1st September to 17th September 10

1st September 10

A fine day so we visited the Botanical Gardens which was a pleasant surprise for the time of year. The Japanese section had several water features that unfortunately were not operating due to the water policy of the management, as there were leak problems but generally everything else was good. The succulent and cactus house was interesting and spiteful, whilst the orchid house was a brilliant splash of colour.

The experience took about three hours which included tea and coffee with blueberry muffins and then we drove out to the shops in Glenorchy for a few items, and then to the only garage in the area that serves autogas. Autogas is not an easily found commodity in Tasmania and would be impossible to run a vehicle on gas alone. On the way home we called into Runnymede House and took the tour through the ten roomed early settler house which has seen several families in its time including the Bayleys and the Baylys, and still contains much of the original furniture and wall hangings.

We are ready packed to move on as the owners are due back today and we will leave tomorrow for Bruny Island for a few weeks.

5th September 10

On the 3rd, we left Hobart in bright sunshine just after midday and arrived in Kettering with plenty of time for the 1.45pm ferry trip to the island which was quite interesting as the ferry was much larger than expected (it holds at least eighty cars) and they put the vehicles with the high side wind resistance, such as caravans and trucks, on the lower deck. The trip across to the island takes about 15 minutes and the journey from the terminal took us across the north island before heading south to the south island, which took another 30 minutes. We didn’t set up the annex straight away as we usually do but simply set up the caravan and then enjoyed a walk on the beach with Foxy instead. That was nice but obviously a bad decision as it decided to rain all night, all of the next day and night and is still raining today. This is only light rain, and is probably the bottom edge of the downpours and flooding that Victoria is experiencing. We have now got the awning out so that we can let Foxy out without her having to get wet which isn’t her favourite situation, and will put the annexe up when it dries out a bit. The caravan park is about a three minute walk to the beach which means we can hear the ocean breaking on the beach because it very quiet with very little road noise.

6th September 10

It stopped raining sometime during the night but is now significantly colder, but there is a promise of some sunshine by midday so we have set up the annexe.

 In the afternoon we drove through the township to the end of the road and stopped off at the Captain Cook’s Landing Point Memorial.

We then drove back through the township and turned off to Cloudy Bay which meant travelling on a dirt road over a small mountain with nasty sheer drops in some places. After travelling about twenty kilometres we arrived at the 100 metre point from the Cloudy Bay beach where we were greeted with a “no dogs” sign followed by a “not even in your vehicle” sign. We ignored this as the only place we could turn round was in the car park at the beach, so we took some photos and left. There is only a toilet block and a beach at Cloudy Bay. We travelled back on the bitumen which is nearly as rough as the dirt road but travelled through two smaller townships of Lunawanna and Alonnah and on until the road joins the from the Ferry to Adventure Bay were we are camped. Adventure Bay is the only township with a shop but the quality of the fruit and veggies is diabolical so we will be taking the ferry ($15 return) back to the mainland for shopping on Friday and take a look at the top end of the Island which is almost an island in its own right as there is only a narrow strip joining the two land masses.

8th September 10

We woke to a heavy frost and couldn’t get the water to run at the hand basin at 7.00am so assume the hose outside was frozen, although it was okay by 8.30am when we did our washing. We had a message from Stu and Be to confirm they would be joining us on Saturday.

 In the afternoon we drove along the narrow spit to the parking area for the penguin rookery and lookout. The lookout involves about 120 steps (we didn’t count them) and provides a great 270 degree view of how narrow the spit is. When we descended, we continued down more steps and boardwalk to the beach, but as Foxy wasn’t allowed out of the car we didn’t stay on the beach for long. We returned to town and drove out to a picnic spot where albino kangaroos are seen grazing but were too early but took a nature walk alongside the stream. On the way back to town we stopped outside a property that had some albino kangaroos but were further away than we would have liked. There is supposed to be about 200 hundred of them on the island.

10th September 10

We took the ferry back to the mainland and drove back to Kingston to visit the bank and do some grocery shopping which allowed us to stop off at a road side fruit and veggie shed. As this all took longer than we expected, including lunch, we didn’t tour the top part of the island as we caught the 3.45pm ferry. At the ferry terminal we became aware that Foxy was not feeling very well and was very listless for the rest of day without eating at all.

