Farewell Tassie June/July 2013

Changing leaves in Deloraine

Temperate rainforest at Liffey Falls

Fungus at Liffey Falls

Frosty morning at the caravan park Longford

Frost looks soooooo pretty!!!!

Ben Lomond National Park entrance

Driving into Ben Lomond National Park - mountain peaks ahead

Huge craggy mountains and clear blue winter sky

View going up "Jacobs Ladder" to the ski resort at the top of Ben Lomond

We are very high up now!!!

The valley below

The ski lodge top of Ben Lomond - we were there about 2 weeks before it snowed

Autumn colours at Mole Creek

Mole Creek historic hotel

Registration hut for walkers in one of the national parks

Chudleigh honey farm where we bought some yummy Leatherwood honey and honey icecream

Icicle from the tap outside the caravan one morning

Winters day at the caravan park in Longford

Snow capped mountains - taken from the caravan park in Longford

Well this blog is just to finish off our wonderful time in Tassie - just a few random photos which I managed to take once I was a bit more mobile after my accident.

We had a few wonderful days out around the Launceston area - went to the lovely little town of Deloraine which is full of art galleries and craft shops.  Spent some time poking around them and having lovely coffee and cake in a very yummy cafe.

We also went to the Ben Lomond National Park, right up via Jacobs Ladder to the ski fields at the top.  Managed to fit that in by the end of June as after that you have to carry snow chains and often Jacobs Ladder is actually closed if there is too much snow.  It is very windy and steep but the views are breathtaking and once again I was hanging on to the edge of the seat, knuckles going white but at least we could see if any other vehicles were coming down!!  Got up to the ski resort but it was closed as the ski season hadn't officially opened but it would be lovely to see it all covered in snow - fairytale land.

We had a trip out to Mole Creek to the hotel for lunch and stopped at the Chudleigh honey farm for tastings and saw a working bee hive.  We also had some beautiful honey icecream.

Woke up to quite a few frosty mornings in Longford - no water in the van as the hoses and pipes had frozen but hey it was winter!!!

All in all we had a brilliant time in Tassie.  Fell in love with the State, the friendliness of the people, the good food and wine and can't wait to head back there soon.

We made some great friends there, other travellers and also Tasmanians who showed us nothing but kindness especially after my accident.

We are now in Adelaide where we are catching up with family and friends, I am undergoing some intensive rehabilitation of my ankle.  We are also eagerly awaiting the wedding of our eldest son in October and after that we will be heading back north for some more adventures.

Until the next blog its Adieu from The Wandering 2s.

Cruising Bruny Island/Tasman Peninsula/MONA - Feb 2013

Out on the boat with Don and Miffy cruising around Bruny Island

Miffy "The Oyster Lady", yum yum - fresh shucked for lunch

One of the pretty little bays of Bruny Island

View from land from Bruny Island

Part of the Tessellated Pavement at Eaglehawk Neck

Bronze statue of one of the vicious dogs which guarded part of the Tasman Peninsula coastline

Tasman Arch

Part of the Tasman Peninsula coastline

Blowhole

Dunalley after the devestating bush fires January 2013

At least the ducks survived!!

After we finished our discovery of the beautiful East Coast of Tassie, we headed back down to Snug to stay with our Tassie friends Don and Miffy for a few more days.  Gotta love these Tassie people, they make you so welcome!!!  We went out on a beautiful day on their boat and cruised around Bruny Island which is a lot bigger than I thought it was.  There are so many pretty little bays dotted around the place and the water is a beautiful greeny blue colour and very clear.  Oysters grow so well in these pristine waters and are there for the taking by the very brave (the sea isn't quite as warm as the Coral Sea) and there was only one person brave enough!!!  It was worth it for us anyway as we had some large plump freshly shucked oysters with our lunch plus champagne - what more do we want from life??

From Don and Miffy's place we headed off down the Tasman Peninusla and stayed at Dunalley behind the pub (what better place???).  We then headed off for a day trip.  What a stunning piece of coastline.  This is an area which conjures up images full of history, of convict era brutality, of remoteness which I suppose is the very reason that Port Arthur and the chain of penal settlements were put there all those years ago.

