Port Augusta

We are at the "crossroads of Australia" as the city likes to name itself. We stay here coming and going on most trips. The caravan park is always busy regardless of the time of year.

There is a very large power station here generating a good slice of SA's electricity needs.

Spent two nights here as we don't like to drive on successive days. We change that rule on the Nullabor though. Planning on going through Esperance to see John on the way home.

Todays picture is from Ulverstone in Tasmania - it is the town's war memorial.

Murray Bridge

Well here we are in South Australia and are taking life slowly. Although we are on the way home we intend to do it at our own pace.

Some figures may be of interest. We have been away for 84 days and have travelled 7412 km. We will be very close to 10000 km when we are home again. Fuel consumption is about 25L/100km (about 11.3 mpg) We have used around 1850 L of LPG at an average cost of 75.4 cents/L. Cheapest fuel was 42.9 in Melbourne and dearest 117.0 at Nullabor. Average cost of travel is a biyt less than 9 cents/Km.

We are currently in Murray Bridge about 80 km east of Adelaide. As the name suggests it was an important road crossing of the river but is now bypassed by a newer highway.

Today's pic is of Binalong Bay, St Helens.

Back on the mainland.

We crossed on the 'Spirit' last night and it was very rough for about the first 4 hours. I had taken a seasick tablet which seemed to work for me but Rosemary (no tablet) was sick. After about midnight the seas seemed to smooth out. We were woken at 6:10 am and disembarked by 7:20 am.

We were aware that the closest entry road to the Western Freeway passed under a 2.7 m railway bridge. Our van is at least 3 m so we had to find an alternative route. A combination of our map book and the gps had us safely on the freeway by 7:30 am.

The big surprise is we turned left at Melbourne rather than right. Yes we have pointed the nose for home and should be back in Perth in 2 to 3 weeks.

Today's photo is from Swansea Caravan Park. We are currently in Horsham.

Launceston

We are back here as our last stop before boarding the boat on Saturday night. Today was a driving day from St Helens to here. There was mail waiting for us here and also a second hand camera that I will use for macro (closeup) shots like this one. Saves swapping lenses.

St Columba Falls

This waterfall is 90m high and is located in rain forest about 40 km from St Helens. Again very steep and winding roads to get there and back.

The Bay of Fires.

Today was a bright clear day without the wind of the last couple of days. Went to the Bay of Fires to see the reddish orange lichen that coats the rocks making them look like embers. The beaches are lovely pure white sand and the water is a sparkling turquoise. Very pretty indeed.

Rosemary wanted to show you the 'brassy broad' I met near the beach.

St Helens

Today was a moving day again. This is as far as we go along the east coast and we have less than 10 days left in Tassie. Won't be sad to leave the mountains behind but we have enjoyed the shorter distances involved in touring an island.

Rosemary's back is "out" at the moment and she was unable to drive today - we took less than 2 hrs so it wasn't a problem for me. Means a couple of days close to base until it corrects itself.

Strong wind for the next 2 days as a couple of cold fronts cross - they bring very little rain to the east coast as the mountains to the west score most of the moisture.

Todays pic comes from the Swansea Museum.

Swansea

Swansea is another charming little coastal village about 140km from Hobart. There is a well established oyster industry here. It is across the Great Oyster Bay from the Freycinet Peninsular - a National Park of some note.

You may be wondering why this post has taken 8 days since our last - Rosemary has had a 'virus' of some sort with a high temp and severe aching joints. She has spent 4 days in bed and is slowly recovering. Today we went to the Tannery Mill and also to a berry farm. The Mill has been restored and was used for many years to process wattle bark to be used to extract the tannic acid used in tanning leather. The berry farm is not in season but we sampled their coffee and cake.

Salamanca Markets

These are held every Saturday from 9am to 3pm. The area is about twice the size of the Hay St Mall and it was crowded all day. There was plenty of street theatre and busking and loads to eat and look at. We went by minibus direct from the caravan park which made life easier. We have decided to spend 3 more nights here in Hobart and will attend Mass tomorrow in Australia's oldest Catholic church.

Port Arthur

Well we finally got to visit this site - it was our third attempt and the weather was beautiful. Thed place is as impressive as it is made out to be and does leave a lasting impression. Our day included a guided walking tour and a harbour cruise and visit to the Isle of the Dead - the settlement's cemetery. At its height there were some 2500 persons there - the vast majority being convicts. A lot of the buildings are burnt out with wooden floors and roof gone.

The middle image shows what may be the only solitary confinement chapel in the world. Convicts in this special section of the prison have 23 hours a day solitary confinement. The hour of exercise is still segregated. They are on total silence and wear hoods with eye slits when out of their cell. Numbers are used instead of names and the church service is the only time they can use their voice to sing.

We are 2/3 of the way through our Tassie adventure and leave Hobart tomorrow to make our way up the East coast.

