The Beach at Bridport, Tas
After Longford we made our way to a free camp in Scottsdale. During our stay there we drove up to Bridport on the northern coast to have a wander on the beach. It was a lovely beach. Too cold for a swim but great for exploring. 
The tiny mussels made beautiful patterns on the rocks. 
I love to watch my kids exploring. All of them are in this picture below, each in separate spots and in their own little worlds. 
They had to climb the giant rock. I love this picture of JitterBug helping LadyBug to the top. 
I made them wait while I backed up for a better view. 
Then Dad had to join them. Poor TurboBug didn’t make it up there. 
He found his own rock to climb. 🙂 
Much exploring done that day. 
I heart Tasmania! 
I wish I’d taken a picture of the sign near the carpark that showed an old picture of a gathering on the beach. All the men and ladies in their formal clothing celebrating something or other. I found myself comparing the scenery in the pictures to what was in front of me. We drove around a bit more but this beach was the best part of that day.
Seahorse World at Beauty Point, TAS
We were lucky to be able to visit Seahorse World thanks to Sean’s aunt and uncle. They had a tour and knew the kids would love it so treated us to a visit. We made the trip up to Beauty Point from Longford via a scenic route that took us right next to the water. 
Seahorse World is right on the dock, there were boats to see and people fishing nearby. 
Check out these limits! Catch an octopus? You can keep up to 100 kg. Shark? Keep two! We were told that this part of the Tamar River has plenty of sharks in it. Not a place for swimming! 
Your time at Seahorse World includes a 45-minute guided tour. First they took us into a room with several different kinds of seahorses. They told us that seahorses are the only species where the male carries the pregnancy and gives birth. 
Some species of seahorses change colours. This tank included both yellow and red ones. 
Then they took us in the next room where they breed the seahorses. Seahorse World breeds and ships seahorses to places all over the world. Chances are, if you’ve been to an aquarium where they have seahorses they came from here at Beauty Point. 
These seahorses are only weeks old. 
There were tiny seahorses in each of those round tanks! 
Once they reach a certain age they are moved to this larger tank. There were two of these. In this picture below the seahorses are spread throughout the tank. In the next tank they were all huddled together. Our tour guide explained that they had just shipped some from that tank. The seahorses fast for a few days before shipping. Which meant the whole tank had fasted for a few days. He spread some food in the tank and they started to separate some. 
These with the big bellies are males. He told us that the ones with mostly white on their bellies aren’t pregnant, they’re just showing off. The ones with the smaller, mostly yellow bellies are the pregnant ones. They can give birth to hundreds at a time! 
They had a few sea dragons also, which are beautiful. It sounded like they don’t breed these yet, they’re still learning about them. 
There were other sea creatures, too, like this giant crab that they estimate to be around thirty years old! 
We often see cuttlefish bones washed up on the beach so it was neat to see the actual fish. They had several bones lined up outside the tank. I thought this guy was quite beautiful. 
I find hermit crabs fascinating. These were much bigger than any others I’ve ever seen. 
The fun part…I didn’t know this was coming. We got to hold seahorses! How cool is that? They told us that seahorses could go up to fifteen minutes or so out of the water. 
They were bumpy. Bony. Not slimy at all. They don’t have scales. They writhed around a little and it seemed like they were almost hiccupping a bit. 
Jitterbug pointed out this display on the wall of the snout of a sawfish. Wow. Can you imagine coming across one of those in the water? We later saw a picture of one of these somewhere and he pointed it out to me. 
Black clownfish. I’m sure that’s the technical term. (I almost called them black Nemos. That would be even less technical.) 
I wish this was labelled or that there had been a diagram nearby. 
A few other things to look at… 
Then we were off to the building next door for ice cream. Yum. 
If you visit, the Platypus House & Echidna Garden is right next door! We couldn’t do both, we just stopped in for the ice cream. 🙂 Then the kids decided to scare Mama. 
We made the drive back to Longford, crossing the bridge and heading down the river on the other side. Lovely views. 
Took this shot of the bridge through the front car window, that’s why there’s such odd colouring in the sky.
Love the staircase of clouds we saw that day. 
After four nights in Longford it was time to move on!
Launceston, TAS: Cataract Gorge Reserve
While in Longford we made a trip into Launceston with Sean’s aunt and uncle to visit the Cataract Gorge Reserve. I thought it a funny name, not knowing that a cataract is not just an eye condition, but also a succession of waterfalls. 
The view as we came into the area. A free swimming pool right next to the water! This is the second time we’ve run into a free public pool. The first was in Geelong. 
We opted to do the Zig Zag track. Though it doesn’t look it in this picture, the hike was strenuous in some places. The kids were complaining, but they’d do that even if the walk was completely flat! I started out with TurboBug but later rolled my ankle so Sean carried him the rest of the way. (My ankle was okay- just very slightly swollen for a day or two.) 
We spotted more lizards on this walk than we have ever seen on any hike we’ve ever been on. JitterBug kept track and the final count was 40 live lizards and two dead ones (because the dead ones count too when you are a seven-year-old boy!). 
