilly youngens pulled out their swags and drank them selves into a stupor and carried on like idiots swearing and falling over before vomiting themselves to sleep in the wee hours and awoke very early at daylight and drove off in an unbelievable state !

And off we go

After late night mods to the roofrack /bike/kayak setup we made a few quick stops to grab the tent from mum and a few goodies and full tanks of fuel both for the car and camper , then a race back to maiden gully for lunch we finally hitched up the goldstream and made tracks for the high country .
Although a mid afternoon start we headed back to our old stomping ground of bright with a quick stop at glenrowan to make sure the tanks were full of diesel then down past Milawa which was to late for any food goodies unfortunately but we needed some lunch supplies for the next few days so Bright was called upon to supply our needs there .
A pity we didn't stay longer to catch up with some old workmates but we were on a mission .
We showed the kids were we used to work in town and talked about younger times which always brings a smile to our faces.
It was dark when we took the turnoff for the anticipated stop at smoko camp area which had a few other campers there but ample room for us we camped not far from the toilets as it would be a fairly early start .
We setup moderately to allow a quick exit
Attached is the scary drop off Shahla wasn't keen on despite having used many in tas ,lol
And the new cruiser setup so if you see us say hi !

Regroup for the big leg

It's been a busy few weeks since the last post but I can assure you we haven't been completely idle .
New mods for the van are the invertor finally installed with fuse block and isolator , a new 12 volt socket/USB connection at the far end inside the van to power the tv & antenna ,kids iPods and computers , a 10 way fuse block to keep track of all the van electrical which uses a led failure light up signal ,floor for the annexe new cupboard for the adults clothes completely decluttered unnecessary items we found we used little or not at all .
The car got some more lift especially in the rear to help departure angles, recovery points for the front , a three inch mandrel bend exhaust ,tie down fridge straps which we forgot earlier a kayak which gives us great pleasure but can be a pain to unload and took hours to modify the rack to accommodate our bikes and the kayak but now works well .
I still have not managed to get oziexplorer working on the polaris despite some interstate help but I will keep working on this .
The Anderson plug is now working well with the rear weatherproof connector , the arb air compressor is all wired and custom mounted under the bonnet with a quick connector and we have a new re-usable air filter. The garmin 550t handheld GPS is fully loaded with topo maps for walks and chock a block with geocaches when mobile range is poor .
The solar panels got a beefing up now 160 watt homemade stand large case style in a canvas padded bag thanks to double d .
The new passport hdd is also loaded with pics and movies for rainy days thanks to Glenn :)
I'm sure I missed a few things but the car was checked over and some maintenance done on the van and we are on our way.
It has been great to catch up with family and friends during this time but we are all eager to be on the road again.

Last day on the island :(

As luck would have it ( fairly unusual for us )the weather was fine to pack up in and we were gone by 1030 ish a and it was a nice cruisey trip to the highway and on down to devonport where we threw the anchors out a Coles beach free camp a fairly basic car park but it was only a short drive to the ferry early tomorrow .
We left the camper unpacked to get some lunch and supplies to see us across on the spirit rather than pay good money for bad food on board .
Then it was back to the camper which we set up basically sans annexe and made some chicken cheese and pineapple melts at the nearby BBQ .
The next trip into the town only a few blocks away we needed to use the linc services at the library to print out our tickets for the boarding .
We whittled away some time here with the kids getting comfy in bean bags and cushy seats with some good books it was a great way to spend time like this , I would keep it in mind for rainy days near a library or common room.
The kids played and we all took a walk on the beach watching a few surfers get very little reward for a lot of effort on the waves.
We decided to watch the spirit of Tasmania 2 go out and dash hit the skate park again then we trod off home for a late tea of steak sangas around the bbq again.
We prepared sangas for the next day and froze juice for us all and of course charged up every electrical device we had for the trip to the mainland .
some bloody Germans had parked right n top of our camper and there rooftop tent opened To our side leaving only a squeeze to get our door open to get in !
Corinna and I had a restless night sleep I think worried about missing the boat , needless to say we were awake every hour after 1 am till 530 ish when we kept talking so we got up .

