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.Wednesday 12th March 2014. Riana and Surrounds, Tasmania, Australia
We all arose pretty late - we were tired and Geoff and Elizabeth were still recovering from their tummy bug. After breakfast M went into the garden with Elizabeth to pick some veggies. M donned a spare pair of wellies having first shaken them out and banged them on the floor to remove any beasties. They were also several sizes too big but practical nevertheless. D and Geoff followed with Bella their dog and after the veggies were harvested we were shown around the rest of the garden. Elizabeth told us to watch Bella as she had a habit of playing at being Houdini and escaping. She managed to do this TWICE but Elizabeth returned, quite disheveled, with dog safe and sound. We saw the little frogs again, then we went to look at the summer house and the metal garden sculptures which were made by Geoff and painted by Elizabeth - a real joint effort and very individual. Elizabeth explained that they had hosted a wedding in the garden and showed us where the ceremony took place and where the food was laid out. There was a fantastic garden feature
made out of boulders. They called it "Stone Henge" - it was fantastic and we loved the Buddha Head which formed the centre piece. It was a really pleasant morning.
When we were all ready Geoff and Elizabeth took us out to see some of the local area. The first place we went to was called The George Woodhouse lookout where we had a fantastic view out across the Gunns Plains. The lookout is named after George Gordan Woodhouse (b. 4 Apr 1913, d. 11 Jun 1996). He is at rest here along with his wife Lurlie Muriel Woodhouse (b. 8 Dec 1915, d. 30 Sep 2012) and the plaque explains that they are resting here with a view of their beloved plains. From here we had spectacular views of the Hopfields and the lush river flats. Geoff and Elizabeth wanted to take us to Wings Wildlife Park which was very close by but we had already established (on the internet before we left their home) that it closed at 4.30 pm - so we were too late. We will go next time guys!!!
With Geoff at the wheel we continued our tour. Next stop was Preston Falls
(aka Delaney's Falls). We parked the car and made our way down the well signposted track to the viewpoint. It was an easy 140 metre (5 minutes return) track to overlook the falls which had a light flow because it was the middle of the summer following a fairly dry winter. Situated in the Gunns Plains inland from the coastal town of Ulverstone, the waterfall itself is about 25 metres tall. According to the literature, this waterfall should actually be called Delaneys Falls (or at least Lower Preston Falls) despite signage by the car park saying otherwise. The argument is that Preston Falls really pertained to another waterfall further up the hills.
We returned to Geoff and Elizabeth's and spent some more time in the garden. They had a great way of exercising Bella by throwing a tennis ball against a wall which the dog would catch on the rebound. This helped with Bella's arthritis as she didn't have to walk (or run) too far but could still exert some energy catching the ball. She clearly loved it, and we loved watching her and Geoff enjoying themselves. After another lovely meal we spent some more time on the family
tree. Geoff made a CD of photos and printed out some material for M to take home and plug in at her leisure. We had an early night as Geoff and Elizabeth were still not 100% and we had to leave quite early in order to get back to Hobart and return the car before our flight back to Sydney. Another great day with good company. Tomorrow we return to Sydney.
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Peter Worrall
non-member comment
Searching for Goeff and Elizabeth.
We are planning to go to the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane next year and as we are so close we thought we would visit Tasmania and look in on Geoff and Elizabeth (I was at college in Sheffield with Geoff in the 1970's. Unfortunately we have lost their contact details. Are you able to help? Great blog. Best wishes Pete and Gaynor Worrall.