13th September 10

Stu and Be arrived on Saturday a bit later than we had expected , but they had taken a look at Lunawanna and Alonnah driven back over the mountain. After lunch we all walked through the township of Cookville to the end of the road, calling in at the Cook’s monument and the jetty. On our return to the caravan park we drove out to the picnic ground we found the previous day to look for the albino kangaroos. There we none at the picnic ground but we did see several on the way there but none stopped to have their photo taken, or at least not clearly. We spent the evening in Stu and Be’s cabin where we had oysters, prawns, cheese and crackers for supper.

On Sunday morning we walked in the other direction to the Penguin Cafe and enjoyed a superb breakfast and then drove over the mountain, yet again, and on to Cape Bruny lighthouse at the south west tip of the island. This provided some magnificent views of the rugged coastline on the way, and from the light house area which is at the top of a long and very steep uphill walk.

 This unfortunately meant Stu didn’t get to see the view from the top as the concrete track was too narrow for his wheelchair. We drove back around the mountain and stopped at the Morella hothouse cafe for a late lunch and then back to the caravan park to collect Stu and Be’s car and then followed them back towards the Ferry with a detour into Barnes bay on the northern land mass of the island. Here we said our farewell to Stu and Be as they had to head for the ferry to return home as they had to work the next day, but as we were in the north end of the island we continued on the circuit road over the northern mountain for more splendid views on narrow dirt roads with hair raising passing manoeuvres with oncoming traffic, with us on the dodgy side. The width of the roads is more suitable for Suzuki Vitaras rather than Nissan Patrols or Toyota Landcruisers when it comes to squeezing past each other.

Fortunately the weather for both days was dry although cloudy and chilly, and now that the wonderful company has left us the weather changed to rain again during the night, and few degrees colder.

17th September 10

On the 15th we had another ferry trip and returned to Kingston as Merry had developed a severe toothache and we were lucky enough to jag a same day appointment. We correctly expected it to require an extraction but we hadn’t expected it to break in the process and become a drama. We also hadn’t expected a $217 bill. It also rained most of the day in advance of the predicted gales and cold front.

On the 16th the cold front hit with a vengeance, with hail that built up to 3cm deep against the annexe at times, and the park ground was completely white as if it had snowed, along with high buffeting winds. The park is protected by wooded hills on the west side that the wind was generally blowing from so mainly went over the top of us but some seemed to bounce back and hit us from the ocean side which we didn’t appreciate, especially from the annexe point of view.

We survived the night but have another day of wind to go yet but it does seems to have eased a bit and so far no rain, or hail.

Today, Merry is still suffering pain from the extraction and is worried that they may have pulled the wrong tooth, but could also just be the result of the brutal procedure.  This got worse, so in the afternoon we took the ferry and returned to the dentist in Kingston who provided Merry with more treatment to ease the pain and supplied more of his magic remedy for use over the weekend.

2nd August to 22nd August 2010

2nd August 10

We had to go into Hobart to hand in some papers to Centrelink so took the opportunity to visit Salamanca Square for some more photos and a look in some of the art galleries, and also moved on to the harbour to photograph some more statues in that area.

8th August 10

Merry has spent many hours this week slaving over a hot sewing machine making covers for the seats in the caravan to help preserve then. They were professionally treated with Vantec, which is much the same as Scotchguard, but Diane gave us some surplus material so the covers have been made to protect the seats from dirty little dog paws. Merry also made a cover for the satellite dish for when it is placed on the bed during transit and a bag for the fold-up clothes hoist for when it is stored in the shower during transit and will be making some storage bags for Barry’s spanners to separate metric ones from Imperial ones. Meanwhile Barry has fitted several additional shelves into cupboards to improve storage in the caravan.

12th August 10

It finally genuinely rained all night and day cutting some roads and getting dry rivers running again and had a small amount of back-up rain on the following day. This means we should be able to visit Russell Falls (reputedly the most photographed waterfall in Tasmania), Horseshoe Falls and Lady Barron Falls which are on the same three hour circuit, and see them with some water falling. During the high winds that came with the rain, one of the wind turbines on the roof of the Harbour building started to break-up, a week after I filmed them, and only about four weeks after installation.

