The Adventures of Lacey Jane [An Epic Roadtrip to Tasmania & Back]
It was such a blessing taking some time out. To ‘refill the well’ with inspiration, as Julia Cameron calls it in her book The Artists Way, as well as spend time with Andrew’s and my extended families. It was wonderful.
Now, here’s a recap of the past two months’ adventures, from our epic road-trip to Tasmania and back….
The Museums & Galleries
As an artist, no trip away is really complete without visiting at least one gallery. This holiday was packed with not only art galleries, but historical museums as well. Perhaps I’m a bit of an old soul, but I do love a good trip to a museum.
Among the lineup were the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, MONA in Hobart, the National Gallery of Victoria & Heide Museum of Modern Art in Melbourne. Now, if you haven’t been to any of those, I’d highly recommend a visit.They don’t have to be scary if you’re not used to visiting galleries. Just grab a guide out the front and wander around, letting what you see delight you. You don’t have to understand everything, but you’ll no doubt see something that excites your senses and ignites your imagination. The more you go, the more you’ll develop an affinity with certain works.
Me? I always get excited when I see my Aboriginal friends Tony Albert and Richard Bell’s work in the center of the National Gallery. Plus an array of works from modernism to post-modernism by artists I researched at uni. It’s like returning to visit old acquaintances from another era.
Museum of Old & New Art [MONA]
As far as art experiences go, you can’t go past MONA in Hobart. It truly is a world-class gallery. Unlike anything else in the world, actually.
Built underground, the whole gallery is part parody on art, part serious business, part art history in the making, all financed by the flamboyant art collector David Walsh from his professional gambling successes. Not being funded by the government means this gallery isn’t held to conventions and is, in fact, refreshingly forthright and unique.
Go. You’ll love it.
Australian National Maritime Museum
As both Andrew and I have lived on boats and would love to own one of our own someday, we also visited the Maritime Museum in Sydney. But we weren’t checking out catamarans or yachts there, we were scrambling through an original ex-navy submarine and the replica of Cook’s very own Endeavour. If you or your kids have even an inkling of an interest in boats, history or very small spaces, put it on your list of things to do next time you’re in Sydney.
It’s a real treat seeing how Cook & Banks lived for 3.5 years on board a boat with a bunch of sailors and officers in a space smaller than my studio. I couldn’t believe their cabins were half height, meaning you have to crawl on your knees to get into bed if you were living in their officers quarters. Simply incredible.
And the submarine?
Well, that was even tighter. How people can live on top of each other like that for extended periods of time simply amazes me. I like my space, thanks very much! But it’s well worth being brave and climbing downstairs, because seeing the torpedoes, the radar and the periscope was pretty darn cool.
The Spirit of Tasmania
Much of the amazing scenery we saw on the trip was in Tasmania. I think, as far as states go, Tasmania is easily the most under-rated in Australia. It hosts the diversity of New Zealand’s stunning landscapes (another favourite place for inspiring my landscape paintings), but is even more compact. And it’s closer.
This is the second time I’ve taken a van across on the Spirit of Tasmania and I’d highly recommend making the crossing if you get the chance.
Having a car in Tassie means you’ll see much more of the island than only visiting Launceston or Hobart. Alternatively, you could hire a car of course. But if you decide to take your own from the mainland, you’ll board the ferry in Melbourne at 6:30pm and arrive in Devonport around 6am the next morning.
It always makes me a bit nervous, crossing Bass Strait, but it’s all part of the adventure and despite some rough weather going over, it was well worth the little bit of adrenaline.
The National Parks & Nature
The Blue Tier
Once there, we were thrilled to get directions from a local publican in Weldborough to The Blue Tier, an old ghost tin mining town up in the mountains. This place reminded me of being a kid, exploring the bush out the back of our house in Bendigo were my brother and I once stumbled on an old ghost gold mining town.
But The Blue Tiers was like a magical wonderland.
Moss and lichen that more closely resembled corral and seaweed were growing amongst the tree trunks and frozen puddles. I haven’t felt so inspired by a place in a long time.
Freycinet National Park
Another highlight was returning to an old favourite, Frecinet National Park, home of the stunning Wine Glass Bay were I sailed with my family when I was just a kid.
Stunning granite boulders are strewn over the mountings surrounding the bay and we hiked up to the look-out for a bird’s eye view.
I love it there. I caught more fish during a couple of hours in that bay when I was 12 than I’ve caught in my entire life. I hope there are still fish stocks like that surviving.
Bay of Fires
A new adventure for me this trip was visiting the Bay of Fires, a string of coves and bays along the east coast of Tassie near St Helens. We think the name comes from the fiery sunrises that fill the horizon with reds, oranges, pinks and yellows.
Lacey Jane LOVED it here and raced up and down the beach chasing seagulls. You can camp right next to the beach for free, and it’s dog friendly. Pretty special.
Bruny Island
My mum actually grew up in Tasmania and her brother (my beloved uncle) has often reminisced about holidays on Bruny Island. So we took a trip on yet another ferry and toured around this very isolated, remote and rather un-dog friendly island for a day (fitting in another short hike with Lacey Jane) before returning to Hobart.
Dinner Plain, Mt Hotham
Probably one of, if not the most, adventurous and biggest highlights for both of us was an impromptu visit to the snow fields in Victoria on our way home. It was our first time donning chains to our tyres and driving over black ice through snow to the quaint alpine village of Dinner Plain.
We slept in the van with Lacey Jane under the covers when it reached -5 degrees Celsius one night. When we woke up, her water bowl was frozen solid. Needless to say, her tongue was freezing when she tried to lick us good-morning after her morning drink.
In the spirit of new adventures, we decided to try our hand (or feet) at cross-country skiing. After some nerves standing on skis again (it’s been fifteen years since I last skied) and being Andrew’s first time, we laughed with each other as we fell down and got back up again.
The scenery was spectacular and I could feel even more paintings bubbling beneath the surface as we tentatively moved along the trails. I learnt to downhill ski in Canada and New Zealand, with soft powder snow and pine trees, but I have to say, there’s something very special about seeing Australian gum trees sparkling with a dusting of snow and a blanket of white beneath their trunks. It even snowed on our first night there, truly romantic and magic.
In part two of this series I’ll share about the restaurants we loved (mostly in Melbourne, of course!), the Australian historical sites that moved us, and the hidden gems of towns and communities that left us wanting more.
Have you been to Tasmania or driven down the east coast of Australia? What were your highlights and the places you loved? Share your experiences in the comments below and let’s build a resource of inspiration for us all to refer back to. You never know where your next adventure might take you!
With love,
Nicola xx