Waynes World (Farm)
Anns brothers wife has a brother in Blackwood Creek and he in turn is in the process of developing a Goat Farm.His property is very isolated and our Bus managed to climb the most difficult terrain we have travelled over !! Prior to our arriving the rains had washed away the gravel pathway and I must admit being a tad frightened scaling the gouged out road!!BUT perseverance prevailed and we scrambled onto his farm property.Wayne had taken the trouble to lop off overhead trees enabling our bus to get thru the tough terrain !! His wife Margaret made us most welcome by erecting a canvas sun shade and supplying lovely lunch.The actual road to the farm entrance was a gravel dirt unsealed road and any speed caused alot of dust (which is quite a bother with oncoming traffic,and they in turn throwup loose stones and in the past have put a couple of cracks in our windscreen) With road conditions being so and of course NO lighting and darkness attracts wild life into the open sadly (very noticeable due to the big amount of road kill) we departed mid afternoon on this very hot dusty day mid afternon to our present location via trout farm,a pond full of bull rushes an a town called Cressy .Unfortunately I was unable to “milk” a goat because it was simply the wrong time !! (and I,m sticking to that excuse ! !All in all a day out to remember Thanks to Wayne & Margaret
General Runabout for a few more days
We are currently looking around Lakelands on top of the mountains and as we leave Hadspen/Launceston and in particular Delorain by the pristine riverside and had treasured moments at each of these venues We are now on our last few days and staying tonight behnd a church that is also next to The Castle Hotel pub (Life is good !!) Als we are hitting afew spots where we can not get a signal !!
Australia Day in Hadspen Launceston 2012 with a lot of help from the missus ,who dressed me !!
Today we camped at Discovery HolidayPark, Hadspen out of Launceston and attended an organised Australia traditional BBQ held by camp hosts Sam n Tom ( with a little help from their pet cockatiel Jimmy) People were asked to “dress up” and guess who won the first prize of $100? ME !!!
And the Winner is?
This is a public holiday in Australia to celebrate THEIR day of patriot’s why cant the English do the same on their day (April St Georges) We had the best time and Sam n Tom did a brilliant job !! Thanks for the food
Beaconsfield and the surrounding area
The Beaconsfield Mine collapse occurred on 25 April 2006 in Beaconsfield, Tasmania, Australia. Of the 17 people who were in the mine at the time, 14 escaped immediately following the collapse, one was killed and the remaining two were found alive using a remote-controlled device. These two miners were rescued on 9 May 2006, two weeks after being trapped nearly a kilometre below the surface. The museum was very good for the price of $10 per person and some of the machinery and waterwheels were hands on and can be used by the public It was a very entertaining morning and well worth a visit
Tassie Devils and other creatures
We travelled on to wards St Helens and Bicheno stopping at the Tasmanian Devil Wildlife compound,and what a treat it turned out to be !! Altho the area had other attractions ie snakes/bird aviaries/snakes and wombats our main interest was in the Devils They are under threat of extinction due to them have face cancer that is transmitted via then biting each other ! Authorities are currently seeking a cure and at the moment the signs are good,Altho the cartoon character makes these animals look ferocious that is a myth !! They mate 3 times in their 6 yr life and can have upto 6 pups each time BUT having only four teats chances are the 2 weakest will not survive !! We spotted a Koala and amazingly it was wide awake !! The compound is fairly cheap and if arriving at feeding times the young female staff was very good on explaining how the animals live and survive in the wild .Travelling along parts of the coast once again proved to be an integral part of our journey. Scenery is absolutely breath taking but has to be observed in reality rather than the show of the numerous photos we have taken ( I wish digital s were around when I was a youngster !! all those great times recorded for posterity would have been terrific !!)After we left we moved on to a Pub high in the hills on the way to Georgetown and stayed the night there without a computer/phone signal Stars at evening were glorious and the pub food was ok Tomorrow we head for Beaconsfield and the history of the mining accident on Australia Day 2006 Before our departure to Tasmania we were informed lots of cheap or next to nothing camp-sites are available This is not so but it does pay to have a look around
Triabunna Swansea and on to Freycinet
Triabunna is a scenic township surrounded by nearby beaches, hills and beautiful tracts of eucalyptus forest. The area contains many historic buildings from Tasmania’s colonial period. The town also commands excellent views of Maria Island, which can be reached by a short ferry ride from Triabunna.Population is around 700 and this small,pleasant wel kept town was a treat to visit