Quamby corner campground to Lake Parangana

Not as much rain as I thought but it did however come down in heavy patches overnight and heavy drizzle this morning so the ground was soaked, the day still overcast and looking like much of the same but if we were lucky some patches of sunshine to do some walks .
An hour after the waking the outlook was the same so a quick run to the well appointed toilets I grabbed some Dvd's from the laundry/common area to watch with a cuppa and brekky .
Jack Absolom hey not a bad choice fairly wise and well travelled old fella who Corinna's dad ( the old boy ) loved his camp oven cookbooks and travel videos .
Another video we watched was Glenn ridge and Ron moon in the Kimberly , gets the travel bug rolling along nicely for the mainland .
Having 240 volt power here was great as it meant nice quick and easy muffins in the toaster and real espresso coffee lol ah the simple things .
About 11 there was a break in the weather so we made a break for it and packed up in about 30 mins and drove up the bluff road to Liffey falls , while the road was narrow and windy we got all the way in with the van on and bikes on the roofrack without any passes by .
We left the van in a lower car park below the falls beside a absolute torrent of a river thanks to the last few days rain and drove only a few hundred metres more to the upper falls car park.
not many cars here but minutes after we stopped quite a few more travellers came in to do the walk and have lunch .
Wet and soggy around us but for the majority of the walk it was a gravel path leading ever downwards to the raging Liffey river below and over several waterfalls and long cascades .
Right to the bottom of the falls we walked capturing many great pictures of the flooded falls then trod back up the way we came to the car park area where we made some toasted sandwiches in the sheltered BBQ area and washed it down with cordial .
The drive out was uneven foul and we made our way to Deloraine yet again for some groceries to see out our tassie trip and a little fuel in case we did some side trips around cradle mountain and the walls of Jerusalem parks .
The road out into the mole creek area and into the upper Great Lake area was windy and of course still light rain persisted.
We got stuck behind yet another grey nomad and we wondered if he was going to the upper mole creek karst campground or with us to the lake?
Our questions were soon answered when he pulled up in from on the side and we offered assistance but all was good just a " call of nature lol" he said they were heading also to the lake if there was a ground to stay at ( and he was a local !) so the soon caught up and after a missed turn we both arrived at Lake Parangana and set about finding a not so soggy campsite .
We had a good out of the wind and elements campground and soon set up the camper and old mate soon came over to talk mostly about solar panels once I said where I worked ( couldn't help it ) yet another Norman so needless to say the mrs set the camper pretty much on her own while we talked turkey on power , solar caravans and such it turns out he builds a few campers himself to fit on flat bed its and light truck and judging by the look of his it's a pretty good effort.
a little ride on the treacly for dash and I to recon the area for some wood then we headed back for tea of chicken and veg risotto , yum.
The boys and I grabbed some wood still damp and made a fireplace and after much diesel soaked paper had the wet wood crackling I the heat which dried out some bigger logs where we enjoyed the warmth of the fire and the light to do our journals and the kids ate custard and fruit around it .
Already 10:15 must be time to put the amazing fire out since the light drizzle here hasn't had any effect and put myself to bed , ps loving the solitude and quiet here.

Branxholm to Quamby corner ,Golden Valley

It was hard to know what to do this morning as it had rained all night again and wouldn't clear till lunchtime so we did some schoolwork and enjoyed a late brekky then caught up with some online goodies and such till lunchtime where I heated some pies in the oven .
While the pies warmed the belly it was still cold wet and wooly outside so we have it till two where a break of sun in the clouds forced us to summon up the will to pack up and move on .
We had decided to do some more walks in the cradle mountain area and the walls of Jerusalem parks before we headed back on Thursday :(.
The road we took the night before we housed again until St Leonard's where we turned off and headed to the Bass hwy and down to Westbury we we needed bread and milk.
Soon after we arrived at Quamby corner which as it turns out is a caravan park in a farmers paddock but very well appointed with great new facilities and camp kitchen areas and powered sites , not quite what wiki camps had envisioned but it would do tonight .
We set up just for the night with only our annexe out to afford some shelter from the rain.
We had a Quick look around and it was amazing even a maze that never quite took off .
I had a quick socialise around the fire and was cornered by a complete fruit loop ( becoming a regular thing I am convinced its now me ,lol.
Corinna came down to rescue me from my friend who had apparently seen the light and life was coming to fruition just now for him ( even though he lived in a swag and old hilux lol he was rich beyond wealth) but I'm stuck in reality I'm afraid.
An awesome dinner of red curried beef and rice followed by a few DVDs of outback Australia that where in the park collection .
Rain set in shortly after bed and the wind was gusting scarily which had me checking the pegged in awning a few times.