Peter & Ulrika On Tour

So to Canberra for a week to see the sites. After spending so much time in country towns it felt like a big city. A big city with a million round abouts.

The view from Mt Ainslie Lookout.

Of course a day at the War Memorial was required. Lest we Forget.

The next very chilly morning we were up early for a balloon flight over Canberra. Not much wind but we floated over Royal Canberra Golf Club & Yarralumla. As always we finished with the traditional glass of champagne.

The same afternoon we went for a quiet electric sail on Lake Burley Griffin. The weather was perfect (the cheese & champagne where OK as well).

A day of wandering around the Parliament Houses, luckily all the criminals we call politicians were out lying to their constituants.

First up was Old Parliament House which was built in 1927 & was only supposedly to last for 50 years. A classic old building, if only the walls could talk.

Then up the hill to the New Parliament House. We did the architectual tour & it was most interesting. A great & in its own way beautiful building.

Even Bertha got her photo taken!

Lunch with my beautiful cousin Christine at the National Portrait Gallery & then a look around. Ulrika found her favourite portrait.

Across the road to the Art Gallery for a dose of culture.

I particularly liked this exhibit.

Another busy day with a visit to the Canberra Glassworks to watch the alchemy which is glass making. We could watch this forever.

A quick trip to the mint to see lots of coins not being made.

Then lunch at the Arboretum. The highlight was the Bonsai display. Some of these trees are over 50 years old!

Thanks for dinner Peter & Kerrie, it was good to catch up.

A quick trip to Canberra Ginnery to stock up.

Schrivener Dam controls the water level in Lake Burley Griffin. It was only completed in 1964, 50 years after the idea of Canberra was first developed.

The last few days in Canberra we stayed at the Canberra Zoo & specifcally at the Jamala Wildlife Lodge. Our room was in Ravi’s enclosure. Ravi is a 10 year old male Sumatran tiger & the layout of the room allows us to get up close & personal with him.

Isn’t he a beautiful boy.

In the lodge itself there are lots of wonderful African art.

The food & service was as good as it gets.

When we first arrived we were greeted by the Colobus monkeys, then at dinner the hyenas & white lions.

There are lots of other animals.

Ulrika had the opportunity to get up close & personal with Solo the 5 year old male Cheetah. They were both excited over the encounter.

And so ends our visit to Canberra, off to Normanville housesitting for a couple of months.

So we got off the boat & headed up the road for a night at the Ettamogah Pub just outside of Albury. It is the original Ettamogah built in 1987. Great spot.

Off to Batlow for a few nights to enjoy this apple growing area.

A visit to Blowering Dam.

Into Tumut for lunch at The Tumut River Brewing Company.

Some nice buildings in town.

Ulrika had worn out her broom with the last full moon so had to find another one 🙂

A apple cidery & ginnery was enjoyable.

So we spent a week at Wee Jasper, one of our favourite spots of our trip. For most of the time we were the only ones there, ahh the serenity.

The bridge into Wee Jasper sets the scene.

A walk along the creek found lots of wombat burrows but no wombats, plenty of sheep bones.

Micalong Creek Waterfall was a climb & walk. On the road in there are a number of fishing huts that were 99 year grants to soldiers after WW2.

Lots of bird life.

We left Bruny Island & headed up north for our date with a big boat. Before we got there, however, we took time to drop into Launceston for some caravan repairs. We then headed down the Tamar River to a lovely little spot called Kelso.

We were hoping to see lots of wombats, however, over the last number of years mange has reduced the population in this area to a point where they are rarely seen.

We went to a walk in the old town of York Town. There is not much left to see but it is the 5th oldest settlement in Australia being settled in 1804.

The view from West Head near Greens Beach.

A couple of visits to local wineries.

Lunch at Beauty Point Waterfront Hotel was delicious with a wonderful view over some of the vessels of the Australian Maritime College.

The Auld Kirk Presbyterian Church built in 1845 & a lead light lighthouse on the Tamar River.

So we finally had to leave Tassie after another great visit. We will be back soon.

So we got the barge to Bruny Island for 5 days of gluttony. Staying at Adventure Bay, Captain Cook landed here in 1770.

A boat trip to the southern tip of Bruny Island was fun. The weather was great. The cliff faces, caves & water were magnificent. Australian Fur Seal colony on The Friars was entertaining.

A nice drive down to Cape Bruny Lighthouse.

A beautiful Flame Robin I was lucky to get a shot of.

A large lunch at Bruny Hotel followed by a Chocolate dessert.

