Cann River & Eden NSW

On the move today so early start and pack up Eden is a fair drive. It has been nice staying here the weather was great. There has been a fair bit if smoke hanging around though, from the nearby fire at Cann River. As we pass through the smoke gets really bad and it is a little bit scary. We have to stop 5km on the other side of town there has been a road accident and the road is closed. Tina reads while I upload some new songs and update the blog. Vic has had 2 months of fires now and I bet they wonder if it will ever end.

We are doing the usual showers, washing, power up the batteries and watch some TV. Mind you the TV works good on the 12v and the reception hasn’t been to bad so far.

We have noticed that the wildlife has been leaving us alone which is a change from Tassie where they never left you alone. But there are lots more birds in Vic and now in NSW. We purchased our 1 month fishing license and headed down to the wharf. There are lots of fish here We caught a leather jacket and some under size Trevalley they and other fish need to be 30cm here but the Salmon is no minimum size. No real luck so back to the van for tea.

Binn Beach

After a bit of hap hazard attempts at planning we have decided to move on to Pearl Point which is near Bemm River. There are 3 free camp spots here all with good beach access but are not advertised anywhere. I’m not sure they want anyone to use them. We pick Binn beach it is very secluded and sheltered. After setting up we head down the beach as usual. Because we have plenty of fish Tina and I agreed to a 30cm minimum for fish. It is a busy arvo with more than 10 undersize salmon and Flathead are caught. We would catch more if it wasn’t for those bastard crabs. I’m excited by the amount of flathead but cannot pull and large ones.
Chicken and spaghetti for tea and a movie, Pirates of the Caribbean - Worlds end. It goes for nearly 3 hours and we only watched 2 hours before the laptop battery went flat. Thank God.



Bloody Crabs they will attack everything!!



Up and down the beach in search of larger fish but nothing but Salmon and Flathead. I threw some salmon back that were ok to keep but under our 30cm rule. Just so I didn’t come back empty I kept on 26cm Salmon. I fished again after lunch and before dark but only the same. There are lots of fish and I tried lures, different and larger rigs bit no change I did get rid of the smaller salmon but kept catching those under size Flathead. I did lose some gear today too!!



Becsue we keep forgetting to take photos of the fish these are little Salmon that we through back, next time i catch one of those undersize Flatheads i'll remeber to photo some of them as well.

Lakes Entrance

Today the workman building the new toilets started up just after 7.00am, this is not a bad thing I would like to get back into getting up a little earlier and we have a fair drive today. After packing up we drove to Sale and did some shopping. Then off to Blue pool a swimming hole in a creek at the bottom of the Alpine mountains. Tina had a swim and I waded around. I left my new Adidas slip ons behind, I’m very upset about this as they were my masseur replacements.
Lakes Entrance is an amazing place and the views are spectacular. We have checked into the North Arm CP which is on one of the outlets here. A couple of days relaxing and no fishing.

We are moving along the coast towards NSW and are now in Snowy River country. We had a look along the coast near the river outlet but there are no cheap campsites. We stopped for a fish at Point Ricardo where several people are fishing the beach. I’m fishing with the small rod again and it feels a little intimidating when everyone else has such a big rod. There is nothing happening and the crabs are onto everything. All the guys gave up and left so I moved in the trough they were fishing. There are bites in between the crabs mostly small Puffer fish. Then a school of mullet move through and I pick up 4, 2 big ones for mullet. I lose a couple in the surf and one makes it onto the beach but flapped back into the water. I have caught enough for tea and the school has swum away. The puffer fish didn’t bugger off though.
We drove back through Marlo and have stopped at one of 5 or 6 rest stops along the Snowy river in between Marlo & Orbost.
We Importantly check to make sure we have TV coverage as Carlton are playing Richmond tonight. All is good and we are having Flathead for tea. I’m playing around with some new lures and the fishing are starting to stir in the river, a snag a quick yank on the rod and Bang what a hit, straight into my Bicep. I’m hooked and hooked bloody good. Tina has a try to get it out but we have never done this before and aren’t really sure what to do. Orbost is only 7km away so we decide to drive into town which has a hospital. Now it is lucky we are not in the city because we could have missed the entire game. But 10 minutes after we arrive it is all over. A needle in the arm and then a rusty pair of pliers form the doctor who assure me he has done this before and the lure is out. I hope this becomes my lucky lure. You can only base the hospital system on your own experiences and in this case I can only have the highest level of praise and the hospital system in Australia is so good Tina didn’t even get to read one page of the mag in the waiting room. Thanks guys, we are back in time to see the start of the game.
A quick word on the Carlton, Richmond game go the Blues!!

