r ellenberger

Im plugged in and charging. Not only do I have very slow internet access but a powerpoint to go with it. But I'm ahead of myself. Yesterday woke in Mt William National Park to more rain and wind. After breakfast the best thing to do was drive, so we did. First stop was Waterhouse Point Conservation Area where for the first time four wheel drive power was needed. The sun was peeking out but the wind was still blustering so we drove on through to Launceston. Coming in to Launceston from the North East was a bit of a shock; there were tree lined streets and majestic old manors peering down on the town from the hills. A real introduction to what is really a very beautiful town. There is still a lot of the old architecture spread around the place, from the old houses on the hill to churches and warehouses in the centre of town. Maybe a bit of welcome relief from endless forestry plantations? We drove around Launceston for a little while and then searched out a caravan park for a ...

Woke up to the end of our sunshine, in rolled fat grey rain clouds, this time from the east. You can't beat the weather it seems. From Freycinet we drove to the small town of Bicheno to do some much needed laundry and pick up some more bread and milk. The fridge didn't like being parked in the sunshine for two days; most of the meat was defrosted and the milk was smelling a little ripe. Wewerenr sure of where to stop next so we just drove in a somewhat northerly direction. First through Douglas Apsley National Park, then through the town of St Marys and St Helens, then on to Binalong Bay. We were planning on staying the night if Binalong was nice enough but nothing really stood out so we continued on, hoping to reach Mount William national park in the north east corner of Tas before dark. Someone had recommended the Pub in the Paddock near the town of Weldborough so when we passed a sign for it we had to check it out. Nothing too amazing except you can buy a beer for the pig (a...

Again I failed to wake up for the sunrise. Maybe I should just admit defeat and stop troubling my sleep with useless alarms. Another cloudy day but atleast it cleared up later on in the day. We ran out of gas and food so we packed camp after breakfast and drove to the nearest town, Bicheno, and bought new supplies. From there we drove back to Freycinet National Park where Stefano took a scenic flight and I waited. We then drove to Coles Bay and hired a camp site ($13). Went for another swim but again it was freezing, but a least this time there was a shower to wash off in. Spent the arvo relaxing on the beach. The next day we woke at 8 so we would have the whole day to walk to Wineglass Bay. The track unfortunately only starts about 5 km's away from where our campsite is and because our tent was already set up we had to walk this. The trek itself to Wineglass Bay only took 1.5 hours but coming back we decided on the longer route and by the end, with our extra 10km, we were truly b...

Woke up at 6.45 planning to take some sunrise photos out over the beach/sea but again couldn't muster the effort to face the cold. Will try again tonight. Spent the day swimming, walking along the beach, relaxing in each others arms... Wait that never happened.But seriously it was finally a sunny day so we tried to just chillout and enjoy it. Didn't drive anywhere, woke up late and just enjoyed the day. The beach is fantastic with soft white sand and gentle surf. The only problem is the water temperature is approaching freezing. We saw stingray swimming off the rocks and later this evening a tiny little scorpion patrolling around our car. Yesterday we were visited by a very friendly and tame wallaby who allowed us to pat him and a possum who came looking for scraps. We have to make sure that all our stuff is packed away in the car each night so he can't get to it. So all in all a relaxing, warm, and much more holiday like experienc...

Woke up to more rain. By now Stefano and I have had enough... Like real yuppies the only answer is to find a nice cottage style cafe and burn some time sipping on capucinos. From our capucinos in Richmond we decided to head north-west to try and find warmer pastures. First stop though was the historic town of Port Arthur. Wandering around colonial buildings while the past isnechoed back at you... That's what the blurb said, or somethig like that, that is if you can get past the driving rain. There's a repeating theme here  somewhere. We only made it to Port Arthur around midday and by 5.30 the rain and cold drove us back to the car. We tried to find a caravan site near the Port Arthur site as we were returning at 8.30 for the scaaaarrrry ghost tour. Our tour guide lady appeared quite sincere in her belief of the haunted nature of the Port Arthur site. Alas, nothing otherworldy happened to our tour group aside from a door clos...

