Back to our Tassie holiday on Thursday morning in Zeehan.
After the Museum, we drove around looking at local churches & followed a
signpost to the Spray Tunnel, which
was used to carry minerals to the railway line. There is now a boardwalk &
beautiful scenic stroll around & through the tunnel, which has a
distinctive keyhole look about it as you can see.
After lunch back in Strahan, the rain had stopped so we
drove to the People’s Park & took the 40- minute round walk through
rainforest area to Hogarth’s Falls.
We thought nothing
would better the beauty of the walk to the Fairy Dell in Arran, Scotland, but
this is something extra special & we loved every minute of it!
We got back home to our accommodation to discover that our
weekend of fly-fishing in New Norfolk had been cancelled due to the expected
unsuitable weather. While Wes negotiated a refund of our deposit with our
apologetic hostess, I search Trip Advisor for somewhere else to spend our last
two nights & settled on Piermont in Swansea, where I booked a stone cottage
by the water.
We left Strahan early the next morning via Cradle Mountain,
where we stopped for a hot drink & to watch the snow fall. I bought a new
raincoat & left my old one tied to a tree in Oatlands the next morning and
hope it has found an appreciative new owner. Our other stop was at Sheffield,
the Mural Town, where we loved the beautiful old buildings & the wonderful
signs in the windows, as well as the mostly stunning murals.
We also loved Oatlands & our cosy stone cottage, Jenny Wren, with two open fires &
plenty of wood, as well as the most comfortable bed & pillows we had
experienced so far in the trip.
Late lunch was at the Pancake
& Crepe Café, where we enjoyed seafood crepes & lovely hot drinks.
This is a most historic town with a terrible heritage, having been a gaol for
some years. It does have the largest number of sandstone buildings of anywhere
in Australia & most of them were built by convict labour. It has lovely
wide streets & is very easy to get around. It also has a cemetery between
the footy ground & the golf club & three other cemeteries within cooee.
The next morning, after another walk, we drove to Swansea
via Triabunna, where we visited The Fish
Van & tasted their famous fish & chips, served imaginatively in
cones.
Our accommodation, which was accessed by stone stairs (not
easy with bags), was quiet, warm & welcoming, although we found the
lighting on the dark side & difficult to read by.
On Sunday, we headed into town for breakfast & visited Artifakt Café, which served yummy
breakfasts of sardines on toast for Wes & smoked salmon & poached eggs
for me.
We drove around Swansea, which is up in arms because an
Australian led Chinese consortium wants to build a huge development there. This
town looks as though it could do with a tourism boost & many of the
residents already have absolute beach frontages, so we were not sure what they
were worrying about.
Our final port of call was Kate’s Berry Farm, which has
been there for years apparently & serves very yummy, but highly expensive
scones, jam & cream.
We also had a look at Spikey Bridge & Spikey Beach
& the story behind the bridge is a good one. Back at our cottage, we had a
walk along our beach before settling down to read in front of the open
fire.
Last Monday, we rose early, finished packing & got to
Hobart Airport in plenty of time for our flight, which was promptly delayed.
The Qantas Club was full of travellers in the same boat, but I was able to get
The Age & happily read that over a cup of Jasmine tea. We arrived in
Melbourne at midday, collected our car & drove to Daylesford, where Wes
dropped me off, so I could start unpacking & washing. He drove to Ballarat
to collect Bilbo, who was very delighted to come back home to his usual
routines.
We missed him while we were away, as well as ducted gas
heating, our own bed & pillows, and a great game of footy at the MCG on
Queen’s Birthday Monday.
Once the washing machine was in full swing, I sat down to
see the replay, starting with the stunning footage of all 18 AFL coaches going
down the slide into the ice bath to raise money for Motor Neurone Disease. It
is a compliment to Neale Daniher, that they were all prepared to do this –
flying in from WA, Qld, SA & NSW to join their Victorian counterparts.
There was plenty of good-natured banter as each coach took off his bathrobe to
reveal his costume.
The footy game itself was fast & furious &
deserving of the crowd of 83,000+. Collingwood was lucky enough to win after a
tight struggle & I am so proud of my team & hoping to get to see them
tomorrow afternoon when they play arch-rival, Carlton.
Stunning
sunset on Wednesday night – makes the frosty mornings worthwhile if we get
nights like these
The rest of our week back home has been full of catching up
on chores, getting back into routine & coping with the drainage roadworks
that are happening in our little bit of Duke Street. We haven’t been affected
by that, but when Tim from the Council came around to discuss the works, I
asked him about concreting an area next to our drive that gets churned up by
cars coming down our road thinking they are heading to Jubilee Lake &
having to make frantic U-turns in a small space. Tim took this on board &
now concreting is happening there as well as elsewhere. Usually we would be
fine & able to park under our carport & escape via the slip road in
front of no 76. However, that house has visitors, so our route is closed off.
The street is full of cars from all the houses that can’t use their driveways
& there are 4 cars parked outside no 72 as well!
I was thrilled to get back to gym & found I hadn’t lost
any of my strength despite three weeks off. Dot & I played Mah Jong &
winss were divided evenly. Wes accompanied Barbara to hydrotherapy in Ballarat,
as well as helping with shopping at Coles etc. We both needed to catch up on
Trip Advisor and Wes was keen to get his thoughts on the reunion down on paper
as soon as he could. We walked Bilbo at different times of the day & found
he preferred late morning/early afternoon to the dangerous, frosty & cold
early mornings – what a surprise.
On Thursday, which should have been a day out, we decided
to stay put & had lunch at Boathouse
Daylesford instead. As usual, we were welcomed warmly by Claire &
Susanne & caught up with lots of local friends including Emma Ford, Di
Lyttleton, Georgina Meadows & Sandy Breen. Wes demolished the mussels &
I accompanied my perfectly cooked barramundi with a glass of mulled wine.
Judi & I shared pots of Jasmine tea together yesterday
morning before one of these walks & it was good to spend time reminiscing
our trip & finding out how their dogs, Maddy & Major, were faring after
eye issues had grounded them both. The news is good, especially for Major who
was in danger of losing an eye. He is recovering well after an operation last
Monday.
