Monthly Archives: October 2010

Day 4

Time to pack up and get on the road to Strahan.
Bit of a driving day which tended to be rather boring except for a stop at Queenstown where a visit to a local museum in the old Royal Hotel yielded many treasures and much fascinating trash.
the_ship_that_never_wasAt Strahan our accommodation was spacious if a bit patchy and rather expensive. Ah well been good so far, and we can cook here.
Having arrived with time to spare and having pre-booked our Gordon River Cruise for the next day we started to look around the place to stoke up on groceries and organise some dinner. It was rhen we spotted a local institute (so we found out later) in the theatre of the Round Earth company, and booked to see their play “The Ship that Never Was”. This was a classic two handed play which seemed designed to drag as many members of the audience into the action while telling the story of the last escape from Sarah Island. Very funny,entertaining and educational and definitely worth the couple of dollars it cost, blankets included.
As it happened we would see more of the cast from the Round Earth company the next day.

Day 3

Today was the day we were off on the big walk to Crater Lake and Marion’s Lookout! Well that was the plan.forest-walk
Given we woke to drizzle and the threat of snow the plan changed dramatically. First up it was a bit of washing to see us through, then check the weather. Then a visit to the Information Centre and check the weather. Finally it was a reschedule and off for a few short walks around the rangers station at the entrance to the park, in the wet, much to the girls disgust.soggy-walk
A bit of trudging here and there resulted with the expected showers and complaints, but it was really quite magical aided by the occasional local visiting and the sight of the King Billy Pine, thought to be thousands of years old.visitor-in-the-rainking-billy-tree
Of particular interest was a guided walk were we learned about the native plants and the rain forest succession.

Day 2

dove-lake-angelsDay 2 in Tassie and we are now fully set up for our stay in Cradle Valley. After a recce and some planning we hope to do a half day walk around Dove Lake before the walk to Cradle Lake tomorrow. Or at least that was my plan.
Waking up to a bit of a drizzle and Kiara’s attempt at pancake without a recipe slowed things down a bit but we eventually got things organised, loaded some lunch and convinced Siobhan to, almost, dress appropriately.
We hoped on the bus to Dove lake about 10:00 and arrived at the car park in drizzle but the walk soon made it worth while despite the occasional whinge and whine.
The walk was mostly easy with some impressive views to the peaks. We even managed to find the odd native critter scuttling around the track. The only trick was keeping warm when we stopped to eat, but at least we where below the snow line.
The hike below Marion’s lookout also had some interesting sections as we clambered along metal tracks seemingly pinned against the side of cliff faces. When we finally got back near the car park the classical view up the lake from the boat house made it worth while.
To finish off the day we visited the Devil Experience to get a close up view of some devils and quolls from the Tasmania night life. Here are some pictures to cruise through from our day of adventure.

Day 1

Officially our trip began on Tuesday 21st as we drove on board the Spirit of Tasmania.leaving Having spent a morning on rushing around and last minute jobs we drove to Port Melbourne, only getting slightly lost, before joining a queue to wait.
The cruise was relatively uneventful which was just as well as our cabin was about the size of our bathroom with two double bunks and a bathroom stall squeezed in. The smorgasbord board dinner wasn’t too bad though and the cruise up the bay was impressive.
Waking early we found ourselves in Devonport at 6:30am and desperate for breakfast, which ended up being something unforgettable in a little bakery.
Now we were at a loose end in Tassie at 8:30. After a quick shop it was off to visit all the sights we could to fill time before going to our cabin at Cradle Valley. After a stop at ???? the Topiary capital of Tasmania we arrived at Sheffield the mural townmural2-at-sheffieldmural-at-sheffield. Despite some grief trying to get Siobhan to buy some sunglasses we did see some great murals, an impressive old merchants store and the alpaca man and it wasn’t even lunch!lama-in-sheffield
Lunch was down by Lake Windamere? then on to Crater Valley via a few short cuts.
The Wilderness Village were we stayed was very comfortable with evidence of snow so we convinced Siobhan to buy a beany at the rangers centre as we planned our trips for the next few days and had our afternoon snack of hot chocolate and chips. wilderness-village Strangely there was no mobile phone reception but unfortunately plenty of television reception plus the odd visitor.wilderness-village-visitorwilderness-village-2
Thus we ended day one, tired but sated in some comfort with the promise of a fine day to come, or maybe some snow and rain.

Off to Tassie

Over the coming weeks I hope to post a summary of our trip to Tassie in the September holidays, together with some photos.

Margot’s Book Launch

These posts seem to get more retrospective rather than live actions.
However on 6th June (I think) we celebrated the launch of Margot’s book, “Taking on the Challenge”.
Cath was very impressed with the plan to celebrate Margot’s life of adventure and service and helped contribute ideas, information and pictures, so it seemed fitting to have the formal launch at our place. While it was slightly disappointing that more wasn’t made of Margot’s time in Thailand, were we saw her in action, it was fascinating to read about the story of the founding of the Grail Nuns and some of Margot’s adventures.
Margot, Judy & Maggie gathered to celebrate with us in style & the odd glass of champagne.Margot & company