Hi all, since doin Tas. in the van a cuppla yrs ago ,I have wanted to do it on my bike, so I,m off!! leavin home bout 10th. Feb.booked on the spirit 4th march for 4 wks.... Will be ''tenting'' most of the time, so hoping for halfway decent weather!!. Only cost $840 for 2 pensioners in a cabin bothways... half the price of the van!!....So now, talkin nice to the weather gods.....
jules47 said
09:37 AM Feb 2, 2015
Hey Phil - enjoy yourselves over there - will be a lot easier on the hilly, windy roads on the bike, that's for sure!!!
Hoping to see you at Seabird later in the year.
sufil said
04:09 PM Feb 4, 2015
Hi Phil, We just had a few days out at Bruny Island. Well worth spending a couple of days out there if you have the time.
pws25 said
06:05 PM Feb 4, 2015
Hi Sue, yep , we missed Bruny is. last time so will do it now... are u in Tassie at the mom.? thought I read u had an airpot run in the am.??...is there free campin on the Is.?.......
Had a great cuppla days campin jus past you, at ''billy goat bay'' [ greenhead ] only room for the bike & tent, 50mtrs. from water an toilets.....great place!!
-- Edited by pws25 on Wednesday 4th of February 2015 06:07:48 PM
spida said
01:54 PM Feb 6, 2015
I am at Gordon, south of Kingston if you are coming down this way. Great spot. Then toward Huonville next week. Jayco with 'Hukaroa' on the back.
pws25 said
04:10 PM Feb 6, 2015
Hi Vida, we wont be in tas. til the 4/3, will give a hoi when getting closer.... I enjoyed Gordon right on the water,& a great drive back up to Huonville then down t ****le crk...... Do u still have the expanda?.. we met at greens a cuppla yrs ago when we came off tas......
Most of the free camps over in tas. say ''self contained only'' didn't take much notice b4 as we were in the van, but now on the bike[ hardly self contained! ] I,m hopin that as long as we stay in the ones that have toilets, there wont be a drama, as we don't tub in the tent or have a sink to run out on the groun.
I read that the freeby at ''gowie park'' is now closed, & maybe the wharf area at ''the nut'' as well??? was hopin to head that way first ,b4 the bad weather kicks in..... still, spose if the weather is toooooo good it takes all the ''fun'' outa campin..lol
Bucko said
05:44 PM Feb 6, 2015
Gowrie park is now a self contained only with a $10.00 fee, thanks to the CVP owner. not sure about the Nut wharf area, missed it last time because of bad weather, you will be a bit exposed on the bike but I wish you luck and look forward to your report on your experience, will be interesting.
Buck.
pws25 said
07:13 PM Feb 6, 2015
Thanks f that Buck, there is a toilet at gowie, so would we not be allowed t stay I wonder..........
spida said
10:27 AM Feb 7, 2015
You need a bucket with a lid and write 'loo' on the side of it😜 Or a toilet seat and a bag that clips on the back of the trailer LOL
Bucko said
12:29 PM Feb 7, 2015
PWS25.
You would think, logic would prevail in regards to the toilet but the CVP owner was one of the ones who took the council to court and won in regards to the free camper, so watch out for him, how free camps can be competitive and are contra to competitive neutrality, I'll be damned if I know, the last time I was there on my way to Cradle Mtn, I went past Gowrie Park and stayed around one of the dams just up the road a bit but damned if I can remember which one but that's the type of place I kept looking for, just remember what Jack Nickelson said in the "Bucket list" never go past an empty toilet and never trust a F**T. happy trails, will follow with interest.
Buck
spida said
01:51 PM Feb 12, 2015
I stopped at Gowrie recently. I dont have a grey water tank but nothing said. There are toilets there so not sure what 'self contained' requirement is all about. Caravans have to park on the sealed slab so a bit hard to always run the grey water to the grass edges - a bucket needed otherwise. the grass areas are for tents according to the sign.
jules47 said
08:12 AM Feb 15, 2015
Bucko - probably was Lake MacKenzie at Tullah - Spida recently stayed there - we stayed there when we were over, on the way back from Cradle Mountain to Queenstown I think.
The caravan park at Gowrie was the most unwelcoming I have seen - we didn't stay, but went for a walk to have a look - office long way up driveway, and a very unfriendly man, who didn't want to talk to us. Had a sign out front about "best coffee" but didn't sell coffee!!!!
Bucko said
12:23 PM Feb 16, 2015
The man you might have seen would likely be "Lloyd Meakin", my brothers and I were in Tassie a few years ago, I kept telling them about this lovely little restaurant in Gowrie Park that was a fantastic replica of days of old and served a wonderful strudle, after driving around town several times, I couldn't find it, in frustration we did a "uie" up a long drive and went back to O'neil park, which was a freebie then, low and behold a car drove in after us and a very nasty man got out and abused us all for being bludgers and parasites on Tasmania's hospitality.
