a record or diary of my thoughts and experiences in this new phase of life. Join me on my physical and mental journey to see what is out there beyond the hamster wheel. I hope to navigate through, over and around the norm, away from the well trodden path, aside the tourist trap...........
we'll see
After my breakfast stop I drove over some winding mountains, through beautiful forest & into the Coromandel peninsula, arriving at Hot Water Beach.....
.....where I discovered why it is called this
There are two hot springs, heated from hot volcanic rock below. The water bubbles up towards the sand & at low tide, if you dig a hole you can make a sand spa
The beach was beautiful and I had a walk along it to a small estuary which was lovely and peaceful.
I think I sound a bit posh on that video 🤣
Fascinating that the heat source that formed these rocks still remains below the sand.
After a bit of sunbathing & lunch I went to explore another beach, Hahei, which was also stunning.
More sunbathing & a dip in the ocean.
The waves were really strong, and I found it hard to swim but fun being sloshed about!
Then a walk along the coast to Cathedral Cove
The only worry was where to stay. It sounds like they are quite strict about where you camp & this area is highly protected - and rightly so as the nature here is precious & beautiful.
The place on wiki camps had huge signs saying no camping so that was no good!
There is only one holiday park, which I had a peep in, but reception was closed when I got there & it had a barrier at the entrance, so you can't just drive in.
I'm currently in a layby with a perfect view
I Just hope I don't get fined or arrested 😕
At least its peaceful here. The campsite sounded busy & noisy
At Auckland Airport I got a bus to pick up my car/camper.
The lady at the place - Travellers Autobarn -found me a mattress, pillow & bed sheet so I didn't need much from Kmart - just got a solar charged lamp & a couple of storage containers, plus treated myself to a towel.
After sorting out the car then shopping, and only having 3 hours uncomfortable sleep on the plane, I didn't drive far.
I parked up at a nature reserve - found this from wikicamps - and it was lovely - except that it was on an Industrial estate....
I organised the car so that I had a bed & places to put stuff, then went for a walk, had some food & an early night.
I couldn't be bothered to cook so had bread & peanut butter plus this - New Zealand's attempt at marmite
It's the same weird consistency as Vegemite but tastes closer to Marmite than Vegemite does. I had to leave my large jar of Vegemite and the honey back in Australia - donated to the airbnb. The guy there, Arpit, said he gets a lot of stuff left.
New Zealand are extremely fussy.
After sunset I moved away from the spot next to where they were loading lorries. There was a portaloo there, which I used, but there were people still working and playing music so I moved around the corner.
I slept OK but in the morning, it got busy with lorries coming past so I left pretty early and had a stop for coffee and brekkie in a picnic spot by the side of the road
The trees were absolutely teaming with birds - it was quite loud but wonderful - as was the scenery.
Extremely lush and green, with rolling hills and mountains in the distance.
My last day in Australia and having so much time before my flight it was hard to know what to do.
I didn't need to check out until 11am so I did a bit of route planning for New Zealand.
I'm renting a car that converts to a sleeper & I have a cooker, chairs, a cool box & also a small tent.
I left the airbnb & got the bus then train to Southern Cross Station in Melbourne where I found out that, to get to the airport by public transport, you need to get a train out to Broadmeadows.
Broadmeadows is where my Mum's hostel was when her, Auntie Margaret & my Nana & Grandad first came to Australia in 1958. They stayed in Nissen huts and my mum used to play with kids from other countries that were there and went to school on a bus.
She said when they went to school they put on Australian accents, then back at the hostel reverted to English.
Due to limited time I'd decided not to bother with going there, especially as it is supposedly not the most palatial of areas anymore......but it seems fate has brought me there!
Of course the hostel is no longer there but there's still an immigration centre, sandwiched between a military barracks & an industrial estate.
I took a few pictures & tried to imagine the Nissen huts from 70 years ago & my Mum running around.
Mum sent me this email & pictures:
Photo taken in the Hostel dad is 36yrs old standing by an old gum-tree where I would sit feeding large ants sugar ..you can see the Nissen huts behind it was just bush then could see a mountain range in the distance x
Mum said:
Dad looks a bit thin ! All the children coming back to the Hostel from school on the school buses would run to the hostel canteen with our jugs for hot chocolate and rock cakes (they were like rocks)
our packed lunches for school consisted of date sandwiches and an apple..x
There was a bit of a park & lake there which I sat in for a while in the sun. There were lots of birds including these large white Cokatoos
The area did look a bit rough tbh.......must be something to do with names beginning with B......like in Oxfordshire the 3 dodgy areas are Barton, Berinsfield and Blackbird Leys 😂
Waiting at Melbourne airport. Jetstar flight delayed. I think they might be Australia's answer to Easyjet.
