Shendelle and Tim's motorhome journey in Tasmania with dog-friendly CMCA Member Stop Overs.
Tim Jones and Shendelle Mullane recently travelled to Tasmania in their motorhome from south-western WA. Here Shendelle shares their first experience of a CMCA Member Stop Over (MSO) facility.
Why did you choose to travel to this region?
We purchased our 2018 Auto-Trail motorhome 'Tikiti Bu' second-hand in 2021, but until recently, our RV travels were limited to short trips of two to three weeks duration due to work commitments. This changed, however, when Tim started a year's leave in December 2024 and I juggled my part-time work to free up six weeks to travel to Tasmania over the summer of 2024/2025.
We chose Tasmania as Tim had never been there and I had visited some 35 years ago on a Rural Youth exchange. Also, our neighbours (who introduced us to the CMCA long before we bought a motorhome) visited Tasmania in 2023 – and their stories inspired us to see the beauty of Tasmania for ourselves. We allowed a week to travel from Donnybrook to Geelong to board the Spirit of Tasmania to Devonport, four weeks to explore Tassie, and another week to return to the mainland and home to Western Australia. We booked our ferry tickets in March 2024 to lock in our dates, and planning began in earnest.
View from across Dove Lake, towards Cradle Mountain
What made this trip so special?
As we had our two dogs with us, I was hoping to find a way to visit Cradle Mountain for a day along with arranging a dog sitter for the dogs. I checked the MSO directory for Tasmania on the CMCA website and found that Karen offered members the opportunity to stay on her family's farm near Sprent, about 30 minutes south of Ulverstone and just over an hour's drive to Cradle Mountain.
Karen's response to my email was very welcoming … and not only were we able to camp on her beautiful farming property at no cost, she suggested we could leave our dogs in the secure dog pens on her property usually used by her farm dogs.
On arriving at Karen's farm, we discovered a huge, flat, grassed camping area at the back of the main house and sheds, surrounded by beautiful gardens, fruit trees and a vegetable patch. There was room for at least 10 RVs, but we had it all to ourselves – which meant our dogs could run around, off lead, once we shut the gate to the camping area.
Three sides of the camping area are bordered by grazing paddocks and curious cattle wandered over occasionally to check us out. We had a magnificent view of Mount Roland to the south, and the opportunity to have a campfire if we wished.
We enjoyed a happy hour each afternoon with our host, Karen; and her suggestions of what to do or see and where to go next provided us with local knowledge and led to a delightful lunch at Hellyers Road Distillery, near Burnie, when we left after our two-night stay on the farm.
Our trip to Cradle Mountain was even more enjoyable due to staying at Sprent and knowing our dogs were safely secured for the day, although they may not have been as happy with the arrangement as we were! The drive to Cradle Mountain took about 1.5 hours in the motorhome, following Karen's route recommendations and passing through the picturesque Wilmot valley … and we really enjoyed hiking the iconic six-kilometre Dove Lake Circuit.
CMCA RV Park Geeveston, Tas
Hobart Showground with the spectacular view of Mount Wellington
What was something about this region that surprised you?
Our MSO experience at Sprent became one of the highlights of our month in Tasmania. The warm welcome of our host Karen, the beautiful, quiet, secure space provided, the added bonus of not only being dog-friendly but allowing us to use the dog runs, and especially the bowl of freshly picked raspberries that Karen offered us after we returned from Cradle Mountain.
Sprent itself is a very central location to explore the north coast of Tasmania. Around 1.5 hours of driving and you can be in Launceston to the east, in Stanley to the west, or at Cradle Mountain to the south. On our way to Sprent from Waratah, we visited Gunns Plains Caves. Also close by is Wings Wildlife Park (which we did not visit due to travelling with dogs) and the Tasmania Arboretum.
We visited the arboretum, where dogs are allowed on lead, on our very last day and finally saw a platypus.
There is also the CMCA RV Park at Railton less than an hour to the east of Sprent – another fabulous location at which to stay. This trip was our first experience of CMCA RV Parks – firstly Penola in South Australia; then Geeveston and Railton in Tasmania; and CMCA Island Park Caravan Park Casterton, Victoria, on our way home. We found the facilities and camaraderie at each of these locations fabulous… especially our shared Christmas lunch at Geeveston, where more than 20 people gathered in the happy hour shed to share the festive spirit.
Waratah Waterfall
What was something you found challenging about travelling in this region?
Tasmania is famous, or perhaps infamous, for its roads. Indeed, it made crossing the Nullarbor on our way home a pleasure. While we knew to allow extra travel time due to the winding roads through mountainous regions, driving a 4.5-tonne motorhome added further challenge. Travelling the 85-kilometre road west from Derwent Bridge/Lake St Clair to Queenstown, known as the '99 Bends Road', tested Tim's driving skills; and he was often appreciative of the Fiat Ducato's hill descent control throughout our Tassie travels. We felt the roads would have been more challenging in a car and caravan, or towing something behind the motorhome, but plenty of folk do so and still enjoy their touring. Driving to the conditions is always important.
What are your top tips to someone else travelling to this part of the country?
Once we had booked our ferry travel to/from Tasmania, we found many people gave us tips of where to visit or stay. I wrote some down on a piece of paper and others I added to a list on my mobile phone – rather than relying on memory. A week before we left home, I printed out an A4 map of Tassie and annotated it with everyone's tips, working out where the tips were located around the island. This was a great help, as I would refer to my rough map when we headed to a particular location to review what our friends had suggested to do or see there. As we travelled Tasmania and received more tips from fellow travellers, I added to my annotated map.
We had expected most places to be very busy, as it was peak summer season. But we were able to find free and low-cost camping in most places, even the popular coastal locations. We ventured down the East Coast first and, as the school term did not end until 20 December, we were in Hobart and locations further south by the time most families headed off to East Coast destinations like the Bay of Fires and the Freycinet Peninsula. We pre-booked very little accommodation, except for three days between Christmas and New Year at the Hobart Showgrounds (due to the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race and Taste of Tasmania happening then). We only needed to adjust our loose plans once or twice due to being unable to get a caravan park site when and where we wanted.
Shendelle, Spencer and Watson at Binalong Bay
Final word on how you found this region?
Tasmania offers something for everyone, but do not try to squeeze everything in or expect to see or do it all … despite being a small island. We spent 35 days in Tasmania, travelled 2,608 kilometres; and only pre-booked a boat trip with Maria Island Cruises, plus a dog sitter, and our Hobart stay. Our basic plan was to do a clockwise circuit from Devonport, heading north-east to start, with a few key locations on our 'wish list' but no desire to rush or drive long daily distances. One day we only drove 20 kilometres from Smithton to Stanley. We did not get to visit Launceston or Bruny Island, but we reckon it is always good to leave a few new places to visit next time.
