Posts Tagged With: Trial Harbour

Ten of the Fifty Toes gives a 5 minute trip summary (#2)

Posted on January 23, 2016 by Fifty Toes Walkabout

Time for H to give her quick recap on trip highlights:

Tick infested shingleback
Brumby in front of Frenchmans Peak
Hannah driving the LARC into the surf
Hannah at Olssens peak in the Flinders Ranges
The free chocolate tasting samples
Pentecost River mud
2015 Tunarama Watermelon eating champion and cheque
Hannah and Dog at South Point!
Blue Swimmer Dinner
Emu dance at Garma
Ahead by a nose
Cape Le Grand Kids
Seadragon find at Thistle Cove
Humpy town in Cape York
Humpy at Buttons Crossing
Enjoying the rope swing at Nolans Brook
Taking on the boys at the Todd River Regatta
Tassie Devil at Trial Harbour
Hannah snorkelling in Bitter Springs
The Ethel Wreck, Yorke Peninsula, SA
Hannah riding in Armidale
Hannah cuddling a joey

What were your three favourite places and why?”

  1. “Trial Harbour on the West coast of Tasmania was my favourite place because I love the endangered Tasmanian Devils and this was where I saw one. I was sleeping when it tried to raid our rubbish in the campsite and Dad woke me up. They are quite rare and this was the only wild one we saw. Luckily it was a healthy one.”
  2. “The Whale sharks can be found on the Ningaloo Reef in WA. Swimming with these huge fish was my best experience of the trip as they are not very common and they are huge! The girls in the crew were pretty cool too and I’m hoping to go back on work experience one day with them”
  3. “The campsite at Cape Le grand near Esperance in WA was my other favourite place. The people there were lovely and lots of kids to play with….”
  4. “Oh and don’t forget the chocolate factory in Margaret River – all those yummy free samples and the chocolate fondue”
  5. “And winning the watermelon eating contest at the Port Lincoln Tunarama festival……”
  6. “And trying to learn the traditional dances with the indigenous clans at the Garma festival in Arnhemland”
“What was the best thing you took on the trip?”
“My diary because I used it to stick brochures in of every place we visited. I can now look back through it and remember all the places that Mum and Dad have forgotten about”
“What did you miss most, or just couldn’t take with you?”
“I missed my toys, bike and scooter. We only had limited storage space and so took very little from home. We borrowed friends bikes along the way. I also missed my school friends. We had a spare bunk bed in the trailer but not enough seats in the car to take a friend.” Editors note – although we had a 7 seater Pajero the back seat was removed for extra storage space
“Would you do it again?”
“Definitely”
“How did schooling on the road go?”
“It went pretty well even though it was very hard with all the distractions. Some of the projects were really enjoyable “
Categories: Adventure, australia, Australian Outback, Big Lap, Discover Australia, Explore, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, Road trip, Travel, Travel Adventure | Tags: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Lake St. Clair

Posted on November 23, 2014 by Fifty Toes Walkabout

Heading south from Trial Harbour we didn’t stop long in Strahan and pressed on to Lake St Clair. Parts of the highlands reminded us of the Alpine regions in NSW, though between the forests emerged plains of tussock grass and heaths that were blooming in pink and yellow (gorse). Every road we drive has spectacular spring blooms. The standout on this leg was the deep red waratah that is interspersed in the forests approaching Lake St. Clair. The lake is the deepest in Australia at almost 200m, and with the altitude has very cold waters, a perfect place for Xavier to attempt the class challenge swim in Australia’s coldest waters.

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After eight, yes, eight Weetbix for breakfast he donned a spring suit and jumped into the icy waters, emerging after the agreed one minute timeframe. Job done he even volunteered to take his brother in for a second time.

We thought the campground was a bit pricey for what it offered and when each shower costs a dollar on top of that you’d expect they would be prepared to change money, but it was only done reluctantly. Time to move on to better places.

Categories: Australian Outback, Challenges, Discover Australia, Explore Australia, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, Location, National Park, TAS, Tasmania, Travel, Travel Adventure | Tags: , , | 1 Comment

Postcard from Xavier

Posted on November 23, 2014 by Fifty Toes Walkabout
Pademelon with joey
Forest near Wes Beckett Waterfalls
Big Tree
Echidna

Hi Everyone

 

Thanks for all the challenges you have sent. Here is what we are going to try to do :

  1. We are going to jump into the coldest water in Australia in Lake St. Clair, Australia’s deepest lake

  2. Name 10 wombats

  3. Photo evidence of patting an animal (we have missed a couple of photo opportunities already with echidnas and pademelons

  4. 10 Tassie devils might be hard – but we’ll see what we can do

  5. Find twenty plants

  6. Sleep outside

Earlier on this week in Tasmania we saw little penguins. Tasmania has been my favourite state so far because it has lots of wildlife. I haven’t seen a Tassie Devil yet but I have found footprints. Dad thinks he saw a feral cat. I got really surprised at the number of English animals that live here e.g. hedgehogs, blackbirds, sparrows, starlings. We have only seen squashed hedgehogs so far.

I have been enjoying all the lovely fires each evening because it is a bit colder down here and very windy. The sand is different here because the sand grains are bigger and the waves have been really rough on the west coast. They can get to 20m high in storms. I have found many crabs in the seaweed with algae on their shells. Most of the places we have visited have crystal clear seawater. I found loads of bones from animals like ringtail possums jawbones, pademelon hip bones and lots of other small bones.

I love your messages – please write to me via this blog

My challenge to 3L is for you to keep sending me messages. Hope to hear from you soon

See ya next time,

Xavier

 

Categories: Animal Action, Australian Outback, Challenges, Journey Narrative, Kids Travel, Location, National Park, Photography, TAS, Tasmania, Travel, Travel Adventure | Tags: , , , , | 6 Comments

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