We had decided to fly to Tasmania, to avoid a long drive and a ferry ride. It was a budget flight and we had been ultra-cheap and booked the no-luggage option for Dorka to save money. It’s actually pretty amazing that we were able to do it, but we could limit „my” two check in bags to just 19kg, by putting a few heavy books in the pram-bag and packing more stuff into special (quite heavy) cabin bags.
We were all pretty excited as we walked over to pick up the campervan, trying to guess which would be our van, the one we would live in for the next 5 days. Unfortunately it became a horrible moment when we arrived at the office to find it locked and deserted. We were pretty angry, because they had offered to stay open until 9pm, and we were early. It turned out that the company
had sent us an email asking my driving license details, 1 day before arrival. When we didn’t reply they just assumed we were not coming (even though we had paid in advance, and they knew we were going to arrive with two small kids!) It was dark and cold and we had nowhere to go, but the night staff at the airport were very helpful. In the end, the policeman on duty, Stewart, was super and drove us all the way to a local motel in his patrol car. This was our first hint that Tasmania is just like the north of Scotland - everything closes incredibly early, so if it’s after 6pm, you can simply forget about buying food, petrol and especially collecting campervans.
The next morning we returned to the office, Britz, to angrily pick up our van. Actually although the service was terrible, the Van was great. It was a Toyota Hiace, which is a high-top van with space for 5 people. (They would have to be 5 very close friends, but it was great for the four of us.) It had a pull-out upper bed, and a nice kitchen. There was no Bathroom or toilet, but these were available at all the campsites we stopped at. Even here, Lara slept in her portable cot, so it seemed logical to have Dorka sleeping next to her on the lower bed, and Emma and I on the upper bed. This was fun (except for the last night – see part 2) as this had the best view. Both children have become incredibly deep sleepers on this trip. Here in the most cramped conditions so far, Dorka and I were able to move around with the lights on, open and close the van doors etc.
So we drove off to the north, but due to some wrong turns, and our flexible itinerary, we ended up at a National Park in the far south of the state. (Hands up who weren’t sure if Tasmania was a
country or a state? Oh, just me was it?) We headed off on foot towards Hartz Peak. While we didn’t actually go to the peak, we reached a couple of beautiful lakes, and enjoyed wonderful, if rather windy scenery. The land was all low bushes, so on the ridges, it was like walking into a hurricane. All in all, Dorka carried Lara on her back for 3 hours with no problems, so we were very pleased that we had the backpack-carrier with us. Lara slept a little and just seemed to enjoy the ride. Emma also hiked the whole way, though she was nearly blown off the path in a few places!
That evening we tried to get back North to Hobart, but just before sunset, I felt a problem with the van. It began to shudder and shake and smoke
appeared behind us. I pulled off the road the find that the left rear tyre was not just flat, but was completely destroyed! The whole side of the tyre had blown out and I was actually driving on the metal rim for a few metres (hence all the smoke). Two older guys, Roger and John, had noticed us from their nearby and soon came over to help. It was our good luck they did, because the jack was too small for the van, so I really needed to 
borrow another. Emma and Dorka went off to talk to the guys’ wives, while we men fixed the wagon, before coming to join them for tea. They were all lovely to us and we had a very pleasant evening. They had small dogs too, so Emma was in puppy heaven. This all took place in their campervan, which was a deluxe version of ours, with a raised bedroom, a separate bathroom and toilet, spice rack over the cooker, everything.
It was fully dark when we got moving, so we couldn’t really go much further. We slept our first night “wild” near to Hobart so that we could go straight to the Britz office for another tyre the next day.
We saw animals by the roadside everywhere. Unfortunately they were mostly dead roadkills. Lots of potaroos, kangaroo rats and also quite a few wallabies too. The guys who helped us fix the van explained that this was a combination of two things - a new ban on guns which had reduced hunting, and a the very dry weather which forced the animals to come and eat the remaining green grass right by the roadside. This had a bad effect on us, as it was so sad to see body after body by the roadside. We also had two swerving scares, when we noticed a live wallaby right next to the roadside. Both times it was just luck really, that neither one decided to panic and jump in front of us. They are hard to see, and they move really fast! Unfortunately this meant that all travel after sunset was really slow, with Dorka pressing her nose to the glass, scanning for endangered wildlife and me keeping the speed to a steady 60 kph crawl. With both children asleep in their seats, we were silent on wallaby watch for long periods before Dorka would say “Oh”” and then after I stood on the brake, she would continue with something like “We really must call my sister tonight…”
We were all pretty excited as we walked over to pick up the campervan, trying to guess which would be our van, the one we would live in for the next 5 days. Unfortunately it became a horrible moment when we arrived at the office to find it locked and deserted. We were pretty angry, because they had offered to stay open until 9pm, and we were early. It turned out that the company
had sent us an email asking my driving license details, 1 day before arrival. When we didn’t reply they just assumed we were not coming (even though we had paid in advance, and they knew we were going to arrive with two small kids!) It was dark and cold and we had nowhere to go, but the night staff at the airport were very helpful. In the end, the policeman on duty, Stewart, was super and drove us all the way to a local motel in his patrol car. This was our first hint that Tasmania is just like the north of Scotland - everything closes incredibly early, so if it’s after 6pm, you can simply forget about buying food, petrol and especially collecting campervans.
