FriendlyBrooks

Swimming in the iconic Franklin River. Does it get any better than this!

Lance Brooks, I like a full itinerary, February 2026

Sunday night was our first really bad weather with gale force winds, driving rain and hail. The temperature dropped to 8 degrees – wonderful summer weather ☁️ We cosied up in the camper trailer, turned the heater up and ate a curry that I had prepared before we left Sydney in front of the Men’s tennis final on Starlink. I am pleased to say that the camper performed brilliantly and we had a perfect night’s sleep.

The morning dawned bright and sunny with the previous storm a distant memory.  We had a liesurely breakfast, Lance made some work calls and we slowly packed up. We left Macquarie Heads by lunchtime after a fabulous 3-day stay.

After doing some final chores in Strahan we headed back to Trial Harbour as we had decided it was too beautiful to miss. We drove the scenic route via Queenstown taking in some spectacular views,  just a taste of things to come.

We arrived at the campground in Trial Harbour and got one of the last spots. We went straight to the beach and Lance tried his hand at fishing again (and all together now- still no luck!).

As this campground was both  out of  the way and free there was quite a different demographic camping here. They were mostly much younger than us. Whilst we were eating dinner we met a guy from the campground who was about our age but traveling alone, Justin.  We were also joined by a brave and persistent pademelon.

In our one full day in Trial Harbour we spent relaxing time at the beach, fishing,  swimming and Lance tried snorkelling. We also found a lovely little waterfall that served as a great  beer spa bar. Our fish catch remained at zero but it was an enjoyable way to spend the time.

We started our pack up that evening as we needed to leave by 8.30am which we managed successfully (yay!).

Jack had bought me a voucher for a 4 wheel drive trip up Mount Owen,which is the mountain above Queenstown.  We arrived more or less on time and the  tour guide, the wiry 60 year old woman, Chris, drove us around. We had last been in Queenstown 30 years ago and were shocked by the  landscape that was ripped apart by the mining activity.   We felt it had improved ever so slightly with some  sparse vegetation growing back. We drove through Queenstown with a bit of commentary to the start of a very steep road. “Are you going to be okay with this” Chris asks. “Yes” I say, ” but I might swap with Lance to the back seat” thinking it might not be  so nerve wracking.  “And how is that going to help?” she asks, not terribly politely.  I stayed put and tried to enjoy the view.  Once safely on top of the mountain we could really enjoy the incredible views. This tour was fabulous and well worth the money  Jack spent on it 👌 

Once back in Queenstown we toured the  Paragon Theatre before having lunch at the Orange  Cafe, where everything is literally  Orange,

We set off at about 1.30pm for our 4 hour drive back to Hobart.  We thought we would stop at a couple of sites along  the way that would probably extend the  trip by an hour or so. No matter,  we thought,  we would still get to  Jack and Cassie in time for  dinner. 

Well that was silly! After the first of what would be 5 stops to see the mines, waterfalls,  mountain views (involving a 45 minute hike each way), swimming in the  Franklin River and visiting  Lake St Clair we knew we would be late. We ended up being 3 hours late.  They didn’t wait for  dinner. 

We had a brief but pleasant stay with  Jack and Cassie at their  home in Kingston  and Jack very  kindly got up  before  5am to  drive us to the  airport.  We arrived just as the  flight was boarding.  Perfect timing as Lance would say. 

We have spent the last week in Sydney  catching up with  family and friends and doing a bit of work. It was a nice break from  camper living but we are excited to return tonight.