Monday, 8th was spent on the bus back to Devonport. It was rainy, cold & windy. On checking in to the Formby hotel again, I was sharing a room with Min, a really sweet Chinese girl. She had all her washing hanging on a rack in the room with the room heater on so it was nice & warm. I also needed to do some washing, & we had a discussion about the hotel laundry room & that she had just handwashed hers.
9th December
Next morning I did the same, taking my clothes into the shower with me. It was literally like a Chinese laundry in our room!
I caught up on my blog a bit, then had a walk round the coast to Coles beach.
10th December
Today was the long ferry back to Geelong.
At least the weather was calm & sunny. I spotted a dolphin from the ferry window & was fun to see the birds skimming along the water alongside the ship.
They had a Country musician on board giving a couple of sets on deck 9
The Aboriginal people arrived in Tasmania (then connected to mainland Australia) over 60,000 years ago, living as distinct nations with unique languages and deep connection to the land and sea.
They thrived through hunting (land & sea mammals), gathering, and sophisticated use of stone tools, basketry, and bark canoes, moving seasonally between inland forests and coasts.
In all this time they made no impact on the land, due to their sustainable way of life, so there is nothing left behind by them. Their knowledge was passed down by story telling so there are not even any books or drawings to refer to.
When the British colonists started to arrive in 1803, the Aborigine people assumed that they would share the land, but this was not the case.
The British settlement rapidly expanded, destroying food sources and displacing Aboriginal people for sheep grazing.
The British had no regard for the indigenous people, treating them as in-human savages:
1st December 1826 “ We make no pompous display of Philanthropy. The Government must remove the natives…if not, they will be hunted down like wild beasts and destroyed”
Pictured below: Thomas Bock (1790 - 1855) Resistance Leader.
“The Invasion of Lutruwita began when the British sailed up timtumili minanya (the River Derwent) in 1803. A year later the massacre of Mumirimina people at Risdon Cove set the foundation for relations between our Ancestors and the British.
They killed our men, took our land and enslaved our women and children. Brutality, disease and the loss of hunting grounds devastated aboriginal society.
Our ancestors fought to defend their Country - it became a war of survival.
Aboriginal guerrilla fighters attacked homesteads and livestock, creating havoc that threathened the colony. Roving parties hunted and captured or killed our Ancestors.
With the Black War escalating Governor Arthur declared martial law in 1828, giving impunity to kill aborigines in the settled districts. In 1830 he implemented a military operation known as the Black Line.
We were never defeated - but we could not win.”
The aborigine people fought back in the 1820s-30s, called ‘The Black War’, intense conflict erupted as Aboriginal people resisted invasion, leading to mass killings, kidnappings, and frontier violence, described by some as genocide.
A failed military operation, the "Black Line," attempted to drive all Aboriginal people off their land, but instead pushed many to surrender.
Most survivors were forcibly relocated to Flinders Island (Wybalenna) and later Oyster Cove, where disease, poor conditions, and trauma caused immense suffering and death.
To end the warfare, Governor Arthur appointed George Augustus Robinson to remove all Aborigines living in the Country. To do this he resorted to deception and force.
Robinson negotiated a treaty with Aborigines in the North East. He promised them compensation for the loss of their land in the form of protection, provision of food, clothing and shelter, and the return of large areas of land, after a brief stay on the Furneaux Islands.
To me this sounds absurd, the British having absolutely no understanding of how the Aboriginal people lived. To think that they would want or need pathetic handouts such as this when they had been thriving for centuries.
But, of course, the treaty was never honoured anyway. Instead, freedom was replaced by a life of exile in an impoverished mission at Wybalenna on Flinders Island. Many died from poor respiratory disease, poor nutrition, despair and homesickness.
Proclamation Board:
“Proclamation Boards explaining British law and equal justice were nailed to trees and given to our Ancestors during the height of the Black War hostilities.
Although the Proclamation Boards showed our Ancestors and colonists to be equal, justice was one sided. Aboriginal men were hanged or jailed for crimes against colonists, but no white man was charged for crimes against our Ancestors.”
Wybalenna
" What was thrust upon the natives was not a true Christianity but the garbled verbiage of fools" NJB Plomley, 1987
At Wybalenna the British ideals of civilisation and Christianity were imposed and traditional practices forbidden. Children were removed from their parents. This formed a template for Aboriginal reserves and missions throughout Australia.
White clay pipes, marbles and glass tools demonstrates adaptability, our Ancestors resisted attempts to make them like white people by going bush to continue traditional practices such as ceremonial dancing, wearing ochre and hunting
Wybalenna closed in 1847 and the forty seven survivors were transferred to Oyster Cove, south of Hobart, an abandoned prison considered too unhealthy for convicts.
No longer considered a threat, they were treated as curiosities and left to die in poverty.
The "Last" Myth: Truganini, who died in 1876, was considered the last full-blooded Tasmanian Aboriginal, but this was a colonial narrative; her lineage and many others survived.
Furneaux Islands: Many Aboriginal women married sealers, forming strong, resilient communities on islands like Cape Barren, maintaining culture and traditions.
