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Published: February 25th 2010
From Cradle Mountain, we continued on to a town called Stanley - it's main attraction is "The Nut" The nut is a funny little hump of land sticking out into the ocean. And guess what- it's up high........so........
altho there is a cute little chairlift to ride to the top, Mark shamed me into agreeing to walk up to the top on foot.
FOOL AM I!!!!!! The hill was incredibly steep- altho not long, I felt every footstep! INdeed, the view from the top was grand- and the pics of Gary & Susan enjoying the chair lift made me jealous as heck!
Next stop is a "free" night at Sisters Beach. Rumour had it that the locals wouldn't mind if we just parked in the picnic site at the edge of the beech. We were a little nervous about it not wishing to get a knock on the camper at 2am asking us to move on! We decided to have dinner in the parking lot, and scope it out! While we were eating inside the camper, a small pick up truck came barrelling into the parking lot- with a couch in the open back of the truck. ON the couch
were two beer drinking teenagers. Another car followed them in, screeched to a stop and out jumped 4 more young boys. Quite the way to move your party around I'd say! Just bring the furniture! We were happy when they moved off to another location!
From then on , things were peaceful. A local couple came by and assured us it was fine to stay where we were, altho we might hear some partying (ya think?) as it was Australia Day! (Equivalent to Canada Day. ) That explains the party truck!
Things did quiet down- in fact- too much for me! You see, the public washrooms in the park, have an automatic lock on them that shuts them down at dusk. ONe of the latches was malfunctioning, so we could still use the facility. So- in I go! The handle on the inside of the door was kind of broken off, so it was rather hard to shut........and yes - you guessed it-
impossible to open! So- there am I - stuck in the can-with noone around to hear my calling, my knocking on the door,then my yelling, followed by pounding on the door , add in some loud
whistling-
I figured my loving husband would come to rescue me soon............ maybe sooner would have been grand?????
It was another camper who finally came to my rescue. "are you stuck in there?" Between us, we managed to push and pull together and the door opened. RELIEF!!!! I would not be sleeping in the outhouse for the night!
Back at the camper, life was jolly- the 3 were chatting as if I hadn't been missing for awhile- Susan had asked Mark if he should go check out where I was, but no, he assured her I was fine........... she wondered but.......who knows how long I might have been in there if not for my anonymous saviour!
The rest of the night passed uneventfully! Whew! However- morning dawned a little earlier than we had planned, with the loud arrival of several Kookaburra's. I don't know what they found so funny at 6 am, but I sure wasn't laughing! Actually, they do make you smile when you hear them- they are VERY loud and the calls are very long but it is a happy sound!
And now a very unfortnate day for Mark. While the ladies went for groceries, the
guys went for gas. You see, the camper takes diesel fuel, and the fuel pumps do not have different sized nozzles here.....and sometimes, diesel is on the same pump as unleaded......and yes, you get the picture! Unfortunately, I was in the grocery store when the "accident" happened, but Gary assures me he has never seen Mark so agitated as when he realized he had filled up the camper with unleaded gas.
OH my my- what an error! The only good news, was that he realized it BEFORE we started the engine back up! At least there was hope!
Some kind patron at the gas station with a big truck offered to tow the camper to the local garage, where the very kind and straight faced mechanics helped us siphon out all the "mixed up" gas. From there, the guys pushed the camper while I manhandled the steering (very tough job without power steering might I add!- yea for my part in the drama!) over to their pumps , where we filled up with the RIGHT fuel this time! We were very lucky to get all this done in a few hours, as it was the national holiday after all!
Gary
and Susan assured us that it gave them time to enjoy a nice coffee in a cafe-
I think they left so they could laugh and laugh and laugh....... I would have! Since then, the event has given us much cause for laughter and jokes- all at Marks expense of course! So feast away any of you that wish! I can't wait to hear the comments! And Mark is being a good sport about it and laughing now too!
Onward we go!
Next stop- Arthur River. The edge of the world. There was a lovely inscription on the rocks here, about casting your pebble in the sea to be a memory of your being there thru eternity. I thought it was pretty cool, and had to throw in a stone of course!
On to Straughan. We had this campsite booked for 2 nites- and we travelled some very long and winding roads to get there! The trip was bumpy, with hairpin turns and seemed never to end! It was a great relief to stop for two days!
While here, we took a boat trip up the Gordon River. Gordon River is a world heritage site dating back to before
the ice age. It is a heavily forrested area, withh one of the special trees being the Huon Pine. The only trees allowed to be used for wood, are those that fall down naturally. When they are brought to the shore and carefully examined, some of them have been calculated to be 2500 years old. To buy pieces of this wood you need to win the lottery first! SOme of them were priced at over $1000. for one piece!!!!!!! That is one expensive coffee table!
It was a whole day adventure, with a stop at a rainforest, and Sarah Island, one of the prison islands set up in the 1800's. We really enjoyed the day.
That was the end of our "camper" experience. We returned the vehicle and rented a car for our stay in Hobart.
Hobart is a nice size town at the south end of Tasmania. We booked into a lovely B&B. AHhh- luxury at last! WE had our own 2 bedroom cottage with tons of space,and no need to move 10 things to get into bed! YIPPEE!
The first day we spent exploring the downtown area of Hobart, and had a visit to the outdoor
Salamanca market. ANother yippee- as it was a chance to shop! Susan and I quickly dumped the boys to fill their own time, and enjoyed wandering the many stalls for awhile.
The following day we went to Port Arthur. This is the island where repeat offender convicts were sent to do hard time. We spent the whole day there,touring all the old buildings and learning about the history of the place. There were some pretty grim stories!
Next day we were off to the Tasmanian Devil refuge. And yes,, there really is such a beast! THis is a private facility dedicated to caring for injured and sick animals, mostly Tasmanian Devils. These little animals are subject to a particular kind of face cancer, and are being wiped out because of it.
Tasmanian devils are really very ugly creatures, with no survival skills at all. They cannot catch or kill any animal, but rely on finding already dead meat. Once they do, they eat EVERYTHING. The guide says they are referred to as the animal garbage can- leaving nothing behind. THeir teeth can cut thru bone with no trouble, a feat we were able to watch as they fed
the devils right there. THey got their name from the noise they make, which is very ugly also, and scared the first settlers to the country.
This visit marked the end of our Tasmanian trip. From here,it was off to the airport and back the mainland.
We had a quick visit with Kendra, who then passed over her car to us, and hopped a plane back to the Sunshine Coast. We will see her again when we get up there!
We parted company with Gary & Susan and their family Ian & Jodi, and prepared to start our road trip north. Stay tuned for the trip in a later entry!
For those of you that read to the end, when you do make comments, it would help me rcognize you if you would sign your name at the end of your typing. Otherwise- I can't tell who is saying what! Internet is still a bit haphazard here, so sorry for the delay in entries!
nj
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Dan
non-member comment
As long as you remember which fuel goes in Rudder Nonsense I'm happy. There is no way I'm helping you push that anywhere.