Another day & more food. On the way we stopped in at the Neck for the view.

Next was the honey shop to resupply the van.

Off to Bruny Island Oysters.

We then had to drop in to pick up some cheese & bread

And them just to top off a ice cream at the Raspberry Farm

We were lucky to see the white wallaby that wanders around the island.

Stayed at Coles Bay on Freycinet Pininsula for a few days. The weather was ordinary on first day but it then cleared up. No walk or tour of Wineglass Bay this time as we have done it previously in perfect weather. What to do on an ordinary day, eat oysters.

A drive to the White Water Wall didn’t disappoint on a very swelly day.

Lucky to get a photo of this beautiful Scarlet Robin

A quick drive down a track to Bluestone Bay

The weather cleared up so we did a walk around Cape Tourville Lighthouse.

Lunch at Freycinet Lodge

A great view of The Hazzards from the boat ramp.

Always stop at the Pondering Frog, its always interesting, the hospitality and breakfast were great.

The Dunalley Hotel was the next stop for a night with dinner, unfortunatly it was not this crab. Did find a couple of mates in the back paddock, you know who you are 🙂

A couple of great days at White Beach on the Tasman Peninsula. Great spot, the beach was glorious.

The view out to Maingon Bay

Just around the corner is the Remarkable Cave. You could walk through at one stage but the nanny state won’t let you now.

We then did a 5km walk to the Maingon Blowhole. A bery impressive hole it is.

Ulrika found some pretty coastal plants on the walk.

A stop for a quick gin tasting.

Tessellated Pavement blows your mind.

Norfolk Bay convict Station is now a B&B. Lovely old building.

A quick 9 holes at the Tasman Golf Club. Not a bad view from clubhouse. The 8th is a ripper over the water.

The sunsets on the beach were spectacular. Each night was so different.

We spent a night in a pretty little town called Fingal. It has a free camp with power/water/toilets/shower/dump point & BBQ. It is right next to an old pot kiln that was used to burn saw dust from the timber yard that used to be on this site. What more could you ask for. Unfortunately these days its only claim to fame is that the last coal mine in Tassie is just out of town. The coal goes by rail to the cement factory at Railton.

There are a number of old churches & buildings that date back to the 1830’s.

Whilst we were there we thought we would take the back road up to Ben Lomond (the highest mountain in Tassie) hoping we would get a clear day. When we first arrived in the morning it was clouded in as usual. Luckily by the time we left it was clear.

The climb & descent on Jacobs Ladder is always fun.

This little fella was on side of road, he was curled up so we wouldn’t see him.

Next stop for a night was White Sands Winery & Ironstone Brewery. Nice lunch.

We then moved on to a free camp at Friendly Beaches. The weather had started to turn on the 2nd day with the wind from the South.

There where some interesting birds around on our walks on the beach & Moulting Lagoon.

This little fella was happy to camp with us.

A day in Bicheno was busy. First stop was the Lobster Shack for lunch & the view over the Gulch. Always a good feed.

Whilst we were there Bertha’s Grandmother turned up 🙂

Then off to the blowhole.

The Gulch is always spectacular.

The Farm Shed lead someone astray with the Gin tasting.

No internet or TV !

After a quick look around we decided to camp at Cosy Corner North. It is the most Northerly camp along this stretch & is well protected from wind. This wasn’t a problem as the wind was light for the majority of the time. The weather was actually wonderful for the whole week, mostly sunny & very little wind.

The whole area is full of free camps, most of them with toilets. You need to go to St Helens to fill up with water, empty toilet cassete & drop off rubbish.

These are some views of our beach.

The Gardens is a few Kilometres up the road. It has some of the best examples of coloured rocks.

Here are some more from around the area.

Oysters & Lobster were on the menu. $12/dozen for unshucked straight off rack. No photo of lobster but got it straight from this boat.

A couple of nice lunches at restaurants with great views.

Sitting around the fire at night was a popular pastime

Ulrika must have her coffee in the morning.

A few animals came to visit

Sunrise on the beach

We spent the long weekend in Launceston as there were a couple of things on that one of us wanted to attend.

First on the list was a quiet little drink at herselfs favourite champagne. A very upmarket vineyard for Tasmania.

We then partook of a steam up at Pearns Steam Museum at Westbury.

On the way we dropped in to a Garlic & Tomato farm. The farmer said it has been a bad year for garlic because of the wet winter. He grows over 140 varieties of tomato.

We had a little visitor most days at the caravan park. It was a little pademelon.

