Moving on again in Tassie.

Well, after just over 10 weeks, we have left Snug and travelled to Richmond to attend the St. Andrews Highland Gathering.

One of the things we have noticed in our travels over the years is that an event that you would like to see has either just occurred before you got somewhere or is going to occur after you have left.  So annoying.  So, I was pleased when our friend Sue told us about the St. Andrews Highland Gathering that her husband would be playing at so we booked a site in the local caravan park last year to make sure that we would be there.

Mind you, on the same weekend there was a festival at Kempton and the Penny Farthing race at Evendale near Longford.  You would think that in a small place like Tassie they could get their act together and have these events on different weekends.  At least, the Taste of the Huon is on in March, and not at the same time as the Taste of Tasmania.  But, alas, we will not be in the general area to visit the Taste of the Huon this year...maybe next year :)

And, we are so glad that we did go to the Highland Gathering because we had a fabulous day.  Not only was the weather supurb, but the event itself was great, the music stirring and the junior highland dancing competition interesting.   Plus, Richmond was buzzing, cafe's full and all the shops open.  A bit different from when we did a day trip to Richmond in June last year.

We met up with our friends who where also staying at the Richmond Caravan Park and their friends who were traveling with them.  There were a lot of Queenslanders in the park and we had a very social time whilst there.

The new owners of the Richmond Caravan Park have great plans for the place and we wish them well with it.  They used to run the caravan park at New Norfolk.  This park has an under utilised games room with a separate room with a lovely fireplace as well as an indoor swimming pool, which is not heated by the way, so there is no way I would be getting into it.  The owners are bucking the trend and instead of putting in more cabins, they are putting in more caravan sites....good news for the travelling public.  

The beautiful sandstone arches of the convict built Richmond Bridge completed in 1825

After Richmond, we headed to Oatlands, some
55kms away and enjoyed our first free camp of the year in the Paddock next to the Windmill.

The paddock is on the banks of the Lake Dulverton.  Not a lake in the true sense of the word, but more a wetland teeming with wildlife.

We couldn't count the number of swans....more than 5 (in-house joke) more like 500.  The lake is very big, some 2.64 km long and 1.6 km wide with its very own island....Mary's Island, just a small rocky outcrop really with a couple of trees on it.

The lake dried up completely in 1993 and it wasn't until 2010 when the lake filled up to rear full capacity after heavy rains.

Thats us...peeping over the wall.

Nick up the ladder cleaning the hatches

This is the Carrington Mill which was built in 1837.  It has been fully restored and is now a working mill, grinding locally sourced grain which you can purchase from the Mill Shop.  You can also do a tour of the mill tower.

Oatlands is one of Tasmania's oldest settlements.  Well worth a visit if you are into Georgian Architecture.    There are some 150 sandstone buildings which were built by convicts (of course) in the early 1800's.

The weather was a bit temperamental whilst we were in Oatlands.... we had a bit of everything, including a night of rain which is sorely needed down this way.   We enjoyed our stay at the Paddock next to the Windmill and will return there on our way from Kempton (where we are now) on our way back up the highway to Ross.