Illawarra

Fortescue Bay, nearly the end of the trip and we have had one of our last big adventures. We climbed the Moai, a huge rock pillar out on the end of a sea platform.

It was really scary when you were standing on the platform because waves were splashing up on both sides of you.

The climb itself was something else. When you were halfway up if you looked down you could see the water churning right bellow you. It was the scariest climb I have ever done! It was amazing at the top. You were on this pinnacle with three of the four sides surrounded by sea.

It was so out there! It was crazy scary and at the end of it I was trembling but so worth it. This might be the last blog post (there might be one more, who knows what adventures we might have sailing back to Kettering) so signing out for (maybe) the last time. Sebastian

We went on a walk to Frenchman’s Cap to have a rest from our floating caravan. It was a huge walk but it was so beautiful.

In the three days that we were walking we walked 56 kilometres (17km on the first day, 22km on the second day and 17km on the last day)!

We stayed at Lake Vera and on the second day we walked to the top of Frenchman’s Cap. We saw lots of different types of plants and animals.

The walk to Frenchman’s Cap was just as amazing as the Cap itself. We had to go over a mountain range and it was beautiful but strange because on one side of the mountain it was a light and mossy forest with lots of Huon and King Billy pines and pandani. On the other side of the mountain (25 meters apart or less) it was a dark and gloomy birch forest.

Another really cool thing was that Frenchman’s Cap had snow on it! I know, Snow? In the middle of summer?

The view from the top of Frenchman’s Cap was breathtaking! You could see for miles in every direction. I am totally going to do the walk again.

It is almost the end of the sailing trip (it is the last week) so we will be doing one or two more things and then be going back home.

I’ll keep you updated on the last things we do and I’ll talk to you next post.

We went up to Melaleuca to check out the orange belly parrot research centre. The orange belly parrots are almost extinct but they were amazingly beautiful.

We also went kayaking up a river to an old Huon pine stand. The pines and the forest they were in was beautiful. When we were walking through we got a bit of a fright when I spotted a large black snake in the path. Like the orange belly parrot the bigger and older Huon pines are almost extinct because loggers used to chop them down to make boats.

The reflections were really cool.

Christmas on the boat was pretty funny because for dinner instead of turkey or whatever else you usually have we had dehydrated pulled pork and DEB (dehydrated) potato, but it was still good.

 

We have now left Port Davey and are back in Recherche Bay. We might be going on a walk so I’ll keep you updated.

 

We left Spain Bay to climb a very miserable mountain. Yeah you got it, Mt Misery.

It wasn’t miserable at all but if it was raining and cold I guess it would be miserable, but then again everything is miserable when it is wet and cold. Mabey it was like that when they named it, or the person who named it was just really miserable. Anyway, we walked up it and it wasn’t miserable and the view was amazing. It was very windy on top but the view made up for it.

The next day we went up Mt Rugby. It was huge and it took us nearly 7 hours to complete, but that also might be because we had a sleep at the top for a few hours as well.

When we got to the top it was the best view I have ever seen. You could see for miles and miles.

 

The reflections were amazing. The picture below looks like it shows an image looking up onto a mountain with the sky above but actually it is a photo looking down on a mountain with a lake below reflecting the sky.

Now we are in Bathurst Harbour and the wind is blowing 40 knots!

 

After two days at Payne Bay we decided to move to Spain Bay.

We went on a walk to the biggest aboriginal midden in Tasmania. To get there we had to walk through the button grass plains. They were really scratchy and muddy. Sometimes the mud was so deep that it came up way past my ankles.

 

When we got to the midden I was amazed. It was huge! We saw some pretty cool stuff in it including a seal tooth. The midden was at least 6000 years old and is where the Needwonnee aboriginal people from this area cooked and ate shellfish and other sea creatures over all those years. we were very fortunate to be able to visit their traditional lands.

This is the height of the midden.

After that we zoomed around the islands nearby.

 

You might by surprised that we were not the only boat with muddy hiking boots and gaiters out the back.

We have arrived at Port Davey at last! After a huge sixteen-hour day of sailing in the Southern Ocean we arrived at Payne Bay by 7:30pm.

It was a big day and I almost got sea sick but the relief that came when we got into calm water was incredible. I think I might be the only kid in Australia that has sailed to Cape York (the most northern point of Australia) Cape Byron (the most eastern point of Australia) and South/east Cape (the most southern point of Australia, it’s the one in the photo below).

There were some amazing pyramid rocks coming in to Port Davey and some huge laminar clouds which mean high winds coming!!! The weather here is even worse than Melbourne weather, it keeps on changing. We’re in the Roaring 40’s, that means it’s windy all the time.

On the way we saw a lot of albatrosses, they were very elegant flyers and really big.

 

 

 

 

 

Hi everyone,

I am restarting the blog so I can share my sailing trip around Tasmania with you. So far my family and I have been in Tassie (Tasmania) for four days. We came down on the Spirit of Tasmania ferry with my friend Josh and lots of stuff to take on the trip. Our boat has been moored in Kettering which is near Hobart. We set out straight away and sailed to a place called Wedge Bay where we stayed the night. The next day we sailed to port Arthur to have a look at the remains of the old penal colony. It was very interesting but also very scary because we found out how the convicts were treated and it was horrible. We found out one story that was particularly shocking. A nine year old boy got seven years transportation for stealing some toys. He was being used by an adult and for each toy he stole he would get two or three pence. He told the judges this but they still transported him. We also found out that there were three levels of cells. If you were on the bottom level you had to wear heavy shackles wherever you went and you couldn’t have a trade. If you were on the second level it was only slightly better, you still had to wear shackles but they were lighter but you you still couldn’t have a trade. If you were on the third level you didn’t have to wear shackles and you could have a trade. The convicts could move up the floors if they behaved well but if they did something really bad they would either got two hundred lashes with the cat of nine tales or be sent to the solitary prison for two years. That two years would then be added on to your time as a convict. The solitary prison was a place were you couldn’t talk. The guards had to wear padded shoes and the floor was covered in rushes to stop any sound. If you talked while you were in there you would be sent to the punishment cell. The punishment cell was a small room completely devoid of any senses, it was pitch black, the floor was covered in rush and if you made any sound you would have to stay in there even longer. Once you got out of the solitary prison you go straight to to the bottom level of the main prison and started all over again.

Two days ago we sailed from Port Arthur to Hobart and moored the night in the centre of town before we dropped Josh off at the airport and then yesterday we sailed back down to Kettering which is where we are now. Hopefully tomorrow we will be able to start sailing down to the bottom of Tassie and then around to Port Davey.

Talk to you next post

Sebastian