A World Heritage Festival Site

From the prison to the valley, we found out about a music festival taking place up in the hinterland of Tasmania and couldn't pass up the opportunity to bond with the local hippies. We left the Tasman Peninsula and shot straight up the highway to Jackeys Marsh, just south of Deloraine.

The gathering had been going on since 1986 when a group of people banned together to protest the destruction of this beautiful area by logging. This year's festival marked the celebration of the area achieving World Heritage status!

Some of the great initiatives to encourage sustainability included the entire 3-day festival being solar powered, all food stands were byo cutlery and crockery, the bar was also managed by one glass per person to have for the festival and then refunded at the end so trash was at a minimum and toilets were composted. A beautiful event with loads of bands and activities!

From the festival we headed back down towards Hobart but took the back roads winding through the Great Lake and hydro scheme which powers most of Tasmania. Just when our questions on how this scheme works were boiling over, we drive past Tassie's first power station and now a museum!

Once equipped with a load of photos and information of the power station, we hit the gravel again for more beautiful scenery! Destination - the southern most point in Australia and a need for more cherries!

Convict style

Just LOVING it in Tassie! Everything about this place is amazing from the tall trees to the blue seas! And for fun, we threw in a little history lesson as well at Port Arthur on the Tasman Peninsula.

As most of you know, Australia, and Tasmania in particular, was populated by convicts expelled from Europe. Port Arthur was created to house the worst of the worst or 'repeat offenders' as the tour guide told us. They didn't need fences as the area was a peninsula and the weather harsh. But today, we visited in the warmth of the sun and summer months.

Whether it be the main prison house, the mental asylum, or the Commandant's luxury quarters, the entire property is beautifully presented and intriguing in all facets. If we could have camped on the premises, the ghost tour would be a real treat!

A GREAT Ocean Road to sailing the Bass Straight

Finally pulled up stumps from our riverside camp in the relie's backyard in Warrnambool, we headed along Australia's beautiful "Great Ocean Road". This stunning stretch of coast spans from Warrnambool to Lorne and just beyond to Torquay. We zigzagged between the coastal road and some amazing trails on the back hills of the Otway Range.

Before further details of the road, the boat reno that Matt and his Uncle Bill did at the end of our stay deserves a mention as they did an amazing job turning a has-been duck boat into a stunning replica of its old self. They sanded, steamed, varnished, and painted it back to life for the upcoming car show that Bill already had his 1950s Standard ready for.

The highlighted map of our Great Ocean Road stretch looks like a roller coast ride as we would face the hoards of tourists on tiny roads enough to see the highlights of the Grotto and the 12 Apostles but then venture

to the quieter highlands. There's so much beauty on offer in the area but the tranquillity of the the fire trails and country roads is much more palpable at this time of year.

We arrived in Melbourne just in time to spend a night with my good friend, Megsy, and her growing brood with 2 month old Zach joining his big brother Finn in the festival family. So Matt caught up with his childhood friend as I stayed with Megsy and we both enjoyed, I mean endured, our first night apart in 12 months.

Back together and with a forecast heatwave about to hit Melbourne, we decided to hop the ferry to Tasmania the next day! Luckily we scored the only day of the week with vehicle space and treated ourselves to a cabin for the 9 hour journey - it even had a shower!

Clean and reinvigorated for bush travel, we have relished in what Tassie has to offer - beautiful free camping with noone around, campfires again (fire ban on the mainland since 1 Dec), fresh fish, cherry season, and friendly people!

Only a week in to our stay and we've ventured up the north east segment and down the coast with similar plans as the Great Ocean Road where we zigzag from coast to inland. South Croppies Point was beautiful and Matt caught us dinner on our hilltop rocky ledge. We also got to see the Firies clear our path from a fallen tree near the Bay of Fires, and enjoy the white sands of Wineglass Bay in the Freycinet National Park.

Stay tuned, Tassie has allot more to come!

Parading in the new year

A bit of time and travel has passed since a Billagog update and yes, the annual letter is still to come, but for now, a holiday update from Warrnambool VIC.

We have been fortunate enough to spend the holidays with Matt's family in Victoria - catching up with his aunt and uncle, the cousins and his dad, all the way from the Philippines! I don't think his aunt and uncle thought we would actually make it when we saw them in Broome in August but arrive we did. How could you pass up holidays with family?! Arriving on the 23rd, we were quickly put to task in the kitchen with preparations of a bounty of food. Matt's Aunt Judy had her birthday on Christmas Eve so we tried with earnest to get preparations done early so we could enjoy dinner out that night in celebration. 

Christmas day was brilliant weather and the food prep was fast and furious with all the fixins which didn't stop there but carried on with Boxing Day plenty. Matt mastered two massive plates of paella after doing a turkey, glazed ham and gravy. I did donate my skills to an egg

casserole my mum makes for Christmas morning that is lovingly referred to as "heart attack at breakfast" and banana bread to balance the diet. As we were told not to worry about presents, our donation to the festivities included a half of case of wines collected around the many and various regions we hit along the way (those stories still to come).

With Christmas and Boxing Day complete, we moved over to Matt's cousin's place where the chances of fishing boat ventures were too much to pass up. Grant and Matt enjoyed days on the seas and rivers as Amie and I relaxed and had dinner ready on their arrival home each night, happy to watch the waters from the warmth of the calm indoors.

Warrnambool is also home to a lovely couple, Sally & Keith, that we have been bumping into from Finch Hatton to Bungle Bungles. After a holiday text, they asked where we were and to pop in when we made our way to Victoria and voila, in town we were! We met for a coffee at the pavilion overlooking Penguin Island near Thunder Point. A beautiful catch up with a beautiful couple.

Funny story on Penguin Island - the fairy penguins on the island were declining due to feral animals but 2 marema sheep dogs have been trained to protect them to great success. Watch for a movie soon on the story.

On New Year's Eve, Matt's dad arrived just in time to share a drink on the pub balcony in Port Fairy as we watched the parade. An entry participant for the last few years, Matt's Uncle Bill drove his blue beauty, Mary the Standard 10, along the trail with grandkids in tow!

Note the board on the roof - Bill's custom 9ft 9 board from the 60s. Matt was so enamoured, he washed and waxed it up for a surf that day in 17 degree water without a wetsuit! It hadn't been in the salt water for 40 years but worked a treat!

We were back at the house to watch the Sydney fireworks on tv and then of to bed not long after - oh how things have changed from a year ago at Woodford!

A rainy cold New Year's Day, but we're back in sun today. Matt's dad Peter will fly

out tomorrow and we will be back on the road by Monday. We've hit Princes Highway, so I can nearly taste Sydney but a bit to see before then. I hope all of you enjoyed the days wherever you were lucky enough to be!