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Another TRIP IN AUSTRALIA -Tasmania July/ August 2025 Part 6 The End

Wow, being in a prison way down there like, where you going to escape to? Seems odd to me everyone bundled up like this but you are in the high S latitudes.
 
Wow, being in a prison way down there like, where you going to escape to? Seems odd to me everyone bundled up like this but you are in the high S latitudes.
The location was why it was chosen.
It was isolated, alone, surrounded by coastlines with steep cliffs and the only way to it from Hobart was via Eaglehawk neck...a super thin causway barracaded by police with vicious hunting dogs. And to top that it was on Tasmania (an island at the bottom of the world) nearly 200 years ago. The prisoners were not allowed to speak, at all!
 
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Part 5b - Way down south - Hobart and going west.....into the wilderness.
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The next part was on to the beautiful historic city of Hobart and then out to the wilderness of the west to ancient forests at Tahune.
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We went on a few walking trails through the forest once we got to Tahune.
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The highlight was the skywalk that takes you around the area about 30 -60 ft above, depending on the terrain below. The last section has a counterweight platform that goes right out over the river - my wife freaked -out a bit as she hates moving platforms and heights. :)
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On the way back we diverted up to the top of Mt Wellington (above Hobart) - it was really windy and friggin cold! We put on our heaviest jackets and zipped up but the wind was strong enough to lean into and nearly unbearable

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The top section of the road to the summit was really skinny and only about 1.5 cars wide. The drop was straight down from the edge.and every time a car came the other way there was an akward dance until we reached one of the small wider sections.
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Wow, great photos Ian. That scene of the rocks makes me think some orcs would be popping up running after some little fellas. :rotf
 
Part 5a - Way down south - getting closer to Antartica.
..... next we left Lewisham and ventured to Opossum Bay and then back up and around to the historic Port Arthur convict prison.
We went on a night Ghost Tour of the old prison and grounds (which was a lot of fun)that night and then headed back around the penninsula and back to stay in Hobart for a few days. This area spans a bit so this will be 2 parts.

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This view was just before coming down to cross the 'neck' to Port Arthur etc. There was a local guy with a coffee van and an open fire (in a drum)with stools on the road off to the left and we sat and drank coffee here admiring the view and staying warm.
The ghost tour was that night once we arrived at the hotel near the old prison.View attachment 186416
Next day we toured the penninsula seeing majestic cliffs, places were the convicts hid from the police [in steep sided coves and gorges] where they mostly died, or were found and went back to Port Authur after which their treatment worsened for escaping. From here we slowly made our way back towards Hobart for the night.
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I know that rock has not budged for a million years but if I built my home on it I still wouldn't sleep easy.
 
Part 6 - the last part - into the west and then up North and home.
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OK, the last section - we headed into the West and across the mountains (South of Cradle Mountain) and down to the isolated community of Queenstown. On the way we were snowed on, [which was a new thing from the beaches] and saw some spectacular scenery. Again, we were largely on our own on the road for about 5 hours or so.

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The last Hour into Queenstown felt like we were enterin Mordor.
Queenstown had a real' Twin Peaks' vibe but was nice. The motel was old and we nearly froze solid in the room but we had a beautiful roast dinner - all part of the adventure.
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We left in the morning to head north, back over the mountains(to the west of Cradle Mountain) to Stanley, on the North West edge. I was concerned of another day of snow and ice and the plan to see Strahan on the coast was cancelled due to the road being quite skinny and windy with the cahnce of more snow and Ice on the way there.

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We stayed in Stanley for a couple of nights, with the 'NUT' the main feature with the town built at its base. We went accross to the North West Coast on the first day to check out Arthur River and the coastal road, cuulminating at the 'End of the World'.
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The view from our room for 2 days.
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From here we headed to the Rocky Cape and Table Cape on the way to Burie for a few days and onto Devenport.
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On the last day we headed out from Devenport and went SE to Launceston and back then got back on the Ferry for an overnight trip home. We splurged and went for a first class cabin at the fron of the ship, which was enormous. We arrived back in our home State of Victoria at Geelong the next morning but instead of heading around the bay and North east, back into the mountains, we headed to the ferry at Queenscliffe and caught that ferry for an hour, across the heads to Sorrento and headed North to home. A quicker trip. That morning, the view from the boat was like it was painted and a fitting end to our adventure.
The city of Melbourne is in the distance somewhere to the mid left. In these pics we are looking toward the North from the bottom of Port Phillip Bay.
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Was this your first snow adventure?

Thank you for sharing Ian, great photos, I know you kids enjoyed your time.
I had been to the snow in the mountains of Victoria when I was younger but had never driven through heavy snow in a car. We didn't get to take photos until we were through the other side about an hour or so later , so they are the photos that I showed. I was worried about black ice as well as the snow getting deeper than the clearance of my car. Obviously not the level you have in the U.S but very new for us.
 
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