Legana and Leaving Tasmania

Sunday morning was a mad dash to get ready to head out to Legana Church - as they had Lords Supper that we wanted to participate in. We left at about 9am which left little time for traffic hold ups! Thankfully we arrived just in time, just as the locals turned up!

After church we spent the day with Brendan and Emma Buist family.  We rarely saw the kids as they were having too much fun playing with their girls.  We had a really enjoyable time with them!

In the afternoon we went to church, Mars juggled the two youngest in crèche while the kids and I listened to the preaching by Rev Wildeboer. WOW. Powerful sermon! I think it was a long sermon but nobody noticed. It was a farewell sermon to one of his supporting congregations of his ministry in Lai.  His message was something like 'We are all called to be Missionaries'.

We left church soon after it finished and headed back to Old Macs Farm.  We enjoyed a pizza dinner with Dad & Mum.  It might be a while before we have dinner with them again!

The following morning Mars took the 3 oldest to say goodbye to the Buist boys as they headed off to school.  We started packing up the van, keeping in mind what we might need on the boat, what would last in the fridge (while unpowered) and what clothes we needed to pack for the next day.

Around 10.30 we headed out to see Uncle Fred and Aunty Siena for coffee.  The kids were spoilt rotten with toys, colouring in and treats to keep them busy.  It was nice to catch up, compare a few notes and tips on travelling and different campsites.

From there we picked up some fuel and lunch then stopped at a park with a small creek / waterfall for the boys to enjoy.  After lunch we made our way into Launceston to try and work out if we could vote at the local Electoral office. After a hectic 20 minutes in the city, the line up was too long so we decided to stick with Plan A and send our Postal Votes instead.  We made our way back to the camper and finished packing up.

After saying our Goodbyes we then drove out to Devonport. It's about a 90 minute drive so we arrived in plenty of time to have a play at the park near the beach. Around 5:30 we had dinner in town, then dawdled our way to the boat (much to the kids disgust - at the fear of being late!).

We boarded the boat about 6:30 and made our way to our cabins.  Mars took one cabin with Karli and Brenton while I took the other cabin with Chad, Rowan and Axel. We headed up to the top decks to watch as the boat left the harbour. It did an amazing 180 degree turn to head out! 

Get a few games in before the crowds come in!

 Axel playing his own game of Hide and Seek with his food sachet! So fun!

The kids were keen to watch a movie with Mars, so they headed out for that (much to Rowans disgust at being excluded!).  So we made our way to the kids deck and watched Dora for a while until he was happy to be persuaded back to the cabin.

We had a very smooth sailing trip - and when the intercom crackled at 6:30 the next morning we had already docked and we were encouraged to get out of bed to disembark the ship!

Back to Launceston

After a leisurely packing up process which involved more walks to the beach to find penguins / sea glass, etc we eventually got on the road and headed back towards Launceston.  We stopped along the way at a laundromat to do some bulk washing! Mars took the kids to the park and I hung out with the washing machines.

When it was all finished we continued driving to a place called The Berry Patch to enjoy some berry produce / lunch and to do some picking.  We had some pizza for lunch followed by a DESSERT pizza with berries and icecream! Yummo!

We then headed into the berry patch to do some picking.  My priority was to first try the raspberries. I don't recall every having eaten a fresh raspberry and they're more sour than I imagined. We picked there for a while then headed to the blackberries, avoiding the prickles. As the day heated up the pickers were starting to give up, so we headed over to the strawberries and filled the remainder of our containers with strawberries.  The strawberries didn't even come close to the amazing strawberries we picked at Hahndorf (Beerenburg) but they were pretty good.

We drove for about 90 minutes then met the Buists at a park in Punchbowl. It was really enjoyable - the boys loved catching up and playing a game of cricket with some kids from Pakistan.  Rowan and Isla had a blast chasing each other around which was really cute.