The weather on the east coast of Tasmania is particularly mild, and warm sunny summers are a feature of life in Triabunna, which makes it an ideal holiday or retirement destination. The pleasant beaches and ease of access make the town a haven for those who enjoy watersports such as fishing, sailing, and diving -We stopped overnight back of a pub The Spring Bay Hotel where the food was good and the beer even better !! Cost was a donation ee of $5 and in the middle of the field was a lage Mulberry Tree and we were entertained by visitin rabbits and a variety of birds We moved on to our next venue Freycinet (Coles Bay) via Swansea (peole here thought I was mad when I asked where to renew my driving lice !! Pomms will know what I mean?) I may have missed the Tessellated pics on the last blog so I have included more here
DOO stopover en route to Triabunna
We drove towards Triabunna and stayed a small commune known as DOO !As you drive through Doo Town you will notice that the inhabitants have named their cottages, or shacks as they are known in Tasmania, with ‘Doo’ names.(see the postcard pic) These interesting names include Thistledoo and Gunnadoo. The scenery is brilliant with “Blowholes” carved out of the rock to form Archways and are a big tourist attraction
The town dates back to the 1930s when in 1935, Hobart architect Eric Round began a custom that continues today. He placed the name plate ‘Doo I’ at his Pirate’s Bay weekender shack. Charles Gibson (Doo-Me) and Bill Eldridge (Doo-Us) followed. The tradition caught on and today most of the town’s 1930s or so cottages have ‘Doo’ names. There is a great mobile Cafe at Doo and it has the best food at very reasonable prices and the chips are served in the biggest cone I have ever seen !!!
We stopped at a scenic sight that looks down on the beach from a rocky height and viewed the Tesselated Tiles(rock formation) A tessellated pavement is a rare erosional feature formed in flat-lying sedimentary rock formations that occurs on some ocean shores. It is so named because the rock has fractured into regular rectangular blocks that appear like tiles, or tessellations. The cracks (or joints) were formed when the rock fractured through the action of stress on the Earth’s crust and were subsequently modified by sand and wave action. Nature at its best
Port Arthur
Port Arthur was a convict settlement dating back to the days when the English were exporting their criminals to Australia. There are still ruins that you can walk through and learn about life in the early Australian penal system. Two of the main attractions are the church and the prison ruins. You can see the old prison cells and gain a good feeling of how harsh life must have been back in the early days of Tasmanian settlement.Annie was intrigued by the Asylum and all the history that goes with the place.We boat toured around an island called Dead Island and it is reputed over 1100 people are buried there from convict days Sadly in 1996 a person ( his name is NOT mentioned to avoid popular notoriety and I will honour that in this Blog) in the confines of the historic site ,killed 35 people and injured a further 21 he will NEVER be released from prison All in all it is well worth the $25 entry fee which includes ( if wanted) a conducted guide tour and a boat ride around some of the areas. We tried on ankle chains used by convicts and they are incredibly heavy BUT Annie manged to escape !! People could get sent here for years simply for stealing a loaf !! (from England) ahh the good old days !
Pirate Bay Tasmania via Eagle Hawk Neck
On the road to Port Arthur we stayed at Pirates Bay and viewed the coastline from the lookout just before Eagle Hawk Neck ( a thin strip of land with water on both sides that separates the Peninsula from the rest of Tasmania) and the scenery can only be described as stunning ! There is a beautiful beach with white sands, blue water and rugged rocky cliffs . This was a barrier to any convicts trying to escape from Port Arthur. In this area we met a lovely group of Chinese migrants mentioned in a previous blog Next Port Arthur and tragedy
Pirate Bay and the Chinese People
On the way to Port Arthur and 10 kms out at a place called Pirate Bay we saw around 10 Chinese people minding their own business SO I went over and said hello THEN the morning turnrd into a great one they all wanted their picture taken with me and Annie,asked f they could look around the bus,saw a Chinese sign made by a friend in Adelaide (it said Happy Birthday Geoff ) in March !! they interpreted exactly and all wished me a Happy Birthday (8 weeks to go) SO today I will dedicate this to those lovely Chinese people ( the young one was also lovely and VERY polite (how refreshing !!) Thanks to those people for making this day a good one !
Lovely fun loving crowd
Watch me play Didgeridoo
Geoffs Life After Work ! 