Day 12 opened to more rain and wind. Breakfast was cereal hudled under the tent. Drove out of Trial Harbour to Queenstown (a mining town, not the nicest place in Tas), then on to a random little place called Pine Tier Lagoon. We saw a sign saying pine Tier Lagoon and thought why not. Turned out to be a really nice lake in a valley, surrounded by bush. When we arrived we were the only people about but the wind was still howling and no sun. We were tempted to start a fire but thought better of it extreme winds. Opened the tent, sleeping bags and mattress to the wind to try and dry them off. Around 5 o'clock an old bloke in a van rattled in and asked of he could take some of our firewood. Got talking and he said there was a route over to the other side of the lake that was a lot more protected from the wind. We followed him over and camped around someones perfectly set up campsite; stone walled fireplace, sink, log benches al...

After a nice long sleep in at Marrawah we drove along more windy unsealed roads to Corina. The white dust that is flung up along these type of unsealed tracks has by now managed to permeate and coat everything with a deliciously crunchy white flour dust. At Corina we went for an 1.5 hour long walk along the Whyte river, unfortunately no Platypus were spotted. After paying the exorbitant $20 ferry fee the ferryman recommended trial harbour for some decent camping. We drove through the mining town of Zeehan where we grabbed some fuel and then drove on to Trial harbour. A real edge of the world town situated on a rocky beach. Houses made of all kinds of trash and scrap metal, no electricity and no one in sight. We struck camp at the base of some scrub covered dunes with a clear view over the ocean. Bad move. The western coast of Tasmamia cops a beating from weather generated over antartica and the roaring forties. Our expo...

After camping the night at the side of the highway we drove to Burnie for some more fuel (including the Jerry can; we barely managed to make it to Burnie without running out, all the hill climbs have destroyed our fuel consumption). From Burnie we took the Bass Hwy along the coast to Somerset, Wynyard, boat harbour beach and sisters beach. Both of these were really nice white sandy beaches but the weather today was rubbish, cold and overcast so we wet our toes and kept going. Next was rocky cape national park, Stanley and then Smithton. We wanted to reach Cape Grim which is apparently the windiest place in Australia but blocking our progress on one side was a Van Diemens farming property (they apparently owned 150km of farming land along the coast from Cape Grim eastwards) and on the other side a wind farm that's been turned into a money making venture requiring you to pay for a tour. After cape Grim the next three hours was sp...

Had a good nights sleep that wasn't too cold, woke up to the mist rising off the bay. First stop was kmart to buy a big plastic tub for stefano as his massive bag was taking up too much room. After that we went to the info centre for advice on which direction to go round tassie, it turns out to be pretty much the same, who would have guessed. So we decided on an anticlockwise direction. Drove out from devonport towards Burnie but got sidetracked pretty much immediately by the first lookout and so we ended up taking a southerlyish route. I expected really rugged terrain with big forests but the area south of Devonport was covered in a patchwork of vegetables farms and ploughed red earth. We spent the day driving within a 60km diameter around one area, up and down really steep, winding roads. After a while the farming ended and we entered deep bush mixed with timber plantations. Stopped for lunch near a lake but were immediately assaulted by bees, hundreds of them after...

Spent most of yesterday arvo organising and chilling with Stefano Sturaro. Went to the beach in the evnining and then wandered around St Kilda. Much more of a happening place on a Sunday than Sydney would be. Woke up early at 7 (I know not that early, so shoot me I'm a backpacker) and went straight to stefanos hostel. Grabbed his enormous 25kg pack and headed off to the ferry. Was easy enough to find, but boarding took a lot longer as it's a bit of a logistical puzzle. Was meant to depart at 9 but we only managed to push off at 9.30. Only realized once we were on the ferry that Tasmania is an island situated off an island and hence has super strict quarantine. Stefano and I had bought snacks for the ferry over, mainly apples and other fruit, and now we were told you couldn't take any fruit into Tassie. We ate a lot of fruit in the following 9 hours. Luckily we had not gone and bought all our food for Tas or we would have had to throw away even more stuff. Aside...

