Sunday 16 August 2015

Rural Bothwell (11-12 June 2015)

Johns birthday was coming up and we wanted to spend it in Miena at the Great Lakes as he had mentioned a couple of times that he wanted to be there for it.  However,  the weather was not conducive  to driving the caravans up there with snow and icy roads.    So plan B …..we went to Bothwell, stayed overnight and drove up to Miena for lunch on his birthday.

Bothwell is a small rural village on the Clyde River (originally called Fat Doe River….Clyde sounds so much better) about an hour out of Hobart.  Nearby towns include Ouse and Hamilton and we drove  on a back road, in between properties and visited them.

The dirt roads are good in Tassie
Back to Bothwell….so pretty, although, being a hunting place, one view was not pretty….it was of about 12 Kangaroos which had been shot and gutted and were hanging up on a square wire fence thing.  Did take a photo but decided not to share it with you.

The nearby lakes are apparently excellent for trout fishing...didn't try that. And, Bothwell is also well known for Nant, the Whiskey Distillery.....didn't try that either...oh well, will have to go back. There is only so much you can do in two days, and one of them we drove to Miena for the day.

Bothwell from the lookout

St Michaels

The beautiful and historic buildings in Bothwell are a good example of Tasmania's colonial heritage.  It has more than 50 classified buildings..... it is like stepping back in time.


We camped at the back of the Information Centre, power and water for $20 per night.  Small but adequate.

My artistic photo of one of the stained glass windows. 







We were right next to the St Michael's Anglican Church which was consecrated in 1891.

It is built from local sandstone and has beautiful stained glass windows.

I didn't get to go inside but took a photo from the outside, capturing the light from the setting sun through the stained glass windows on the other side of the church from where I was standing.    It is a bit grainy as it was taken on my iPhone but you get the picture.




It was very cold overnight in Bothwell and the water pipe going from the tap outside to the van froze.  The Landcruiser was covered in frost, the ground was very frosty and we couldn't stand on the rubber mat outside of our door because it was frozen and would break.







Can you see the frost on the ground and on top of the hedge?  It looks pink, not sure why, may be the morning sun.








And here is our van in the parking lot of the information centre which is the building on the right with the two chimneys. Another old sandstone heritage listed building.








Castle Hotel



The Castle hotel is the only one left out of the four Georgian style hotels that were originally in Bothwell.

We enjoyed a lovely lunch there by the fire....enormous hamburgers for the three of us and Deb had soup. Someone that we met at Snug told us about the hamburgers so we had to see what the fuss was about.  They were delicious.









Bothwell had many bootmakers and one of the original shops still exists although it has been moved from its original position and is now in High Street.
















Couldn't resist this one....one of the many stone cottages in the streets of Bothwell








And lastly,  in the park opposite where we were stayed behind the information centre (which is also the golfing museum) is an unusual four faced sundial and one of twelve functional and accurate sundials in Tasmania.  The residents build it as a war memorial to locals that lost their lives in the first world war and features a sundial on all four of its faces.


Next....the birthday in Miena.




































Saturday 15 August 2015

Beautiful New Norfolk and snow (4 to 10 June 2015)

We left Snug and drove a massive 60 klms (tongue in cheek) to New Norfolk on the Derwent River.   New Norfolk is a peaceful place in beautiful surroundings and there are a couple of good look out spots, Pulpit Rock and Peppermint Hill.








             Views from Peppermint Hill











Views from Pulpit Lookout






New Norfolk is also close to Mount Field National Park (more about that later) and there are also a number of historic houses but the one area that we found most intriguing and at the same time a little sad, is the Willow Court Historic site.

Willow Court, was part of the former Royal Derwent Hospital and was so named because Lady Franklin (an interesting woman..click here for more info on her) planted a willow in the courtyard.  It is the oldest mental hospital in Australia on its original site.

There are a number of buildings on the site which are being restored.  Olga, which was a Boys Hospital is currently an antique and all things interesting and old shop….its going to be refurbished as a 300 seat restaurant.   Not sure what they would do with a 300 seat restaurant in a little place like New Norfolk, but there you have it.   But then again, there is the Norske Scog Boyer paper mill which employs some 300+ people.  In the Antique shop we saw everything you could imagine from reflectors for old cars to church doors ($4000) to diving boots ($3000) which weighed a tonne.

Olga and some of the old vehicles that littered the site
The Nurses Home is now neglected and overgrown.  The plan is to refurbish it as 5 star accommodation.   Two other buildings,  Lachlan which has been converted into luxury retirement units and Lyprenny will will be converted into 1 bedroom units.

Nurses Home
 There is also the Patchwork Cafe in the grounds of Willow Court which looks like it could have been a church at some stage.  The walls are adorned with huge, colourful patchwork covers which are designed and made by the Southern Cross Quilters.

Patchwork Cafe
This is all very well, if you know about it!  But to drive down a road and see all these old, derelict and dilapidated buildings with their windows knocked out or boarded up, is very sad given that New Norfolk is such a picturesque town.

We drove to Mount Field which is about 70 klms from New Norfolk passing through the hops fields at Bushy Park.  We did the Tall Trees walk to Russell Falls and then drove up through the snow to Lake Dobson.  The boys…..and Debbie, had great fun throwing snowballs…..me, I tried (successfully, I might say) to stay out of their way.

Although we had been to Mount Field before, it was great to go there again, to enjoy walking amongst the tall trees and the ferns, seeing the clear running water and then the beautiful Russell Falls.  We had not been to Lake Dobson before though, and enjoyed our time there, in the sunshine and in the snow.


You can see a tree that fell a long time ago over the pathway.  A gap has been cut through....standing next to it give you a sense  on how tall the tree had been.  It is good to see that it has been left to create a home for animals and plants. 


