Highlights of our 3 month Tasmanian Odyssey

Welcome to my first Blog and a glimpse into Joanne and my exciting and fun-packed 3 month camping holiday on the spectacular Tasmanian Isle.

We departed Gladstone with our brand new 5mtr off-road Coromal Compac in tow behind the Challenger with mixed feelings, uneasy about what to expect on the road with a mobile home larger than our usual tent trailer, and how we'd cope with the extra weight and longer load - we needn't have worried, it towed beautifully and its road manners were as good as the tent trailer, my only concern was watching the fuel disappear at an alarming rate, the canoe on top of the 4WDrive roof rack adding to the already noticeable wind drag.
Heading up the range through Biloela, Moura, past Isla Gorge, which only a few months before was the pop-tops first weekend excursion with the Bushwalkers Club and then onto Taroom and an overnight stop at Possum Park near Miles. This is a very clean, spacious and relaxed park and is set-up well for an overnight stop with drive-thru sites. Powered sites were very reasonable in price and the old Worldwar II shelters are worth the stroll to see. Our first night out wasn't to go without a hitch. As from new we'd had trouble shutting the rear door of the van and Jo asked if it was possible to lock the door from the inside for security (not that there is anything more secure than being camped with fellow vanners and campers). Yes I said, full of knowledge (not always a good thing) and promptly held down the locking lever and slammed the door shut. In theory this was fine, in reality the door lock had jammed and we were imprisoned for eternity or until I could work out how to get out. After minutes of panic and ideas screaming through my head (none of which were any good), I decided the only thing was to get the attention of our closest neighbour and ask them to open the door from outside. Trying not to get every-ones attention, but also alert our (not at that stage but very soon would be) friend, to our dilemma, was not as easy as we thought as the male of the vanhold was engrossed in doing the washing up and it took many loud yells to get his attention. He willingly assisted and we were soon free of our confines and breathing a sigh of relief, taking note never to lock the door again, even if a mass murderer was on the loose. A similar experience was to again occur while camped at Strahan on Tassies West Coast, but that's another story.