Tassie!!

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ok, sitting at the Melbourne airport waiting for our flight to Christchurch, with super fast internet... well, I just kept uploading pics.



Tassie was great!! A little colder than we expected, but only 2 days of rain, so we were lucky with the camping.



But to continue from the last blog, we enjoyed our drive along the Great Ocean Road, but it was very crowded, this being the week of New Years. But we did see several koalas in the wild, which was really cool. The 6 cars pulled off along the road with the cameras gave us a clue.



Then it was North to the wine country of Bendigo, a beautiful area, the buildings reflected in their prior glory days of substantial gold mining. At a small cafe, we asked the server what one Shiraz he would recommend. "Mine" he says, ending up with a very impromptu wine tasting of 4 fantastic wines! We also took the mining tour down 250 feet to see the mining shafts and operations. It was fascinating, although I was a little nervous about being that far underground for 2.5 hours!



Then Tassie - the tourist offices everywhere have been great - informative and pretty much setting our routes. Launceston, was no different, with 4 routes mapped out for us. The difficulty was deciding which way to start.



Off to the 'wild west' we spend two days in Stanley, one touring the Arthur River on an African Queen style boat into the rain forest. Stanley also has the fairy penguins come in from the shore each night to feed their young. Fascinating to watch. We also stop at a local cherry stand and enjoy a kilo of the most delicious bing cherries. So good, before we leave the parking lot we buy another kilo!



Then south west coast to Strahan, our first possibility of not getting a campsite. The small town was packed with caravans. We asked the Tourist office when it would slow down, and they told us Easter! They make a call, and we get the last campsite they have within 35 mins drive!



We wake up to our first rain, and decide it is time to motel it! The rain cancels the idea of the river boat ride and we take the steam engine train. And as the conductor hears our American accent and when he learns we are from Idaho, he tells us of his one very drunken night he spent in Orofino!! Yep, small world!



Then it is three beautiful days on the east coast, with our best campsite of the trip. Fortunately, it starts to rain on our third day, or we might still be there.



So we say goodbye to Australia. We thoroughly enjoyed our time here and hope to return. There is so much more of this country to explore.



And we did learn lots. Ed learned that pie shops do not mean apple and pecan. One morning, at a cafe he tells the server, I will have one of those delicious sweet danish with the cinnamon . The server explains 'its vegemite and cheese'. Ed walks away muttering 'who would do that'....



Ed's black coffee is ordered as 'long black'. Every town, no matter how small have drive thru 'bottle shops' - don't even have to get out of your car to buy your alcohol. In a conversation about pegs, they can see my confusion. The one woman tries to help me 'oh, that's right americans don't have clotheslines'. I tell her 'no we do, I am just trying to figure out why you are hanging pigs'. Yes, the accent, especially in Tassie tripped us up a couple of times.



And for some reason, no matter what the amenities of the small hotels we stayed at, and even the campsites - there was always an ironing board. For some reason, we felt this was quite amusing! And try as we did, we never found a bad bottle of wine!



So, now it is on to New Zealand. Once arriving in Christchurch, we are shunted to the very slow customs inspection line where they are pawing thoroughly thru everyone's bag and confiscating all kinds of stuff, mostly sealed processed bags from the Chinese tourists. We are inspected due to our tent and chairs. They actually take our tent and wash it, which except for the extra hour it took to process, was very nice of them.



So, tomorrow we start to explore NZ. Still enjoying it!

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Photos

Great Ocean Road - 2 of the Apostles
before we left "The Mainland" as Tassies call the big island

Poppy field - who knew Tassie is one of the 3 legal Opium growing countries
They do have a wire and a "Keep Out" sign

Arthur River Boat Cruise
Felt like the African Queen, run by a delightful couple. there were nine of us on the boat

Comments

[Grant Wiegert]

Eat your kiwi's.
I love the photo of the bird with he black and blue neck. Can't say I have seen one. As always great photos and clever negotiating. Grant