Eventually we had to leave the park as we still had to go and set up camp at Old Mac's Farm.  Thankfully, Dad & Mum were there so they had saved us a spot opposite them.  While we set up and got dinner sorted they showered the kids in their caravan.  After dinner and some TV in the grandparents van, the kids went to bed and Grandma looked after them while Mars and I went back to the Buists house for another quick catch up.  It was a strange feeling driving around with an empty car! The catch up was really nice and quiet... without 10 kids around!

Arthur River Cruise

After a good night sleep we packed up the camper and parked it closer to the main group of campers (for a bit more security) as we were leaving it for a few hours.

We made our way to the Arthur River Red Boat Cruises.  The boat was full of grey nomad type passengers.  I had to giggle as we walk on with our tribe expecting them all to cringe at the little monsters about to destroy their peaceful cruise! But they all were very smiley as we walked in and found a spot at the rear of the boat.

It was a surprisingly nice day. Considering we'd had drizzle and cloudy skies the previous night we were expecting a dismal day.  There was no wind which made for beautiful reflections on the river.  As we cruised up the river we were given a running commentary about life on the river.

It's one of the few places in Tassie that is untouched.  The timber isn't much good for logging as it's too difficult to remove.  The soil is also not good for farming, so anyone who was interested in either farming or logging quickly gave up on the idea. 

About 30 minutes into our cruise we were invited to watch as the skipper threw a air-filled fish out onto the river for a waiting Sea Eagle and his mate. The Eagle swooped down and grabbed the fish with its talons and then flew up to the safety of the tree to eat it!  Another fish was thrown out and the more cautious mate eventually flew down and grabbed it.  It was very cool to watch!  The cruise then took us past the nest of the Sea Eagle.  It's a very large nest and has apparently been there for over 30 years! 

We continued cruising and enjoyed a coffee, kids enjoyed a hot chocolate.  We had a very small shower of rain but for the rest we could enjoy sitting on the front to admire the reflections or at the rear of the boat to make sure the kids haven't fallen overboard!

We stopped for lunch at 'Turks Landing'.  We were then taken on a short walk into the rain forest where the guide explained different trees (which the kids had just learnt at Mount Field National Park - winning!!) We made our way back to a clearing where the BBQs has been cooking up a lunch!  We enjoyed sharing a table with different couples from all over Australia.

After lunch we made our way back to the boat to head back downstream.  The kids were all given an opportunity to drive the boat which made Brentons day! Chad was happy to have a turn too, Karli and Rowan were happy to watch Axel have a turn.  After Brenton and Chad hopped out of the 'Captains' Chair they received a round of applause from the passengers which was cute.

The skipper pulled the kids aside and asked if they wanted to have their face painted!  Well, he didn't really look like the type to paint butterflies and tigers on faces so I was somewhat dubious as to how this would turn out!  He showed the kids how to make paint using Ochre, a hard clay - rubbed together with water.  Next, he made a paintbrush using Razor Grass by stripping the outside layer off and bashing the inside layer with a hard object to separate the strands.

So the face painting began! Chad was a Warrior... Karli a Tasmanian Tiger and Brenton a Quoll. The were surprisingly happy with it!

Eventually the cruise came to an end and we all disembarked. It had been an enjoyable day! 

We drove to the campsite and picked up the caravan and continued driving, heading North East.  We planned to stay at a place called Penguin.  We parked the van in and set up then wandered down to the beach to try and find the Fairy Penguins.  One of the caravanners there offered to take us to where he knew of some penguins hiding in their burrow.  We continued to search for others but eventually got distracted by the shells and 'sea glass' that washed up on the beach.

After we'd eaten dinner and it started to get darker, we started to hear the penguins calling.  We're not sure if it's one parent with the chicks calling to the other parent who may be waddling up the beach, or if it's the chicks calling out to either parent who may be coming up the beach.  Either way, the parent has to make their way over the rocks to find their babies in the bushes.  Mars and the kids saw a few penguins on the beach and on the train tracks right next to our camp.  Later, I went with Chad and we saw some more penguins.  It was very cool!