We attempted to go to Tassie five years ago, when there were only two wild rangas. We did get there, but the trip didn’t go as planned. No prizes for guessing what stopped us in our tracks… the ‘C’ word.
Flashback to March 2020
We’d been planning our Tassie trip for months in the lead up. We’d fly to Hobart, hire a motorhome and take just over 2 weeks exploring Tasmania, staying in caravan parks along the way, before heading home again via Melbourne. It was a week before our scheduled departure when we heard news that state governments would start locking down their borders. We ummed and ahhed about going ahead with the trip. We decided to go for it. I was pregnant at the time with the 3rd wild ranga. If we didn’t go on holidays now, as planned, it would be a long time before we’d go again. Some people really judged us for our decision to still go ahead. Each to their own.
We arrived in Hobart on the 20th March, the very day that the Australian Government announced the closing of state borders to all non-residents. There were benefits to travelling at that time. Things were very quiet. We had an entire penguin tour to ourselves. The local tourism and hospitality businesses were still allowed to operate for the first few days we were there. Everyday there would be new developments in the COVID-19 Pandemic. Social distancing rules commenced on 21st March, and a day later ‘non-essential services’ were no longer able to operate. We were still able to get take away food from cafes that were no longer allowed to operate for dining in. We steadily made our way up along the east coast exploring some of the most stunning beaches I’d ever seen. Another few days passed, caravan parks were being instructed to only allow permanent residents within their parks, any non-residents must vacate. Six days into our trip, we headed to Devonport. We already had a booking there at one of the caravan parks.
This is when the vibe changed.
We pulled up to get a few essential supplies from the local grocery store. We stood out like anything, in our hire motorhome. We were tourists. The glares we got from the pedestrians on the streets, as well as the people within the store, were scathing. They said with their eyes…
“You’re not from around here, are ya!? Go on, get! Get out!”
This same day we got a message from QANTAS, all flights into Hobart would be cancelled, and only limited services would be scheduled for non-residents of Tasmania to leave the island. It was time to go. Our holiday was over. The Pandemic was here, and it was in full force. We drove from Devonport, all the way south to Hobart that day, returned the motorhome and went to the airport. Once there, without any booked airfares, they arranged a flight for our family to return to Brisbane that afternoon. The mood was eery. All adults wore masks and lined up in tense silence. We tried to contain our then 3 ½ and 18 month old boys within the airport queues, telling them to be mindful of germs, wash their hands often, cover any coughs or sneezes etc. Meanwhile, they crawled along the airport floors, licking windows and even handrails along the way, much to our disgust and the admonishment of onlookers. If we were ever going to get COVID-19, it was going to be from those ferals! What do kids understand about a Pandemic? We were still getting used to the whole new reality ourselves. We got back home and quarantined for 2 weeks. And the rest is history, so they say.
Here we are, 5 years later, one child later, with our own caravan, giving it another go. Let’s hope this time things go more to plan and we get to stay for a bit longer. Here’s a couple of little pics from our Tassie Trip – Take One.
Have you ever had a holiday turn to shit!? Tell us about your story…
Much love,
MumOf 3WRs
P.S. East Beach Tourist Park @ Lowhead was one of the friendliest caravan parks we’ve ever stayed. Lowhead Penguin Tours were excellent. Run by some lovely older women. Platypus House @ Beauty Point was fantastic, and you could walk around with the echidnas
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