Campsite 14: Tarraleah Highland Park, Tarraleah

Well, ours may well have been the fastest tour of Tassie's West Coast in history. We had planned to spend almost a week touring the old mining towns and world-heritage listed rainforest and rivers; but weren't that enchanted by what we saw. The scars of mining were red and raw. Queenstown looked like a napalm test site. A sad indictment of Australia's greed for natural resources at the expense of everything, including the environment. Let's hope Australia has learned from the experience.

As for the Gordon River, thankfully spared from destruction by conservationists, sleepy river cruises may be our thing when we're retired but for now we'll save our $250 and pureed lunch for another day. That said, I do look forward to the day 30 or so years from now, when Jonathan and I set off in our 2-berth van. But so much life to enjoy yet, and in the meantime, we are so grateful for each day and our health. Can't do anything without that!

Speaking of grey nomads, we've absolutely loved being part of the caravan set. Travelling with our beds behind us; not knowing where we'll sleep each night; waking up to the sounds of our fellow travellers packing up for another day of sightseeing (the oldies get up much earlier than us!). We've got the reversing and hitching down to a fine art (tip for the wives: offer to do the reversing and let your husband direct you - it saves arguments!)

We've learned a few lessons too:
1. If travelling with kids, fly and hire a motorhome - especially a standby or relocation special: e.g www.standbyrelocs.com. It saves time setting up and means you can stop anywhere, anytime.
2. Don't spend a fortune on a camper/caravan - our rig has a lovely kitchen, dining area and lounge - but it's not much use to us when the kids go to bed. Our girls have an expensive bedroom while Jonathan and I are outside in the Aussie Traveller (not Jayco) annexe which was a tenth of price - and which we absolutely love.
3. The larger your setup, the more restricted you are as to where you can go. Keep it small and practical - an onboard battery, water tanks, water pump, fridge and comfy, dry bed is all you need! As they say, whatever you own is liable to own you. Save your money (spend it on more fun things like wine and chocolate)!
4. Get an easy to set up awning/annexe - see comments re Aussie Traveller awning above.
5. And whatever you do, don't buy a Jayco! (unless of course shattering cooktops - twice! - broken cupboards, falling doors, and dodgy workmanship is your thing!)

Anyway, back to our travels: we ended up making a mad dash across half the state, including an 8pm valentine's day dinner at the Derwent Bridge pub, followed by 3 more hours of driving (partly because I wouldn't stop at the remote campsite Jon had chosen - think 'Wolf Creek'!; until finally setting up camp in the highland town of
Tarraleah. For 3 hours, I begged an (understandably) whiny Angelina to hold on another 5 minutes until we found a suitable campsite - she finally gave up and fell asleep.

Tarraleah is a highland town that was formerly a hydroelectricity camp. An entrepreneur has turned it into a resort. The result is a simultaneously strange, pretty and expensive movie set reminiscent of highland Scotland. I can't explain it - just go there! You will also learn a thing or two about the ugly side of hydroelectric power (think rivers turned into massive water highways of giant pipes, not flowing waterfalls and waterwheels). But still a better alternative to brown coal!

Next stop: back to civilization in the Derwent Valley and Hobart.