Next day we were off to Longford for the car festival. Longford has a long history of car racing with the Australian Grand Prix being held there in 1959 & 1965. It also held rounds of the touring car championship. Some great old cars on display.

Ulrika got excited with a red Ferrari.

There was also a truck show on at the showgrounds.

Where else but Tassie would you find a raffle for firewood.

Found a berry farm for scones & jam.

Moved up the road to Low Head which is at the mouth of the Tamar River.

A walk up to the Low Head Lighthouse & along the beach.

The Fairy Penguin colony always gives a good night out. Very cute, one of my sons thinks they walk like I do when I have had too many.

Moved across the road to Bridport to have a hit & catch up with an old mate.

Had a hit at Lost Farm on a glorious day with little wind, it even got warm. Ulrika played better to win the day.

Nice full moon. Where’s Ulrika?

Went for a drive to catch up with an old mate that owns Brook Eden Vineyard. Eddie was in good form & we came away with lots of wine & a little left in the wallet.

The old wharf at Bridport.

We had another hit, this time at Bougle Run. Its a new 14 hole mostly Par 3 course. A bit of fun on another beautiful day.

A drive down to Tomahawk for lunch on the boat ramp on a great Tassie day.

On the way we went down to Waterhouse Beach to try Bertha on the beach. It was high tide so the sand was soft.

They have this great idea of a Food Van Park.

Awesome sunset from Granite Head looking over Mermaids Beach.

Some other random photos.

Sunrise on our last day here.

We left Black River & headed to Waratah on the way to Cradle Mountain.

Waratah is an old tin mining town that dates back to 1871. It has a number of attractions that draw us back there, the waterfall in the middle of town, the platypus in the lake & the beer at the pub.

The platypus were elusive & it wasn’t great light for photos..

Headed off t0 Tullah ,the main reason was to catch up with Wee Georgie Wood who was steaming on the weekend. Tullah owes its existence originally to mining & then in the 70/80’s to the construction of the hydro dams in the area. When construction finished the town went into hibernation. The lodge where we parked the van was originally the Hydro workers’ barracks.

Wee Georgie is one of the locos that was used on the North Farrell mine. It was built in 1924 in Leeds, England & is named after a famous comedian of the era. The mine closed in 1967 & in the 80’s the town brought it back as a tourist attraction.

Six weeks before we arrived a bush fire came within metres of destroying the train & shed. You can see in the photos how close it got.

Wandered around looking at the beautiful countryside in the area.

We then headed up for three days at Cradle Mountain. We had great weather. The first night we did the Devil Sanctuary at sunset. A great experience we would thorougly recommend.

We did a number of the walks that we hadn’t done before.

One of the more interesting walks takes you to Waldheim, a guest house Gustav Weindorfer built in 1909. He is the main reason that Cradle Mountain is now a National Park.

Saw a few animals. Did you know that Wombat poo is square.

As always we took in all the waterfalls.

And as always had a quiet drink at Peppers Tavern.

After leaving the farm we headed up the road to Boat Harbour Caravan Park. It has a great view from high on the hill.

Drive up to Table Cape gave nice view back to Boat Harbour.

Went for a walk to Table Cape Lighthouse. Unfortunatly the tulip fields were empty as they are picked in early Spring. We even missed the poppies this year as we were told they picked them 2 weeks earlier than normal.

We saw a herd of deer on the way.

Found a new distillery on the way, they have only been open 4 weeks. Could not afford the Whiskey @ $295/bottle so went for a bottle of gin instead.

We then headed out to The Lobster Ponds. The fresh water lobsters are on the endangered list & can grow up to 1 metre in length & live to 60 years. We also got to feed the trout.

A drive up to Rocky Cape Lighthouse always gives a view of the coastline.

Dip Falls was next on our list. The tasselated rock is quite the feature as well as the many steps to get to the bottom.

Just around the corner is the big tree. Photos don’t do it justice, it is big.

We moved 50km up the road for a few nights free camping at Black River. Great beach with no one on it & a view to the Nut. We got a good sunset as well.

We snuck into Stanley for a wee lunch date.

A quick trip into Smithton to check out the oysters. Has been a tad windy.

So we visited Stanley again today & went to the same restaurant, this time herself had the Crayfish followed up by more oysters for dinner. Who’s the spoilt girl?

It was a bit rough on the water today due to the 20 knot winds. The view to the nut is always spectacular.

The old houses are well looked after, most of them date from 1840 -1880.

The little house & friend at Black River.