Coffee and Pipes....

We are coffee people and love to have a favourite cafe to visit, to chill out in, to talk or do the iPad thing.  We have been in Ulverstone for four weeks now and have not found such a place although we went to a small cafe with great fresh food in Wynyard called Ladybugs Cafe.    Actually, went there twice for lunch.

Well, I was reading in the paper about community groups and one of them was meeting at a place called Mansours.  And, I know where they are because I have seen the sign for the turn off to them on the many trips we have made into Devonport.

So, on our way back from Devonport on Tuesday we decided to call in.  Not sure if there is any connection between the cafe and the farm but Mansours Cafe is located on a farm that grows fuchsias in very large greenhouses.  Sue (who I will tell you about shortly) knew the people who originally had that farm when they ran cattle on it.  Sue and Geoff are locals who were born and raised in Burnie.

Panaramic view from the deck of Mansours to Lillico Beach

Well, what a surprise….the cafe was just lovely.  It had a great view over Lillico Beach Conversation Area,  comfortable seating and it was bright and clean.  We only had coffee which was nice and made to the 80 degree temperature as required by Nick, so he was a happy chappy.

They are predominately a Lebanese Cafe that does traditional breakfasts, Lebanese style food for lunch as well as cakes and scones that are baked on site.  Over the summer months they also do a Middle Eastern Banquet dinner on a Saturday Night. Tempting.....

We spoke with one of the owners Leonore who said they are not on the “tourist route” but they service the local community.  And, there were people there when we arrived and more came in, so it is obviously popular with the locals.

After a lovely coffee and perusing the menu for later,  we decided will definitely be back for more coffee as well breakfast and also for a lunch over the next four weeks or so that we are in the area.

Comfy & colourful couch

Very inviting

We also had some visitors on Tuesday, locals who live in Launceston.  We met Sue and Geoff when we were camped at Cosy Corner North at the beginning of August.  They were staying at the Big4 St Helens and drove out to Cosy Corner North with some friends to check it out.    They all came over to check out our vans and camping set up and we all hit it off straight away.  Sue and Geoff said we must get in touch with them when we came to Launceston which we did and had a lovely dinner at their house which has an awesome view of the Tamar River along with their friends Jules & John and our friends Deb and John.

Anyway, we had a lovely two evenings with them.  Sue was not well (a cold) but that didn't stop her enjoying herself.  We cooked roast lamb on the BBQ last night, Sue and I drank champers and Geoff and Nick had a whisky appreciation tasting of the whisky that Geoff brews.

Geoff piping for his dinner.....haha

Geoff is also an accomplished piper and he played for us in our annex on his “small pipes” it was great.  Geoff has piped at the Edinburgh Tattoo so he is obviously at a very high standard.  We hope to catch him playing when he is at St. Andrews Richmond Highland Gathering in Richmond Tasmania in February 2016.

So now we have a coffee spot...yay

Where are we? Yep....still in Tasmania, on the top so to speak.

Sunrise at Penguin, about 13 Kms west of Ulverstone.  Can you see the vapour trail?

We  have been living at the Big4 Ulverstone Holiday Park since the end of August and we like it here for a number of reasons.   

Home and annex (called our sunroom today) complete with our washing blowing in the breeze. 

You can see that the park is empty. What you do see are holiday vans around the perimeter. We  are on the other side of the amenities that you can just the edge of on the left. 

The rate is good $20 per night for a powered site...that is a WikiCamp special price until the end of November.  You have to mention WikiCamps on check in to get it.  

The park is not full, the sites are grass, the grounds and the area in general are level so it is great for walking or for riding our bikes, it is next to a very large park with a lovely walking tracks with a cafe at the end of it that does great coffee, breakfasts and lunch and the beach is just over the road.  Both Devonport and Burnie are only a short drive away.  Well, nothing is really far away in Tassie anyway. 

Part of the park next door

Panarama....looking to my left. 

Looking to my right

The beach across the road from the van park.  I am standing in front of the local Surf Lifesaving Club to take these photos.

Tide going out at the far end of the beach. 

There are lots of rabbits and plovers in the caravan park.  The plovers are a protected species but the rabbits are not.  I counted 9 out of our window yesterday, must of been a couple of generations of them.  

Since we have been here we have watched a number of baby plovers growing up and getting bigger.  They are territorial birds and mate for life. 

This plover and her mate have their territory near our van.  They lost their very young chick....it was there one day and gone the next.  We suspect it was taken by a cat that we have seen around the place at night.

Cat owners should be more responsible and ensure that their cats are secured at night to protect the wildlife.  Anyway, thats another story. 

I am pleased to report that she is sitting on four eggs, which she will continue to do for around 28 days before they hatch so we may not around to witness this momentous event. 

The eggs can be laid over a number of days, so the chicks won't all hatch together.  They leave the nest straight away though but will not be able to fly until they are about 8 weeks old and they will be 10 months old before they are fully independent.  

I wish them good luck with their new family.

I started with a sunrise, so will leave you know with a lovely sunset......beautiful as always and we never get tired of either of them.  

My Blog.....what's it all about.......

Hello......I have not blogged for a while and was not sure that I wanted to continue.  Now that we live on the road, I started this blog to have a record of where we have been and what we have done.

So, I analysed why I felt that I did not want to continue writing and I also re-read some of my blogs. I spoke with a couple of people about it, including my good friend Hilary and a lady named Nanette who popped over to read my blog after she read my comment on the "Down to Earth" blog that I follow.

I also remember what Phil (from the Marilyn and Phil duo we met in Snug who are building a "serf" house on Bruny) said about my blog and his advice was to write less and more often.  And, I think I have come up with the answer.

I feel that I have been writing too in-depth about the places we have visited......to much information and not enough about how I feel (thanks Hilary) about what we saw and what we have been doing. I also need to write more often (thanks Phil).

It also doesn't matter if I start writing from now and back track from time to time to places that we have been and what we did at that time (thanks Nanette).

Also, from my own experience of the blogs that I follow, I like the photo's that are posted best, so I will endeavour to strike a balance between words and photos.   Let me know how you think I am doing will you......I would welcome your feedback.

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