Continued Struggle: Tasmanian Aboriginal people have actively campaigned for rights, recognition, and cultural preservation, with vibrant communities today.
Today
The Tasmanian Aboriginal people are recognised as the traditional and continuing custodians of Lutruwita, with cultures, stories, and languages being revitalised and celebrated through art, ceremonies, and community efforts.
But I guess nothing can revive a culture and way of life that has been wiped out.
It's hard to comprehend the cruelty wreaked upon the Indigenous people. But then the white 'Victorians' treated their their own people, the 'criminals/convicts' with hatred and severe punishment.
Nations are still at war, all over the world, inflicting fear and genocide.
Environmental Impact
Today, most of the dominant 'cultures' around the world continue to strive for an 'un-natural' life and we are slowly destroying the very home that can sustain us.
To think that the Aboriginal tribes were there for thousands of years without making a mark on the land, and yet look what we have done in such a short time.
Its time to wake up and realise that our planet is dying & do something, rather than keep talking.
It is good to see, at least, that in Tasmania they do seem to be making efforts to preserve their beautiful natural environment.
Good news for Tassie
This is the sound of healthy, thriving frog population. You can't see them in this video but you can hear them. They sound a bit like sheep bleeting.
Amphibians are extremely susceptible to pollution & frog species are often the first to go if water courses contain high levels of chemicals.
Bad news for England
22 years ago, when Archie was a baby, we relocated frogs & tadpoles from our garden pond to a nearby stream, full of tadpoles in Spring.
Now - you rarely see tadpoles anymore.
I noticed, in Australia, there are a lot more flies and you still see 'bug squash ' on windscreens etc.
This summer, spending most of my time outdoors, it really did seem that insect levels have decreased...........that they are decreasing.........a worrying sign.........there are hardly any bugs on our windscreens & headlights.
It sounds hard, but it is really beneficial for us humans too, to use less chemicals and have less stuff.
People love to spot wildlife & take pictures, going on tours, cruises, penguin spotting, whale watching.......if we want this to continue we need to help them out and keep the land & sea free of our lotions & potions.
It feels extremely freeing to do without so many products & better financially too!
Ilse & I really wanted to visit Port Arthur on the Tasman Peninsula. We had discussed it on the tour and Joe said it was really worth a visit.
It's a very well preserved 19th century convict settlement, where there are remains of the prison buildings etc. It was named after George Arthur, Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land from 1824 to 1836 and he established the penal settlement in 1830.
You need a car to get there so Ilse, Ramon & I hired a car (which we had to collect from the airport) & met up at their hostel in the morning.
Then Joe messaged us - asking if we wanted to take a trip out there with him so we cancelled the hire car and Joe picked us up in his truck
We had a really lovely day cruising round the coast, our first stop was the Tasmanian devil Unzoo - basically more of a wildlife sanctuary than a zoo - but it was truly magical as we got to see Tasmanian devils, fed & petted kangaroos and green Rosella birds, and saw more pademelons.
This devil was waiting 'on cue' as we entered - Ilse asked, 'how far can they jump?' 😂 - they have the bite force of three pit bulls. Their mating ceremony is quite rough and they only have 4 teats in their pouch (the only carnivorous marsupial) and up to 40 babies, the size of a grain of rice. The four strongest crawl to the pouch and latch on and the mother eats the rest.
The first one was a male and these two are sisters. Their eyesight is poor but their sense of smell is really good
At Port Arthur we had a Habour cruise and looked round the buildings. There were sad stories there of the convict's treatment and punishment. As one guide there said - these were people they didn't know what to do with. A lot of them had only committed petty crimes, often due to poverty, and the prisons were filling up so the convict settlements were a kind of 'social experiment' to see if they could build a new society. I guess Australia is the result.
Isle of the dead, where they buried people:
The Commandant's house:
Young prisoners - sad stories
We got to look round the prison cells and read more prisoner's stories of escape and suicide & generally being broken by continuous punishment. Later on they started to try to build in reforming prisoners but it didn't really take on, or work and .......I'm not sure it does to this day
Joe brewed up a cuppa in the car park and me & Ramon did a 'Tim Tam slam' - another classic Australian custom - you bite off the corners of the Tim Tam, suck the tea through the biscuit and the centre goes all soft & gooey - Noice!
After this we went for a beautiful walk to Crescent Bay Beach
The three of them braved the antarctic water
Ilse and Ramon had to be at the airport later to fly back to Melbourne. On the way we stopped at a pub for a 'Pub feed' (Parmi burger, tomato sauce, bangers and mash), a pint and a game of pool - English verses Dutch - of course the English won 😀.
There was an incredibly drunk lady in there, in her slippers, trying to talk to us. She assumed I was their Mum - it was funny but it did look like that to be fair.
It was sad to say goodbye - I really enjoyed my time with such lovely friends. So energising to spend time in nature and also in the company of young people as nice as these three!
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