From Charles Dickens Pub

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We finally have internet access!

So we are sitting in this pub in Melbourne having supper and there is free internet that works! I have written some things as we drove along. I will copy to the blog and will have to finish another day!



Wow, it has been a long time! And we have been so many places. But we have been having trouble with our mini-computer and I don’t know whether it is the computer or the internet. We left Kurri Kurri and drove though Sydney (not fun!) and finally got to a town called Ulladulla right on the east coast with beautiful beaches. The sand here is so fine but doesn’t seem to be picked up by the wind. Now we began to realize that we were going to run out of time if we wanted to see the things we wanted to see. So we took the inland roads to Canberra thought the Snowy Mountains (didn’t see any snow!) but we did drive on many winding narrow highways. Stopped in Queanbeyan at the Tourist information to get some information about Canberra. Kevin you would love to come here! The city of Canberra was designed and planned around the Parliament with spokes coming out from the centre. The streets are a tree lined with wide roads. We found with “Queenie- our GPS” it was fairly easy to get around.


We drove through sheep country, quaint little places and finally spent a night at Port Campbell and the rain started!! The great Ocean drive is another Shelley-no-go drive, but it is well marked and the scenery is magnificent with all of the sandstone eroded rock.


We flew to Tasmania on Monday, October 14^th. Picked up our nice red Elantra from the airport and drove the short distance into the city of Launceston and because we had good directions, we drove directly to our hotel. What a neat place! 18^th Century Tudor style. There were lots of people sitting at the little tables in front of the reception area. Turns out they were a group of Slavic people waiting for their travel bus. Our room was called “The Mill Room” and it was across the brick driveway and up the brick steps and all the flowers and more brick steps, etc. The room was white plaster with the dark wood rafters, but there was a modern bathroom. (Have I told you, that all bathrooms in Australia are dual flush. We suspect it must have been mandated many years ago, for water conservation.) We did not have a planned itinerary for Tasmania, so it was off to the Information Centre. Thought is should be only 3 or 4 blocks. Somehow, the blocks were very long and as we could see a Hertz rental office, it dawned on me that I still had the second key for our Mainland rented car. We ended up giving it to the manager who said he could send it over to Melbourne in the overnight bag. He warned that we could be charged for not turning it in. I will have to check and see if that happened and will certainly make complaints if it did. A few blocks later, we finally reached our destination and received some very helpful information, maps and pamphlets. The buildings are mainly old, built in the 1800’s. They even have the arches where in the old days the horse and carriages would enter the courtyards. So back to the hotel, walking by way of the water, and finally making the decision to walk part of the gorge. It was gorgeous walking these old pathways, now fenced for safety reasons. The flowers and trees growing out of the rocks are different than our foliage at home. Yellow flowers should be in the pictures. Supper was at an Irish Pub. We always seem to be the first ones in but by the time we left it was busy. Water comes in a tall bottle with an old fashioned snap-shut metal clasp. I guess it is to keep out any bugs.

The next day we are off to Cradle Mountain. Driving through the countryside with the multitudes of sheep, some sheared and some not! What is really strange is that you seldom see lamb on the menu. Wonder where the export them. In Canada, we see lots of New Zealand lamb. Stopped in Moletown for coffee and paid $2.00 to get internet access for 15 minutes. We needed to get caught up on emails. And it does seem WIFI access is not readily available here in Tasmania. People seem to have it in their homes but maybe it is like it was at home 10 years ago.

Turns out we had rain and foggy roads with very little traffic and halfway we wondered why we were still going because we would not have been able to see anything. Ken did manage to find a place to turn around and we found a bakery in Elizabeth Town. The meat pies are going to put on a few pounds, but they are good!! Scenery is rugged and it is different from the mainland. Cattle and sheep seem to be in more compacted groups. They really do lead a boring life! We took the smaller highways – much more interesting, but they are very narrow! We had the Accommodation book but couldn’t really find any place to aim for, so we finally stopped in a town called Evandale at the Info Centre. She found us a B&B across the road. This house had been built in 1832 and was called Blenheim. Victoria was the owner and maybe a little eccentric. Yvette, you would have loved this place. The room was above the old Brew house. So you had your own entrance from the courtyard and the fountain nudes. The room was huge with the very comfortable bed with lace insets in the sheets, two winged chairs from which to watch TV and a basket that suggested you knit a square for Nelson Mandala and the poor in South Africa. The breakfast table had the china for tea, a silver container holding the bread for breakfast, cereal in containers, etc. Milk and butter and jams were in the fridge. But there was a strong smell of mothballs and Ken thought the cobwebs on the ceiling should be washed off!

