31/01/2013
A couple of times through the night the only things holding the tent in place were the pegs in each corner. The woman in reception said she was worried that the tent would take off.. As it was, at about 0300 it then started to rain. Bloody Hell, did I bring it down with me ?

At about 0630 I started to roll / pack up everything in the tent  hoping that it would at least ease up. Not until 0900!! By that time I had a bowl of hot museli heavily laced with dates and a hot tea.

I was fiinally out of there and headed to Port Arthur via Sorrell.

Just South of Sorell I saw the first evidence of the bush fires. Not much, just a couple of kilometers of burnt bush and hillsides then everything was green again. But after about 10km it was in your face. Buth sides of the road and as far as you could see. The speed limit had been reduced to 40km/h and there were men and machinery here and there cleaning up along the road verges. Twisted, melted guide posts in piles over a meter in height were along  the roadway here and there.

Then I saw the first burnt home. Then another, and another!! Some had tents and other temporary shelters erected near the pile of rubble that once was their home. Just terrible. It bought tears to my eyes. Then I was passing through Dunalley. Homes everywhere, burnt to the ground. Here and there, in among the charred ruins was a home, untouched!! Why? How?

There were people with their trucks and loaders starting to clean up some of the home sites but most were still untouched. Several had blue checked flagging around  them. The bakery where I had a coffee and a bite to eat last year was just a pile of rubble. As I passed through the middle of the town I came  across an amazing site! A large area, probably 2 acres had been cleared and fenced off and was filled to the brim with workers, vans,  trucks, heavy equipment and several new buildings being worked on. One was being lowered onto stumps. It looked like a busy anthill!! It was the new school being built and the person I spoke to at the servo opposite said that they were two weeks ahead of schedule and would be ready in time for school next week. Unbelievable!! And apparently, most of the workers were volunteers! Backpackers were there by the dozens helping with the cleanup.

The other side of the town, on the way down towards Port Arthur was the same. I passed a beach side resort that was nothing but a pile of rubble and homes where the surrounding sheds and vehicles were burnt to the ground but the home was untouched. All along the road verges the large trees were being cut down and the smaller ones were being shredded into mulch by equipment hanging off the ends of backhoes and similar equipment.
As I approached and passed through Eaglehawk Neck there were large areas that had been untouched by the fires. The area just through the neck had been burnt but there did not appear to be the same wholesale destruction of the forests that I had seen earlier.

Pirate's Bay, Just before Eaglehawk Neck

By then it had been raining for the past 10km and continued to alternate between  rain and drizzle for the rest of the day. I called into the White Sands park to call iit a day but the woman there was not interested in allowing me to stay the night. When I asked for a powered tent site she  said they had none.I then asked for a powered site and apparently that was for caravans (?) and I had a tent!! I then headed towards the Port Arthur van park  (spied an interesting  letter box! :-)). It was still raining/drizzling and I set up camp at Port Arthur.

Saw this on the way to Port Arthur. Bark Shingles

This was it's mailbox 1!

01/02/2013
 It rained ALL night and had  to pack away the tent wet.. I had issues with a  few leaks and a seam that had separated, possibly due to the heavy winds the night before. I didn't go  to the old prison site, It was raining and I didn't feel like walking through the ruins in the freezing rain. Man I was cold!!

It rained most of the way back to Sorrel. Pouring at Dunalley!! It stopped about 5km out of Sorrell and I actually had a glimpse of the sun !!

On the way through Cambridge I saw Anaconda and decided to call in and get some stuff  to fix the leaks and the separating seam of my tent. I asked for repair equipment and was diirected down to the other end of the building where I spoke to a bloke about  the leaking seam and the separating stitching. I mentioned that I had bought the tent through Anaconda online about 4 months ago but had only used it since I had arrived in Tasmania. After asking whether I was an Anaconda member and checking online he told me to just  go and get a new tent. I was flabbergasted!!!! But wasted no time in taking up the offer !! I did purchase a tube of seam sealant though. I handed in my wet tent and walked out with a new DRY tent :-)

Refuelled and headed to Franklin. Met up with kate and the kids at Huonville and after a coffee went to Franklin where I'll stay for a couple of days.




02/02/2013

Went into Huonville wiith Kate to pick up some sourdough bread this morning and found that Targa Tasmania was on and running through Huonville today. I stood in island in the middle of the street and watched them come through. Magic!! Lambos, Porsches, BMWs, Ferraris, Alfas, Renaults, and everything in between. Later I sat in front Kate and Adam's place and watched a few go passed :-)