Having Another Break

[Old.Tony]

Do you have any photos of your adventure you can share with us? And welcome back.

Thanks!

We have hundreds of pictures and movies. I'll post a few up, you won't see my Nav - just the motorhome. I'll add a little commentary to each one because some need explaining. I have NOT removed the GPS coordinates from the images, so if the forum software doesn't strip that, people are welcome to examine the coordinates and see exactly where the pics were taken.

Boarding the Spirit in Geelong:

Riding the chairlift in Stanley up to the top of the Nut:

One of the many waterfalls we visited. This was Dip Falls, at 41°2'5.2399999"S, 145°22'32.7299999"E :

Up on the west side of the Nut at Stanley (just west of the cemetary) is a penguin viewing platform. Photo taken using night mode on a Google Pixel 6 Pro (50MPx). Blur is because the little guy moved during the exposure.

I'll do two more posts each with 4 pictures.

 

[Old.Tony]

Photo of the mouth of Arthur River where it joins the ocean, the lookout was called "Edge Of The World". This place is absolutely wild and we loved every minute!

Decent car park at "The Edge Of The World". There were toilets and a dump point to the right of this shot, and BBQ facilities you can see in the distance.

We parked the motorhome at the Wrest Point Casino entry (Drysdale Rd) and walked up to the Salamanca Markets. These markets were HUGE, but you don't get to see much more than we've seen in any other markets anywhere else except for a few locally crafted things. "Typical markets", if you will.

How can you visit Tasmania (as someone who enjoys motorsport) without visiting Symmons Plains Raceway?

 

[Old.Tony]

Final post for now. Have an appointment for the little guy shortly.

Fur seals lying on the rocks. We had a couple of cruises that took us on the ocean side of the island, and these guys climb up on the rocks just out of reach of the orcas (which we did NOT see, thankfully).

New Year's Eve I thought I might park my tush in a quiet street of Bellerive. The owner of the house came out and told me it was going to get very busy - and it sure did! I took this photo standing on my bed with my head up through the hatch looking forward. Yes, that's a Gen 3 Starlink dish on the right and yes, it works while we're moving. We stayed here until the midnight fireworks had finished.

Down towards Port Arthur is a surprisingly interesting place called the Unzoo. They have these guys in there:

They're about the size of a cat, but you don't pat them, they bite and do NOT let go, they just remove what they've bitten. When they eat, they eat skin, fur, bone, flesh, everything. The Unzoo also has a bird feeding area and they're visited by green rosellas - I'd never seen one before, so I was pleasantly surprised to have one land on my hand!

If you haven't gone, it's really TRULY worth it. Take some seasickness tablets BEFORE you leave on the Spirit - we were tossed around quite badly during the night on the voyage to Tasmania, I was awake most of the night and could hear the front of the ship crashing into waves.

 

[Billy54]

It looks like you parked in the Esplanard in Bellerive, we have a good friend who lives there and we stayed two nights.

 

[NavaraAdmin]

What wonderful photos and places to sit. ! Thank you for sharing these photos and a bit about each one.

 

[iank84]

Photo of the mouth of Arthur River where it joins the ocean, the lookout was called "Edge Of The World". This place is absolutely wild and we loved every minute!
View attachment 38808

Decent car park at "The Edge Of The World". There were toilets and a dump point to the right of this shot, and BBQ facilities you can see in the distance.
View attachment 38809

We parked the motorhome at the Wrest Point Casino entry (Drysdale Rd) and walked up to the Salamanca Markets. These markets were HUGE, but you don't get to see much more than we've seen in any other markets anywhere else except for a few locally crafted things. "Typical markets", if you will.
View attachment 38810

How can you visit Tasmania (as someone who enjoys motorsport) without visiting Symmons Plains Raceway?
View attachment 38811

magnificent trip up the Arthur river (well kept secret the north west)

 

[iank84]

magnificent trip up the Arthur river (well kept secret the north west)

Just wondering if you could share your research & reasons for going with the fiat powered motorhome platform. Also your impressions to date adv/dis of the motorhome vs caravan?

 

[Old.Tony]

Just wondering if you could share your research & reasons for going with the fiat powered motorhome platform. Also your impressions to date adv/dis of the motorhome vs caravan?

The platform was not a really crucial issue for us, for a few reasons:

1) I'm gentle on the engine/gearbox anyway, and I service it frequently, so the thing is going to last regardless

2) Iveco apparently use a Fiat engine as well, but are rear-wheel drive which might have been better under some circumstances but this limits the vehicle (see below)

3) The preferred layout we had in mind wasn't available from anyone other than Avan, so the previous two points added up to a "let's buy it" when we found it

Another advantage in going Fiat: the front wheel drive that we have is purely a engine+drivetrain, cabin+seats and a fuel tank. It needs a rear chassis on which the motorhome is built. This allows for a longer frame with the rear wheels set wider apart providing less roll tendency. This allowed for more space inside - giving us a full bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and dining area, with a kerb mass of 3450kg and a GVM of 4490kg. We estimate that we're hauling (with us, full fuel tank, full water tank, food, clothing etc) about 700-750kg which is about right - the weighbridge showed 4200kg (4.20T, but could have been 4.205).

As for motorhome vs caravan: they are different beasts. With the caravan, we could plant it in a caravan park and drive off exploring places that you wouldn't take the caravan or a motorhome. You also don't have to battle as much in shopping centres and if you're trying to park on the street without the caravan it's much easier.

The motorhome will NOT go on 4WD tracks and we had to avoid a trip to Corinna TAS because the road had been damaged enough in a storm to require high-clearance 4WD. However, in a storm we have an advantage over a caravan - nobody gets wet getting into the camper part. Ours is a walk-through (photo below). This is also an advantage when just stopping for a rest, toilet or refreshment.

Since we're done with the more rugged travelling, we decided to change - and we're pretty happy so far. My hands are very sore these days, and without pharmaceutical intervention I struggle with things like the jockey wheel and corner legs of the caravan. I'm really appreciating that I don't have to hitch and unhitch the camper all the time.

 

[iank84]

Thanks the reply,
Yes its comfort and convenience vs camping in summary I guess. Buying new or or near near certainly mitigates the risk on any of the platforms used.
Is a shame they don't make many 4x4 versions as even without good clearance, and being careful the 4wd would be help full.
We are in the delima buy another caravan or take the mh plunge, have had camper caravans and light truck slide on over the years.
I guess the ideal for us would be a late model 4x4 light truck say 4000kg with a slide on, but both 4x4 light trucks and slide ons are far and few between.

thanks for sharing your thoughts