Tuesday 14 October 2014

LAUNCESTON
 After the chairlift we got back into our car and drove down to the harbour to do a cruise up the Cataract Gorge.  We were the only passengers at 3.30pm but Jeremy was more than happy to take us round the harbour, telling us  lots of information and then up the gorge.
 These beautiful units on the harbour had been Jeremy's home until just recently.  They loved living there, with it;s restaurants and shops nearby but decided they needed more space when their grandchildren come to visit.
 The harbour foreshore on the Tamar River is being redeveloped now that the mills and silos are no longer used for their intended purposes.  They are being turned into a convention entre and residential buildings surrounded by parkland.  They will also rebuild the old Kings Wharf which used to service international ship but has not been used and let run down since WWII.
 Some of the impressive period houses along the Tamar River telling of a past prosperous time.

 The beginning of the gorge where sits an old flour mill which ran a sleuce down the rock walls of the gorge carrying fresh water for use in the mill.  The sleuce was installed by Welsh miners who came out to work in a mine in the 1800's which went broke while they were on their journey out here.  The money from building the sleuce paid for their return to Wales. 
 This house, the only one on the gorge can be hired out for functions.  There is a walking path all the way along the gorge back to the chairlift.




When we got back to the carpark we were amused to see a lady walking two ferrets on leashes.

Friday 3 October 2014

TASMANIA - AFTER 43 YEARS
On 9th September Jeff and I flew to Launceston.  We had last toured Tasmania in l971 when we took our car to Tasmania from Melbourne and hired a caravan in Devonport and toured down the east coast and up the west coast.  We were young and naive and had never towed a caravan in our lives before. 
This time we flew to Launceston and hired a car, a VW Jetta and after a look around Launceston headed off down the Midlands Highway to our first b and b, Rose Cottage, at
Epping Forest.
 Cataract Gorge was our first stop.  We walked across this suspension bridge 43 years ago and as the chairlift had been installed since then we decided to take it over to the other side. 

 We had lunch in this quaint little tea house we saw from the chair lift.
 The gardens on the other side of the Gorge were so pretty and we were so taken with the peacocks that roamed the garden.
 At the Cafe there were signs that said "DON'T FEED THE PEACOCKS".  They were very annoying while you were eating your lunch.  Jeff tried to totally ignore this one as he ate his pie.
 Downstream of the Gorge looking down towards the Tamar River.
 Beautiful rhododendrons.  We saw them everywhere in Tassie.  And Daffodils, even on the sides of the road and out in paddocks.  I was surprised to see daffodils planted into the Australian bush.
 The famous Tasmanian Tree Ferns.  Sometimes called Man Ferns because they grow as tall as a man.
 A cute little wallaby eating an apple some people threw to him.
 Downstream of the Gorge.
Our VW Yarris we hired.  We weren't particularly impressed with it.  I would have loved to have layed my backrest back a little but never ever worked out how to, after much trying on several days.  The blinkers and wipers were on opposite sides than we were used to.  But apart from that it ran well, fitted in all our bits and pieces and was nice and warm, as the weather was still quite cool in Tassie.  About 13c when we arrived.