Written by Lydia, Australian Citizen, cold.
As you no doubt know, and will recall from previous journal entries, it is summer in Australia. So why I've got a jumper, long trousers and wolley socks on whilst sitting beside a log fire is a little beyond me...... The weather in Oz has gone mad. When I looked at the weather chart today I saw Tropical Cyclone Nicholas brewing off the North Western coast, a topical low hovering over most of the east coast (which has dumped 4 inches of water on Rockhampton in 2 days flooding out Mum and Dad's basements) and where we are in the Blue Mountains (Southern NSW) there is a nice patch of scattered showers following our car.
But it's not like me to complain about the weather.........
So the last you heard we were in Tassie, huddling in a tent waiting out a storm. Well it did abate the next morning, long enough for us to throw the tent in the back of the car and head back to Launceston where stayed 2 nights in a hotel above a cute pub. The weather was mostly lovely, the food and wine were excellent and we spent our time wandering around the central business district taking in early Australian architecture and history.
Tasmania was originally settled as a penal colony as it is virtually a natural prison. For those who wished to escape south of the island there was the icy waters of the Antartic and those who braved the Bass Straits to the north of the island were gobbled up by sharks or drowned. Save one group of 8 intrepid convicts who stole the Govenor's open whaling boat and rowed for four months 'till they made it just north of Sydney. They were captured and redeported to Port Arthur. There was the question of what to do with the Governor's boat however. The NSW government returned it for £40 (a huge sum in those days).
On the 9th of Feb we reboarded the Spirit of Tasmania, not before taking our Kwells, and headed back to the "mainland". It was a realatively smooth crossing but I sympathised with those men who covered the distance by row boat and not in a fully enclosed, 11 Storey Catamaran. Not wanting to stay in Melbourne again after our last incident in a caravan park, we drove to Anglesea which is a lovely little sea-side villiage and marks the beggining of the Great Ocean Road (GOR). We stayed there overnight and packed up early to begin our twisty-turny journey to Port Campbell. The GOR is considered to be one of the most spectacular drives in the world. It weaves through subtropical rainforrests and along steep sandstone cliffs, through pretty farming villages and busy beachside resort towns. We stopped off at Cape Otway (where an American freighter was sunk by German mines, marking the USA's entry into WW2)where we played games spotting Koalas in the gum trees along the road side......makes a change from spotting sleeping kangaroos on the roadside.
That night we stayed at Port Campbell and in the morning we woke to SUNSHINE!!! Making the most of it we had an early breakfast (while I was doing the dishes I found out we were camping next to a man who lives 2 blocks away from Dad and his son goes to school with my brother - small world!!)and went for a lovely stroll around the promontory.
Packing up that afternoon we started a very long drive north and 2 days later arrived in Katoomba which is 123km west of Sydney. We are staying in a charming backpackers (not trusting the tent in the foul weather despite the duct tape covering all the holes) in a big double room with wireless internet - free!!! While the youngsters are a bit rowdy in the evenings, it's silent at night and if we're up early enough we get into the bathroom without having to queue (n.b. 8am is considered early in backpacking circles). There is a log fire in the spacious, yet cosy lounge room and ecclectic art is littered everywhere! The lonely planet said that Katoomba was such a place that if you were to be silent you could almost hear the chakras aligning......we have also found it to be full of hippies and alternates and all the more quirky and interesting for it!
Today I took Duncan to the Jenolan caves which we enjoyed very much (I especially enjoyed watching Duncan's child-like wonder). Bagpuss who lives on the back of Duncan's backpack - courtesy of a cable tie corsette - had a headache by the end of the day. Whenever Duncan bent over to squeeze through a small passage, Bagpuss was dragged along the low cave ceiling. He'll be getting a wash when we get back to Rockhampton.
And so ends this edition to the Tasman Odyssey. Stay tuned for further adventures where Duncan contemplates climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge backwards and I eat more gellato than is humanly possible at Circular Quay.......
But until then, LIVE WITH PASSION.