We saw many of these beautiful beetles too, but I don’t think the kids tried to count these! 
You can actually take a cruise up into the gorge, it’s quite popular. But they do have to turn around at some point, given the cataracts further in. (Like how I use my new vocabulary word?) 
There were kids on the boat, so we had to wave. Kids love to wave at people when they are on these type of things, they don’t care that you are waving at complete strangers. So if you see some kids you better wave, People! 
The afore-mentioned cataracts. {Ahem.} 
Plenty of peacocks in the area. I’m not sure how they came to make this their home but they were not too shy and we were able to get close for some pictures. 
We even saw a mum with her chick. 
There was a chairlift but we were told it was $10 per person so we didn’t try it. 
Budding photographer. I got a new DSLR recently so he got my hand-me-down. He uses it quite often and I love seeing what fascinates him by the pictures he takes. 
These rocks were begging to be climbed on. Begging. 
The sign said 20 minutes, but it’s double that with kids! 
After a hike on a hot day, what’s left to do but go for a swim? 
When we left we made use of the unique lift they had. It travelled up the side of the hill at an incline with stops along the way. Definitely unusual. Here we are all squished up in it with SkeeterBug taking the picture. 
I’m guessing it was mainly for disabled use but we didn’t see a sign indicating so. After a lovely walk and a lovely time in the pool it was time to return to the van where the kids invented their own fun. 
They had to fight TurboBug for that pram. Every time he saw them using it he would run after them screaming. He’s learning that when you are the youngest you can’t let your siblings walk all over you! It took us a couple of days just to recover from our trip over on the Spirit of Tasmania. We were all extra tired from our trip on the ferry. Though we had a cabin and could catch some sleep, the night was short. Our first night at this caravan park there was another family doing what we are doing and travelling Australia. They had similar-aged kids and they had a ball playing together. The next day a family arrived that was travelling northern Tasmania on their bikes. Six kids: three on bikes, one in a bike seat, one in a trailer, one towed on a one-wheel tandem. Amazing! We’ve seen so many cyclists on the road here, incredible since it’s so mountainous.
Fishing in the Macquarie River, Tasmania
This is officially my favourite river in Tasmania, because it is here that I saw my first platypus in the wild! In Longford we stayed at the Longford Riverside Caravan Park which is right on the banks of the Macquarie River and was right next to the caravan park we stayed in. We were allowed to fish in this river, so the kids all had a go! 
The bank was steep and I was thankful for these rocks that prevented the kids from getting too close to the water. There was a boat ramp a little ways up but thankfully our toddler didn’t discover it until the end of our stay there. 
The first catch of the evening was…an eel! This is the first eel any of us have ever caught so it was quite the moment with excitement all around. We had several onlookers which made it all the more memorable. 
Jitterbug’s first catch of the night was also an eel! 
None of us really fancied eel for tea though we were given advice on how to prepare it. No takers from the audience, so back into the river they went. I love how the sky is reflected in the water in this shot, it looks like they are looking down into fog or something, you can’t see the water at all. 
SkeeterBug (10) won the crown for the evening, catching one eel, a small redfin, and two redfins that were big enough to keep. 
Though LadyBug (5) tried she did not catch anything while we were there. Well, she tried when it suited her, anyway. She was too busy playing to really be fishing. 
TurboBug was not quite sure about these things in the bucket that flipped around every once in awhile in a very unpredictable fashion. 
JitterBug (7.5) ended up with two eels and a redfin that was too small to keep. 
The next night someone had some fish to prepare! You catch it, you clean it and prepare it. 
We found TurboBug (19 mos) doing some fishing of his own. Look at that grin! He grabbed a pole when he thought no one was watching and headed straight for the water. 
Everyone else holds these things out over the water, so that’s what I’m gonna do too! 
Look how close we were to the river! That’s our caravan behind the tree, with the awning out and the bike behind it. Taking this picture we were just steps from the river. Not a moment’s rest here, we constantly had to be checking where the little guy was. 
We enjoyed our stay at this caravan park, we spent three nights here. It’s a good place to use as a base to explore the surrounding area without having to be in a larger place. And look at this! Two Bailey caravans parked side-by-side. It was our first chance to really talk to some other Bailey owners. The owners had brought their van over from the UK and have been in Australia for about seven months. It was fun comparing notes. 
We hear a rumour that there is another family with four kids travelling Tassie in a Bailey caravan right now. Would be great fun to run into them!
Off to Tassie on the Spirit of Tasmania!
Since our travels started the end of November we have mainly been in Victoria. We had a brief jaunt over the border into South Australia in December. Mostly we’ve been hanging around Victoria since we knew we’d be off to Tasmania before long. It’s the only thing scheduled in our entire trip around Australia, the only thing we have set dates for. We were so excited to finally be on our way! We chose a night sail which left at 7:30pm. Boarding starts two and a half hours before sailing, and closes forty-five minutes before sailing. We made our way to the ship about 5:30pm for boarding. 