22nd August 10

The weather since the 13th has been rainy, although not persistent, or very cold and windy which didn’t entice us to visit Russell Falls but we did go into Hobart on the bus to cast an early vote in the elections. There was some snow on Mt Wellington on the 20th August which remained until this morning which meant that snow would have fallen on Mt Field in the Mt Field National Park where Russell Falls happen to be, plus being an hour drive West means there would have been more rain there than we received in Hobart in the last week, so today being a dry sunny day it was our chance for the long awaited visit. 

Russell Falls is about a ten minute walk on bitumen track from the visitors centre and thanks to the rain and melting snow had plenty of water, in fact maybe too much as it cause a lot of spray which didn’t help the photos with moisture on the lens. We were told that up until the rain, there had only been a narrow strip of water on the left hand side.

From here we climbed the 100 plus steps to the top of Russell Falls and then continued on for about 15 minutes to Horseshoe Falls, which being on the same water course had the same amount of water flowing over it

We then headed through the tall tree walk and on to Lady Baron Falls, about an hour walk away on another water course, along a good track but unfortunately had several uphill bits as a result of downhill bits, but we made it in a slightly longer time frame than the younger visitors.

One of them appeared to have jogged in whilst we sat and had our lunch prior to the hike back to the visitor centre, supposedly a 40 minute walk on a slight downhill gradient. The Falls had plenty of water, like the others, but as with all waterfalls had its own personality.

 

The slight downhill gradient was actually an undulating gradient that eventually took us to the bottom of a wooden staircase which just happened to have 260 steps in it, and fortunately some built in seats at convenient places. On arrival at the top we found that the track continued uphill quite steeply for another hundred metres or so before heading downhill for another ten minutes to the visitor centre. I guess that any exercise that you survive has to eventually have been good for you, but is that fact or only theory. Either way we did survive and thoroughly enjoyed the sights and our day out, even if we do suffer tomorrow.

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.

9th June to 1st July10

June 9th 10

Still no snow on the mountain

June 10th 10

Finally the weather forecasters got it right and we did get a coating of snow on Mt Wellington. Amazingly it was announced in the evening news as the States first snow this year, so the snow we saw at Derwent Bridge a month ago on the 12th May was purely a figment of our imagination even though we have photos to prove it.

June 11th 10

The snow has melted without replacement despite the colder night time temperatures and day time temperatures that are struggling to get into double figures.

June 12th 10

Another lighter covering of snow on the mountain this morning.

June 13th 10, June 14th10 and June 15th 10

Nothing of significance to report other than a thick morning fog on the 15th.

June 14th 10

Last night managed 2 degrees Celcius and reached 4 degrees by 10.00am with thick fog that lasted until after lunch time. Foxy really appreciates her heated bed now, especially after a 2.00am outside trip to attend to nature. The house owners have now left and headed to Devonport to board the Spirit of Tasmania this evening. We deliberately didn’t mention to them that the weather forecast for tonight includes gale force winds between Tasmania and Victoria. Once you have booked your tickets you have no choice but to take it as it comes, as changing dates does not guarantee better weather, and could mean a long wait as we have heard there is a seven week waiting list.

June 15th 10

According to the news, Victoria did suffer damage in the gales but our Landlord arrived safely

June16th to June 25th 10

Nothing to report


June 26th 10

Just for a change we drive into Hobart and parked by the Museum/art Gallery and walked via the docks to Salamanca Market. Dogs are not allowed in the market area on Saturdays (no surprises there) so Barry and Foxy waited on the grassy nature strip whilst Merry bought some fresh vegies and then strolled back to the car via the fish market, and checked out some cruise options. We will be doing this trip again without Foxy and with our cameras at sometime in the near future.

June 27th 10

We took an 8 minute walk with Foxy to visited Stuart and Belinda for afternoon tea and a chat which included tentative arrangements to go on a Hobart cruise to Peppermint Bay.

June 28th to July 1st 10

Still nothing of interest to report, other than attempting to have our shower head replaced by the local Jayco agent in order to gain a pleasant shower.

25th May to 8th June 10

Tuesday 25th May 10

We treated this as a day of rest after yesterdays hike.

