North west Tasmania

On Friday we left our favourite campspot and travelled to Stanley in the northwest corner of Tasmania. It is a quaint town and is known for the Nut - a very large rock that dwarfs the town sits right on the ocean shore. We climbed this Nut, it is a short but very steep climb and then walked around the top (about 1.5km round walk) Molly has climbed it twice, once with Darren and then with all of us - she is amazing a very determined little girl and it sure gets her places!

Then on Sunday we took the chair lift to the top for a more leisurely way, not that I felt it was, I was a little nervous as the ground disappeared beneath me, but it was a great experience. You can see by the pictures how steep the track and lift were. That is Darren, Sophia and Grace on the chair lift and Jerome and Josie are on the one down near the jump off point!

We went for drive in the afternoon and visited a Timber heritage place that explained alot about the pioneers who began logging in the early days - a hard job for a man's man. It was very interesting to learn what they did and how difficult it was for them, yet how resourceful and creative they had to be in their forest environment. From there we went to Dip Falls, aptly named as Sophia decided to take a dip when crossing the shallow creek!

On Monday the rain came in and we left Stanley and headed back east to Deloraine where we free camped and enjoyed another quaint town, which reminded me a bit of Northam, a swing bridge over a runny creek, etc. Our first night there was really cold as the wind and rain set in a bit. We got out the winter pj's and had porridge for breakfast - hard to believe as it is still February! And we know Perth WA is sweltering at the moment, so I hope you are all coping with the heat over there.

We visited Liffey Falls. We walked a few kms through the rainforest to see three cascades and then ended up the bottom to see where it landed. It really was beautiful - clear, cold, sparkley water gushing over the rocks and constantly flowing from somewhere and to somewhere watering the land as it goes. We sat in the sun absorbing this creation of nature and comment how people spend hours and dollars creating this in their backyard and here we get to see it so much more amazing and created by the master Creator. Amazing!

We now find ourselves in Longford a historic town on the Macquarie river and, again, very picturesque.

Cradle Mountain

The weekend is here again and we have had an amazing week enjoying more of the majestic scenery of Tasmania. On Tuesday we had our first look at Cradle Mountain. We were at 945m at the Cradle Mountain National Park and there was a shuttle bus that took us to lake Dove where we could see Cradle Mountain which towers 1545m high. There are some walks to take around the lake and, if one was keen, you could do the 8hour return trip to the summit! We took a walk around the lake at the base and, as it was late, decided to return to do some more walking the next day. We saw an echidna fossiking for ants while we were getting our dinner ready, it made its way up the hill as the evening drew darker. All of these animals amaze me, they are all so different and unique and it is lovely to see them in their natural habitat.

On Wednesday we walked 5.5km along the boardwalks that go from the Ranger Station to the Lake at the base of Cradle Mountain. It was a lovely day and along the way we saw a wombat and her baby as they scurried into the bush along the path. The kids enjoyed the walk, except Sophia who's little legs got a little tired! And we really had a great day in awe of the surroundings that we walked through.

In the afternoon we found a spectacular camp spot next to a creek and a lake, surrounded by hills and trees somewhat reminiscent of what one might find in Europe! We pulled in and met a family from Fremantle, of all places, they too travelling Oz for a while. That evening we all sat around a fire and the stars came out brilliantly in the dark night sky, it was a perfect way to finish a wonderful day. How can we not be grateful to our Creator who made all of this for us to marvel at?

Picturesque Tasmania

Well, wecome to Tasmania, the island of scenic undulating hills, cool weather and lots of tourist things to do! We have enjoyed our first few days here with some days of drizzly rain and some with lovely sunshine.

On Saturday we visited a chocolate factory and then a cheese factory, both wonderful places to stock up on Valentines Day goodies! We also went for drive through Railton, a small town which has some 50 topiary bushes down its main street. That was fun as you can see in the photo - yes there was a train one!

On Sunday we went to a local church and enjoyed catching up with the people there that are just beginning to work with the GFA material. It was wonderful to be able to hear where they are at and encourage them further with ideas of how to use the material and the wonderful benefits of encouraging families. We have also met another family in the caravan park - they have three children and are on a trip around Oz too having just finished Tasmania - and we ended up at the fence twice a day watching the Spirit of Tasmania Ferry coming in to dock, then the kids would go off and play and we chatted. It has been great to hear their tips on Tasmania and their thoughts on travelling to the West soon. What a great opportunity we have to spend time with our families like this and see our wonderful country which is such a majestic and awesome place. Hello to the travelling Mannion's out there - Mark and Michelle, Alyssa, Mason and Ella - we still miss you and hope your culling has worked the trick!

Sunday afternoon saw us visiting the Don River Railway - the first train trip of our travels! It was drizzly but we enjoyed a drive afterwards and loved the undulating countryside, it is so like a little slice of England. The soil is rich and red and the crops of vegetables are proliferic. Did you know Tasmania produces 60% of Australia's frozen veges? Well we can see why with the rain and the soil and perfect match for growing excellent crops!

Yesterday we went to Tasmazia - well that is an aMAZEing place with eight different mazes - hedge maze, the yellow brick road maze, the balancing maze, the hexagonal maze... As well as a little village of houses called the Lower Crackpot Village. Then there is a cubby corner with 10 or so cubby houses for the kids to visit from church cubby to firemans cubby and the theatre cubby, etc, and some beautiful lavendar fields. All of this and a backdrop of Mr Roland which juts out into the sky like a small piece of European landscape (albeit a very small one compared to those in Europe).

