Map of Tassie Tour - Day Two - Camden

It's always good to spend time with my Dad. Given his recent history and the time we are to be away, a couple of days at the start of the trip are valuable. As a veteran of a similar time spent in Tasmania - admittedly more than twenty years ago - his input and advice today has been helpful, especially to the sights manager, Sue. The pair of them spent much of the afternoon pouring over maps and his copious notes written about that trip in the 1990's.

Another valuable input came from Marcus Wilson, who contacted me this morning with the first of what will no doubt be very useful advice. As a regular journeyman to the southern state - by his own admission, he's almost Taswegian - his information will help us fine tune what we know. This has already proved useful in changing our route with the confirmation that a road I thought unsuitable down the far northern west coast, will in fact make for a pleasant drive between Arthur River and Strahan and prevent us from having to back track.

Regular visitors will have noticed some cosmetic changes to the website. Gone are the side bars and the pages now scroll from top to bottom in the modern style. There are still issues with the mobile version - especially Apple mobile devices - so it may be difficult for iPhone or iPad users to navigate through the various pages of the website. I'm working on it but it may be necessary to view the web version or check in on a laptop.

The rest of the day was spent with a little shopping, some further planning and tidying up a few loose ends. One of those was further changes to the route to reflect a later arrival at Hobart - by a week - to accommodate my trip to Sydney in mid February. I've been accepted in the Beyond Blue speaker program and need to attend an orientation training day. This will be in addition to the speaking role I have carried out for the Black Dog Institute over the last three years. It nice to be able to put something back in and be teaching again, despite being in my sixtieth year.

Early start tomorrow in the three day drive to Melbourne. Yes, it can be done much faster but long term readers will know Sue's back has to be nursed to provide longevity so 450km/day is about our maximum these days. Almost all days across the Bass Strait will be well short of that but the haul to Melbourne has to be broken down into safe chunks or my girl will be unable to manage. Tomorrow will be a 300km leg that will take us to Jugiong, on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River in the Riverina.

Sweet dreams and then the road starts in earnest.