Nagambie to Hobart with What’s Up Downunder (Part 2)
After our smooth overnight sail on the Spirit of Tasmania, we docked into Davenport, where the mighty Bass Strait meets the Mersey River. The entire city was very eerie, blanketed in a thick fog however, as soon as it lifted, the beauty of this region was revealed.
Once our cast and crew had all disembarked, we made our way to the Davenport Discovery Holiday Park to commence filming another WUDU episode. The Park is conveniently located close to the ship terminal and surrounded by lots of lovely green lawn and native plants. Overlooking the bay, it is the perfect place to base yourself whilst you prepare your trip around Tassie.
Our 80km drive from Davenport to Cradle Mountain was beautiful. Rich red soil cascading into green rolling pastures on my left whilst to my right, the open blue waters of Bass Strait, was simply breathtaking. I loved seeing the kaleidoscope of colour bursting from everyone’s gardens, it made for a spectacular drive.
The temperature dropped as we started winding our way toward our campsite for the next few days, the awe-inspiring heritage listed,Cradle Mountain.
Cradle Mountain Discovery Holiday Park, is set amongst snow gums, native waratahs, mountain rocket, native pepper berries, just to name a few. With 34 little cabins dotted over 13 acres, 10 powered and 58 unpowered sites and 72 beds in the backpackers’ dorms, there was plenty of room for everyone!
As soon as the caravans were unhooked, we went straight into filming. Our first port of call was Devil@Cradle, a real-life Tasmanian Devils breeding sanctuary. It’s fabulous to know a Sanctuary like that exists with the conservation of our Tassie Devils, and Eastern Quolls top of their list of priorities. Our guide Chris was simply passionate about his job. Having worked at the Sanctuary for over 10 years, I am sure he feels that every species housed there is his close mate! He had a wonderful bond with them and seemed to know all of their personalities intimately! I even got to pat one of the little Devils, what a great thrill that was! Gee, they have sharp teeth and claws, I wouldn’t like to be on the receiving end of either!
Back at the Holiday Park, we all enjoyed a relaxed night around the open fireplace in the warm indoor camp kitchen. After being on the go since early morning, the fresh Cradle Mountain air was the perfect elixir for a glorious night sleep that everyone needed!
Next morning, we headed to Dove Lake, which is located at the base of Cradle Mountain, my goodness it was true is a sight to behold. No wonder this place is featured on some many calendars and coffee table books, right around the world, the scenery is world-class. We had some fun filming canoe races on Lake Dove, compliments of Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge whilst the cast and crews enthusiasm made for some hilarious filming! After a quick bite of lunch, we were back to Peppers Lodge for some more filming. The Lodge is very well appointed and a luxurious place to stay if you are a 5-Star camper. A real highlight for us was when the Manager presented cheque for $1000 to our charity, the National Breast Cancer Foundation. You can only imagine how grateful the girls from the NBCF were, thank you Peppers!
We had a little downtime from filming in the afternoon so we all enjoyed a couple of glasses of vino at Peppers Lodge by their cosy open fire. There was an old piano in the corner of the room which I couldn’t resist throwing back the lid and playing a few tunes. I could have sat there for hours singing songs and sipping on red! This place is definitely on my bucket list to come back to for some R and R one day!
Later that night, we held another concert back at Discovery Park, it was a great big success! The camp kitchen was transformed into a rocking music venue and the audience was packed to the rafters with not a spare inch of room for another camp chair! My Tassie musician friends, father and son duo, Rino and Jade Morea, kicked off the night with their infectious music. There is something about those guys…as soon as they strike the first chord, you just want to get up and dance, the crowd loved them!
Our convoy artists all performed, which kept everyone entertained for the next 4 hours or so, wow time flies when you’re having fun! Folks travelled from as far as Penguin and Davenport for our special concert, not to mention all of the travellers from the mainland who were already staying in the Park came along as well,
I could have stayed at Cradle Mountain for a month, it is just so beautiful there, but it was not to be. We rolled in the awnings, wound up the props, hooked up the caravans and vehicles and our convoy was on the road again. This time we were heading to the coastal town of St Helens.
The drive from Cradle Mountain to St Helen’s was interesting, uphill and down dale, literally! Lots of windy, twisty, bends through amazing countryside. I am a big fan of ‘driving to the conditions’ and using the gears of the vehicle where possible when travelling through this kind of terrain is paramount. It sure helps to preserve your caravan brakes. There’s nothing more unnerving than the smell of burning rubber when you are halfway down a mountain!
We drove through the pretty little town of Sheffield, which is renowned for spectacular murals which have been meticulously painted on the sides of many of the buildings in the Town centre. This beaut art has been a drawcard for the town, bringing thousands of tourists to the region every year.
We pulled up for ‘smoko’ and were treated to a very moving poem by Dave Proust, who was another one of the fine entertainers travelling with us on this film shoot. As we gathered around the cenotaph in Sheffield, on this very special Remembrance Day we paid our respects to those men and women who fought so gallantly to keep our country free.
Back in convoy we continued our journey. We made it to a beaut little roadside stop by a picturesque creek in Perth where we stopped for lunch. The resident Ducks brought their adorable babies out for us all to see and of course, scavenged around after our convoy left continuing with our journey to St. Helens.
I have holidayed in St Helens previously and know that the turquoise water of Binnalong Bay and St Helens harbour, is no competition for its closest rivals. However, as we drove into the quaint beachside town, a cold front came in bringing with it some much-needed rain for the locals. I was disappointed for our convoy because I know just how spectacular this place can look on a clear day, nevertheless, everyone optomiscially soldiered on.
