Back home again

Well I arrived back home this morning. 

It was a truly marvellous holiday but I'm still glad to be able to settle down with a cup of freshly brewed coffee (not freshly ground unfortunately as I forgot I was out of coffee beans or I would have bought some yesterday) and a gorgeous yarn-club installment which arrived while I was gone.





It's interesting how priorities go.  My first, to get myself set up to craft again.  'Use up' yarn bin next to the couch.  Empty bin for next terms OWLs next to the wall ready to be filled with prepared project bags over the next week.

You could say I'm glad to be home. 

(I'll catch up with my holiday diary soon, sometime, I promise)

The day has arrived!!

One of the things that I promised myself that I absolutely, definitely, without doubt would do while I was away was to do the Wineglass Bay walk.  Today was the day for it and I'm so glad I made certain to include it, it was fantastic (Thank you so much to my brother for recommending it months ago to me)

I was so excited I took a picture of the road on the way.



And then it was time to start.  I've only made minimal comments about the below as I think the pictures say all that needs saying.





This was a final bit of fun just before the last rise to the lookout above the saddle.



And from the top!





Descending to and within Wineglass Bay.











Then it was time to cross the isthmus to Hazards Beach.





Onto the stretch of Hazards Beach.





And then onto the cliff path back to the beginning.





And it really was a cliff path. (Yes, that's the track)



I'm overwhelmingly pleased that I did this particular walk.  It was definitely worth it.  According to my handy Walk guide this was 8.8km (bringing my total amount walked this holiday to 30km ) what's even better is that I had a target to get this done in 4 1/2 hours and I made it  I finished in 4 hours 20 mins.  Really pleased with that particular number.

Dinner was blah ! (take away fish & chips which I ended up eating not even half of)

I almost forgot the link to the complete photo set - here it is

Driving, Driving, Driving

Today I left the River House with much regrets (I was so comfortable there) and it was time to get on the road once again.  When I was initially planning this holiday to the extent of what I wanted to see influencing where I booked accomodation I decided I could skip seeing the Bay of Fire.

I've decided that I can't skip it so today I drove up to see the bottom beach (didn't have time to go up the top as it was over gravel roads which always slow me down) and then down south again to Swansea for the night.  There was a lot of driving involved, but I did fit in some other stuff as well (even if it was the type of sightseeing I hate the most - that of the stop, click and go variety..no real depth)


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My first stop was the pottery studio I located yesterday.  They have some gorgeous stuff but as they only take cash (or personal cheque) I was only able to buy one thing (I'm going to see if I can swing back that way later in the trip though).

It's an absolutely gorgeous shallow serving bowl in Slytherin colours!!

....later...

I suppose it was inevitable.  As soon as I wrote the above it was as if I just had to unwrap my bowl to see if it was as pretty as I remember.

See... I love it!

...back to the day itself...

I stopped off at Lilydale quickly to pick up some supplies (and some cash) but didn't really linger as I wanted to get going and specifically get to Scottsdale where there was a large Tourist Information Centre.

It had occured to me that I could well be driving past a lot of interesting stuff which I didn't even realise existed so seeing that's what they're good at, to the Tourist information I headed.

The Scottsdale Tourist Information Centre is actually part of a Forest EcoCentre so I had a bit of fun poking around there as well.  Mainly just looking at some interesting information about the types of trees around (and about forest management)

I had a chat to one of the Ladies and she recommended a few places where I could do a quick stop over (as well as some walks which would have been really good if I'd had more time)

The first was at Legerwood where the locals planted some memorial trees for WW1 veterans but they needed to be taken down (I wasn't told why and there was nothing on the plaques) - ?if they'd become a danger.  Anyway, the locals had chainsaw carved them as a memorial instead so the trees were there in a different form.  They were definitely interesting.



I was going to call into Derby next but couldn't get through town as the Targa was going through there and the road was closed (this was only one of two times I encounted them during my Tasmania trip - both today, and both of them turned out advantageous)

There was a designated detour and the scenery was simply beautiful.  I would have completely missed it if I hadn't been forced to take an alternate route which would have been a shame.