The next day we were off to the East coast. Lots of sheep and cattle and the type of terrain with hills and grassy fields that these animals would love. Stopped for coffee and cappuccino (did I mention the coffee leaves something to be desired!) at St Mary’s. Decided to take the long way around the pointed hill to the ocean. The roads would be called Shelley-no-go roads. (That means people who cannot deal with windy roads). The beaches are white, white sand and it is a little cool, as it is only spring here. So there are no bodies on these beaches. Stopped at bakery cafe in Coles Bay for lunch. The gal even noticed my Canadian flag! We talked to a fellow from Newcastle, England. Said he thought Australia was about 14% more expensive than England. He had rented a stationwagon type of a car that was fitted with a bed and a stove, etc. He would stay in the campgrounds. We stopped in Triabunna at the Information Centre to see about accommodation in Port Arthur and Hobart. The WIFI did not work and they finally let me use one of their computers which was really nice. Then they spent a long time trying to find us reasonably price accommodation. They really went out of their way to help - even bargained with the motels!

We stayed in a little place called Orford. It would be beautiful in the summer. It was right on the beach and looking towards Maria Island (the young offenders were sent here). It would have been nice to visit but the seas were too rough and the boats were not taking any chances in the wind and rain. Even got to do our laundry at this motel and the continental breakfast was in the room. We thought we would take the scenic route to Port Arthur. The highway did narrow but when it changed to a dirt road (slippery because of the rain during the night) we decided that it would be wise to turn around and go on the regular highway. Stopped for coffee in Sorell and from there we took the coastal Shelley-no-go road. As you drive through the little towns, you wonder what people do to make a living. Not everyone can be a sheep or cattle farmer or a fisherman. There are some very nice homes and some more like cottages. Nice countryside but rather desolate looking at times. We did stop at Pirates Cove and saw the sign about the Tasmanian Devils – the fact that they are gradually dying of skin cancer. The faces of those affected do not look very nice. The fear is that this animal will become extinct. Found our motel and it happens to back on the Heritage site and we can go through a gate. Today we have to get our admission tickets and so we drive. Since we had not had lunch we walked to the museum where they had soup and pies, etc. They also had local artists displaying their paintings. Had to convince Ken that I could manage to carry one that is already framed. I might regret this purchase in the airports and planes! But the artist actually sold it to me. I must remember to send her a Christmas card!! We were then able to go to the computers and put in your names and see if any Porter names came up! There were 4. There were 2 Heads and 1 Salmond. No Stacks!! But these people may not have been prisoners, they could have been guards etc. And I also had an education, as I thought anyone who spend time as a prisoner here was sent from England to serve their time. Wrong! The prisoners here had committed a second offence since arriving on this island. It still might have been minor but they were treated horribly. We went back to the motel for supper and I finally had some roast lamb. When we were leaving the gal asked what our plans for the evening were. We had thought we would just go for a drive before going for the Ghost tour. She said we should really go to see the Remarkable Caves. Because it was windy and the seas were very rough, she said the caves would be spectacular. She was right! The pictures don’t do them justice.

When we were leaving to go back, a wallaby was jumping across the lawn - the first we actually saw in the wild. The ghost tour was interesting as we heard some stories of things that had actually happened. They do not tell you until there has been verification of the happenings. But we did not see anything unusual or have anything unusual happen. But it was very cold and windy. Sure glad I had Maria’s winter jacket. However, my legs and feet were really cold and I should have had a warm bath. Eventually, sleep came! The next morning, Ken got to have his pancakes. We had booked the morning tour and then the cruise. As we gathered, waiting for the tour to start, there was the English fellow again. Great green lawns and lots of walking. And lots of wallaby droppings!!! Unusual items in some of the houses. There was a cutlery washer from the 1800’s and a huge glass with a raised part in the bottom. The gal looking after this house did not know what it was but thought it may have something to do with fermentation.

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Comments

[Glenda Romanow]

History Lesson
I wish my history class had been this interesting.I'm enjoying your blog