We were in the queue for a bit over an hour. We were all pretty excited and didn’t mind the wait. The kids got to play their iPads so they didn’t mind at all! TurboBug was asleep so we actually had a pretty quiet car while we waited. 
The kids had their backpacks packed with their clothes and other essentials. 
Quite the queue! This was quickest part of the whole process, once we got to this area it was a quick drive into the ship. We had to clear quarantine before boarding. No fresh fruits or veggies (among other things) can be brought into Tasmania. 
See the half-wall we were parked next to? We had a full wall on one side and a half-wall on the other. The half-wall was only in our lane, and only toward the front where we were parked. See how the floor looks corrugated? I’m not sure what this spot is used for but it made getting to and from our van a bit more complicated. The space between the van and the wall was tight, and even tighter next to some of the vans in front of us. When we returned to our van the next morning I was carrying TurboBug in our Ergo plus carrying a couple of bags in my hands. I could not fit through! Sean had to take the kids to the van and then come back and help me. When we appeared past the end of the van there was a couple in the next car that had puzzled looks on their faces, wondering why he had gone back the other way! It all made sense once they saw me with TurboBug being carried on my front. We had to duck under tow mirrors too. You can see our mirrors are folded in toward the car but not everyone remembered to do that. 
Because there are six of us we had to get two cabins. Our rooms were side-by-side on deck eight. Each of ours had two sets of bunks plus a toilet and shower. It was nice to have a place to dump our belongings. It was a bit strange to have to pack up our toiletries and such for the night as we are used to having it all in one spot in our caravan. I felt quite disorganised as we don’t have all the usual travel necessities you’d have with you for a holiday. 
Then we were off to explore the ship and have a look at the view! 
This is the West Gate Bridge which we came across after spending the day at Scienceworks. 
The Melbourne skyline! It was quite cloudy that day and we even had some rain while we were on the ship. Can you see the big wheel off to the left? It’s a bit hard to make out, but that’s the Melbourne Star, on my list of things to do in Melbourne at some point. 
The ship had restaurants, bars, shop, game rooms (adults and kids), and a tourism office. I came out of there with a huge stack of brochures on Tasmania. 
There are two ships that carry passengers back and forth from Tasmania. We’ll see if we get the other ship on the way back! I’m told that when the ship leaves at 7:30 as ours did that there is only one sail that day. Much of the year there is a morning sail and a night sail. 
We came back up on deck after dark to see what we could see as the ship left Port Phillip and headed for open ocean. Being dark we of course couldn’t see much but we could make out the Port Lonsdale lighthouse that we had visited the week before. We could really tell a difference in the rocking of the ship after we left the bay. We wobbled our way back to our cabins for some sleep.
I shared a room with a little girl who was soooo excited to sleep on the top bunk! She has never slept on the top before and for once didn’t have to fight her brothers for it. Can you see the railing in the picture? The one hiding under the sheet? Yeah, not much of a railing. I did not sleep well, worrying that she was going to fall off. There was one time I even got out of bed to check on her because I could hear her moving around a bit. Next time I may move one of the empty mattresses onto the floor next to her bed for a little cushioning and peace of mind for me! 
And sleep she did! She has never coped well with being woken up, even as a toddler. This morning was not any different. Sigh. But once we left the room and started making our way back to the car she was okay. We had to be to our cars by 5:30am, and they woke us up with an announcement at 4:45am! 
That strange spot we were in with the half-wall was the first part of the ship to deport! We were maybe third or fourth off the ship. As were leaving I noticed the car next to us didn’t have a driver yet. Wonder if they made it there by the time their lane was unloading? Sean’s uncle later told us about a time they were waiting to get off the ship and the guy at the front of their lane had a dead battery. Ooops! 
Sunrise in Tasmania! Complete with sunrays. 
Not that anyone saw it…. 
Our first stop was Launceston. Such a pretty view as you come into town. We stopped for some groceries (where we learned Tasmania doesn’t do plastic bags!) and then made our way to Longford to meet up with Sean’s aunt and uncle. 
We’ll have five weeks in Tasmania. None of us have been here before. We are really looking forward to exploring this part of Australia. In some ways it feels as though we are just starting our ‘one-year trip’ (as the kids have dubbed it). I’ve seen so many beautiful pictures of Tassie and can’t wait to see some of these places for myself.
Werribee Zoo
Another almost current post! While we were in Geelong a couple of weeks ago we made the trip up to Werribee Zoo. Our zoo memberships were expiring and we had never been to this zoo. I couldn’t resist taking pictures of these cute road signs in the parking lot. How often do you see a giraffe crossing sign? 
Then there were various animals in each section to help you remember where you parked. 
Give us a kiss! 
Watch out for the rhino!!!! 
Don’t worry, LadyBug will stop him! 
We finally made it to the front gate. 
But then we saw all these gorgeous animal statues nearby. 
And we hadn’t even made it inside yet! Too many pictures for one post…