My next 'planned detour' was slightly longer (and down a dirt track...my car really wasn't happy about it but she pulled through magnificently).  The reason I wanted to visit Derby was that it was here where Tin used to be mined (and possibly still could be, I don't really know as I didn't 'get the tour').  Up in the mountains there's a lake which is a blue-green colour due to the tin mining and I thought it'd be fun to see.  The water was a definitely different colour to that down in the valley.



Soon afterwards there was a lookout just off the highway which gave a really worthwhile view.  I stopped for a bite of lunch there and it tasted so good.



Then it was down the mountain, across the valley and I was just about to head up over the next pass when I came across a sign advising that the road was closed for another 25 minutes due to Targa going through.   I was right near Pyengana which I had been going to skip as the main attraction was a cheese factory which I've been to a few variations of by now.

It turned out to be really sweet though.  I had a devonshire tea and sat out the back looking at the cow sheds (yes, they had cow sheds out the back...see). Gorgeous outlook as well.





Then it was straight through to St Helens feeling rather pleased with myself.  I picked up a hot-cross bun (not good at all, must remember not to buy from them again) and then it was up north (just a touch) to Binalong Bay.

Binalong Bay is the southmost tip of the 'Bay of Fires'  which I would have loved to have had the time to see all of, but due to the inelasticity of time I just couldn't get in.  What I did see in my short (45 mins) vist was spectacular.  There was a lot of ooh and ahh believe me.



Then it was straight back in the car and down the coast to Swansea.  I didn't do any more detours as I hadn't managed to find the Tourist Info at St Helens (and I was truthfully also feeling the time pressure)







Then to just check in to my motel (which I didn't particularly like - still The River House was so good practically anything else would suffer in comparison)

Here's the usual link to the complete set of photos relating to today.

Peace (and cuteness)

Today was my last full day in Launceston so I was trying to gather in a few things I hadn't had the time to do.  When I was on the Tamar River Cruise a few days ago, the Wetlands were pointed out to me (and then I drove past them yesterday when I felt like taking the alternate route back to town  to buy my 'funky boots').  I really wanted to give it a visit as I honestly can't remember the last time I visited a wetlands.

I also wanted to squeeze in some wineries as I had my recommendations now (and had checked out the web to confirm) and I'd been told of a pottery studio which was worth the visit.  With regard to my souveniers I like to get something which is good quality but able to be used.  Not that I don't adore some of my pretty, pretty 'dust gatherers' but I also love the reminiscences I can get when I use something I bought while on holiday.  I tried to start out early, but failed (again)



The Wetlands were really worth the visit (and very well organised actually).  I was met my a volunteer before I even got to the visitors centre and he pointed out some frogs sitting by the side of the river.



He was saying how these frogs are actually a different colour than usual in that Green and Gold Frog usually has a more vibrant colouration.  This led us to chatting about what advantages the change in colour could have.  Which then got him to mention that this particular frog species is the most commonly seen in the wetlands as they have the habit of sitting on the edge of the river looking into the water.

If their natural predator came from the water it would make sense, however it comes from the land and is a snake.  So we then started chatting about dangerous creatures in Tasmania, and apparently the animal which causes the highest number of deaths each year in Tasmania is an ant!  Specifically, the Jack Jumper Ant.  If it stings someone who is sensitive to their venom they can go into anaphylactic shock and if they don't have an epi-pen with them...

From Wikipedia:

jack jumper ants cause more deaths in Tasmania than spiders, snakes, wasps, and sharks combined

Anyway, after that really interesting discussion, I continued my course through the wetlands (over the walkway)




It was low tide when I was there and on the second bridge I came across the black swans who lived in the wetlands.



Including one who decided that he needed to walk through the mud to get to the reeds.



And he just kept going until he got there (then I lost sight of him I confess)



Finally I reached the island at the edge of the wetlands.



I found a nice quiet spot and just sat for a while and enjoyed the quiet.