Paradise beach on 90 Mile beach Vic.

Up early and packing up the van and car. It has been a pleasant 4 days but it is time to start the next chapter. We say our goodbyes and head off towards Lakes Entrance. Our route doesn’t take us through the fires zones only around them. It is very hot and 450km+ trip today. It gets hotter and hotter and the distance to travel is probably it bit far so we have decided to stop at 90 mile beach and we have set up at Paradise beach.
It is a free camp just back from the beach and because it is the weekend it is quite full. We find a spot but it is in sand not on the nice grass. After we settled in I headed down in search of the big salmon, no luck but did catch a nice mullet.
It is a little overcast this morning with a few spots but cooler. We walked the 4km to the local shops for some bait and to call the family as there is no reception where we are camped. We walked back along the beach where there were a few people fishing. One guy had caught a large salmon but no one else seems to be catching anything although we did spot a Skate with its tale cut off on the beach as well as the odd Puffer fish.
When we got back I was off again determined to catch a bog salmon too. No luck again but did pick up a few more mullet as well as the odd undersize salmon. I tried just before dark as well but only succeeded in feeding the millions of crabs.

Up at 6.30am surely this time the salmon must be around. Not long after I started about 20 Dolphins rock up and go on a feeding frenzy about 100m from shore. I was going to chuck it in but decided to hang around. About ½ hour later they start biting but only under size salmon. The about ½ hour later again the Mullet started, I can clearly tell the difference between the two now. Another couple of nice mullet, we have enough for a good feed tonight more were on offer but I ran out of bait. So back to the salmon I tried, Pilchards, Squid, lures and some mullet but nothing. No one here is catching salmon and we have fished our third day now. It is nice having the van and being able to hang around without moving each day.
Tina has finished the Potato factory and has moved onto the Twilight as long as I keep fishing she will have it finished in a couple of days.
As yesterday we went for a walk again, we are trying to lift our fitness levels a bit. We both headed down for a fish this time and we headed up the other way. It did not take long and big hit this was no little mullet. I landed it and what a beauty it was 39cm Flathead. It was the only thing we caught the tide is right out and the trough is just full of crabs. Back to the van and some lunch, Tina is learning chess so we had a game.

Back to the beach for another fish and back to the spot I caught all the mullet. It was dead quite not a single bite for ages then another big hit. This bugger did not want to come in and it was thrashing wildly near sure. It was another Flathead this one 46cm. two in one day although I’m hunting for salmon flathead are just as good. I caught some small salmon, Tommies and then my first ever Tailor. This has been a great spot and I’ve caught heaps of fish over three days it certainly pays to put the time in. Next time we catch some fish like this we will remember to take a photo before we fillet them all. Looks like fish is on the menu for a couple of more nights, the mullet was beautiful.

Lazy days at Heathcote

After we packed up we headed of to Joe’s at Heathcote a nice 160km drive. As we thought after 6 weeks living in a 4WD the caravan was a great sight and the inside is huge. It didn’t really take that long to empty the car and sort our most of the stuff. Joe is bowling all week but we had a good chat when he got home.

Off to Bendigo for some shopping, a couple more car parts, some serious washing and trying to get the Power steering hose fixed. Yes the one brand new thing I fixed on the car bloody leaks (Not happy Jan!!) All good got all the stuff we needed and arrange a fix for the hose even got to see a bit of Bendigo which ahs also grown lots over the last few years

We have spent the last few days mostly relaxing but have also fitted some car servicing with Oil, Air & Diesel filters all getting replaced as well as a coolant change. We also had to get the brand new Power steering hose repaired. I’m fairly pissed off about this as I specially got this repaired so it would last the Aus trip. The original one only had the smallest leak but the new flash one I paid $200 to get fixed lasted only just over 6 months. Thanks to Joe’s recommendation we went to McCullough’s hydraulics who not only fixed the hose but added joiners in so if a hose ever went it could be fixed individually and one hose at a time. All this for only $116, however before I sing too many praises we will see if it lasts.
Joe plays lawn bowls and it is country week in Bendigo, so after replacing the power steering hose on the side of the road we ventured off watch him play. His team did really well and we in the last 8 but couldn’t quite make it through. We have been getting ready to go to Lakes Entrance and we are off there tomorrow.