It turns out we did the "uie", in his driveway, which was the CVP and that nasty man was the owner, a Mr Lloyd Meakin, when I asked about the restaurant we were after, he informed us that this was his dining room and is only open on request by residents of the park, we tried our best to return something to their community but was unable to, because nothing else in town was open, we sat down that night to work out if we were in fact "bludgers" to that date the four of us had spent $2,500 in Tasmania and we had only been in Tassie 7 days, we don't particulary like caravan parks, so rarely stay in them unless to our advantage, so without having stayed in a CVP to that date, we decided that we were in fact "not" bludgers but preferred to choose where we spend our money.
Mr & Mrs Meakin wonder why their CVP in in trouble, your experience Jules and mine go along way to emplaining why these two, are in the wrong business in the wrong place, there is more to the story but I'll leave it there, this and other experiences are unfortunately souring my taste of Tassie, I've been a long time traveller to Tassie, over 20 years but sadly I think the Tassie experience I remember is just that, a "memory"
Buck.
-- Edited by Bucko on Monday 16th of February 2015 12:27:09 PM
Hi all, since doin Tas. in the van a cuppla yrs ago ,I have wanted to do it on my bike, so I,m off!! leavin home bout 10th. Feb.booked on the spirit 4th march for 4 wks.... Will be ''tenting'' most of the time, so hoping for halfway decent weather!!. Only cost $840 for 2 pensioners in a cabin bothways... half the price of the van!!....So now, talkin nice to the weather gods.....
Hoping to see you at Seabird later in the year.
Hi Sue, yep , we missed Bruny is. last time so will do it now... are u in Tassie at the mom.? thought I read u had an airpot run in the am.??...is there free campin on the Is.?.......
Had a great cuppla days campin jus past you, at ''billy goat bay'' [ greenhead ] only room for the bike & tent, 50mtrs. from water an toilets.....great place!!
-- Edited by pws25 on Wednesday 4th of February 2015 06:07:48 PM
Hi Vida, we wont be in tas. til the 4/3, will give a hoi when getting closer.... I enjoyed Gordon right on the water,& a great drive back up to Huonville then down t ****le crk...... Do u still have the expanda?.. we met at greens a cuppla yrs ago when we came off tas......
Most of the free camps over in tas. say ''self contained only'' didn't take much notice b4 as we were in the van, but now on the bike[ hardly self contained! ] I,m hopin that as long as we stay in the ones that have toilets, there wont be a drama, as we don't tub in the tent or have a sink to run out on the groun.
I read that the freeby at ''gowie park'' is now closed, & maybe the wharf area at ''the nut'' as well??? was hopin to head that way first ,b4 the bad weather kicks in..... still, spose if the weather is toooooo good it takes all the ''fun'' outa campin..lol
Gowrie park is now a self contained only with a $10.00 fee, thanks to the CVP owner. not sure about the Nut wharf area, missed it last time because of bad weather, you will be a bit exposed on the bike but I wish you luck and look forward to your report on your experience, will be interesting.
Buck.
Thanks f that Buck, there is a toilet at gowie, so would we not be allowed t stay I wonder..........
PWS25.
You would think, logic would prevail in regards to the toilet but the CVP owner was one of the ones who took the council to court and won in regards to the free camper, so watch out for him, how free camps can be competitive and are contra to competitive neutrality, I'll be damned if I know, the last time I was there on my way to Cradle Mtn, I went past Gowrie Park and stayed around one of the dams just up the road a bit but damned if I can remember which one but that's the type of place I kept looking for, just remember what Jack Nickelson said in the "Bucket list" never go past an empty toilet and never trust a F**T. happy trails, will follow with interest.
Buck
The caravan park at Gowrie was the most unwelcoming I have seen - we didn't stay, but went for a walk to have a look - office long way up driveway, and a very unfriendly man, who didn't want to talk to us. Had a sign out front about "best coffee" but didn't sell coffee!!!!
The man you might have seen would likely be "Lloyd Meakin", my brothers and I were in Tassie a few years ago, I kept telling them about this lovely little restaurant in Gowrie Park that was a fantastic replica of days of old and served a wonderful strudle, after driving around town several times, I couldn't find it, in frustration we did a "uie" up a long drive and went back to O'neil park, which was a freebie then, low and behold a car drove in after us and a very nasty man got out and abused us all for being bludgers and parasites on Tasmania's hospitality.
It turns out we did the "uie", in his driveway, which was the CVP and that nasty man was the owner, a Mr Lloyd Meakin, when I asked about the restaurant we were after, he informed us that this was his dining room and is only open on request by residents of the park, we tried our best to return something to their community but was unable to, because nothing else in town was open, we sat down that night to work out if we were in fact "bludgers" to that date the four of us had spent $2,500 in Tasmania and we had only been in Tassie 7 days, we don't particulary like caravan parks, so rarely stay in them unless to our advantage, so without having stayed in a CVP to that date, we decided that we were in fact "not" bludgers but preferred to choose where we spend our money.
Mr & Mrs Meakin wonder why their CVP in in trouble, your experience Jules and mine go along way to emplaining why these two, are in the wrong business in the wrong place, there is more to the story but I'll leave it there, this and other experiences are unfortunately souring my taste of Tassie, I've been a long time traveller to Tassie, over 20 years but sadly I think the Tassie experience I remember is just that, a "memory"
Buck.
-- Edited by Bucko on Monday 16th of February 2015 12:27:09 PM