I even had some visitors. I could only capture one in a picture, he's in the shadow.



On the way back to my car the tide had started the come in (in such a short time)

Beautiful!

Then it was off to the wineries.  I didn't really get many pictures (too busy tasting) but one of the highlights was the Jantz vineyard / cellar door.  They keep ducks and they were on the way back to the pond when I was leaving.



Well, truthfully I don't know if it's them or Piper's Brook (neighbouring) but it didn't dimish their cuteness in any fashion.

I visited 4 cellar doors all up (Velo, 9th Island, Piper's Brook, Jantz) and bought something from each of them.  At Velo I got into a conversation about travel and was told about a walking tour through Turkey which sounded mega-fun (I've misplaced the piece of paper the details were written on for me, I'm hoping to find it when I unpack).  Then at Jantz I was told about the Ten Days on the Island which I'd missed.  I got a copy of the brochure and I'm thinking that if I do come back to Tasmania again that I'd like to ensure I come when it's on.

By the time I located the pottery at Underwood it was 16:50 so I didn't think it was a good time to go.  I'll try to swing by there on the way to Swansea tomorrow (at least I know where it is and that if you enter the road at the other end to the one I used it's really close to the main road).

Then it was time to head back into town as I hadn't done the Cascade Gorge walk as yet, not the long circuit, just the easy one along the Gorge itself.  I got there at twilight and it was magical.  Unfortunately my pictures don't exactly show this (due to the lighting) but please believe me..



On the lawn near the rotunda I also saw some members of the wallaby family (I think) but couldn't see enough to be sure of what they were but the shape looked right. 

Dinner I was in a bit of a mood and just drove around aimlessly as nothing seemed right so ended up not having anything.  I wasn't hungry anyway.

Here's the link to all of my photos for today.

Walk in the Narawntapu National Park

Today was to be a walk day.  I'd been reading up and it looked like there was a really nice walk up at Badger Head in one of the northern National Parks (Narawntapu - I always have to look that name up).  The full walk was rated medium-hard (includes rock scrambling) but there was also an easy option where you turned back part-way through.  Nice and flat, it looked like a good idea.

I didn't manage to set off as early as I would have liked (a symptom of having breakfast at 8am, I can never really get out until after 9am.) but I got on the road and headed north.  I'd passed the turnoff yesterday so I was feeling pretty confident.

The River House is on the east shore of the Tamar and I needed to get to the West so I crossed at the Batman Bridge.



The driving instructions then said

'follow the A7 highway along the western side of the Tamar River for 39km through Exeter to Beaconsfield.  Continue for 700m to the northern edge of the town then turn left and follw the sealed C629 road towards Greens Beach ...Continue north-west for 8km then turn left onto the signposted road to Bakers Beach.  Follow the gravel road for 10k to enter the national park.'


I was fine until the last bit.  Somehow I managed to take the wrong gravel road.


View Larger Map

You may notice that there's a second gravel road which passes all the way from east to west of the park.  That's the one I managed to get on.   It was definitely spectacular but I wasn't exactly keen to stop in case someone came up behind me.  Still I made it.

Fortunately there was a different walk which could be done from this end of the park, namely the Archers Knob & Copper Cove Circuit.  It was a bit long (15.7 km all up according to my walking book) but it didn't look too bad and when I checked with the Ranger she thought I should be able to do it.

My main concern was that I didn't actually have lunch with me today, just muesli bars.  Still, nothing wrong with that.  At least they're better than nothing and I did have plenty of water so I knew I'd be fine.

It was absolutely gorgeous.  Completely different terrain to Liffey Falls.



But gorgeous in it's own way.



