Tasmania
Trip Start
Aug 30, 2007
1
42
68
Trip End
Sep 30, 2008
Devonport, Australia
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
It was lovely to see and be near family, even if we were at the bottom of the globe and it was the middle of summer there...at Christmas! We enjoyed having a bed. We enjoyed a sofa, tv and well, four walls - tenting it is great, but only for a while...
The house was gorgeous...old by Tasmanian standards, with wooden floors and sash windows. The kitchen was the best room with a huge table in the middle and wide bay window to let the sunshine in all day. Time to kick back ha ha ha.
Over the road the ferries came in from Melbourne and there was a coastal walk leading up to a lighthouse and then into pretty forest tracks. The town of Devonport had enough shops to keep you going when you weren't lounging!
Christmas Day was great and unusual...no freezing toes and hopes of snow...Gwen prepared a delicious feast of oysters, ocean trout, salads, tiger prawns. We could actually sit outside after that too...without freezing. (We really did miss the folks back home though, too)
Just before New Year's, we drove down to explore the 'Taste' festival in Hobart. Wine sampling...seafood...international delicacies...yum! Hobart was a relaxed and pretty little city with a strong watersports and sailing tradition. We watched the rowers and boats as we continued to sample the wines...
To the 'Falls Festival' to bring in the new year 2008 with cousin Hector, his lovely lady, Lucy and his chums. Beautiful green landscape sitting next to the sea...the booze was well hidden and we were thru...tents set up in a circle with Hector's marquee in the middle - the crowning glory.
Here we discovered 'Angus and Julia Stone'....hooked completely...'Kings of Leon'...Groove Armarda...Jose Gonzales...dip in the ocean (Glastonbury style-no-shower-trainspotting toilets)...a drunken time was had by all. Happy New Year!
We then carried on to see a bit more of Tas. Back to camping and back to the Taste Fest. Wineglass Bay was beautiful and we hiked the steep hike to view it and rested on its squeeky silicone sand. Lots of green hills and blue skies and very small towns inbetween.
Took a little day trip to do a spot of the ol' wine-tasting (recurring theme with us)...again took us thru pretty countryside...unspoilt and serene. Kind of makes you feel like you're not posh enough in those wineries but very tasty tasting anyways.
John and Hector kindly led us up the mountain path one fine day (second attempt!)before we left...Cradle Mountain...you can't visit this land without paying respects to the old man.
Hard climbing in parts to keep your heart beat rising but nothing a bite of Christmas cake couldn't fix. Finished the hike on a track around the lake. And i think to myself 'what a wonderful world'
After bidding a fond farewell we boarded a plane for Melbourne...
