Tasmania

Yesterday was a travel day, and a longer one than we expected.  Although it was only a one hour flight from Melbourne to Hobart, by the time we got through airport rigamarole (carry-ons were the right size, but too heavy, necessitating juggling contents and checking an extra bag), delayed flight, figuring out where we had to pick up our camper, etc., it seemed very late by the time we arrived at Freycinet National Park at 9:00.  It had gotten dark, so we had to watch out for Tasmanian devils and wallabies in the road.   We also were unable to see where the campground was.  Ready to sleep, we decided to park in the Visitor Center's overflow parking, where there was a bathroom, and call it a day.  Truth be told, I was feeling kind of grumpy by then, until...... I looked up and saw the most dazzling night sky I've ever seen. That made everything better and we both had a great night's sleep.  When we woke up, we saw that the campground was a few feet behind us!

This morning we hiked to the Wineglass Beach overlook - stunning!  The park has lots of pink granite and boulders and reminded us of Acadia, except for the turquoise water and the wallabies looking for handouts.  ( Handouts are forbidden, of course, but those critters sure are cute.). We've now stopped for a picnic on our way northward up the coast.

Headed to Mt. William National Park on the northeast coast, we drove through a varied landscape of shoreline, cattle and sheep ranches, and rainforest.  One not so pleasant thing is that I have never been on roads with so much roadkill (largely wallabies).

Mt William was labelled as a 'rough' national park.  What that turned out to mean is 30 kilometers of unpaved road leading to a park with no signs! Fortunately a local was able to direct us to the primitive campground or we never would have found it.  However, the spot is beautiful, with miles of white sugar beaches on the Bay of  Fires and very few people.  We saw Aboriginal shell middens along the beach.  Also a Forester kangaroo, only found in this part of the state, hopped along the road.