Tasmania Trip Day Two

Another early start, we were showered, breakfasted and on the road by 7.30am. We wanted to see the blow hole, Tasman arch and Devils Kitchen before arriving early at Port Arthur. We were thinking we might book into the cruise for 10am and spend the afternoon at Port Arthur.
It was a wise move. We were able to park easily and the early morning sea views were stunning. This is the blow hole. It was low tide and a calm day so it wasn't blowing. Would love to see it in wild weather! This is the Tasman Arch. Very hard to capture the scale of it with a photo. Suffice to say it gave me vertigo!

This is the Devils Kitchen, very deep I couldn't get it all in shot. We arrived at Port Arthur by 9am and as it was raining decided, regretfully that we would need to leave the boat trip for another time.
This meant we had the whole day at Port Arthur and it took that long and it still felt like we rushed through some things. I think at least two days would be required to see it all.

However we don’t mind leaving things for another trip!!
We also were ahead of the crowds at Port Arthur due to our early start. We did a walking tour first up which gave us an overview and then joined a harbour cruise to pass the Isle of the Dead and the boys prison.
We headed to the bistro for an early lunch, as it was raining, and also to beat the crowds, then started the audio tour, which was excellent. It took about three hours all up for the audio tour and we walked over the whole site. It is a fascinating place and well worth the visit. Even K ISA who probably set out to do the day for my sake, being more of a futurist than an historian, enjoyed the day

We came across this accident on the way to Port Arthur. A truck had overturned, trying to pick up a load of stones.

Lots of lovely old english trees at Port Arthur. Some of the houses on the site. They were open to inspect and restored. A view across the guard tower and barracks ruins. A bushfire swept through the site in 1895 destroying the buildings. As the settlement had closed by then, they were not rebuilt. Only a fraction of the many buildings originally here remain. A harbour cruise was included and was very interesting. This is looking back from the boat. Looking across the ruins from the guard tower. KISA behind bars at last! This was in the hospital ruins. The ruins of the penitentary. It looks so peaceful these days, but it wasn't in its day. The thing around my neck was the player for the audio tour. It was very good value and we recommend it. This is the remains of the church. It was quite an impressive building considering it was only in use for about 40 years. KISA stands at the church entrance listening to his audio tour. There were lovely gardens around for the people "of quality" to stroll around in. On our way out we met this little robin, who kindly stayed in one place enough for me to take his photo.

Tasmania Trip Day One

After an early start we arrived in Brisbane at 8am where we were delayed for an hour or so. We then boarded for our nearly 3 hour flight to Hobart. We arrived about 1pm and cleared quarantine collected our bags and went to collect the hire car. KISA was unimpressed to find we had a Nissan Xtrail.
We headed for the Tasman Peninsula and pulled into Sorrell to get some groceries and some lunch. We had an uninspiring curried scallop pie each then hit woollies and the bottle shop. On our way again we drove for about an hour to reach Eaglehawk Neck, the narrow strip of land that joins the Tasman Peninsula to the mainland. A nearby lookout afforded wonderful views of the coast. We found our accomodation and settled in.
We are staying in an old convict settlement at the Cascades. It was used as a timber logging spot for the building work going on at Port Arthur. We are in one of the officers cottages. It has one bedroom, a sitting room/kitchen with an open fire and a bathroom. After settling in we checked out a little private museum attached to the cottages.
We went for a walk along the waterfront to the old convict jetty from where they shipped the logs and the sandstone they cut from the cliffs. Afterwards we sat at the seafront with a bottle of bubbles and watched the evening arrive. One of the locals, named Noel and his dog Penny, came to entertain us. He even took us to the ruins of the barracks and the solitary cell and gave us a little guided tour. There is a huge walnut tree in the barracks yard. We stayed watching the sea till about 8pm then went back to our cottage to cook tea and build the fire.
We cooked up some gnocchi with a bottled lemon cream sauce and salad and watched the fire. We crashed early as we had started at 4am. Slept very, very well in our iron bedstead. It was a cool night, a very pleasant change from Mackay
Our first glimpse of the magnificent Tasman Peninsula. As you can see the weather is beautiful, cool and not humid. A little museum is part of the group of cottages where we are staying. Among the curios was this huge crab shell We are staying in the old officers quarters of a former convict workstation. Ours is the middle door. The cottages are by the shores of Norfolk Bay. This is about 20 yards from our door. We went for a walk around the shore line. We came across some sandstone cliffs and a jetty from where they shipped the stone they cut and the logs they milled to Port Arthur.

