The Cow Jumped over the Moon


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Oceania » Australia » Tasmania » Hobart
March 3rd 2009
Published: March 4th 2009
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Cat & FiddleCat & FiddleCat & Fiddle

The Cat and Fiddle clock, that aminates the Nursery Rhyme on Every Hour
DAY 116


Oops, I overslept, I remember Andy bringing me a cup of tea, I put it down to one side of the bed and went straight back to sleep again.

We both slept well last night, Andy’s back was not too bad so it had not been keeping him awake so we think the tablets must be working.

I don’t know if it is the fresh air but I could not wake up properly this morning, I stayed in bed until 9.30 before getting up and showering. That is bad, I do like to get up early and make the most of the days.

Today we are going into Hobart to do a little bit of shopping, we have very specific items on our list, so we really need to sort those out.

It rained a little bit first thing this morning, but the rain did not deter us, we just put on our fleeces and out we went. Oh perhaps I should mention that we are still wearing shorts because despite the rain it is actually quite warm.

Directing Andy along the A3 and into Hobart across the Tasman Bridge, it was
Smoking KillsSmoking KillsSmoking Kills

This dead Wallaby was dying for a fag
very windy people who were walking across the bridge seemed to be struggling to walk against it. This bridge joins two parts of the city together otherwise there is a long drive round to get into Hobart centre.

On January 5th 1975 Hobart became a divided city, the bulk ore carrier, Lake Illawarra bound for the Electrolytic Zinc Company at Risdon, struck The Tasman Bridge. Twelve people died, 7 crew members and four cars plunged off the broken span.

The debris of the ship and bridge at the bottom of the deep river prevented the pier being rebuilt in its original location. The off-centre pier and span is a constant reminder of where the disaster occurred.

It was easy to find the city centre, but what was not easy was finding the parking, not well sign posted, fortunately I had a small tourist map and was able to direct Andy to a car park, there was a sign up saying that it was full, so we drove on to another car park, there was also a sign up there saying that it was full, so I suggested that we drive in anyway and see if we can
TV AntennaTV AntennaTV Antenna

Mount Wellington TV & FM Antenna
get a ticket to get the barrier up.

Sure enough the machine produced a ticket and up went the barrier. There were not many spaces around but we managed to park on the 4th floor and off to the shops we went. It had stopped raining by then but it was still very windy.

Our first port of call was a bookshop, on our mission to get “Camps 5”, We have been waiting for publication of this book since January when Bill Kelly, who we met at the Warrumbungle National Park, suggested it. This book is a “travellers bible” in Australia and is the ultimate guide for the budget and freedom conscious traveller. This book will tell you where there are rest areas, free campsites, National Parks and low cost caravan parks.

If you are taking a long trip, such as we are, and find that you don’t want to keep shelling out good money to Big4, Discovery and many other campsites then this book is a must. We paid $49.95, this will more than pay for itself if, even if you free camp only twice.

Unfortunately the first bookshop we went into did not have
The PinnacleThe PinnacleThe Pinnacle

The high access point
it, they said it was on order but could not say when they were going to get it. So undeterred we moved on and went into Centre point where we found a Dymocks Bookshop, finding the travel section, there they were several copies of “Camps 5” nestled amongst the other travel maps on the book shelf.

Andy and I picked up the book, one is spiral bound which is slightly more expensive, but we also find that there is a B4 Mega book that also has pictures of the sites. We look at our options and decide that we would get the one without the pictures. I am sure sometimes a picture may come in handy, but if we don’t like the look of the site or the location when we turn up then we will just move on to the next one.

We stop briefly for a cup of coffee and some free Internet time in the Cat and the Fiddle Arcade so that we could upload the blog “Sixth Cents”. After a while we heard the clock strike 1.00 and hearing a tune we both looked up, along with everyone else, to find a cat playing
The Thark HutThe Thark HutThe Thark Hut

Surveyor Hut Built at the turn of the century
a fiddle, a dish running with a spoon and the cow jumped over the moon. This clock is seemingly quite famous around here, it is an animated mural clock that enacts the old nursery rhyme every hour. So if you wanted to wait long enough you could see it again in an hours time.

Then we look for a local Telstra Dealer, who are Australia’s leading telecommunications supplier, they have network in places were others fear to tread (so we are told). They haven’t got anything on the moon yet though, of course there are very remote places where no one is ever likely to have network, after all the foundation has to be where areas are mostly populated, which is of course where they make their money. Finding a location in Bathurst Street, which is a stones throw from where we are sitting, we set off to go and find them, in we go and we find ourselves speaking to Julian.

Julian is very knowledgeable on the subject and seemingly is able to give us more concise information than the guy from the Telstra shop in Melbourne. Easily he answers all of our questions.

We decide
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Information
to go ahead and buy the dongle, which will make our lives a little bit easier on the road. We purchase a 7.2 Mobile Card with 5GB download limit each month. The dongle costs us $299, which in the grand scheme of things we worked out how much we would spend on a cup of coffee at Maccy D’s every day and if we bought one coffee each totalling $7 (roughly) then over 30/31 days per month all adds up, so it should work out a little bit cheaper on the pocket.