Above and below....Russell Falls, very pretty. 



A spectacular view on the way up to Lake Dobson


Ahh....snow!!!!


There is a layer of ice on the lake with snow right up to the water





Didn't dodge that one.....hehe

Nick, Deb and John...just prior to a snow fight.

Monday 3 August 2015

All Aboard...Tassie here we come (28 April to 3 June 2015)


After delaying our crossing to Tasmania for a month, the day had finally arrived.  The Spirit of Tasmania was due to sail at 7.30pm and boarding is 2.5 hours prior to that.  So, we got in the line early, parked illegally, kept an eye out for the parking police and waited for the gate to be opened.

Nick, John and Deb, waiting to board.  
And, up we go....into the hold.
Well, we spotted the guy walking towards the gate, we started up & snuck in ahead of some other vehicles, ending up in the front of the line for large vehicles going onto the deck with the trucks and semi-trailers.

Having done this before, we divided up.   My task was to get to the Leatherwood Restaurant to make a dinner booking, Deb was tasked with hitting the travel shop for brochures and the boys were tasked to locate our the cabins.
We met up again and were able to purchase yearly National Park Passes for only $70....bargain considering it costs $25 entrance fee to each park.

We had a lovely dinner then sat in a lounge having couple more drinks before heading to the cabins to sleep.

Deb and I found it a bit rough and were glad our ginger tablets.  It wasn't until the early hours of the morning that the sea calmed down and we had smooth sailing into Devonport.  

Deb and I...and you can see Nick taking the photo in the mirror behind us and a part of John's head. 

















The internal PA woke us up about an hour before we were due to disembark.  We met in the lounge for coffee and the first thing we saw out of the window was Macca’s…..what an awful sight....they are everywhere.

Anyway, we were called to go to our vehicles and off we went.  It was very cold in the hold and even colder outside.


We stopped at the Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm for breakfast, sitting in front of a lovely open fire.  At last, we are here, Tasmania, were we plan to stay for a considerable period of time, experiencing all the seasons and what they have to offer.

First stop, Campbell Town.  We free camped in Blackburn Reserve for a couple of days …. it was windy and cold. Set the vans up to with a windbreak to create an warm cave between them.  But, by 4pm, it was getting cold and we had no fire to light but did have the diesel heater inside.  

Parked in the Blackburn Reserve, the kinky Kedron and the hot Halen are now friends.  
We headed for Snug, which is 30 minutes south of Hobart, stopping in Ross of course, for one of their famous pies.

Snug turned out to be a great base from which to explore the area and we ended up staying there for 5 weeks.    Being winter the park fees were very reasonable, AUS $19 per night (if you stay for 28 or more days).  It also had a great camp kitchen with an awesome fireplace.

Nick sitting next to the Fire in the camp kitchen





You would find us there most afternoons, from around 3pm.  One of the boys would light the fire and we would take our camp chairs down along with drinks or if we were there earlier in the day, we would take tea and coffee etc.

Looking from the beach in front of the Snug Caravan Park across the D'Entrecasteaux Channel to Bruny Island at dusk.








Snug was discovered by Admiral Bruni D’Entrecasteaux, and the channel running between the coast and Bruny Island is named after him. There have been a number of industries in Snug or nearby, the most notable was the Electrona Carbide Factory which later became a silicon smelter which finally closed in 1991.

Sunrise....

During the 1967 bush fires, (which became known as the Black Tuesday bushfires) Snug was devastated, with two thirds of the houses, two churches and half of the school destroyed.  Eleven people lost their lives.

During our stay in Snug, John did some research and found a man in Melbourne who converted 9kg gas bottles into fire pits so we bought two of them and had them delivered to the van park.  John couldn't wait to try his out…well….he had to make sure it worked you know and it sure did.  We store ours on the caravan rear bumper and I sewed a waterproof cover for it, by hand, I might add.

From Snug, we ventured by ferry to Bruny Island for a day,  did our shopping in Kingston, went to the Salamanca Markets in Hobart (twice). Went to numerous coffee shops, toured the area along the Channel Highway which runs parallel to the broad and very full, Huon River, taking in Oyster Cove, Kettering, Woodbridge, Cygnet, and up the hill to the Hartzview Winery, then onto Woodstock and Huonville.
The quaint Ida Bay Station.  



Later on we toured Huon Highway on the other side of the Huon River through Geeveston, Dover and Southport (very English names), stopping for lunch at the Ida Bay Railway, and then on the dirt road down to Cockle Creek which is the southern most point on mainland Tasmania…..the next stop…Antarctica. In fact, standing at the Cockle Creek, you are closer to Antarctica than you are to Cairns.

Nick and Deb standing next to the beautiful Whale Sculpture at Cockle Creek
Cockle Creek, even the weather looks cold and is was also very windy.
We visited the Grandvewe Cheese place, which we did the last time we were in Tassie in 2010.  That time we actually took our vans there….we must have been crazy…..it is a narrow road, how we turned around I will never know, but we did.  Anyway, their organic sheep’s cheese is as nice as we remembered….and we stocked up.  Not cheap..but what the hell, you only live once.

The sheep that provide the milk that makes the cheese.  
View from the deck
There is never enough sheep's cheese in the world……

The owner doing the Cheese tasting at Grandvewe told us about an abattoir in Cradoc that opens to the public on Friday afternoons from 2 - 5pm with limited meat available.   So we went up there and bought some steak…it was fantastic and went back the next week.  Unfortunately, a lady got there before us and nearly bought everything….lesson, be early next time. We did leave Snug with a freezer full of good steak though, so we can't complain.



Next stop….New Norfolk