Commer Van Oz Tour Aug, update!
Touring Australia in a Classic Commer Van.
Distance since leaving home 13940 Miles
With the end of August upon us, our tour of Tasmania continues. This month some of the places we visited included, the Lost Waterfalls near Swansea on the East Coast, the Freycinet National Park, the worlds second largest Cadbury Chocolate Factory and the spectacular western frontier at Strathgordon.
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| The Lost Falls |
The Swan River at Swansea, in our
little boat.
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| Honeymoon Bay, Freycinet National Park. |
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| Sea Shells on the Sea Shore |
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| Happy snap at Freycinet. |
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| Cadbury Factory, Hobart |
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| mmmmm Yummy. |
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| Factory produces 80million Freddos/Caramello's a year. |
After the visit to the Chocolate Factory, a weekend was spent in Hobart, Tasmania's Capital city.
Double Decker Tour Hobart,
I was really looking forward to the Double Decker Bus tour in Hobart as the brochure boasted their fleet of 1960's Leyland Atlantian's but to my disappointment the ageing Leylands had been replaced with brand new Chinese Ankai buses only one week earlier.
Although still great fun, just wasn't the same without all the rattling and smoke of an Atlantian.
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| A great way to take in the sights of beautiful Hobart, but at 8'C upstairs was not a very popular option. |
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| Cascade Brewery. |
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Outdoor Ice Rink, Hobart
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| Town Hall, many beautiful and some of the oldest buildings in Australia are to be found in Hobart. |
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Hobart street scene.
Another famous place visited while in Hobart was MONA, the Museum of old and new art.
We decided some of the exhibits were not suitable for young kids so Millie and I explored outside while Amanda entered "another world".
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Some of the exhibits at Mona.
Next it was of to Strathgordon, only 100klm from Hobart. Strathgordon is on the only road into Tasmania's remote south west. This 100klm long road took the old Commer 3hrs to complete as the road winds and bends up and down one mountain after another with average altitudes of 650meters. It was a real workout for our loaded old Commer, but she behaved well and we arrived safely to one of the most breathtakingly spectacular places we have ever seen.
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| We camped one night at this old hikers hut deep in the western forests. |
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| Fuel, Fuel and more Fuel, Millie holding the funnel for me as we fill her up, no stations out here. The Commer has consumed thousands of liters on this trip so far. |
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| Lake Pedder, near Strathgordon. |
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| Pedder basin, Gordon Dam, Tallest concrete Dam in Australia. Used for Hydro-electric power station near Strathgordon. |
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| Our Campsite, no one around but us. |
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| A Jewel moment, spectacular. |
How the Commer makes it up these mountains, amazes me.
At the end of August we visited the Highland Lakes in central Tas.
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| Lake Arthur, Central Highlands Alt 850M |
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| Camp site, Lake Arthur. |
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| Generator running all night to keep the Commer warm, more snow. |
Back down off the mountains we stopped at the historic towns of Ross and Oatlands.
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| Oatlands flour Wind Mill circa 1836 |
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| Historic Ross Bridge, constructed by convicts circa1830 |
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| Church, Ross. 1870 |
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Hmm, I need my boots fixed. Wonder if this place can help?
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Who's a pretty boy then?
Next month sadly, its time to board the ship and leave Tasmania behind us as we head back to the mainland and make our way west 1200miles and then north into the Northern Territory and Australia's red center.
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On Double Decker Buses.
Did you Know?
The very first motorised enclosed Double Deck buses in the UK were delivered to Widnes in 1909.