Still stuck in St Kilda in Melbourne, but at least I have the ferry across to Tasmania booked (9am tomorrow) and someone to share petrol costs with. Heading over there with Stefano from Germany (I wont hold that against him). Spent yesterday doing a lot of walking, from St Kilda to the city centre, then out to East Melbourne where I met up with mum for lunch. Caught the tram back to the city and then my hostel. Melbourne appears to be infinitely better planned out than Sydney; wide streets, decent transport, not so much traffic. On the other hand they probably don't have the same geographical constraints that Sydney has. Might head off to the beach today, but I'm just looking forward to getting out of the city...

First photos http://rellenberger.smugmug.com/Travel/Aus-Trip-Week-1/11487673_bwLku

Sitting at the St Kilda Beach House (hostel), near the bar. I wouldn't be at the bar except there is a view onto the 4wd parked in the street. I'm shit scared of someone breaking into it. The girl at reception said is was a bit of a shoddy area, lots of the reception staff have had their cars broken into. Not sure what to do, maybe sleep in the car, or may stay awake in the car and then sleep the day away. Too attached to the vehicle Id say. Made my way from 90 milebeach via backroads, I'd call it exploring but really it's called being lost. Filled up the patrol again, seems to be drinking around 15l/100km, even with my best granny driing efforts. Will report back later in the night.

From the snowy river national park it was back out to Obost, then onto the Princes Hwy again, through lakes entrantrance, Bairnsdale, and onto Sale. Recommended ParadiseBeach (part of 90 mile beach) for free camping. Again the info cente people said there wouldn't be too many people there, but it was pretty busy when I got there. Camped just behind the dunes, beach looked very dangerous with strong sideways currents and breakers so opted out of a swim. Not much more to report, lots of blood sucking mosquitoes and mites. I keep trying to wake up at 4am for some sunrise photography but really it's much more of a sane idea to stay in my warm sleeping bag at that time of morning. Now in the town of Yarram, thinking of heading on to Melbourne or maybe a small town before Melbourne. We will see

Late blog again sorry. Not sure what route i took from ben Boyd national park, but it basically followed the princes hwy. Spent the night at the aptly named 'sandy point' in snowy river national park. Picture a slowly meandering creek flowing past a small sandy beach, nestled between the gumtree covered hills of the valley. No one else around but the noises of the bush. Perfection. Had a nice long swim/ bath, then dried off by the fire. Stir fried chicken/vegies for dinner, but the rice was a bit harder to get right.

Again, no phone reception (but what do you expect out in the bush?) so a day late blog. After pebbly beach, onto the Princes Hwy again. Took the tourist drive from Moruya through to Eurobodalla. Really nice area, full of old grey haired people... You can see why they retire there. LOTS of old guys fishing. Infact I think this whole area along the coast is populated by old fishermen. Back onto the Princes Hwy, through cheese making town Bega, again really beutiful, rolling green hills with the sea as a backdrop, hard to beat. On to the town of eden, stopped at the tourist info centre and asked where was nice to camp. The old bloke recommended Bittangabee Bay in Ben Boyd national park as there shouldn't be many people there. Found the turn off easily enough but I kept managing to fly past the direction signs before I could read them. In the end found the camp site but the old guy at the info centre had lied to me, as the place was brimming with fishermen (young and old)...

Left Katy around 10am and travelled until Berima where i stopped for a lunch of apples and bananas. Nice enough litte town, but there was nothing open and then it started raining.. Through to moss vale, and then onto the winding kangaroo valley pass. At this point it really started raining, 10m visibility and miniature rivers washing across the road. A fun time on such a steeply descending path full of hairpin corners. Rain cleared as I reached Nowra, asked at the info centre where was nice to stay, decided on a place called pebbly beach just past ulludulla (no idea how to spell that). Lying in my tent at the moment typing this message up, mosquitoes are voracious and the shower was freezing. $17 to camp the night as well... Might as well stay in a hostel. Dinner was sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms and toast. Yummy.

Not quite the flying start I had hoped. Roof rack problems and general disorganization meant I only hit the road at around 5 pm. First stop, Campbelltown and Katy, a distance of only 70km, but at least I can skip Sydneys early morning traffic. First brush with the wild outdoors, a big ant bit me on the big toe. I mean one of these bad boys... It fucking hurt Next stop, somewhere past Wollongong.