Avalon Air Show

Back to Geelong for some car parts, Tina needed a haircut and my search for shoes. The Tojo has always had a squeaky barn door problem and net soon confimed this to be a common prob. Over the last year I have tried a few things but the fix is 2 new parts. Toyota dealer could get 1 in 2 days and the other form Japan but 2 weeks. After a little negotiation we arranged postage. Off to the haircut a bargain at $15 and not only did I get some shoes I picked up a hair shaver for Jason(the first one I got him for Christmas was crap). Then the difficult stuff beer, Vic has expensive beer if you don’t want to by VB or Carlton Draught. Finally got it sorted
We are staying at Lara sportsground near Avalon Airport for the International Air show. We are Glen’s ground crew he has 2 Jabiru’s and there is camping there with free shuttles to and from the Air show for 4 days. Mel flew in a normal plane and Glen & Carl flew over in one of the Jabiru’s ( for those who don’t know that stands for bloody small plane) and we all met at the campground and off to the Shell club for Tea. It was good to see family again. Did some footy training on the way to the club and got offered a Guernsey. Just one kick was all it took. We had great steaks for $11 some beers.

Up early the oval and campervan area was pretty full and they had great showers in the footy club. Took the shuttle over to the AS( I’m fairly sick of writing Air Show) and met up with M&G (also abbreviated) There are lots of planes little tiny ones with tarps as wings right up to C17, Hercules, 777 and other as well as jet fighters. We got to look in so many planes right up close touch and feel. There is every aviation & Military supplier here.
Then there are the flying displays they were just awesome, where do I start they had the smallest aerobatic planes to the large bulk carriers, all the jets F1-11’s, FA18’s,
The B1 bomber and so many others. The Jets are just so unbelievable they can turn in the smallest circle and one went straight up to 5km in what seemed like 3 secs. All this maybe 100m odd from the runway. None stop low passes with some great sounds. Carl & Glen were like Tina & I at a musical festival or a child at the show. It was a very long day and the night session was spoiled by late shitty weather. We took the shuttle back to the campground which had got even more packed.

My car part had arrived and this time Mel needed a haircut so back to Geelong. It is quite crappy this morning very overcast and raining. Haircut good, car part in hand back to the AS. The carpark is wet and muddy and lots of people have left their lights on.
We looked around the military displays a lot again today, I have deliberately left out the Tina falling off the Big Army tank story but for those of you’s who were there I milked it the entire day in a search for laughs. The military stuff is cool and the Australian defence force have some great stuff. It looks really cool and they market it well but really they teach you to kill people and most ,likely get killed yourself. Anyway I’ told old I can’t even join if I wanted to. We saw some more aerial displays and headed over to the Auditorium for awards for plane displays. Andy Thomas was to speak. This was cool free beer & food. All was going well and we ware talking to some Singapore Air force Personel when the call for the military to leave came out, then this big nasty sergeant came in and yelled at them and they all ran out. We didn’t know what the hell was going on. Then finally we were told that a storm had just blown through and planes had been turned over as well as tents. Well that got rid of most of the rest of the people in the room and a bloody .lot of open beers and food. 200 became 20 and the waitresses begged us to eat more food and we drank as many “VB”s as we could. We met some people including Joshua and Damien, Joshua’s home made plane died and he had to crash land it on the beach on the way down from Bega in NSW.
Eventually they cleared all the food and beer Glen’s plane was not damaged and we headed off. There was some serious damage to tents and displays so we took the shuttle back and headed to the Lara Sports club for some more ales. We Joshua and Damien as well as some others from the AS.
That night there was an explosion a fight, 50 rampant teenagers and god knows what else going on outside that night but apart from all the noise no drama for us.