Well that is the news to date, we are on to the next spot today, Cradle Mountain National Park.

Love to everyone from the Birch's in Tassie

Arrived in Tasmania

Well, we are in Tasmania! yay! We arrived in Melbourne on Wednesday after a few warm days of travelling, but we just made it before all the rain hit the north west of Melbourne where there was flash flooding etc, just where we had come through the day before. Our few days in Melbourne were for washing and a bit of shopping. We travelled over the Westgate bridge, gee that is so high, and then back under the Yarra River through the tunnel. First impressions of Melbourne, big, busy, fast, we will look forward to seeing more of Melbourne when we come back through in April!

We left the van park at 6.45am this morning attempting to beat the traffic. Over the Westgate bridge we went and down to the pier where the Spirit of Tasmania sat ready for us to board - hang on a minute - we sat in a queue of traffic on the pier for two hours waiting to be loaded on. They were unloading 22 semi-trailers and the Ferry had been 45 minutes late getting in. Did you know the Ferry has 2.5km of parking space for vehicles and there were heaps of motorhomes and caravans going on today.

Consequently, we finally got on and left over an hour behind schedule. But, nothing dampened our nervous excitement as we went up to Deck 7 and found a lounge seat to park ourselves for the day. When we had started going, we went a watched the days' kids movie in the on board cinema. having come out from that (after and hour and a half) we were just about to pass through the heads of Port Philip Bay - just that bit took two hours!

The rest of the day passed with time in playground, visiting the gift store, a nature and wildlife talk mostly about the Tasmanian devil, face painting, a cartooning lesson and resting. A few of us felt a bit queasy, but the swell was only 1 - 1 1/2m so it really wasn't that bad. In the afternoon it got really calm and we didn't even notice any rocking movement and we all felt super then.

Docked in at Devonport at 7.30pm and all queued up again to get through customs! Checked into the van park here and got everyone to bed at 9pm. That made for a long and tiring day but very fruitful as we crossed the epic Bass Strait and are here to enjoy the Lovely Apple Isle.

Trust all is well with you, God bless you,
From the travelling Birch's

Pictures are
Grace as we are going through the heads
Our lounge seats
Face Painting
The Spirit of Tasmania before we sailed

Adelaide

We arrived in Adelaide late on Wednesday after having a night in Ceduna, coastal fishing town and then a night in Port Augusta, a bigger port town - with a great train yard which we could see from the van park we stayed at - no telling who was a little excited about that!!! Constant flow of majorly long trains heading west and east, counted 96 carriages on one of them! There was a bit of rain at PA but it had been hot so we managed a swim in the pool before the rain came. Great shot of a train with the Flinders Ranges in the background!

It was great to get to Adelaide and we are staying in the foothills at a lovely van park, also with a pool, which we have made much use of. We went into central Adelaide for a walk around the other day, it is pretty and green, the Botanic Gardens had some huge Moreton Bay Fig trees whose root systems, as you can see, are huge!

We also saw a statue of Charles Sturt who we learnt about last year as the explorer who forged a way north/south over our vast continent to establish the telegraph line from Adelaide to Darwin and to connect Aust to England - our study of Australian history has given us an encouraging foretaste of more learning to come!

As we sat at dinner the other night we were stunned to see a koala come out of the bush, race across the ground and then climb a tree near our caravan. It was amazing, he was fast and then he sat in the tree for the next day eating and sleeping. We saw another koala today climb a tree nearby and spend his time sleeping. Apparently there are alot around and they make a rather scary growling noise at night sometimes too, odd for such a cute cuddly looking fellow!

We have had a wonderful time catching up with the Wuttke's here in Adelaide, they have been so hospitable and the kids have greatly enjoyed having some friends to hang out with, play with and get to know. We enjoyed going to church with them yesterday and the fellowship was encouraging and a real blessing to us. We took a walk through Hahndorf yesterday as well. It is a quaint village in the hills of Adelaide, the first German settlement in the area, with trees lining the street, it is full of interesting little shops and is a perfect place for a Saturday afternoon stroll on a mild summer afternoon - only disappointment was I forgot to bring the camera with me!

Today was spent swimming in the pool, it was a warm day and we will get organized tomorrow as we leave for Melbourne on Tuesday. We have really enjoyed this time in Adelaide to stop and take a break from travelling for a few days! But we look forward to the next adventure heading eastwards soon.

We made it!

Yay, we made it across the Nullabour. The first day was very hot and, as our cars aircon wasn't working it was a little trying, but we found a great campspot for the night and some nice people to chat with.
There is a constant stream of trucks going both ways loaded with goods of all types. One truckie we talked to carries $3m worth of magazines to Perth every weekend, that is amazing (or crazy!).

The second night we found a spot at Bunda Cliffs (that's where we took that photo as the sund was peaking through the clouds!) which is right on the Great Australian Bight, it was a scenic spot and offered awesome views which was really great. The kids have been great travellers, we listen to story CD's, read books (famous five and secret seven at the moment) and have watched some DVD's to pass the time (thanks heaps Beaumaris!) We are at Ceduna for the night and it is cool and very seasidey.