photos to come

Saturday 23.3.2013

I know, I know and the only excuse is that I’m supposed to be on holiday and taking it easy but when we get messages in the middle of the night asking where is the blog it makes me think that I have to get onto it and tell you stuff.

We’re in Sorell, which is on the eastern side.  Before I forget I have to tell you that nearly everywhere we’ve been there’s lakes and water.  They’ll never run out of it.

So, Sorell is a nice little town and it has a Macca’s which is always a good sign although their Wi-Fi isn’t too crash hot.  We’re camping on the cheap ($21.00 for five nights) with Andre and Paula who we met in Burnie I think.  We kept running into them so more or less decided to travel together.

We’ve visited Richmond, which has the oldest bridge in Australia and a lovely bridge it is too.  There’s ducks and other water birds hovering round.  It also has a bakery where they serve the best coffee we’ve had whilst being in

Tasmania.

We spent a few nights in the scout campground in Kingston.  This was in the middle of the bush and Chris and Sue, who are from Queensland and who we met at Evandale turned up so there were six couples there.  Rain poured from the sky the second night but on the first night Steve made a fire and we sat round it talking.  It was quite smoky and there were thousands of little bugs in the smoke, which we all thought was strange because they usually disappear.

It was in Kingston that I took a tumble and landed on my back.  I’m very aware when I’m falling and it’s unusual for me to drop what I’m carrying.  When I fell over my floppy foot and broke two bones I didn’t drop the cup I had in my hand and this time I kept hold of the stuff I was taking into the caravan.  

Chris and Andre both shot over to help me up.  I just lay there wondering if I was okay and I was.  I could say my pride was damaged but I’d be lying.  I’m just pleased I’ve got this far without anything serious happening to me.

We learnt this week that Paige, who left hospital yesterday after being in for three weeks, has diabetes.  This is part of Cystic Fibrosis.  I’m unable to enlighten you further other than to say it’s to do with her pancreas.  Perhaps when Beth isn’t as busy as she is she’ll be able to type up something and I’ll put it on here.

So, along with all the other stuff Paige has to endure she also has to have insulin injections.  I’m hoping that by the time we get home she’ll be confident about it all and there won’t be any dramas.

Strange how stuff works out:  On Facebook Beth mentions about Paige and diabetes and the very next post is from my cousin’s granddaughter, Gemma, who lives in England and also has C.F.  She’s an adult and she’s just been diagnosed with diabetes.  Out of all the posts that are typed up these follow on from each other.

We went to Port Arthur earlier in the week to see where the convicts were brought.  This place was also the scene of a massacre in 1996 when a guy lost the plot and started shooting people who were in the café.  Not sure how many people died but I was told he got 34 life sentences.  Apparently when the shooting started people thought it was a re-enactment and walked towards the area and they got caught up in it all.  The café is no longer used and the roof has been removed.

There’s almost nothing else at Port Arthur other than the remains of the prison and associated buildings but it’s very tidy and overlooks the bay. The day we went a cruise ship was anchored in the harbour and it seemed that most of the passengers were also visiting.

The following day we went to the coalmine.  I stayed in the car because the entrance is via a walk through the bush.  There were cells that the convicts slept in which were 8’x6’ with no light.

First few weeks

It’s a bit of a worry when you’re parked in the bush and in the middle of the night you smell smoke.  We’re at Lake Mackintosh, can’t actually see much of the lake because the ‘permanent’ campers have got the best spots.   Obviously we’ve not been caught in a fire but my acute senses did smell smoke, Steve says someone had a fire going – I sincerely hope it won’t be going again.  

                                                  

                                                                                                                        

To get to this spot we had to drive over the dam wall.  There’s a sign saying no overtaking which is quite unnecessary as the wall is only slightly wider than the caravan    

The sign over the dam, has been changed by someone

I was in charge of breakfast this morning so I made something in line with my capabilities in the kitchen.  We each had a replacement meal shake.  I came down the step and shook them both and half of Steve’s went all over the place because, again in line with my kitchen expertise I’d not secured the top.  I laughed, Steve didn’t.

