Tasmanian Odyssey - Part 4, The East Coast.

So travelling around Tassie, when talking to other tourists, the inevitable question that always pops up is "have you done the east coast yet??". Heading through the East Tamar valley, with a quick stop at Holm Oak vinyard to feed the pig and sample their delectable pinot noir we made the winding pass through Weldsborough. At this point, I was seriously nauseous and with only a coffee and a couple of tastings of wine eating away at the lining of my stomach, so we opted to stop at the gorgeous Pyengana Dairy for lunch. And, Oh my, are we glad we did! With a ploughman's lunch for two we enjoyed pickled eggs, honey smoked ham, prunes-in-port, home-made chutneys and bread. It was spectacular! The boys loved watching the cows coming through for milking and we left with full bellies and an enormous chunk of cheddar to enjoy at a later date. Arriving in St Helens in atrocious weather we opted for the schmick Big 4 caravan park with an ensuite which was a bit of a novelty but a great relief to have a proper bathroom to wrangle the kids clean. We loved how St Helens combines the ambiance of the beach-side haven and unpretentious country-town so effortlessly. It's a shame we had such terrible weather while we were there and couldn't enjoy the amazing beaches of the Bay of Fires.

The bad weather followed us to Bicheno where we were hell-bent on seeing the penguins come ashore but were sadly disappointed. J so enjoyed our preparations for The Great Penguin-hunting Expedition he exhausted himself and fell asleep in M's arms while we were waiting for the sneaky little birds to come ashore to feed their babies, whom we could hear calling out from burrows throughout the foreshore. Alas, the goddess of penguin viewing was not willing to bless us that evening so we left Bicheno without realising that dream.

On the upside, we did discover the lobster tail chowder at the kitsch but super kid friendly, Sealife Centre and gorged ourselves stupid. Hmmmmmmmm Chowder!!

We also took the boys to the un-insiringly titled, but totally awesome, 'Nature-world' zoo. Nature-world is very active in the preservation of the Tasmanian Devil and had very informative displays and knowledgeable staff. We also particularly liked that there was not an over abundance of animals in a small space. And was certainly not your average aussie let's-pack-as-many-kangaroos-as-we-can-into-this-tiny-yard type of petting zoo. Two thumbs up to Nature-world!