Cadbury factory in Hobart....

Our caravan park in Hobart was literally right on the beautiful Derwent River just 9 kilometres from the city.


Quite a lovely outlook for a city caravan park.....

Strangely enough, the park was absolutely rife with wild rabbits (yes cute little rabbits with little white tails) absolutely everywhere you turned.


As we drove into the park ol' Bindi noticed (of course) and she was out of the car faster than you could say 'Peter Rabbit' in hope of catching one and having a pet for a few days. 


Her younger brother was not far behind her either. 


It was soon realised that 'rabbit catching' was an extremely futile exercise but it didn't stop them stalking the bunnies and their 'hideouts'.  Rather entertaining really!!


James was also particularly excited about this caravan park because it was just down the road from the CADBURY chocolate factory, the BIGGEST chocolate factory in the southern hemisphere!

Freddo Frog's footprints help you find the front door from the carpark....

We were a bit disappointed as they weren't doing factory tours due to renovations but we still had an enjoyable time....


Frank enjoyed watching old Julius Sumner Miller ads and trying to work out 'Why Is It So??'
His voice and accent was so distinctive and memorable.

All the models from the more recent Cadbury ads were on display also. 


It takes (8) people a month to make the models and sets for one 30 second ad we see on TV. Incredible!! 

The kids all had a ball playing with all the paraphernalia.....

And they also enjoyed the fact that we walked out with several kilograms of chocolate in a purple bag....

A few cartwheels on the front lawn to celebrate.....

Let the history lessons begin.....

Richmond is a very historical little town about 24km outside of Hobart. As we drove into Richmond, Frank and I agreed that this little place is what we had imagined Tassie to be like.


Georgian homes line the streets full of old world charm and character.

Richmond boasts several 'historical firsts' from the 19th century....the oldest bridge, the oldest gaol, the oldest catholic church, and the oldest postal building.


The Richmond bridge was built by convict labour and was completed in 1825. All materials were hand carted by the poor ol' convicts.


The bridge is still in great condition and handled our 'big rig' quite easily. A true architectural masterpiece.

The Richmond Gaol predates the penal settlement at Port Arthur.

The Gaol courtyard..

As you can see the punishments were extremely harsh and quite ridiculous.

The kids found the dark solitary confinement cells quite intriguing. Locking each other in the cells provided amusing entertainment until Mum and Dad put a stop to it.


When in 'Solitary' the convicts were only fed bread and water. They had a night bucket and a single blanket and weren't allowed out for exercise.


They could be confined here in the darkness for up to 30 days. True torture and spirit breaking punishment.

This hot, itchy, uncomfortable uniform was worn by the 'worst' convicts. It was apparently very shameful to wear this uniform as well. They called it the 'Magpie'.

Charlie found the 'Cat of Nine Tails' and reminded us that we saw one on the Endeavour replica in Fremantle.

When not in solitary confinement this is how the convicts slept....

Richmond also boasts having the oldest Roman Catholic Church (built in 1836) and the oldest Postal building in Australia.


Prior to Richmond we found the 'Spikey Bridge' which was also built by convicts in 1843. The name speaks for itself.

It is thought that the 'spikes' on the bridge wall were designed to prevent cattle falling over the sides of the bridge.

Such great history for the kids to see first hand. 
There have been many conversations about how fortunate we are....

Plenty of beauty here in Tassie....

Beautiful gardens....

Beautiful landscapes....

Beautiful lavender farms....

and Poppy farms...

(These Poppies are grown for the production of Morphine, Codeine and Thebaine. These substances are extracted from the poppy straw and used in the manufacture of pain killing drugs and in cough mixture)


Plenty of 'Keep Out' signs around these paddocks...

And plenty of beautiful old buildings to admire...

It was 'bloomin' wet, cold, and miserable as we headed down the east coast (sorry we have been listening to Peter Cundell on the radio down here). 


We therefore didn't tend to hang around the beachy towns on the east coast and instead zoomed onto Hobart....

NW Tasmania....

After disembarking from The Spirit of Tasmania we headed west along the Northern coast of Tasmania.

On our first night we stayed in a historic tourist town named Stanley.

The drive to Stanley involves driving through quaint seaside towns nestled between the sea and beautiful rolling green farmland. 

As you approach Stanley, it is hard not to miss 'The Nut' on the horizon. It is a huge 'boxy' looking mountain which is the core of an old volcano.

Matthew Flinders first saw the nut in 1798 and recorded that he had seen a 'cliffy round lump resembling a Christmas cake'.

Frank and the kids took the chairlift to the top of the Nut and walked back down. Poor Mama sprained her ankle (in a slightly embarrassing fashion) in Melbourne so she waited in the van doing the RICE thingy...

The view from on top of The Nut...

The Van Diemens Land Company (London) was granted this land around Stanley to raise wool sheep on a large scale in 1826.  There is a lovely historic home here (Highfield House) which was built in the 1830's for the chief agent of the Van Diemens Land Company. It was restored in the 1980's.

We didn't get to see this beautiful house, but we drove by and took photos of the nearby, dilapidated Convict's barracks. These barracks were occupied from 1834 by about (20) convicts who worked at Highfield House.

Our first taste of Convict history....

Stanley's 'high street' was gorgeous....

We also visited a quirky little local 'Seaquarium' which housed local crayfish, octopus, Port Jackson sharks, Salmon....

and the biggest, hairiest Hermit crabs we have ever seen....

It sure feels strange for us Queenslanders, to be wearing jumpers and beanies on the 2nd of December....

A real novelty....

The Spirit of Tasmania and a border crossing...

'Isaac' wasn't serving the drinks...
'Julie' wasn't organising on board entertainment...
'Doc' wasn't prescribing something to cure Ella's insomnia....
'Gopher' wasn't showing us to our recliners....
and 'Captain Stubing' wasn't navigating the boat....
and there certainly wasn't any romance, but we still had fun sailing across Bass Strait in a big cruise like ship...

There were security checks, quarantine checks, check-ins, wait in line checks etc etc and then finally allowed to drive up the ramp and get on board....

In we go...

It then didn't take long then for the engines to start warming up. 


Off we go.....

See you in a couple of weeks Melbourne...

All in all, it went really well. We ate, we drank, the kids watched a movie and then we slept. 


Well most of us slept....
Ella was to excited looking out her window and watching the big rolling waves of Bass Strait.


James and Charlie had no problems...(though I think James could sleep under a moving train)

Another quick, friendly quarantine check in Devonport and we are off to explore lovely Tassie (with a few more layers of clothing on)....