18th July 2010

July 18th 10

Stuart and Belinda picked us up and took us to the market on Elizabeth Street where they collected their week’s vegies and then took us to Salamanca Square for a superb late breakfast. We then went with them to Blackmans Bay to look at a house that has may be a possibility for them to purchase. The view across the bay from the back of the house and kitchen is quite special. On the way back via Kingston and the coast road also drove through more of the harbour which shows we have several more bus trips into town to look around.

July 20th 10

We had enjoyed the coastal road trip with Stu and Be so we did it again in the other direction heading for Kingston first and stopped on the way at the old shot tower.

For the sum of $7 each we had the dubious pleasure of climbing 316 steps (157 feet six inches) to enjoy the view over Hobart and the bay.

We then proceeded to Kinston Beach and Blackmans Bay where we stopped at the beach front and had our picnic lunch. After lunch we continued on southwards as close to the coastline as possible, to Margate where we encountered the Margate train.

This is an old steam train with half a dozen carriages that have been turned into a sweet shop, a second hand bookshop, a barber’s shop, an organic shop, and a pancake parlour.

We then went on to Peppermint Bay, passing the restaurant that we will be visiting with Stu and Be in a few weeks time for lunch via a coastal cruise, and on to Snug, Kettering where the ferry for Bruny Island operates, Woodbridge, Middleton, Cygnet and up to Huonville. In Huonville we called into the visitor centre to find out if the Model village that we visited 10 years ago is still in operation, but were told that the couple that built it are now in elderly care. This didn’t really surprise us as they were cracking on when we met them. They have left a huge legacy behind that the relatives have not yet decided what to do with the house and model village that covered the whole of the garden. From Huonville we headed home via the main highway at a leisurely pace.

July 23rd 10

We had another day out by driving over the Tasman Bridge and found a few places where we can take Foxy for walks along the river front and then parked and looked through the Museum at the Bellerive cricket ground.

Their history is not as long or as great as Victoria’s but still impressive. There are some interesting displays showing complete process of how cricket bats and balls are manufactured.

We then drove on to Rokeby and Lauderdale and then down to South arm and Opossum Bay at the tip of the peninsular. We were disappointed with this southern end as we had hoped to find a spot looking out over the ocean to have picnic lunch, but there just isn’t anywhere so retreated back towards Lauderdale until we spotted a dirt road going out to a lookout which as it turned out also had a track down to the beach.

The lookout gave a view of a small lighthouse on an offshore rocky outcrop. After the trek down to and along the beach we returned to the car and had lunch in the car park with an ocean view.

We continued on towards Lauderdale with a short detour to Clifton Beach. We headed on through Lauderdale to Seven Mile Beach and across the two causeways to Sorrell and then up to Richmond.

This is a pretty village with a convict built bridge over the river with a picnic area by the river and quaint old shops on the main street.

From here we drove to Compania and on to Bridgewater and Old Beach so that we followed the eastern side of the Derwent River and then crossed over the Bowen Bridge back to Newtown.

July 24th 10

We took a return trip to Dutch orientated Salamanca Market without Foxy so that we could explore it in full including photos of the surrounding gardens and statues.

It is the largest outdoor market that we have experience that actually displayed products that were better than the usual cheap and nasty stuff. There was a lot of Tasmanian wood craft and leather craft along with the usual glamour and jewellery, and surprisingly few food stalls considering the overall size and the obvious popularity of the event, but those that were there were well patronised. We bought some vegies at the end of our trip through the area and headed home.

26th July 10

It actually rained, although not on us, but looking towards Mt Wellington it obviously was.

31st July 10

We walked to Stu and Be’s place to discuss the solar power installations as we are all considering having installations at our respective homes, and then drove down to the harbour to go on the previously mentioned cruise to Peppermint Bay.

The cruise took about 1.6 hours but included stopping at various points of interest, such as the Alum cliffs at Kingston Bay which gave us a great close-up view of the cliffs.

They also lowered a camera down 7 metres almost to the bottom and allowed the boat to drift whilst we watched the various underwater life stock and plants.

We then entered the D’entrecasteaux Channel between the mainland and Bruny Island and checked out the salmon farms before cruising on into Peppermint Bay. Our little group of four left the boat for two hours and went to the restaurant overlooking the bay whilst the rest of the passengers had local platters delivered to eat onboard. The meal which was really nice was helped down with some local wine and we then returned to the boat for the cruise home. This was closer to the Bruny Island coast and then the Eastern side of the Derwent River and on up the river to the Tasman bridge. Here they explained how the ore carrier managed to get out of control and collide with the bridge, and how the driver of one of the cars left teetering on the edge, a Holden Monaro, was the first car to cross the bridge during the opening ceremony of the rebuilt span, 3 years later, I imagine the driver would have been a bit nervous.