Very wet but no tent damage for us at the campground. We took Mel wine tasting and I drove us all around Geelong districts in the XR6, nice car for a Ford. We met Glen & Carl back at the Sports club in the arvo and said our goodbyes. We bumbed around in the arvo and had a great Pizza for tea. We were very tired and crashed out straight after.
A special thanks to Glen & Mel for getting us camping and special access tickets to the Air show for the 4 days we enjoyed not only the Air show but hanging out as well.
“Thanks Guys”

Lorne

We arrived into Melbourne on a misty morning and made our way down the coast to Lorne via Geelong & Torquay, these towns have certainly grown. We are staying at the Lorne CP.
The Great Ocean road has lost none of its appeal since the last time we drove there 4 odd years ago although Michael drove we all had a hangover and well the XR8 doesn’t really go that slow. Lots of shops as I needed new Joggers but the shops seem to only open on the weekends.

We had a canoe and I have tried to catch some Bream in the little riverlet at the CP with no luck just small Salmon. A pretty relaxing couple of days again a walk around, the most expensive beers so far $10.20 for 2 pots. Caught a salmon and some tommies off the beach so back in Vic and some fish.

The last days of Tassie

On the way to Port Sorrell we stopped at a car accident where an 80+ year old lady had rolled her Corolla on a bend. We arrived only minutes after it had happened. We helped hold up the car so it didn’t tip over while the scared but unbelievably not seriously injured lady sat in the bottom of the car. A registered nurse arrived and got in the turned over car with her and this certainly helped her calm down as she was having serious breathing problems. Lots of people stopped to offer assistance. Finally the ambulance and Fire Brigade arrived so we left so we didn’t get in the way.
We arrived at Port Sorrell and went to the Lions Caravan park where unpowered sites were only $12. It is quite rare now to find cheap sites at Caravan Parks.
It was our big night out so a couple of beers and $10 steak sandwiches for tea at the pub and a bit of Carlton Geelong on the TV.

It is our second to last day in Tassie and this last week has passed quickly. It is a little sad as we have both fallen in love with Tassie and have been checking property prices, employment and business opportunities. We have a long way to go jet and I’m sure we will find plenty of other parts of Australia that we fall in love with.
Off to Latrobe markets which unlike a lot of others these are quite cheap and have a good variety of goods, the first cheap local veggies we have found. We visited the Cheese factory and picked up some goodies.
An afternoon canoe at Ulverstone and a bit of fishing in the harbour. We found 100’s of small Salmon in the bay where some water was running back into the bay after high tide. My theory of where there are small fish there are big fish was soon answered with a nice size Salmon hooked. No luck in the lures but the bait was striking good. I picked up some little Salmon before landing some good mullet. We caught enough for Tea but I would have caught some more but didn’t have anymore bait.
Our last night is at Riana Pioneer park a $7 a night camp with hot showers. The caretaker is an ex pat South Australian and after a chat offered us a free night which we had to decline as we are leaving the next day. I’m not sure if we seem nice or look destitute but we have had so many free offers form people while we have been here it is amazing. We could have worked while we were here as well with leads offered more than once.
Tassie is great, the fishing is fantastic, the 4WD tracks and mountain drives in the forest are wonderful. There is so much to see and all easily accessible by the Great quality of roads and also the friendly people makes Tassie a must see for anyone who wishes to see Australia. The local Beers especially Boag’s is a good drop and there is so much potential here. Not sure how we would cope with the winters but I suppose you would get used to it.

Another nice day and Tassie is really putting it on for our last few days. A lazy morning packing up and a bit of a car clean up. We drove back to Devonport for the final time and are just bumming around town until we need to board. There are a lot of people fishing in the harbour so I’m quite tempted but Tassie has supplied enough fish for one trip.
We are on board and having some beers before we head off. There are about 50 motorcycles on board and they all looked cool boarding together.

On line data breakdown

Hi All, there will be a little delay in updates, Andy pulled a clanger while doing a Backup and has overwritten the last weeks worth of data.

Given that we drank to many "VB's", yes that is correct "VB" i cant remember the last week. As it comes back to me we will update on the Great Ocean Road and Avalon Air show.

