Tasmania

After we left the rainbow gathering, we rented a car with my friend, Belle, with plans to drive around and see some of the island.

The first day we didn't get far, since it was already about 7 when we left the gathering, but we found a perfect little forest glade just off the highway we could camp in.

The second day we drove to the Great Lake. It was beautiful, and we found a deserted stretch to go in for a swim. The water was cold, of course, but warm compared to how it was in the river at the rainbow.

From Great Lake we headed to the Lake St Claire national park, had a picnic lunch on the bank of the lake and then headed through the national park towards the west coast.

Here's Littletree pretending to be a mermaid in the Franklin River:

After the Franklin River we stopped to walk to a waterfall; I can't remember what it was called, but it was beautiful. 

Littletree and I had fun frolicking in the fairy forest 

I'm so in my element in the forest. Being in the greenness and trees makes me feel so calm and so alive.

We stopped at just about every scenic lookout and did all the short hikes along the way. It was great fun :)

We arrived to the beach on the West Coast in time to make camp, though by then it was seriously cold and blowing a gale, so we could only dip our toes in the ocean, but still we were in a lake, a river, a waterfall and the ocean all in one day!

Third day we explored the west coast, drove through a few towns and stopped and did a few walks on the way to Cradle Mountain National Park. At some point Littletree started feeling a bit sick with a sore throat, so I stocked her up with echinacea and vitamin C, and Purple stayed in the car with her reading Matilda while Belle and I went on some walks.

We were lucky enough to see a wombat in the wild! But I wasn't quick enough with my camera. I did manage to snap this little guy though:

And yet another waterfall. My impression of Tasmania is that there's lots of lakes and waterfalls. Which is about how I remember it from when I lived there ten years ago too ;)

We found a nice place to camp on the edge of a small lake that night, poor Littletree wasn't feeling too well.

The next day Littletree thankfully felt better, and we drove to Launceston to drop Belle at the airport to catch her flight home, while we continued on towards the east coast.

We stopped for a little walk through a myrtle forest on the way, there was a trail dotted with somewhat educational signs that Littletree really enjoyed, and seemed to learn something from too. She's been quoting like mad all these facts about the myrtle trees and the rainforest.

But mostly we just had fun playing in the trees.

We arrived at the east coast, to the Bay of Fires to find a wonderful free campground right on a spectacular beach. 

Littletree had a great time collecting shells and exploring while I started cooking dinner

Just before sunset we were treated to an awesome sight - one of the biggest, clearest double rainbows! It ended up stretching across the whole sky, almost the full half-circle! The photos just don't do it justice.

After the Bay of Fires we went southward down the east coast, we stopped in some places, went for a look in the Freycinet National Park and then found another free campsite on another beach. 

It rained a bit in the night, so we didn't hang around, the radio report said it was still sunny in Hobart, so we jumped in the car and headed for the big city.

We went up Mt Wellington and had a picnic lunch, though the top of the mountain was in the clouds - it was like being in a misty netherworld. Littletree loved it, and she ran around to all the lookouts to see the views - more mist!

Then we explored the city a little, did some shopping and headed down to our friends' house to visit. It was so wonderful to catch up with our friends, though the house was a little hectic with so many rainbow people hanging out.

We went the next day a bit further south to meet up with some unschooling families I know through Liberated Learning. We picked blackberries and had a great time hanging out. Littletree was happy to have some kids to play with, though I didn't take any pics; by then the battery on my camera was getting dead and I hadn't brought the charger coz I assumed we'd be at the rainbow without electricity for the whole 2 weeks.  

Our last day we spent the morning packing, and then headed to Salamanca Markets in Hobart where my friends have a stall. The market was just how I remembered it - ten years ago I'd been living in Hobart, and making some money by selling home made organic, vegan, refined-sugar-free cakes, breads, etc and carob easter eggs (while on crutches with a broken leg)!

We skipped out on the market after lunch to catch our flight home - it was so lovely to arrive! And of course, after 2 weeks away, and loads of rain the whole time, we came back to a garden very overgrown and full of the most gorgeous spiderwebs :)

Okay, this was a really long post (even for me), and I had so many photos it was hard to choose which ones to put up. all the pics can be seen on my flickr page