Shortly after we arrived in town we made our way to the Town Hall where a group of talented locals presented a terrific musical performance for us. Their ages range from 7 to 80+ years. Everyone played some sort of percussive instrument whether it was a bongo drum, tambourine, snare drum, shakers, or as the group of young teenage boys from St Mary’s High School, they simply used their hands and feet to keep the rhythm and energy alive.
One thing that stood out to me was the diverse ages and cultural backgrounds of this terrific ensemble. Each one of them was full of joy and happiness, a true testament to the power of music and how it can unite people across all genres.
The organisation, Healthy Hub was the brains behind this initiative. They wanted to bring the community together whilst boosting their morale as the recent closure of the once strong fishing and forestry industries, left this little town struggling. Healthy Hub certainly succeeded with their mission through this wonderful program. It made my heart sing to see the joy on everyone’s faces, both on the ones performing and our crew, the audience, watching on. I think every community across Australia would benefit from having a program like this.
“Rain on a tin roof’s been the good things in my life…..” This was the tune I woke to during the middle of the night as the rain gently fell on the Minnie Winnie!
We were to present another one of our Charity Concerts at the Hillcrest Caravan Park in their camp kitchen, and the talk amongst the locals was that every man and his dog would be coming along! However, after receiving 80mm of rain overnight, I wasn’t sure how the little old camp kitchen would cope!
Our cast and crew split into two groups to film in St Helens and it’s surrounds whilst I was back in the Minnie Winnie doing radio interviews to promote our final concert to be held in Hobart on Saturday night, which was a couple of days away. Hobart was going to be a huge concert, the big crescendo to two weeks of filming so we were giving it all we had to let everyone know we were coming! At the eleventh hour, our scheduled concert for St Helens was relocated from the caravan park camp kitchen to the local hall, Portland Town Hall, thanks to the BreakODay Council for helping to organise that and waiving the usual Hall hire fee. The locals came from all around the region to support our charity concert! The audience was so enthusiastic and thoroughly entertained and together, raised over $1500 for NBCA, thank you St Helens.
Next morning, the sun threw a brand new light over St Helen as we farewelled the little coastal town. This made for a spectacular drive down the east coast to Hobart. The ocean looked wild and rugged on our left, whilst on the right, rolling green hills and vineyards were an impressive contrast.
We pulled into the charming fishing village of Triabunna for lunch. I think everyone appreciated this break as some of the cast and crew were still getting over last night’s shindig. Triabunna has lots of lovely walks and cycling paths to enjoy and if you are a foodie fan, it has a variety of delicious seafood to tantalize your taste buds! All too soon we were on the road again heading to the Discovery Park at Risdon, located about 20kms from the heart of Hobart.
This park was big on little cabins with only a few powered sites available, however, plenty of room for caravan parking if you want to stay in a cabin for a few days whilst you explore the Hobart region.
I towed the Minnie Winnie into Hobart to do a photoshoot for the local newspaper (the Mercury) to help promote our finale charity concert. Hobart is an amazing city with so much history and passion for the arts. I also love how they blend the old and new architecture of the buildings, it gives the city and real unique feel. Hobart is also home to the Tasmanian Discovery Orchestra and a few years ago I had the great privilege of recording my song, Believe in Angels, with them.
When I returned to the Discovery Park, I said my goodbyes to the Pink Minnie Winnie and moved all of my gear into a cabin for the next two days. I felt a little pang in my heart as I closed the door, I enjoyed towing and staying in the Winnie the past two weeks, it was a great little caravan.
I enjoyed a BIG sleep the next morning, the first in almost two weeks. Today we did not have to think about hooking on vans and travelling, our focus was on our final concert and making that a success.
When you are filming 6 episodes of What’s Up Downunder, fundraising for a worthy charity like the National Breast Cancer Foundation and presenting 6 concerts along the way, it can take its toll on even the toughest. I think the whole convoy was feeling the strains of being on the go for 13 days straight so having the morning off was just what everyone needed. Even though we had more rain overnight and it continued well into the morning, the show still went on! The venue, Parliament Lawns right near the bustling Salamanca Markets, in the middle of town. People came from far and wide!
Brothers 3 (runner ups in the prestigious tv show X-Factor) were included in the artist line up for our final concert, along with Angie Hilton, Sunny Hawkings, Prousty, Fireman Ron and I also performed a few songs. Once again Brian Cadd brained the audience with his 5 piece band, rocking it out for over 75minutes, what a legend! Our concert was a great success and thanks to the kind generosity of the Hobart locals, the NBCF reps were over the moon with the donations.
Back in my little cabin in Risdon and repacking my suitcases in readiness for my early morning flight back to Queensland, I got thinking about our Convoy and all we had accomplished over the last couple of weeks. There were so many highlights for me as we travelled through some of Victoria and Tasmania’s most spectacular countryside. We met some incredibly generous people and got to entertain many folks along the way. This What’s Up Downunder Convoy for Charity shoot will be one I will treasure for a very long time.
Just a little note about the Pink Minnie Winnie. After it was shipped back to Melbourne I understand it was raffled as part of a National Breast Cancer Foundation fundraising campaign. I hope whoever is the proud owner of the little Winnie, they have as much pleasure and enjoyment travelling in it as I did.
I sure hope one day, you will get to follow our Nagambie to Hobart route to see for yourself all there is to explore right here in our own backyard!
Like my song Livin’ The Dream says, it doesn’t matter if you’re in an on-road, off-road, pop-top, gooseneck, fifth wheeler, RV, fold-out compact, camper trailer, custom bus, the road’s got room for all of us…caravanning it’s a freedom thing, caravanning now you’re living the dream!
