Consistent with what I noted some time
ago, my efforts to reduce content continue to fail dismally and I have given up
trying. So the lag will continue, exacerbated to some degree by the fact that
we have spent many days seriously ‘on the go’, either moving camp or
sightseeing with gusto. These are not blogging days (each takes between 4 – 6
hours to complete!) We remain determined to see as much of
Tasmania as we can in our allotted time, although the ‘we’ll have to come back
feeling ’ continues to nag.
So where are we and what have we been
up to since my last update?
I think it fair to say we have ‘done
the south’. After leaving Dover we spent time at Huonville before returning to
Hobart to allow me to fly back to Adelaide as I reported some time ago.
When I returned we scuttled off south
yet again, this time for a week on Bruny Island (an island, off an island, off
an island as they say), before we repaired back to the big isle and took up
residence at New Norfolk for a week (and did sightseeing locally).
Then we headed east to the coast to
tick off yet another Tassie pub and do a recce of the east coast en route to
our friends’ home just north of Launceston. We marked off two more Tassie pub
stays on the way, one at Triabunna and the other, ‘The Pigs in the Paddock’, at
the tiny northern town of Pyengana.
A fortnight at Roseveres (including a
marvellous family Xmas Day with our friends) included much local exploration. We visited
Beaconsfield (mine disaster location), Georgetown and Low Head, the historic
town of Evandale (we are going back there for the famed penny farthing race in
February) and spent a deal of time in Launceston itself, including the renowned
Cataract Gorge.
Liz was quite unwell for most of this
period and beyond (Doctor’s visits and X-rays confirmed a major bronchial chest
infection...this all chewed up more time) which did curtail our normal quite
active sightseeing, but priorities prevailed with her well being at the top of
the list. She is now finally back on deck (almost) after all this time. It is
the most wretched wog which has apparently brought down half the local
population.
After Xmas we were off back to
Margate. En route to Hobart we camped at Campbell Town for two days and took in
the historical sights on offer both there and at nearby Ross.
Whilst at Margate we visited
Constitution Dock and eye-balled all the Sydney-Hobart fleet (something which
definitely had me yearning to get back to sea.....but as Liz rightly commented
there are two impediments.....increasing age and no more mates with a big
yacht!). We also enjoyed a day out at the festive ‘Taste of Tasmania’ bash on
the Hobart waterfront and took our seats at a Big Bash match at the Bellerive
oval (tick off another bucket list item).
After two days free camping at
Dunalley (on the road to Port Arthur) and knocking off yet another pub on our
list, we spent time in historic Richmond before a quick return to New Norfolk
from where we made the day trip west to see what goes on at Strathgordon, Lake
Peddar and the Gordon River dam.
It was now time to be heading off to
the wild west. A (big) night behind the delightful Gretna pub and another (much
quieter) at the Derwent Bridge Hotel (which included a visit to the absolutely
breath-taking ‘Wall in the Wilderness) was followed by a week in the old mining
town of Queenstown (which is not now quite the ‘moonscape’ it use to be).
During this time we did a trip on the Wilderness Railway and spent another day
cruising Macquarie Harbour, Sarah Island and the Gordon River on an excellent
boat out of Strahan. A day trip to Trial Harbour and Zeehan and many hours wandering
around Queenstown itself (and a couple of
very necessary ‘lay days’) completed this sortie.
As I type we are about to leave the
small north-western town of Waratah, the site of the first and richest tin mine
in Tassie (and the world at its peak). From this base we explored the Pieman
river at Corrina (reputed to be the State’s wildest mining town in the late
1800’s) and spent a marvellous day walking around Dove Lake below Cradle
Mountain.
We are now heading up to north coast
at Somerset for a few days where we shall have the Cruiser serviced in nearby Burnie
before making our way further north-west (via the Rocky Cape Tavern....another
tick) to Smithton and Stanley. From there it will be back east and across to
Longford, our base for the day’s festivities back at Evandale.
Then the plan is to again head south,
this time via Miena (another pub on our list at the bottom of the Great Lake)
and historic Bothwell, before we scoot back to revisit the east coast properly
(now that the school holidays are over and some caravan park sanity has
resumed!)
Thence it will be back to Devonport from
where we plan to visit the remainder of the northern coastal towns (Ulverstone,
Penguin etc) and catch up with old Cyprus colleagues before again boarding ‘The
Spirit’ on 29 March for the return trip across the ditch.
Whew! I’m almost out of breath just
recounting all this. Hopefully the lagged blog is now a touch more
understandable. We have been flat out. I’ll keep plugging away but I suspect it
will not be until we are back in Adelaide for the month of April that I’ll
actually catch up!
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