Day 26 / 2015 - Launceston to Hobart

Our next leg of the journey is from Launceston to Hobart. Mick and Carley were travelling around the east coast towards Hobart we had decided to travel down the Midlands Rd and planned to meet them where we expected to cross over in Hobart.

The Midlands Hwy links Launceston to Hobart through the middle of Tasmania. As it will be approx a week before Mick and Carley are in Hobart we plan to stop and free camp at some of the historic towns along the way.

Leaving Launceston the first town we passed through was Perth which is no where near the size of its West Australian name sake but we did breifly feel like were were travelling home. From Perth we continued through the rolling hills arriving in Campbell Town. We located the free camp area in a large field on the edge of town just pass the old convict built bridge. We setup camp near the river using a row of bushes as a privacy screen.

The Midland Hwy follows the convict trail with many of towns along the way having links with convict history. In Campbell Town there a many reminders of the convict past. The red brick bridge which passes over the Elizabeth river was built by convict labour It is comstructed with 1.2 million bricks and took 2 years to build. The bridge was designed by a convict and is the oldest brick bridge still in use today.

Along the Main Street there is a single line of bricks which traverses from one end of town to the other. Each brick has the name of a convict, the age they were sent to Tasmania, the ship they came on and the crime they committed. Itis a stark reminder of how harsh times were in England seeing the servere sentences handed out for such minor crimes and just how young some of these convicts were.

Between the camping area and the red bridge are a series of carvings from trees that had died. They depict different ages of Australian life from the convict era to modern day. Campbell Town has a vibrant city centre for such a small town there are a number of cafe's and boutiques which you can eat at or browse through. The main highway going through the middle of the town and being approx halfway between Hobart and Launceston helps keeping the people coming.

The following day we headed off towards Ross another village along the convict way. Ross is a little different as you need pull of the highway to get into the town. The weather was once again miserable with rain and cold winds. We knew this was unusual in Tasmania for this time of year because even the locals were wearing winter gear. Ross is a historic village frozen in time. There are a number of attractions to visit. Firstly we looked at the wool museum dedicated to the merino industry in Tasmania. Next we walked over to the Female Factory. Here we read many of stories of how the women convicts were treated in theses thinly veiled workhouses. There were some ruins to look at but most of the old buildings have now gone.

From there we walk back into town and along the Main Street. We had heard the bakery was the best in Tassie so we stopped in for lunch. We did't try the scallop pie but the meat pies were the business and the coffee was great for warming the body back up. Again as in Campbell Town in Ross there are lots of boutique and antique shops you can browes through up and down the Main Street.

Leaving Ross we headed for our next free camp stop in Oatsland. The main attraction here is the still operating Callington Flour Mill. The free camp is in the mill grounds itself. After setting up we decided to look at the mill's visitors centre. A tour is run through the mill each hour and the last tour was about to leave so we paid our money and joined the group. The guide took us through the various levels of the mill explaining what each level did. Some of the floors are no longer used but the all important grinding stones are still in operation grinding out the variouse grades of flour. We finished up with a taste test in the form of scones made from the mills flour. 

Next morning we we left and headed towards Richmond. We had been in contact with Carley and Mick and they said they had just left Port Arthur and we're heading for Richmond after a quick shop in Sorell. We said we would meet them in Richmond and try to find a free camp before going into Hobart the next day. Arriving in Richmond the weather had taken another turn for the worst and was raining and blowing a cold wind once again. The spot listed in Wiki camps was the car parked used by cars and tourist busses visiting the old gaol so was a little full at this time. There was a car park down by the river so we drove down and pulled up in one of the corners and waited for Mick and Carley to arrive. 

Oma was pretty please to see Blake when they arrived and was happy to spend some grandma time with him. We went for walk through town looking at some of the shops then down to the old bridge which was of similar construction to the bridge in Campbell Town. There are a number of attractions to look at one being Old Hobart Town Model Village. This a recreation of Hobart when it was first settled all the buildings are recreated as when they were first built. From here we wanted over to the Old Gaol to have a look at life within the Richmond Gaol back in the 1800's.

The day was still pretty miserable so we ended up in the bakery for lunch. This one is quite crowded as a lot of the tour coaches bring there passengers here for lunch. We had originally planned to move from the lower car park up into the designated overnight camping area in the evening but decided to stay where we were. We had a bit of a late night talking, eating our spoiles of the day and generally catching up.

Next morning we left Richmond and headed for Hobart. On the way we called into the Wicked Cheese Company which had a great cross section of soft an hard cheeses for sampling. After trying all the flavours we decided on the whiskey flavoured and the Tripple cream brie. Continuing on we finally arrived in Hobart. After crossing the Tasman bridge somehow we ended up getting lost.... Twice by taking the wrong turns. Hobart being built on the side of a mountain making the wrong turn meant you could end up pulling up at stop signs on the side of a big hill something we didn't relish with a big van connected to us. Needless to say one such stop sign briefly became a giveway sign as our wheels started to slip in the wet.

Finally we got back onto the right road and arrived at the caravan park just after Mike and Carley. We booked in and setup on our sites once done and not wanting to waste time we decided to do it he most important tour of Tasmania... The Cadbury chocolate factory. Cadbury's is literally only 5 minutes away. There is no tour as such as that had been stopped 10 years prior. Your are taken into a large room and shown a video of the factory then we were given a talk about the chocolate making process honestly I was only there for 2 things the free samples and the cut price chocolates which didn't disappoint we stocked up.