December 14 – December 16, 2012
After a last rush around the classroom, a school of goodbyes in minutes, a tearful final walk out to the parking lot with Lynne and we were off! Yes, straight from work the four of us and our luggage were crammed in and off adventuring on our way to a final destination of Tasmania!
We stopped in Kingston to picnic in our shorts and t-shirts while Santa was prepped on a parade float and Christmas music was blaring about snow. To top it all of, mosquitos of epic proportions chased us back to the car before we even ventured to swallow the last bites of our dinner. We pulled into Mt. Gambier at 8:30 and while Grandma settled into bed for her evening read, I ventured out to say a farewell to Chris, Maggie and family from Colorado before they ended their exchange. Dad and Donna went on the hunt for an RSL (equivalent to a Legion here).
The next morning we ventured out in the rain to see Blue Lake (same idea as Lake Louise/Moraine). We also explored the Cave Gardens, of which I have no photos as my camera was AWOL and we were sharing D & D’s camera – which they currently have with them still in Australia….(um…more than two years later when I continue writing this post, clearly the previous sentence is not longer accurate! ha) The rain stopped in time for us to picnic in the park upon local food from the market before catching a movie about the volcanic creation of pretty much our entire route over the coming four days!
We had another picnic lunch on the windy coast at Port McDonnell before hitting the dinner/movie jackpot of simplicity at our Portland motel. A baked potato with the WORKS right at the end of our street and a reception full of movies. We laughed ourselves silly with truly sophisticated films – Weekend at Bernie’s (still as funny as I remember from when I was a kid) and Mrs. Doubtfire (funnier than I remember even!).
At Cape Bridgewater we drove through a wind farm, and WINDY IT WAS! 
The wind also made me question if we were on the shore, or on Mars…the landscape was truly bizarre and barren.
After we managed to hold our hats on in the wind…..
….we found… CHEESEWORLD! Ha. We recovered from our windblown state and most certainly enjoyed a pretty endless feast of cheese, crackers, and, of course, ice cold Coca Cola!
It seems, years later, I still haven’t got pictures from D and D’s camera, because despite journaled details of all sorts of towns, sights, stops, and photo ops….I have not-a-one!
And then magically, we made it to Melbourne:
Of which, this is the only photo I have. Clearly, I should hold off on my Tasmania updates until I get all the photos! Until then, I guess let’s call this a teaser!
Cave's Travel Adventures, Near & Far 