A family trip around Tasmania in a motorhome

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This was published 6 years ago

A family trip around Tasmania in a motorhome

By Paul Chai
Wineglass Bay and The Hazards: Mt Mayson, Mt Amos and Mt Dove.

Wineglass Bay and The Hazards: Mt Mayson, Mt Amos and Mt Dove.

I became an RV convert in the car park of Tasmania's Wineglass Bay. I had taken the two-hour trek up over the saddle of the Hazard mountain ranges with my wife and two boys, aged 10 and 7. The kids were positive enough on the way up but all that positivity evaporated on the walk back over the mountains thanks to some well-placed sand that affected the youngest child's ability to walk. The result: I added a 20-kilo human backpack to my load on the return journey.

By the time we had made it down the other side of the Hazards, with my knees crackling like a bowl of cornflakes, there it was parked in the corner of the car park: our house. We opened the door, showered the pesky sand off, grabbed some lunch and I just simply lay down on the bed. This was family travel, driving around with everything you need in arm's reach, stopping where you want and being spontaneous.

We are on a week-long holiday piloting an Apollo Motorhome Holidays six-berth mobile home around as much of the Apple Isle as possible; we are heading from east coast to west and across the middle via Cradle Mountain.

Family travel: A home on wheels.

Family travel: A home on wheels.Credit: Paul Chai

For our first couple of nights we are staying at Freycinet National Park where we have a powered campsite that sees the rear window of our van act as a frame for the view across the Hazards. This is the same view that guests pay a lot more for at the luxury lodge Saffire, just a few kilometres up the road, but to be fair they do not have to connect as many hoses as I do. Still, once connected, the family takes to their first time in a campervan pretty quickly. There is a completely different rhythm to being at home, by dark we are confined to quarters and that sees us play games like celebrity heads, and cook simple meals with fresh local ingredients bought that day.

The main attraction at Freycinet was our eventful walk to Wineglass Bay and after the return hike we head to Cape Tourville on the suggestion of a park ranger and get to see Wineglass Bay, Mount Graham and Mount Freycinet from another angle – craggy granite outcrops, spiralling seabirds and forests of Tasmanian blue gums. Then it is back to the campsite for an evening of skipping rocks on the small stretch of beach just metres from our beds.

In the morning we drive inland to Mole Creek, which was recommended to us by a friend. We don't know much about this part of the upper Mersey Valley, so we throw a dart and opt to stay at the Mole Creek Caravan Park.

Tasmanian devils: Residents of the Trowunna wildlife park at Mole Creek.

Tasmanian devils: Residents of the Trowunna wildlife park at Mole Creek.Credit: Tourism Tasmania

The caravan park is intimate and set around a bend in the creek said to hold a platypus, our powered site comes with a fire pit and the park has a large supply of firewood that only costs you a bit of effort, as you borrow the camp saw and cut the lumber to size. Between the wood, platypus hunting and toasting marshmallows the kids declare this the best night so far.

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The next day we travel to the west coast but with one significant stopover. We park the motorhome in a very busy car park at Cradle Mountain National Park and jump on a bus to take a walk from Ronny Creek to Dove Lake. It is a two-hour ramble that starts on duckboards across marshy button-grass-covered scrub and we see a wombat just a few hundred metres into the walk.

Later that afternoon we arrive in the former port town of Strahan, gateway to the Franklin-Gordon National Park just in time for bed.

We are taking a World Heritage Cruise and we board bright and early for the Heritage Morning Cruise that runs from 9am-3pm. It is a big day but the boat is a comfortable floating lounge room with plush seats, a kids' playroom and a huge buffet lunch that includes the Tasmanian salmon that we see farmed in the Macquarie Harbour.

When we finally hit the mouth of the Gordon River ancient forests crowd around the still, dark waters and we get glimpses of Huon pine. We take a short walk through the forest where the trees appear to be draped in green cotton wool and hunt for the elusive yabbies that build mud towers along the sides of the duckboards.

The following morning we take leave of Strahan, and drive slowly back to Hobart, stopping for walks to hidden waterfalls and across a suspension bridge over the Franklin River – and we leave having discovered our new favourite mode of family travel.

Virgin Australia, Qantas and Jetstar both fly direct to Hobart from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Tigerair flies to Hobart from Melbourne. See virginaustralia.com, qantas.com, jetstar.com and tigerair.com.au

TOUR

For our visit we bought a $60 national park vehicle holiday pass which covers entry to all the parks in the state for up to eight weeks. Daily passes are $24.

World Heritage Cruise (also known as the "red boat", 19 Esplanade, Strahan; worldheritagecruises.com.au) offers cruises every day.

The Euro Deluxe motorhome from Apollo Motorhomes Holidays has two dining areas and an awning, full kitchen and bathroom. Prices from $114 a night. See www.apollocamper.com

Paul Chai was a guest of Apollo Motorhomes.

FIVE ESSENTIAL RV STOPS

PORT ARTHUR HISTORIC SITE

Starting at the prison colony of Port Arthur, our eyes were opened to just how progressive this colony was. Often portrayed as hell on earth it was one of the first places in the British Empire to attempt to rehabilitate its prisoners, and the old buildings are wonderfully preserved to bring the story to life.

portarthur.org.au

MOLE CREEK HOTEL

The Tiger Bar at the Mole Creek Hotel is like a kitsch museum to the Tassie Tiger. This area is one of the last places the thylacine was spotted and the front bar is decorated with murals, faux Tassie tiger skins and tiger ephemera. Grab a Tassie Tiger lager, a local brew from the nearby town of Brailton.

90 Pioneer Dr, Mole Creek; molecreekhotel.com.au

MOLE CREEK CAVES

The Mole Creek Caves sit at the end of a short and charming rainforest walk and are home to the Tasmanian cave spider, a dinner-plate-sized, prehistoric arachnid whose macabre dating ritual has attracted the attention of British author Neil Gaiman – known for his own twisted tales like Coraline – who made the documentary Sixteen Legs about the spiders.

molecreek.info

THE GULCH

Make a point of stopping in the seaside town of Bicheno, the highlight of which is The Gulch, a fish and chips and fresh seafood shack at the end of a jetty splashed with black squid ink. Daily specials are fresh off the boat and include calamari wings and flathead fillets.

Lot 7215, LOT 1 Esplanade, Bicheno; no website

HENRY JONES ART HOTEL

Turn a road trip into a city break with a final night at the Henry Jones Art Hotel in the former IXL jam factor on the Hobart marina. The bathroom of the H Jones Suite is about the same size as the motorhome and the room is huge as it was the former IXL boardroom.

25 Hunter St, Hobart; thehenryjones.com

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