Miena....the Great Lakes Tasmania and "The" Birthday

Well, when we got to Miena we pulled in for a loo stop.  The place was deserted, dry, forlorn looking and so different from the time we were there before in June this year with our friends Deb and John that we decided it wasn't the same without them and we would push on to Derwent Bridge.

Located on Sway Bay of the Great Lake, Miena is a top spot for fishing and boating and also for lunch or a drink at the pub. We have been there a couple of times before. Once in March 2010 when we stayed there in our vans with Deb and John and then again in June 2015 for Johns birthday.  We chose the Great Lakes Hotel for Johns birthday because he had mentioned on a number of occasions over the years that he would like to be there in front of the lovely big fire, to celebrate the momentous occasion of him becoming biblical.....three score years and ten.

Our intention back in June this year was to take the vans up there and stay a couple of days but our plans had to change when the road was closed to vans because of the weather (snow) and only open for 4WD's. Of course we had not told John of our plans and just told him when we left Snug that we were going to Bothwell.  It is an easy drive up to the Miena from there.

And what a beautiful drive up through the snow to the Great Lake Hotel it was too.

It was a lovely day, clear, exceptionally blue skies, cold fresh air, snow and also snow that had turned to ice.

View from front of the Great Lake Hotel

A closer look of the Great Lake

The Great Lake Hotel opens at 11am and we made sure we were there at that time.  The fire was roaring and it was nice and cosy inside.

All rugged up....Deb and the Birthday boy

Of course, there had to be snowballs ....

Lunch was the normal pub grub but the lady that runs the place, came over with a muffin and a very large flaming candle and sang "Happy Birthday" to John.   You couldn't miss him, he was the one with the "I'm 70 badge" pinned on his jumper.

On the way back to Bothwell, we called in to see the Steppes Sculptures.

Strange to say the least, the Steppes Sculptures consist of a circle of standing stones each with a bronze sculpture reflecting the history and wildlife of the area.

The sculptures are the work of Tasmanian Sculptor, Stephen Walker who is also responsbile for the magnificent Southern Wright Whale at Cockle Creek and a number of sculptures on the Hobart Waterfront. Stephen passed away in June 2014 at the age of 86.







In case you missed it, you can read more about Bothwell in my post titled 'Rural Bothwell (11-12 June 2015)' and you can see a photo of the Southern Wright Whale Sculpture in post titled 'All Aboard...Tassie here we come (28 April to 3 June 2015)'

Now back to this story.....once we left Miena, it was with tripidation that we look the Marlbourgh Highway across to Derwent Bridge.  But the road turned out just fine... a good wide dirt road and we had no trouble towing the van across.