We started with the ancient tessellated pavement which we spent some time exploring - the sign says "where ancient cracks create a modern phenomenon" and I must say it was very intriguing and interesting.  We left here and headed further down and came across the Officers Quarters at Eagle Hawk Neck - another convict penal colony where the coastline was surrounded by the infamous Dog Line.  Not many convicts ever escaped from here!!!!

The amazing Tasman Arch and the blowhole were our next stops.  Magnificent rock formations, blowholes, boiling water crashing against red cliffs - the whole experience was amazing.  We didn't go to Port Arthur as we had already been before so unfortunately have no photos of this.

Set back from all this splendour was the small settlement of Doo Town.  Every single building (including the food van) has a name which incorporates the word Doo.  We found this very humorous.

On our way back to the caravan we passed once again through the devestated township of Dunalley.  I only took a couple of photos because I didn't want to be a "disaster tourist".  It was heartbreaking and horrifying.  In the midst of strewn tin roof sections and lone chimney hearths still standing upright in the burnt rubble of the house they once kept warm,  were houses that had escaped unscathed.  It was quite eerie.  There were kilometres and kilometres of burnt forests.  However the locals of Dunalley and the staff of the Dunalley Pub were very upbeat about everything and positive the area would be recover.   We had heard on the radio that the area was really suffering because tourists were bypassing it so we did our bit and stayed at the pub for a couple of nights and had a few drinks and a lovely meal.

On our way back up north to catch the Spirit back to the mainland we visited MONA - the Museum of Old and New Art.  This is not a gallery where pretty pictures are displayed.  The museum's controversial artwork has been collected by its owner David Walsh, who is described in the brochures as an "eccentric, professional gambler and philanthropist".  The exhibit simultaneously stimulatess and shock the senses - some of them are quite confronting.  Its a place you either love or hate but I don't think anyone could say they were bored by it.  Its all about interpretation of the art work and exhibits and Charlie and I interpreted different things from the same piece.  One of the exhibits was the "Death Chamber" and only 2 people are allowed in at a time as its dark.  You walk along this pathway surrounded by dark water which represents the River Styx and then come across a Mummy in a coffin and an  image of a  hangman's noose displayed on the wall.  I found it quite disturbing but Charlie thought it was rubbish!!!! He thought alot of the exhibits were "Monty Pythonish" but he enjoyed it all the same.   MONA is alongside the Derwent River and the building is quite unique.  Its somewhere any visitor to Hobart should go.

 Until the next time its Adieu from The Wandering 2s.







The Beautiful East Coast of Tasmania

Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee off to check out the fishing

Beautiful Dora Point in Humbug Nature Reserve

We can't catch fish but we can dance!!

Bay of Fires

More beautiful red rocks in Bay of Fires

Rob and Charlie trying to open Rob's door after Charlie locked it with his key which then wouldn't  unlock it!! Oh dur!!

Success but Kathy is warning Charlie!!!

Charlie doing his "Oliver Twist" thing

The "famous" Pancake Barn at Mt Elephant - they were yummy

The quirky sign

One of the beautiful bays in Freycinet National Park with The Hazards in the background

View in Freycinet National Park - you can just see Wineglass Bay in the distance

Charlie loves the serenity

A little echidna

Well after our house sit we headed over to the East Coast of Tasmania to catch up with our friends Rob and Kathy.  We met them at Humbug Nature Reserve and had a couple of days in a campground there before we decided to head just up the road a few kilometres to Dora Point.  It was a beautiful free campground and we were lucky enough to find a camping spot big enough for both of us as it was still the summer school holidays.  We spent about a week there and the boys tried their hands at fishing and we all also went out kyaking a couple of times because the water was crystal clear and very safe in the bay.

On the January long weekend the camping areas filled up very fast and we had a couple of guys and a girl ask if we minded if they camped next to us with their tent and boat.  They were locals from Devonport and went out in the boat and caught a great feed of flathead which we were invited to share.  So Kathy and I made a couple of salads and they cooked the flathead for us, together with some oysters and we had a great night with a few glasses of wine/beer.