The Lakes & Cradle Mountain

The morning was much calmer with little wind and just some drizzle. We cooked breakfast in the shelter and had a long chat with a couple travelling Aus in just a Troopy.
After packing up we drove the road back past the Greenies who coincidently were burning a fire to keep warm. I hope they brought some wood that is allowed to be cut down. We drove down the mountains then up some new mountains to make it to lake Arthur which is next to the Great Lake. On the way we saw our first Wombat that was alive not squashed on the road. Lucky he just watched me drive past. We stopped in at the Waddamana Power station which is a Hydro Museum. I was quite surprised and this a great place that is exactly as it was built in the early 1900’s. I was surprised to find out that the first Hydro Electricity plant was opened in Tassie in the 1800’s. They built these things in terrible conditions and it snows a lot here.
We carried on to another lake Penstock which also looks like it snows there, but we carried on to Arthurs lake and found a camp site there on the edge of the lake. Well it would be if it was full. Even in Tassie there are droughts in this part of Tassie and both the great lake, Lake Gordon & Arthur lake a good 10-30m below their peaks capacities.
We are not canoeing today it is just too cold even with the campfire it is freezing and the coldest nigh in Tassie by far.


A nice sleep in this morning because we had to wait for it to get warm enough to get out of the car. Luckily around 11.00am the sun finally broke through and the temp finally got above 5°. We packed up and decided to move on to somewhere warmer like Mole creek. The sun was beautiful for the drive through central Tassie and we spent a sunny arvo by Sassafras creek in the little Mole Creek Caravan Park.

A pleasant morning greeted us as we headed off to Cradle Mountain. This is very windy road up large mountains which Tina drove. The weather is crap but we are going on anyway. We made lunch and rugged up in our waterproof jackets borrowed form Mel & Glen. We took the shuttle up to the edge of Dove lake. It is a 2 hour walk around the lake and provides views of all the surrounding mountains including Cradle peak. Well we couldn’t really see it today. But the views here are truly spectacular once again. As usual it wasn’t really that cold just wet. It was a great walk and of course it was only raining in the mountains as soon as we left and drove down towards the plains it became a beautiful sunny day.

Strath Gordon

We are staying in New Norfolk and with some pending bad weather we are staying for a couple of relaxing days along the Derwent.
We walked up to the town centre for some beer supplies and a bit of shopping. The storms haven’t really been to bad here and we didn’t get the 100km/r they had predicted. We had some beautiful marinated steaks for tea as well as the Oysters we collected yesterday. We Skyped the kids, Cheryl, Megan, Nathan & Carol and caught up on some overdue Blog stories. All in all it was a good easy day. Now I know a lot of people think what do you need a rest for you don’t work, but travelling isn’t all easy when you are living in the back of a 4WD. Everything gets unpacked and repacked every time you move which has been mostly daily in Tassie. So it is not all beer and Skittles you try finding a new place to live everyday.

Its not to bad a day when we awake but there are dark clouds looming pancakes, cream and the Blackberries we picked are for breakfast and we are all packed up and out by 10.00am as required. After getting some Diesel we left town passing a road side Police blitz. I could just imagine how long we could get stuck at one of those if they actually wanted to search the car. At least they might find some stuff we have lost and or didn’t even know we had.

A drive along the Derwent and then to the South West area to Strath Gordon home of the largest Hydro dam in Australia which supplies 15% of all the power for Tassie, It also has the highest dam wall in Australia to.

This Dam is so large it is just amazing and the scenery along the way is once again rain forest land. We have taken a movie of this as the rain pours down. We walked down to the Dam wall and walked across in lets just say Wintery conditions. We are staying at Ted’s beach on lake Pedder which joins Gordon dam via a channel. Lucky there is a great camp ground shelter here because it is bloody pissing down and not like that soft SA rain this is fair dinkum Darwin rain only about 25° colder. It just didn’t let up it was just amazing with some 100k/m winds to.

The morning was much calmer with little wind and just some drizzle. We cooked breakfast in the shelter and had a long chat with a couple travelling Aus in just a Troopy.After packing up we drove the road back past the Greenies who coincidently were burning a fire to keep warm. I hope they brought some wood that is allowed to be cut down.