Wednesday 26th May 10

Whilst in Hobart 10 years ago we didn’t do the tour of the Cadbury factory. Now they do not do tours of the factory for commercial and health reasons but we did go to the Cadbury visitor centre at the factory at a cost of $7.50 each. We had a bar of chocolate thrust into our hands along with some of the small snack bars, and escorted to a lecture room where the 15 minute lecture was about to start. This was both very interesting and humorous despite the interruptions from an uncontrolled toddler. Unfortunately, in this day and age, the parent would probably ended up in court and possible prison if appropriate measures had been taken, which is why we all had to suffer the brats noisy behaviour. The most interesting point of the talk was the fact that the cocoa powder only tastes good after the oil is squeezed out, and then a very small amount of the oil removed from the cocoa bean has to be returned along with sugar and milk to produce the smoothness of the chocolate. More interesting is the fact that the huge remainder of oil has sugar and milk added to it to become white chocolate. We then went to the tasting room after being given more snack bars and tasted the raw cocoa as used by ancient Aztecs for medicinal purposes. It is better to go back to work than take the medicine so its medicinal purposes are strong and taste foul. We then tasted white chocolate that we both think is also foul, then regular milk chocolate which we no longer enjoy the way we used to, and then the dark chocolate that we really enjoy. From the tasting room every one is free to use the canteen facility and/or the shop that offers all of their products at reduced prices. A regular 200 gram bar is about $1 cheaper than in Woolworths at $2.99 but packs of 3 x 200 gram bars that have small slits in the foil from the packaging process and now packed in cellophane are only $6. We came away with $34 worth plus the 2 free bars on the way in and another 2 free bars on the way out and the 8 snack bars. The cheaper prices, so long as you buy something, and the freebies more than adequately reimburses your entry fee so long as you like chocolate, but why would you visit the place if you didn’t.

Thursday 27th May, Friday 28th May 10

Nothing interesting to report

Saturday 29th May 10

We came across an advert for a caretaker that must have his/her own motor home, or caravan which is exactly us, to look after a house without living in it, and caring for their dog. Consequently we move the van into their large back garden on Monday and live there for 3 months whilst they spend the winter in Queensland. The only cost to us is for power and water usage at a sensible agreed rate, which will make it a very cheap stay in Hobart for the winter. We had planned to head north to Georgetown for the winter at a cost of $135 a week but will now be down to around $40 a week.
It is only a three minute drive away from Stu and Be who we had arranged to visit in the afternoon for a farewell cup of coffee as it was supposed to be a goodbye visit until we return to Hobart after the winter but it turned into a good news (you don’t get rid of us that easy) visit.

Sunday 30th May 10

We had another day of rest despite moving tomorrow as there is no need to be out by any given time and we are only moving 7km to the next suburb. It is quite cold so we watched some recorded TV to clear some space on the the hard drive.

Monday 31sth May 10

We packed up the camp and moved to Newtown where it took a while to reverse the van into the garden as the drive has 2 gateways which don't line up and is quite narrow, and as always, the rest of the town want to drive down the road and get past you as you do it. We did eventually get everything into place and settled in nicely and in the afternoon walked to the local shopping centre about ten minutes away.

Tuesday 1st June10

Lazed around but did take Foxy and Binji (the house owner’s dog) for a 30 minute return walk down to the beach on the Derwent River which was the furthest Binji had walked for a long time and had to stop and rest his tubby body a few times on the way back.

Wednesday 2nd June 10

We spent most of the day getting rid of a computer virus.

Thursday 3rd June 10

We took the same walk as Tuesday but without Binji so that we could walk further along the side of the Derwent River towards Hobart, past numerous old boatsheds. At the point where the walking track ends, Merry crossed the railway and returned along the cycle track and Barry backtracked along the walking track as dogs are not allowed on the cycle track.

Friday 4th June 10 and Saturday 5th June 10

Nothing significant to report

Sunday 6th June 10

Merry went to the Hobart fruit and vegetable Market with Diane (the house owner)to check out the produce and determine whether to use it again, and came home with a heap of scotch fillet and a rabbit (prepared for eating) which we have not tasted for years and some vegies, but not all it from the market.

Monday 7th June 10 and Tuesday 8th June 10

Nothing to report and whilst we are here in Hobart for the winter there will not be too much happening. Despite the 3 degree night time temperatures we are suviving the climate reasonably well. The weather forcasts have mentioned the possibility of snow on Mt Wellington but it hasn't happened yet.