The early settlers planted trees from home as they got so homesick. This is an oak tree and it is nearly 200 years old. We took some wine down to the shore about 7pm. The sun didn't set until 9.15 or so. We were in bed by then! While we were enjoying our wine, one of the locals came down to walk his dog. He was a bit of a character and gave us an impromptu history lesson and tour of the settlement. This is the living area of our cottage. It was cold enough in the evening for a fire. This made KISA very happy! The bedroom. That bed was surprisingly comfy!The bathroom came off this room.

Milestone day today

Today I am 50.
I don't know that I like that idea much.
Son 24 and Miss R gave me a Ken doll, modified. Barbie and Ken are the same age as me. So they made him more realistic! They also added a voucher for an extensive pamper session.


This dude on a Harley came by to give Debs a ride. She loved it.

A lot.

We had a gathering in the evening for my birthday. Everyone had to wear a quotable T Shirt.

This woman knows how to address a birthday cake!

End of year round up

Because we have been naughty Westnet subscribers and exceeded our download limit for the month, we have been punished by having our internet speed reduced to dial up speed. Which makes it tricky to blog. So here, in the final post for the year, is a mish mash of all the blog posts I would have made this week, had I been able to. Or if I had got up in the middle of the night to do it. Which I didn't!
Just before Christmas, the plantation shutters we ordered for the lounge room (before the unit purchase) were delivered and installed. They look really good and changed the play of light into the room. They give us more privacy and give us control of the breeze flow a little.

This is how they look closed. The room is surprisingly darker when they are closed, and much lighter when they are opened. Jdubya took KISA and Debs in a ride in a BMW convertible. I think they enjoyed it. They drove to ten pin bowling and back. Everyone had a turn in the front! After Christmas, we had a few VERY lazy days, reading, eating leftovers etc. The more enegetic ones played on the Wii. Hula Hoop provided much hilarity. KISA and the divine Miss R had the best techniques. Although this is Son 24 trying his moves. On the Sunday after Christmas, KISA organised a tour of the coal terminal for the young ones. They got to go right to the end of the 3 1/2 kilometre jetty and onto the top of the coal loader. From there they can look into the ships. Debs enjoyed an outing a little off the tourist trail. I think they all enjoyed themselves. It was a beautiful day and just getting out on the jetty would have been spectacular. They all look pretty good in the safety gear don't you think?

After a very hot day, we went to the harbour in the late afternoon on Monday, to have a BBQ and enjoy the sea breezes. A game of footy on the grass, followed by sausages, onions and hot dog rolls, with cold drinks. A few handstands after dark. Debs shows us her style, then Jdubya and Tash shared theirs.

Very early Tuesday morning, KISA and I took Debs up to Eungella to see a platypus. We were lucky as we only saw one, but that one was very active. We arrived just after 6am. After watching this one for about 20 minutes, he decided to head further upstream, so we decided to drive to the dam for a look. There were lots and lots of campers at the dam,and the water level was much lower than when we were there last. The view from the lookout was just as spectacular, though the morning sun was bright! Here we are again at this spot. Debs took this one for us. We headed back for more platypus spotting but not a ripple. They avoid the heat and even by 8am were back in their burrows. So we had breakfast in Finch Hatton and headed home. We will be having a quiet New Years Eve here. KISA is on call and we will be at home. Jdubya is coming by and all the kids are going out. We hope you all have a happy and safe new year. Our punishment with Westnet ends today, so hopefully, in the New Year we will resume our regular posting!