Today we are leaving the beautiful Bay of Fires and Georgia is still in a fair amount of pain and unable to walk more than a few minutes at a time. I really wanted to have her checked out but couldn’t get a Dr’s appointment in St Helens. We’d been told of a good GP down the coast at Swansea, so will bypass our planned stay at Coles Bay and head for Swansea.
Coles Bay and the sights of the Freycient National Park, home to the famous Wine Glass Bay, (features on most brochures about Tasmanian) is all about the magnificent bush walks and stunning scenery. It was looking like we were just going to have to give this gem a miss. With Ken still having what now appears likes weeks worth of work left and a fast approaching dead line, Georgia unable to walk more than 50 meters and Lulu not going in the sling and wanting to be carried everywhere it was just all too hard.
Swansea was on the other side of Great Oyster Bay looking across to Freycinet National Park. The caravan park was a very short walk from the bay and the views were stunning. The park itself wasn’t anything special but it was obvious the owners cared a lot and invested in the maintenance and experience of there clients. Super friendly and they’d developed a scavenger hunt for the kids to keep them occupied for at least a few hours. The big hit was the communal TV room though. The girls enjoyed getting out of the van and having TV to watch.
Our planned to stay in Coles Bay was also were we were to collect mail. With a day to wait for the Dr’s appointment the girls and I jumped in the car and drove the hour and a half drive to pick up mail. Wow, soooo glad we did, cause the views as you drive in to Coles Bay are breathtaking. Easy to see what all the fuss is about. Cute little town to, but the natural beauty surrounding it, absolutely awe inspiring. We picked up the mail, had an icecream and wonder around before the hour and a half return trip home.
Our visit to the GP went really well, she was a fabulous GP. No X-rays or scan required. Phew!!! It was a really thorough and great assessment and the Dr was awesome with getting Gigi involved in her assessment. I felt really reassured as we left with the advice to just have a couple of quiet weeks, to let the swelling and bruising subside and ensure Georgia doesn’t get another knock to the head so soon after a concussion. With that knowledge we left the stunning wildness of the east coast of Tassie behind and made our way to Hobart.
We opted to stay just outside of Hobart on the outskirts and base ourselves here until Ken was finished his work. This way the kids and I would have plenty to explore either in Hobart city, or nearby Richmond and even take a big day trip down to Port Arthur.
Caught out again by a public holiday and long weekend and had difficulty finding a campsite. Finally the park at Seven Mile Beach took pity on us and squeezed us in. Turned out to be a great sight looking into pine forest and a fabulous place for bird watching.
With Ken needing to crack on with work, us girls headed into Hobart for a little look around. First stop Salamanca and the fairy shop the girls had been told about. I thought i’ll get it out of the way early and then the question of ‘when can we go to the fairy shop?’ would stop. After that we had a little food shopping to do and visit to office works for school supplies.
Serendipity played a lovely role as we discovered the Hobart Cat Cafe was just around the corner and it turns out a lot of cat lovers are also Coeliac as the entire menu was gluten and could be dairy free. What luck. As for the cats, i’ll leave that for Georgie to share.
Our day wasn’t done and I was trying to give Ken as much quiet time as possible so we ventured out of Hobart and to the delightful historic town of Richmond. Along the way we came across the Beatrix Potter garden, another attraction the girls had been wanting to visit. Being so late in the day we had the place to ourselves and the girls loved revisiting these stories they have listened to so often. It couldn’t have been better timing as Georgia had recently been inspired to do an English presentation on Beatrix Potter.
Mrs Rabbit and the floppy bunnies 
Mr McGregor in his shed 
Bumblebee! I never knew we had them in Australia 
Finally we reach Richmond to visit Australias oldest bridge, built by convicts and opened in 1825. Beautifully restored, and full of charm and character it’s amazing what those poor, unskilled workers accomplished. As we travelled around Tassie time and time again we discovered stories of how the convicts were an efficient and an effective work force. Unfortunately these success stories were short lived as industry couldn’t compete with the volume and quality of convict production. This lead to the convict teams and lines of work being shut down.
Our last couple of days of this week were spent out and about sightseeing. Trying to be out of Kens way meant we where seeing loads of stuff but they were long exhausting days. Back to Hobart for the famous weekend Salamanca Markets, and a little retail therapy. The following day a full day back in Richmond. A yummy brunch, Old Hobart Town (a miniature replica of Hobart as it was in the 1820’s), and the Pooseum.
Yep, you read that right. The Pooseum. Who would have thought, poo could be so fascinating. We spent hours here. A very unassuming building but the quality of the displays, the fun in which the topic is presented and the passion and knowledge of the owner was fabulous. Of all the museum to attractions we have visited around Australia I think both the girls would rank this one right up the top! Educational and funny. Let’s face it, there’s a lot we can learn from poo and who doesn’t love a good fart joke!
Having had a brief sighting of bioluminescence in the waves at Bay of Fires we were intrigued to learn more about it and start noticing posts on Facebook about places to view it around Hobart. Reports had a bloom of this algae near us so after dark, dinner and getting ready for bed we jumped in the car to see what we could find. It was very cold 🥶 and took a bit to coax the girls out the car but once we started splashing and playing in it ……. epic!
Squeals of delight as the sand beneath your feet would magically light up. Every time a wave crashed or someone splashed the water a blue glow would appear. Tassie really is the coolest place, what more hidden treasure are out there?
Bioluminescence in the Hobart ‘burbs!