4WD Adventure

Off to Cockle Creek and now our aim is to reach the most southerly point we can in Tassie we reach the most westerly & easterly tip already (you can’t get to the most Northerly without a permit. I have been told you can get there after a short walk.
We had a fish in the bay where we are camping and finally a breakthrough even though it was just an undersize Salmon it was still a fish. Apparently it was bigger than Brian’s 4cm Flathead.
Another nice night a little chilly but its OK because we are finally listening to the Aussies kick arse in the cricket. Unfortunately not as good a news for Adelaide United but better than the last 6-0 final we played against Melbourne Victory.
A pleasant morning a little cloudy has greeted us, along with 1 million mozzies. A peaceful morning is spent updating stories and reading the paper. We only have 1 week left in Tassie and although during the trip I had thought it was to long now I’m a little sad it is coming to an end. We are going up through the centre of Tassie on the way back to Devonport so some fresh water fishing is in the cards. Look out Trout here I come.
In the afternoon I headed out for a canoe in the bay. I’m not a keen one to head out to far into the ocean so I tend to hang within 100m of the coast. There is a lot of kelp here so I just kept moving around the bay. After an hour I have not had a single bite and are getting a little frustrated. The wind has picked up so I have headed into the mouth of Cockle creek and I’m in search of Bream. After ½ an hour or so still not bites so I’m just about ready to chuck it in. I head back down the estuary towards the mouth and then bang I’m on and the reel is spinning. I get it to the canoe and it’s a Flathead my first ever on a lure. He seems a tad small so I let him go. The lure goes back in and bang of it goes again, another just undersize flathead. Off again and this time the reel is spinning so fast I think I’m going to run out of line. A good fight and finally I get a big one to the canoe. Now what do I do, should of bought that bloody landing net. He is at the side thrashing around with his big spike so I cut him lose lure and all. I’m sure I have mentioned this before but fishing in a canoe isn’t all its cracked up to be, sure you can get to good spots but getting thrashing fish into the canoe without falling in or losing everything else is bloody tough work. I have already lost two lures today so I put on a big hook and bluebait to try to flush out something else. And it didn’t take long a big hit but not much fight, must be a gummy shark. Well it was and it was big got him to the canoe and had to cut him loose. I have seen Rex Hunt And these guys on the TV doing the catch and release and it didn’t feel that bad, mind you they do always get the hook out. It was one of the best days fishing I have had in Tassie and not a single fish to eat!!

Although there has been lots of great forest tracks in Tassie there hasn’t been quite as much real 4WD to be done. All the logger roads are in bloody good nick. So after we packed up today I was in search of the mountain track that links the South with New Norfolk, otherwise you have to drive all the back through Hobart. We picked some blackberries before we left to have with pancakes, they are everywhere here. And then headed back towards Huonville. We stopped a t a spot where we were told there are oysters on the Huon river. There certainly are and we picked up 20-30 in about 5 minutes most coming off without even a knife.
We got to Judbury and stopped for lunch before heading off in search of the mountain road which is marked on the map. Off we went down Judd creek road which had no signs on it about making it through to Lachlan this is not a good sign. The GPS was not happy with me and was ordering a U-Turn, you think by now it would know that I ignore it. The road was quite good for about 20km and seemingly heading the right direction when it turned into a track. A brand new one just made by the Bulldozer. TI use the term brand new but let me assure you that means it is fallen trees, big rocks, and massive waterholes. We climbed for a while before the track became nearly impassable and turned around. A little way back there was another bulldozer track so we tried this.
We bumped into a Forestry Tassie guy who was sure the track went through but tried to seriously talk us out of it. Despite some hesitance from Tina we were off. According to the GPS the nearest road is 23km away. Low range 1st gear and we are off. The Tojo is getting a serious workout slamming rocks underneath and lots of water crossings, this all at 600m above sea level on a big steep mountain.
This track went on for ever with some great hills and mud crossings. It’s a real shame that the pictures don’t show you just how hard this track was. Finally we got to a section that was not just dozed but was the old track at the other end. He we were thinking great it will be easy form here. This is where it got exciting massive washouts, huge boulders and deep water holes (mostly filled with hidden boulders.) Well didn’t the Tojo get a bashing at one stage we thought we had smashed a hole in the exhaust but it turns out the end pipe is just crushed, I’ll cut that off tomorrow. We made through and the car still works, well the step tread has a big rock dent and I bet it needs a new Wheel Alignment but this was the best 53km of 4WD I have done and we didn’t get bogged once. (we did have to winch a fallen down tree earlier in the day of a track) Maybe tomorrow we should go back and Tina can have a turn.