St Helens to Hobart - 3,879kms

*DAY 50 to 97*
Coming back from the East Coast we had a full day of solid rain which put a dampner on stopping at a few places, although after a big day of driving in the rain we did manage to get to Hawley Beach to stay at our friend Jo's place. Beautiful spot nd definately a place to go back to especially to see the penguins coming up the beach each night. We were told to shine a red light on them as apparently they can't see the light but that definately wasn't true as they saw it and didn't like it but funnily enough they prefered the white light. Saw quite a few penguins that night and some places had to shoo them off the walking track so we could get past. We were lucky enough to get some work for 2 weeks picking swedes on a local farm around Port Sorell. Hard work but definately worth the drink at the end of the day. We also catered for a xmas lunch at the local Don College for the admin staff and teachers for approx 75 people. Bernie did well cooking (6x roasts) and of course me as the "clean up crew" and received many compliments from the staff. Also participated in trying to be in the Guiness Book of Records challenge to get as many people on a single bed, and Bernie managed to somehow get his face in the local paper. We didn't succeed to break the record but definately had fun trying. Bernie's brother, Mike arrived on the 17 December and the two of them went off by themselves to Reece Dam which is on the West Coast, and caught a few trout. They came back for Bernie's birthday where we all went out for dinner to Hawley House and had a 3 course meal. The next day the 3 of us set off to the High Lakes area and stayed at Arthurs Lake but they unfortunately didn't catch anything as we had to leave early due to Mike's hire car having a few issues. We slowly journeyed to Launceston to get it fixed and while we were waiting for the car to be looked at, Bernie noticed that our 4WD rear passenger tyre had diff oil flicked all over the mud guard. Got quite concerned so we spent a few hours trying to find a place that could fix it 2 days before xmas. It was not easy but finally found a mechanic who worked on it over night so we stayed in a nice hotel. Luckily the mechanic was a nice guy and we got to pick it up the next day, we then travelled towards the East Coast where we found a campsite after searching for some time as there were hundreds of people. We stayed in the Bay of Fires area for 3 nights looking over the beautiful turquoise ocean and white sand. Spent a hot xmas day relaxing and had a spit roast pork and lamb meal later in the day. To top the day off we saw penguins coming back to their burrows off Jeanerette Beach. We only got to see four of them. Boxing day we travelled the East Coast down to Hobart, wasn't planning to travel that far but due to the campgrounds being so busy we just drove the whole way on the same day. Spent a few days in Hobart and really enjoyed the Taste Festival. By chance we were still in the harbour area after spending the whole day at the Taste Festival when the first 2 boats that won the Sydney to Hobart Yacht race came in. It was really thrilling as it was a close race (only a few minutes between them). Said goodbye to Mike as he had to fly back to the Gold Coast. We travelled thru Richmond which is a little English style town not far from Hobart airport. We stayed the night at Interlaken next to Sorell Lake and after being so cramped in at each campsite for the past week, we only 1 other vehicle in the campground and they couldn't see us. Such a nice change to have privacy. We made our way up thru Launceston where we did our new years grocery and alcohol shopping. We spent new years on the North East Coast at Waterhouse Point where again we spent over an hour trying to find a camping spot but found an excellent place where all 7 of us had a spot to pitch their tents and right next to the beach. New Years Eve was a scorcher and Bernie and I actually had a swim in Tassie waters for the first time (and probably the last), it was truly like bath water. Even the Tasmanian's we were with were surprised! Had an awesome few days with our friends celebrating the new year in. To top it off that night I saw 2 shooting stars in the sky. Made our way back to Port Sorell area as we have now started working again, this time its onion grading in a factory. I watch hundereds of onions go past on a conveyerbelt and take out the bad ones and put them into 2 different grades. Yes its as boring as it sounds. And Bernie is beefing up his muscles by filling 5kg, 10kg, or 20kg bags of onions. Most days we do brown onions but to spice it up sometimes we do red onions. Oh the excitement of it all! So we will be in this area for a bit earning some pennies to continue our adventure. A couple of days ago we did a day trip "Coast to Canyon" where we visited Leven Canyon which was exceptional and managed to descend 697 steps. And we thoughtt, a well spent $15 each to visit the Gunns Plains Cave where we saw an amazing limestone cave featuring spectacular formations with the southern hempishere's largest shawl formations. Until next time....