5 March 2019

This the second day of waking up in the camper van. Somehow I was getting used to it. After morning activites: breakfast and cleaning the camper, we went to our first destination. Today we planned to stay at Launcheston, so we were going to north east. Therefore, our first stop was Tasmanian Devils Sanctuary. It is only one minutes away by car from Cradle Mountain National Park. Well, actually it is part of the park. 

 

It was still early and the sanctuary was just open. Only few people were there. This is the place where we can see and observe how Tasmanian Devils life. It costs $25 for adult and $20 for senior (for more detail). If I am not mistaken, we can choose whether to wander by ourself or being guided. We choosed to wander by ourself. We took our time wandering and observing the devils. I was amazed that I could see the devils so close. They are so rare and only can be found in Tasmania. 

Before we left, I bought a souvenir for my close friend and a tasmanian devils doll for my kid. She loves it and it is a must item for her whenever she go. Couldn't believe it almost lunch time when we finished wandering the sanctuary. We left the sanctuary and drove to the next destination, Cataract Gorge. However, on the way there we found a gorgeous garden that have a restaurant inside. Which later I found out that is called Villarett Garden. 

Around 45 minutes after, we reached Cataract Gorge. Whooaa, never thought that the gorge is located pretty close to the Launcheston city.  Actually, it was beyond my imagination, in a good way. It is a very well maintained. There are parks, trails, cafes, and the chairlift around the area. The chairlift, which is said as the longest single span in the Southern Hemisphere, can be used to enter the park if you don't want to take a long walk. Me and my husband took the walking trails, continued to the north bridge and enjoyed the view from the park in the end. To be honest the walking trails was quite challenging for me. In some area, it is a downhill with full of rocks around and I was carrying my baby. It was not easy way, but worth the scenery. We didn't go the suspension bridge because it is a bit far and we kind of out of the time. We had to reach the accomodation before dark. 

We stayed at Big4 Launcheston Holiday Park and thankfully when we got there, it was almost dark. We still had time to prepare the dinner, did the laundry (oh yes they have the coin laundry), and took a shower. I loved their bathroom, clean and clear with a good lighting. Even though the cooking area was not really in good condition, we still managed to cook at our van.  After finish cleaned everything, time to take some rest to continue the trip. 

More stories will come and in the meantime, previous story can be found here. 

3 March 2019

It was Sunday and the weather was nice, not that cold or windy. It was perfect weather to start the road trip. Thankfully my baby was not sick anymore and ready to join the road trip. Our plan for that day was to be able reach Queenstown, for staying at night. It is around 280KM from Hobart. 

We left our AirBnB house around 9 AM and we were heading to our first destination: 

Russell Fall

It is part of Mount Field National Park. It is only 1 hour drive from Hobart. After we arrived, my husband left to the visitor center asking for a wheel chair. That's one of the good thing about Russell Fall, we can borrow a wheel chair from the visitor center. No need to worry to bring by ourself. Finished with it, we were so ready to explore the fall. It is around 1,4km from the visitor center to the fall. The path to the fall is really well maintained, no bushwalking, and it is flat surface. The path is surrounded with big-tall-old tree. It was like walking in the middle of jungle but without worry of wild animal. The good weather made it more enjoyable. It was supposed to be only 25 minutes walking, return from and to the visitor center. However, because we were being tourist, we took some photos here and there. When we reached the fall, we met others visitors and we had chat for a while before heading back to the visitor center. 

By the time we reached the visitor center, it was already lunch time. There is a small cafe inside the visitor center. They are selling coffee, fish & chips, and some other meals. We had our lunch there and took some rest before going to next destination. Our next destination is Iron Blow Lookout.