It is a great thing to be able to use someone else’s wireless broadband free, however we do believe that there is no such thing as a free lunch, so in return we do generally buy ourselves a coffee for the privilege. That said of course we may use the free WiFi in MacDonald’s every now and again, we upload a lot of photographs, which do take up a lot of space so we need to be sure that we do not exceed our 5GB limit per month. It will not cost us any extra, all that will happen is that our broadband will slow down. The real bonus being that our coffee intake will be reduced!

Julian helps us in the store to get it all up and running, he tells us that his Mum is travelling round Australia at the moment. A phone call to Telstra later and we are online.

Leaving the shop pleased with our purchase and passing the “Hot Nut” counter on the way back to the car we buy some Vanilla Coated Peanuts, yummy. Andy of course makes the usual jokes.

Back in the car we decide to go to Mount Wellington, but the strangest of things when we leave the car park, there is no pay station, but you do have to pay, there is a man sitting in a booth that you pay on the way out. I have not seen that in a long time.

Heading out through the City of Hobart, we make our way up Davy Street towards Mount Wellington. The day is sunny and cloudy but over the TV antenna on Mount Wellington there is a huge black cloud.

The road up is 12Km long and was opened in 1937 initially the city works department did not every believe a
The ViewThe ViewThe View

At 1270 Meters above sea level you would expect to have a good view
road could be constructed in such difficult conditions with the labour and resources that they had at their disposal. There is a plaque at the top celebrating its opening and crediting the men who braved such harsh conditions blasting and digging the road that zigzags all the way to the top. There was a lot of controversy about the road in the early days saying that it was a blot on such a beautiful landscape but now it is considered quite the opposite because it contains the tourists on Mount Wellington and of course more importantly brings the “tourist dollar” to the region.

Winding our way up to the top, Hobart seems to be a vanishing pin head in the distance, the higher we go the less I am able to look, it is a steep drop, we drive round a hairpin bend which puts the drop on my side of the road, I lean in towards Andy with this irrational fear.

I am reminded of a holiday with the girls in Madeira, we were out for the day and Karen was happily driving around the mountainous terrain with the narrow windy roads. I glance into the back
Cloud BaseCloud BaseCloud Base

The cloud base is the dark line towards the top of the picture
seat of the car only to find Sue and Nikki sat in the centre of the car hugging each other, with tears rolling down their faces, not sure if it was fear or laughter doing that.

Well, now I know how they were feeling!

As we get closer to the top it gets darker and damper. You can feel the wind getting stronger and buffeting the truck. I would not like to be driving up here in a Nissan Micra believe me, but there are plenty of those on this mountainous road!

At the top, composed we try and open the doors against the sheer force of the wind. A man shouts across to Andy, “hold onto her she may blow away in this wind”. I am not comforted by this comment and wish I had heavy diving boots on to keep both feet on the ground. Lets face it with my recent track record this is not a good place to be.

Andy tries locking the car, however there is an electro magnetic effect up here and we cannot lock the car. We have to stand right by the door to get it to lock.

We are both wearing shorts but we have our fleeces on, it is cold, it is wet, it is windy not really weather for shorts, but we only decided last minute to come up here. A lot of people are in shorts and one man was in bare feet, we have no idea why or even why you would want to?

The wind is so strong you are almost horizontal trying to walk into it, we hold on to the handrails on the path from the car park that leads you to the enclosed viewing platform.

We see a dead Wallaby, someone has put a cigarette in its mouth of the skeletal remains, it does look quite funny.

Once inside you are sheltered it is a relief, the views are stunning and worth the effort. However the noise of the wind makes you uneasy, I do hope that this building can stand the high winds.

Looking out there is another viewing platform that is made out of wood and raised on wooden stilts, there are people standing on it having a photo taken, they are standing almost 45 degrees into the wind. I am not
A tributeA tributeA tribute

To the men who toiled in such arduous conditions.
so keen; the platform looks as if another gust of wind would take it away.

There are several walking tracks on this mountain which would be nice to do, I am not sure if there are any more hospitable days up here.

Heading down, I can feel my heart rate getting back to normal, it is easier on the way down and can take the views in more easily.

Back through the city of Hobart and back over the bridge to base camp, we have had a productive day.

Driving through the boom gate back at camp we see someone we know from the campsite in Ulverstone. Andy winds the window down and calls them over. They are pleased to see us. We chat for a while to Laurie and his wife. However Laurie tells us that he has taken his awning down as we are expecting high winds tonight. Pointing out that a couple of years ago, the reception building here lost its roof in high winds. A number of people appear to have removed their awnings, but there are still plenty around.

Andy and I look at our awning, we do have all
TrafficTrafficTraffic

Coming out of Hobart, Traffic, we haven't seen much in 4 1/2 months
the walls on, but decide to “baton down the hatches” and make it tightly secure. The wind is already blowing well and the trailer tent is already billowing in the wind. The ropes are tight, the pegs are in everything is packed into its appropriate box and everything that is important to us for this trip is locked in the truck. That way if the tent did blow down then we would not lose everything.

We were ready.

Getting into bed, the wind is stronger than previously, the poles rattle but hold their positions and then rain starts, it is heavy but we are warm and dry. Every now and again you can feel a huge gust hit the trailer but again we are secure.


If we live through the night, the blog will be done tomorrow as usual.



Additional photos below
Photos: 16, Displayed: 16


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The ViewThe View
The View

The dark cloud hangs right above our heads, you can see the sun shine over Hobart in the distance.
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Terrain

The mountain falls away to Hobart.


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