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.