It has been a bit of a quiet week for us. The weather has been wet and cold with snow on Mt Wellington visible from Hobart. Today was our first day out in 5 days. Travelled south of Hobart to the Huon Valley today. As we headed South and up in elevation the clouds and rain returned. Went to the Apple Industry Museum where the best thing was a roaring pot belly stove. From there we went to a winery - Home Hill - with a nice selling area and restaurant - up to the level of anything in Margaret River but we didn't like any of their limited offering. Mainly Pinot Noir for the reds and Sav Blanc and a Chardonnay. This was where the alpaca photo was taken. We do have to give them top marks for their Devonshire Coffee - very light scones with home made blueberry jam and really thick cream. The weather is meant to stay pretty good for the next couple of days so will be out and about again tomorrow.

Richmond

We travelled from Lonnie to Hobart yesterday and are staying on the outskirts in an area called Cambridge (14km from the CBD). Today we travelled north about 16km to the town of Richmond. It dates from convict days and has been preserved pretty much as it was in the first half of the 1800s.

St John the Evangelist church was opened in 1836 and is the oldest Catholic church in Australia. To get to it you cross the oldest bridge still in use in Australia which was started in 1823. Tourism is the main livelihood and there are lots of galleries and craft outlets. We saw a lot we liked but did not purchase.

Tomorrow we will go to Port Arthur while the weather is good. We are at the halfway stage of our Tassie travels.

Another Pano

Visited the Dr and chemist again today and Rosemary has her medication up to date. The pano is just two shots - same location from yesterday.

The Tamar Valley

We followed the Tamar river some 50 km towards the coast. Went through the mining town of Beaconsfield where the cave in happened a couple of years ago. The next town is called Beauty Point and is home to the platypus centre and also a seahorse centre. We went to the former and found that the Tassie platypus has different dna to the mainland species. The centren is currently working on a disease that only affects the local animals. It is a fungus that affects tree frogs in Queensland. No one knows how the disease arrived in Tassie - a live frog must have been released into a river. Oh and they have echidnas as well.

The Tamar valley itself is very scenic as the pano shot shows. Click for larger view.

The medicine run around.

Rosemary takes strong pain killers only available on a scrip limited to a 30 day supply (no repeats). On Thursday we made a doctors appt and turned up Friday to see a very nice Dr. He rang Rosemary's GP who was not available until later in the day. They duly made contact and we were rung to say the scrip was available. We picked it up and took it to the nearby chemist who did not have the medication in stock. Went back today and found the Dr had not rung to get permission for the medicine to be free. We will go and see him again on Monday. Also found out that even if we had a WA scrip it would not be dispensed in Tassie. Also found out the presciption was only for 20 days.

Anyway while out today went sightseeing in Launceston and visited the cataract gorge that the town is built around. It is where the South Esk River meets the North Esk River and becomes the Tamar River until it meets the sea.

Wet and Wild

Not much holiday action since the last post, Tuesday we travelled from Latrobe to Launceston - some 100km only - not far between centres compared to the mainland. We had a cold front yesterday about 6 am with winds up to 120km/hr with over a million dollars of damage. Today a secong cold front is passing but much slower with steady soaking rain. The power has just come back on as well.

So that was Easter

It has been the quietest Easter we have spent - enjoyable enough but it's a time when family are missed. Today's picture is a detail from a butter churn converted to black and white. Hope you like it.

Last Nut picture - I promise!!

Today was a travel day so here is a pano from yesterday and yes, the Nut does dominate the landscape.

Highfield House

This is the house built as the headquarters for the Van Diemans Land Company established in the 1830s. It has been restored and makes for an interesting visit. We also visited the Seaquarium to view some of the marine life of the area. Today was without wind (unusual in itself) and fine but overcast. Most of my photos were a touch underexposed as a result. Today we have a pano view of the farm buildings and a couple from mthe seaquarium. Trumpeter which can grow to 1.2 m (these are about 75cm) and a giant crab about the size of a football. This male has one enormous claw about the size of its body and a normal claw.

The top of the Nut

You can get to the top by driving halfway and walking the rest. The alternative is to 'buy a seat' on the chairlift. The top has a marked track and fence to keep pedestrians away from the Shearwater burrows. Also known as Mutton birds, they spend summer here and then migrate to the northern hemisphere. The walk is about 3 km - the Nut is quite an expanse. In the photos you can see that Stanley and the Nut are joined to the mainland by an isthmus.

Allendale Gardens

This 5 acre garden has been developed on a dairy farm about 15 km from Smithton. A variety of trees have been planted and loads of roses, dahlias, azaleas, rhododendron etc have been added. A creek runs through the garden and the paths include 5 bridges. Platypus live in the stream along with fresh water lobster. The ground is often full of holes - the burrows of a crayfish about 10cm long.

Stanley

It's very windy today. We spent the morning well rugged up and looking around town. There do not seem to be any 'modern' buildings in the main street and all are well preserved. Almost an English feel to the village. Art and craft shops and cafes are abundant and the town is a port of call for tourist buses. There are some 500 residents and some 40 B&Bs. The town virtually shuts down in winter.

We had a very nice 'Devonshire Coffee' with huge scones. We are getting to be good judges of scone quality and haven't been disappointed yet.

The Nut

This is the view from the park. Stanley nestles under the imposing rock outcrop called The Nut.

As you can see the weather is fine but there is a chilling wind blowing so we'll stay close to home today.

Daylight saving is now ended in Tassie - a week later than at home.

Remember to click on the photo for a bigger version.