Friday 14th May 10

Another day of nothing worth reporting

Saturday 15th May 10

Our time in Longford is nearly up so we decided to have a look at the small villages of Perth and Evandale which were only a short drive away.

Perth had nothing to offer from the tourist point of view other than a couple of wooden statues mounted on old tree trunks that give the impression of having been carved in-situ. It didn’t fool us, but were still impressive carvings.

Evandale prides itself on being the host village of an annual Penny farthing cycle race which we could have watched soon after our arrival in Tassie if we had not been otherwise occupied in Latrobe. There is a statue to celebrate the beginnings of this event on a corner in the centre of the really quaint, inviting village. It is one of those places that have a very definite old world feel about it in the midst of a naturally beautiful setting. On our way home we called into the Tasmanian Gourmet Sauce Company and sampled some of their wares which were god enough to encourage us to buy some plum and Pepperberry sauce, Cumberland sauce, hot chilli sauce and some blackberry and plum jam.

Sunday 16th May 10

The last four mornings have all been foggy until about 11.00am and this morning was no exception so we packed up the chairs, tables, etc, into the back seat of the car so that we could disassemble the annex and awning after lunch when the sun had managed to dry them. The chairs, etc would stay I the car until the van has had its service, as that will allow easy access to the internals of the van.

Monday 17th May 10

We left Longford at about 10.10am in another morning fog and headed through Perth and onto the main highway to Hobart and gradually drove out of the fog as we made our way southward.

As we drove through Campbell Town we noticed some more wooden statues on tree trunks, in a park alongside the river so we stopped for lunch and photos.

The bridge over the river was built by convicts in the good old days of Van Diemen Land and this was depicted on one of the tree trunks, another tree trunk’s statues depicted progress through the ages and the third depicted creature life. We proceeded on our way with a detour about ten km down the highway to the small village of Ross for a quick look as we will be staying here on our way back north. Ross also has a famous convict built bridge over the river and has a tree lined main road.

We continued into the Hobart suburb of Moonah and set up camp in the Showgrounds as we were unable to find a convenient caravan park to the caravan agents that take dogs and is cheaper. It is a bit noisy as it is alongside a well used and abused road, but you get that with caravan parks as well. They use the cheaper land which is invariably alongside a road, railway, airfield or anything else that no one else wants to know about.

Tuesday 18th May 10

We took the caravan into the agents for its first service which left us with the rest of the day without a home to go to, so we had to find something to occupy ourselves which initially meant a shopping centre for a restock of the pantry. We found the local Moonah shopping centre for the groceries and then went to the Northgate shopping centre on Glenorchy as it happens to have a branch of the Banjo’s bakery that produced magical pies in Strahan, so we also had an early satisfying lunch in Banjo’s. We then set up the Navman to take us to the Mount Wellington lookout and set off in what seemed to be a strange direction but with some great views. As we climbed higher it became clear that we were in fact climbing Mount Hull and eventually tried to get to take a dirt track that the car would only just fit into with nine kilometres to go. Barry rejected this idea on the basis that this was not were we wanted to go so we backtracked to the main highway and set up our original Navman for the same destination.

This took us in the opposite direction for about 35 kilometres, as expected by Barry, through the city and out the other side where we saw the sign to the Botanical Gardens so turned of to give them a look over first. On arrival there was the usual ‘No Dogs’ sign so we continued to the Lookout. Dogs are allowed in Melbourne’s Botanical Gardens but there is no accounting for others thought patterns.

We eventually arrived at the lookout which offers spectacular views over Hobart and the Derwent River. It was a sunny day but at this altitude was rather draughty and very cold, and unfortunately not especially clear so photos will be slightly hazy.
At the lookout, dogs must be left in vehicles, but at the car park part way down they are allowed on a leash so we had another cuppa and then took Foxy for a 25 minute each way walk to Sphinx Rock for a lower level view of the city. When we were in Hobart 10 years ago we only saw the top of Mt Wellington as we flew out, as the rest of the time it was in thick cloud cover, so getting the chance to drive to the top for reasonably clear views on our first day here in Hobart was a bonus. We drove back and collected our van at 4.30pm and returned to the Showgrounds

Wednesday 18th May 10

The morning was spent putting up the annex and unloading the table and chairs from the car. In the afternoon Merry did some of her accounting work whilst Barry amused himself fitting an additional shelf in the en-suite. We noticed that the top of Mt Wellington was in cloud again so we had picked the right day for our trip.