The next morning we returned to the office, Britz, to angrily pick up our van. Actually although the service was terrible, the Van was great. It was a Toyota Hiace, which is a high-top van with space for 5 people. (They would have to be 5 very close friends, but it was great for the four of us.) It had a pull-out upper bed, and a nice kitchen. There was no Bathroom or toilet, but these were available at all the campsites we stopped at. Even here, Lara slept in her portable cot, so it seemed logical to have Dorka sleeping next to her on the lower bed, and Emma and I on the upper bed. This was fun (except for the last night – see part 2) as this had the best view. Both children have become incredibly deep sleepers on this trip. Here in the most cramped conditions so far, Dorka and I were able to move around with the lights on, open and close the van doors etc.So we drove off to the north, but due to some wrong turns, and our flexible itinerary, we ended up at a National Park in the far south of the state. (Hands up who weren’t sure if Tasmania was a
country or a state? Oh, just me was it?) We headed off on foot towards Hartz Peak. While we didn’t actually go to the peak, we reached a couple of beautiful lakes, and enjoyed wonderful, if rather windy scenery. The land was all low bushes, so on the ridges, it was like walking into a hurricane. All in all, Dorka carried Lara on her back for 3 hours with no problems, so we were very pleased that we had the backpack-carrier with us. Lara slept a little and just seemed to enjoy the ride. Emma also hiked the whole way, though she was nearly blown off the path in a few places!That evening we tried to get back North to Hobart, but just before sunset, I felt a problem with the van. It began to shudder and shake and smoke
appeared behind us. I pulled off the road the find that the left rear tyre was not just flat, but was completely destroyed! The whole side of the tyre had blown out and I was actually driving on the metal rim for a few metres (hence all the smoke). Two older guys, Roger and John, had noticed us from their nearby and soon came over to help. It was our good luck they did, because the jack was too small for the van, so I really needed to 
borrow another. Emma and Dorka went off to talk to the guys’ wives, while we men fixed the wagon, before coming to join them for tea. They were all lovely to us and we had a very pleasant evening. They had small dogs too, so Emma was in puppy heaven. This all took place in their campervan, which was a deluxe version of ours, with a raised bedroom, a separate bathroom and toilet, spice rack over the cooker, everything.It was fully dark when we got moving, so we couldn’t really go much further. We slept our first night “wild” near to Hobart so that we could go straight to the Britz office for another tyre the next day.
We saw animals by the roadside everywhere. Unfortunately they were mostly dead roadkills. Lots of potaroos, kangaroo rats and also quite a few wallabies too. The guys who helped us fix the van explained that this was a combination of two things - a new ban on guns which had reduced hunting, and a the very dry weather which forced the animals to come and eat the remaining green grass right by the roadside. This had a bad effect on us, as it was so sad to see body after body by the roadside. We also had two swerving scares, when we noticed a live wallaby right next to the roadside. Both times it was just luck really, that neither one decided to panic and jump in front of us. They are hard to see, and they move really fast! Unfortunately this meant that all travel after sunset was really slow, with Dorka pressing her nose to the glass, scanning for endangered wildlife and me keeping the speed to a steady 60 kph crawl. With both children asleep in their seats, we were silent on wallaby watch for long periods before Dorka would say “Oh”” and then after I stood on the brake, she would continue with something like “We really must call my sister tonight…”
More about Tasmania in part II...
3 comments:
tok jo, csak igy tovabb!
What's up? Tovabbi hireket var a lelkes olvasokozonseg.
Itt Europaban jon a tel es ho, no meg a karacsony!
Fantasztikus, hogy így utaztok. Gratula és elismerés. Kellemes Karácsonyt, akárhol is ér Benneteket.
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