Thursday 10th December

We leave the beautiful Bay of Fires and head down the coast to Swansea and the Freycinet Peninsula.

The Elephant Pass Pancake Barn
Surprisingly Laurie passed on a pancake as he'd stuffed himself at breakfast	peek a boo
Bicheno Blow Hole
	thar she blows!
oops...a bit too close...mind that camera!
Kairen starfish spotting
	Friendly Beaches (the sign was a giveaway)
	Our base for the next 2 days was Meredith House Colonial B&B
Just like Swansea at home..it's raining	Friday 11th December It's a beautiful day to explore the National Park Oyster Bay in Freycinet N.P.
We set off on a climb up to the viewpoint for Wineglass Bay	...over 600 steps
	we made it..
and this is the view....	say aaaah!
it's surprising where Santa's helpers get to	Tourville Lookout
whilst enjoying the view...	...a large pod of around 70 dolphins came in close to shore
	he's happy
	the Nuggets

Friday 11th December

Our stay at Meredith House was excellent and our hosts made us very welcome, we were sad to be leaving.

	Noel and Neal, our hosts at Meredith House
they are all trimmed up for Christmas	the breakfasts were a 'feast'.
Raspins Beach at Orford	The Church of St John at Buckland The church window came from England and was made in the 1400's.  It was supposed to be returned to Buckland in England, but it came to Buckland in Tasmania.
the church was built in 1846	Dunally
Pirates Bay lookout
The Tessellated Pavement at Eaglehawk Neck This interesting geological feature is at sea level. The seawater washes over the rock and the accumulation of salt, together with heat and cold have cracked the rock giving an impression of large tiles.
Kairen's spotting starfish again...
Laurie goes for a walk on the beach
it's busy!  (Laurie is the little speck on the right)
Port Arthur Port Arthur in Tasmania's far south-east, on the Tasman Peninsula, began operating in 1830 as a timber station. It became a prison settlement for male convicts with a reputation as being a "hell-on-earth" in 1833. The infamous Dog Line gives considerable weight to the 'hell on earth' label	The road from Port Arthur to Hobart is linked by a sliver of land just 150 yards wide. Known as Eaglehawk Neck it separates Norfolk Bay from the Tasman Sea. A line of suitably vicious chained dogs terrorised over it.
This statue records the location of the dog line. The prisoners were told that the seas around were shark infested ,to discourage escapes	One of the most infamous incidents, simply for its bizarreness, was the escape attempt of one George "Billy" Hunt. Hunt disguised himself using a kangaroo hide and tried to flee across the Neck, but the half-starved guards on duty tried to shoot him to supplement their meagre rations. When he noticed them sighting him up, Hunt threw off his disguise and surrendered, receiving 150 lashes.
Having survived the dogs we had to have an ice cream	Tasman's Arch
	The beautiful Tasman Peninsula coast, but the clouds are gathering
Stewarts Bay Lodge is our home for the next three nights.	Our 'lodge' was very nice indeed.