Thursday 19th May 10

Merry did some more of her accounting work whilst Barry did a few more small jobs to the van and also took his 25 year old watch to the Tasmanian clock & watch company to get it repaired (hopefully). The weather is gradually getting colder on a daily basis and building up for some rain with a forecast of possible snow on the mountain.

Friday 20th May 10

We didn’t get the snow and actually only a few short showers of rain in the night and awoke to clear skies again. We lazed around for morning and then had the extreme pleasure of meeting Stuart and Belinda in North Hobart for lunch. Amazingly, they had spotted us as we drove up Mt Wellington on Tuesday, as they were driving down Had we not detoured to the Botanical Gardens we would probably met them at the top before they left. We had the usual fun of catching up on all that has happened since our last meeting in Launceston but unfortunately Stu had to return to work so it didn’t last as long as we would have liked, but we will get another chance.

Saturday 21st May 10

Still no snow on the mountain but we did wake up to our first thick ground coating of frost which we haven’t experience since around 1993, prior to moving to Geraldton.

We took a look at a Dog Show that happens on these showgrounds every so often and watched some of the judging but didn’t put Foxy on show as that would have been unfair for the other dogs, especially with her not having a pedigree.

Sunday 22nd May 10

The weather turned particularly cold at night a few days ago so we installed a small 12 volt electric heater pad under the sheep skin in Foxy’s little cubby, and were she used to come into bed with Barry when she got cold we now don’t see her until about ten in the morning, unless we dig her out.

We walked across to the other side of the showgrounds where the Sunday market is held but came away disappointed as it was more a trash and treasure arrangement to off load a vast collection of junk and a few stalls selling plants. There were no vegetable stalls at all.

In the afternoon we went to Stuart and Belinda’s for dinner and a long chat to catch up on what we ran out of time for on Friday. It was a lovely meal and evening, and even Foxy enjoyed a special meal and company.

Monday 23rd May 10

We drove south to Huonville which proved to be a much larger town than we remember from 10 years ago.

The approach to the town presented a great view as the town is in the Huon valley by the river and as the road came down from the hills we looked out over the tree tops completely engulfed in a cloud of mist from the river with so sign of the town. As we descended into the town we drove through and then under the fog and into clear town with the fog suspended over it. It was now midday on an otherwise warm sunny day but it hadn’t managed to clear the fog.

We drove on to Geeveston and called in to the very impressive visitor centre in this very small village, which is also randomly dotted with wood carved figures and warrants a return visit when we come this way in the spring/summer. From there we drove the remaining 26kms out to the Tahune air walk. This is a fairly narrow twisty bitumen road through the forest and unfortunately we caught up with a small car whose mid twenty year old driver represented a very poor learner with out visible L plates who crept the whole way at no more than 45kph and wouldn’t pull over as the opportunity allowed so we could pass. Being mainly down hill his brake lights were on most of the way so he probably goes through brake pads at a rapid rate. We’ll leave you to guess the nationality.
The air walk is similar to the WA treetop walk in Walpole but possibly a little longer. I recall hearing at Walpole on our first visit that it was the first and that a lot of interest had been shown, both nationally and internationally, and looking at the structural design it would appear that this is a copy or very similar design with the addition of length and the cantilever portion that hangs out almost over the Huon River. The Otway Fly in Victoria is also similar with a cantilever portion but has an additional tower to gain extra height. New Zealand also has one somewhere, which will no doubt be higher and longer as they all try to out do each other. The Kiwis probably expect you to bungy jump at the exit. The walk takes about 50 minutes from the ticket office as there is a 10 minute walk to get to the start of the tree top walk where the trees are quite noticeably different to the Walpole trees.

The cantilever section has the expected extra bounce which doesn’t help the photography but does raise the adrenalin levels. We extended the walk by deviating onto the 20 minute Huon trail walk before returning to the café for a coffee.

We then took the 60 minute walk that takes you along one side of the river to the point slightly past where the Picton River joins the Huon River.

We then crossed each river individually on two swing bridges and walked back along the other side of the Huon River across the regular bridge and up to the car park. Foxy was allowed to attend this venue and enjoyed the walk, but was carried on the actual air walk and swing bridges as the open grating was not good for her feet.