I broke another tooth.  I’m thinking it must be an age thing although there are some people who still have their own teeth in their 80’s.  I don’t understand why my health is so bad.

We spent a night at Beaconsfield, where the mining accident happened. 

We also spent time at Evansdale where they have a penny-farthing race but we didn’t stay for that.

Some time ago we saw a program on t.v. about Sheffield where they have heaps of murals on various walls around the town.  They’re really good and it was here that we bought tee shirts for the littlies.

We haven’t done any rushing about.  We’re taking it easy and enjoying the peace and quiet.  We’re here until the 23^rd April when we sail back to Melbourne.  We haven’t discussed what we’re going to do when we’re back on the mainland because it’s so far away.

We have to be back in June or July as I have an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon.  I have to have x-rays to make sure my hips are okay.  If they’re not I wonder what he’ll want to do.  So far this year I haven’t had any disasters, apart from breaking a tooth.  I have to make a conscious effort to walk carefully and take time getting in and out of the caravan because the last thing I want is to fall.

They have sparrows and starlings in Tasmania.  We’ve also been told they have blackbirds and I haven’t seen one of those since the last time we were in England.  I’m surrounded at the moment by big fat bumble bees, complete with yellow stripes, buzzing around.  We don’t have these types of bees in Perth, we have wasps which are referred to as bees but they’re not ‘real’ bees.

Before we left home Steve fitted two tanks in the back of the truck.  One is for diesel and the other for water.  I have a real fear that we’re going to run out of water, even though we carry litres of the stuff for drinking.  I don’t know if it’s because water is so precious in Perth but I do feel a lot better knowing we have plenty with us.

We had a laugh when he went to fill up with diesel when we landed at Devonport because he’d had to use the spare diesel and he wanted to make sure we didn’t get caught without some.  When he was filling the tank a lady asked him what he was doing and she thought it was hysterical and told him there are plenty of service stations to fill up.  When we were getting to Victoria we filled up at every station we passed because you never know where the next one will be.

We also carry a jerry can of petrol for the generator and because you can’t take spare fuel on the ferry Steve gave it to some German boys who were at Inverleigh with us.

Because of the solar we had fitted and the spare water tank we don’t need to go into a caravan park.  Like so many other caravaners of our age we don’t want bouncing castles or playgrounds and don’t like having to pay $30.00+ just to fill up with water and charge everything.  We are now totally self sufficient.  We charge the phones and ipads through the inverter and caravan battery which is charged by the solar.  If we want to do some washing then we use the generator and we also use this when we want coffee from the machine.

Since my hair has grown I don’t use the hair drier so don’t need power for that.

Trees, trees and more trees

New video about, the start of our trip around Tasmania

We've been in Tasmania for almost three weeks and I'm fed up of mountain roads and trees.  Yesterday we went from Queenstown to Strahan on the West Coast Wilderness Railway train, climbing up mountains and using the rack and pinion method (yes, I do understand how it works since they gave us a little model) and then we changed from a steam engine to a diesel.  Not my idea of fun.  I was bored to tears and spent most of the time trying to work out what jobs the various people in the carriage had done before they retired.

Today we felt as if we should be in Italy, driving up mountains with sheer drops on one side, double lines in the middle of the road which some motorists choose to ignore.  Steve pulls in whenever there's traffic behind us which means it takes us longer to get where we're going.  We travelled almost 100ks today.

They have sparrows, starlings and blackbirds here, also big fat bumble bees, Scottish thistles, rose bay willow herb and foxgloves.  I haven't seen any of these for years.  There's lots of bee hives around the place and the bees are very friendly.

The weather has been brilliant, blue skies and sunshine.  We're making our way towards Hobart, we're at Derwent Bridge, parked in the pub car park today and possibly tomorrow.  Yesterday I heard on the news that Hobart is on fire so I'm not in a hurry to move closer to it but we will have to move because I want to do some washing and it wouldn't be a good look to have the washing line out with knickers and socks waving around in a car park.