TUESDAY 23 NOVEMBER   HOBART TO WHITE BEACH   132kms

We got away about 10am. Had to stop at Glenorchy for diesel – 77cpl – then for wine and a paper. All this was not the easiest exercise with the van on the back, and it would have been better had John taken Truck out alone and done all this before hitching up.

We crossed the Bowen Bridge, then took the highway down the eastern side of the Derwent, to the Tasman Highway. This took us east, through Cambridge, then across the scenic Pitt Water inlet to Sorell. The inlet must be quite shallow because most of the two crossings – Midway Point is a spit of land between them – were on causeways, with only one small section a bridge. From there the way was still east and south, through predominantly farm country, to Dunalley.

We made a slight detour at Dunalley, to visit the Fish Market – with locally caught produce. I bought some Tasmanian salmon.

Here we crossed the Denison Canal – a canal made to allow smaller boats east-west access, without them having to go all the way around the coast of the Tasman Peninsula. The quite narrow canal has a swing bridge so boats can go through.

We followed the Arthur Highway, towards Port Arthur, as far as Taranna, where we turned east and took the Nubeena Road. Just through this little town, we turned right, for White Beach Caravan Park.

The roads had, for much of our way today, been narrow, winding in parts, and not great for vans. There were some steep hills too, like the one coming down to Eaglehawk Neck. But it was a lovely and varied, scenic drive, much of it by water.

We liked the look of the caravan park very much and booked in for a week, to start. It was $15 a night, with the seventh night free. We chose an almost-sea-front site, in a grove of native trees and shrubs which should provide some shelter, as it is obviously often windy here – and was today! It was a nice grassy site, too.

We set up for an extended stay. It was our intention to spend some time here, as we felt there was a lot to explore. The walking book I had indicated there was some excellent walking in the area, too.

At the Park office, I tried to arrange to get the Age newspaper delivered there every day – not easy, it seems. Didn’t see why it was that hard, since they obviously get the Tasmanian papers, and so far we had found the Melbourne ones as readily available.

Later in the afternoon, went for a walk on the beach here – up to a small jetty at the end nearest us, where there was also a boat launching area. Then we turned around and walked right along the beach to its other end. It was quite a decent walk and very pleasant. There were a lot of Pacific Gulls and plovers on the beach. The outlook out to sea is across to Bruny Island in the distance and beyond that the peaks of southern Tasmania. There are headlands and little islands closer to us. It is a beautiful outlook.

Tea was a shepherds pie.

Discovered that the TV reception is not great, even though it is co-axial cable linked to the van – that was supplied by the park, when we booked in. However, John seems rather philosophical about this.

Also discovered that the showers required a 40cents donation in a slot, to deliver hot water for about six minutes. Given the lack of a reticulated water supply, guess this was fair enough, to control usage. We would have to start accumulating 20cent pieces though!