I did the climb up Archer's Knob and the view from the top more than made the effort worthwhile



Then back down and onto Baker's Beach itself where the embedded shells had really marked slipstream trails which were parallel to the shoreline (the tide must do some crazy things)



I started heading up Little Badger head and got to the plateau on the top but decided to turn back as the ground was getting boggy and I was starting to get a bit clumsy (sign of tiredness).  I had 2 near slips and didn't want to chance a third which completed itself (especially as I was walking alone and hadn't seen anyone else on the track)



All up I did 14 km today (I think, I've estimated to take account of where I turned back..it was 6.5km to the bottom of Little Badger head then 2.4km across it - I figure I did about half of that so I rounded down a bit to be sure).  Out of curiosity I checked out the Liffey Falls Walk from a couple of days ago and that was 7.2 km (according to 'Day Walks Tasmania' - an excellent purchase by the way) so I've done 21.2 km so far this trip!!!

After doing the walk I treated myself to buying some new boots.  I didn't need them but I had a booking for dinner tonight at the Launceston Yacht Club and thought it deserved something better than my R.M. Williams (although they have proved themselves indispensible in so many ways).  And they were on sale so a definite win.  Truth be told, I've been looking for a new pair of 'dress boots' for a while now (since I broke the heel on my last ones about 9 months ago) and this just was the right time.

Dinner was gorgeous!  I don't know if they were on their mettle due to the Targa (Carl from The River House mentioned that he'd had variable service there) but it was the little things which made a difference.  I'd made my booking for just myself (obviously) and when I arrived they had a selection of 3 magazines for me to browse through between courses).  They were also marvellously attentive (the table in front of me dropped one of their knives on the floor and someone was checking on them and bearing a replacement knife within a few minutes).

Entree was fine but I indulged myself with the main and ordered a seafood platter so I could try a little bit of everything.  Glorious!!! (and another example of me staying strong and not feeling compelled to eat everything on the plate once I felt full).

Once again, here's the link to all my photos related to today

A bit of a mixed day

Today started out fantastically.

This is what I woke up to this morning.



Breakfast was included with my accomodations and I'd come to an agreement the night before that I didn't really need a cooked breakfast and that continental was just fine.  And it was indeed marvellous.

Freshly cut fruit salad, muesli, some of the best yoghurt I've had for ages (from the Tamar Valley Dairy in case you were curious, have to get me some of this for home) and 1 1/2 pots of coffee made me very happy and definitely prepared for the day.

The plan today was to do the North-Eastern side of the Tamar River but it wasn't quite what I was hoping (not as much to do as I wanted).  I really wanted to see the Low Head lighthouse which was really interesting but you could only really walk around outside and I found it difficult to get a really good image of the lighthouse itself.  It was interesting though to read about the semaphore stations which were used to transfer information down to Launceston.

This was the best shot I could manage (down the hill on the stroll up to the lighthouse..definitely pretty surroundings)



I was in the mood for cliffs but all I found was beach after beach after beach and I just wasn't in the mood today.

I drove past some wineries but didn't go in as I haven't really investigated which ones I really want to visit and didn't want to spend time somewhere 'acceptable' when there was somewhere 'outstanding' I could be.  I must admit that I was also a wee bit concerned about fixing up my internet as I've got a fair time to go until I'm home and I freely admit that I'm addicted to checking certain forums (HC) and boards (Staff Room).  So I really wanted to get back to Launceston proper as I've decided the easiest way around this is to buy a new pre-paid mobile broadband as I'll have all the proper numbers to install it.  I tried reinstalling my existing broadband last night but as the box was left at home I didn't have what I needed.

Mission accomplished I decided to see if I could get on the afternoon Tamar River cruise.  This was something I wanted to do as it looked interesting and I certainly can't see how else I would have been able to view things from this particular perspective.  Obviously (from the tense of the previous sentence) I managed to get on and it was so worth it.

Here's a sample of what I saw (I'll link to the complete set at the bottom of this post again)











I spent way too much time standing on the bow of the boat taking photos.  So much so that I've given myself a bit of a sniffle.  Still,  if I was going to stand in the wind wearing a t-shirt with just a clapotis for warmth, I don't really have anyone but myself to blame do I?

Dinner wasn't anything particularly special, just a burger down near where the boat came in.  It was a really good burger though.

Here's the link to my photoset for today