From Dora Point, Kathy and Rob headed back over to the North West as they were leaving Tassie sooner than us and still wanted to see a few things around that area.  We headed south down the coast as we were catching up with our Tassie friends, Don and Miffy in Snug.  It was a sad goodbye with a promise to keep in touch and hopefully meet up again for more happy hours.  We really enjoyed their company and hope to be life long friends.

We slowly headed down the coast staying at a couple more of the free camping areas.  We decided to drive up Elephant Pass and go to the "famous" Mt Elephant pancake kitchen.  I am soooooo glad we didn't take the caravan up there - it is so narrow and windy with signs on some of the bends "long vehicles toot horn"!!  Charlie tells me to close my eyes - ok I will, just as long as he doesn't.  I grip the edge of the seat, my knuckles go white and I yell at him to keep both hands on the steering wheel when he waves at other drivers!!  Anyway we made it up (but of course we had to come down as well) and had a lovely savoury pancake.

We then headed off down to the Freycinet National Park and free camped at Friendly Beaches which again was spectacular.  The sound of the surf at night is just so relaxing.  We went into the lovely little town of Coles Bay and then out into the National Park where we did a couple of bush walks and saw some amazing scenery.  The weather was absolutely glorious and the water crystal clear.

After 2 weeks on the lovely East Coast, eating beautiful seafood, fish and oysters we headed back down towards Hobart and our friends where we stayed for 5 nights and did a few day trips from there but that will be the subject of a separate blog.  Until then its Adieu from The Wandering 2s.

Launceston and surrounds Jan/Feb 2013

Charlie and his "girls" while we were housesitting at Hillwood

Railton - a small town with lots of topiary

Penny Farthing historical village of Evandale

Sheffield - a town of murals

This was quite a unique mural

Me amongst the lavendar at Bridport

One of the beautiful old oak trees at Bridport Lavendar farm

One of the spectacular wood carvings at Campbell Town

The sundial at Campbell Town

Part of the "convict pavement" at Campbell Town - small offences, big punishments!!

The convict built bridge in the historical village of Ross

Me at the site of the old Female Factory at Ross - they had it hard in them days!!!

One of the cute little buildings in Beaconsfield

Outside of the Beaconsfield Mine Heritage Centre

The interpretive wall at Beaconsfield Mine Heritage Centre

The pirate ship at Seaport, Launceston

Part of Cataract Gorge, Launceston

Another view of the Gorge

The bridge over Cataract Gorge

The quaint Swiss shopping village of Grindelwald

Well its been such a long time since I last posted a blog due to the computer playing up and then me having my accident that I've really forgotten what we did so will have to let the pictures speak for themselves,.

We did a 3 week house sit on a property at Hillwood which is on the northern side of Launceston and looked after over 30 rare breed of  chooks and 2 big dogs.  Charlie became quite the farmer and for a couple of weeks we had a lot of eggs and so he was pickling them, I was baking (yes I can!!) and having yummy freshly laid eggs for brekkie. 

 From here we went and did lots of day trips around the area including Beaconsfield which was the site of the major mine disaster quite a few years ago.  The mine is no longer in use and has been turned into a very interesting museum.  We also visited the quaint little towns of Railton where practically every garden has some topiary in it and also Sheffield which is known as the town of murals.  Some of them were very spectacular and unique and we spent quite a lot of time walking around and looking at them.  We also visited the amazing lavender farm at Bridport where we sampled lavender icecream and I bought some lavender bodycream products.

We visited the historical village of Ross which has the famous convict built bridge - it is amazing how they could have done such a wonderful job.  We visited the yummy bakery and had a vanilla slice which was the best I've ever tasted and also another scallop pie - its funny how I can always remember the food!!  We also went to Campbell Town which had some magnificent wood carvings and also a rather unique sundial which actually worked.  There was also the convict pavement with plaques inserted into the pavement on both sides of the road documenting the convicts who arrived there and also their "crimes".

We visited Cataract Gorge and spent a lovely day there just wandering around and also spent half a day at the quaint Swiss shopping village of Grindelwald.

All in all we had a peaceful and relaxing time in this area which was during all the devestating bushfires in Tasmania so we were in the best part of the State while they were raging.

Anyway that's all for now - hoping to update our travels soon up until my accident but for now its Adieu from The Wandering 2s.