Photos can't do it justice part 2
Oh blogger is a joy. 2 posts at the same time, page down to get the first one.
Port Arthur was our next stop, en route to Hobart and was rather strange. It seems a strange juxtaposition that a place so feared and so renown as a home of human suffering, could be so breathtakingly beautiful. Port Arthur was where convicts who had reoffended in Oz were sent, so there were hard nuts and solitary confinement. There was also a timber and boat building trade in this location.
The solitary confinement church ensured the prisoners stayed in solitary even when talking to God. It was here that the Reverend van de Poll
(Photo to be humorously inserted when I get if off John’s camera)
Showed the prisoner Adams the error of his ways.
I learned a great new bit of Australian tonight: 'I've got a couple of straight guys need a room' means 'do you a twin room available tonight'. Fortunately they did and we spent two quality nights in a backpackers above an Irish pub. The first night England won another cricket match, qualifying for the one day finals against Australia
On the second night we got stuck into what the pub had to offer, starting with a pint of moo and moving on from there....
Come on ladies, you won't have to drink that much.
We should probably have just spent the one night in Hobart. The crazy golf had closed down and the historic walk, Bellrieve and Mount Wellington
could only amuse us up till lunchtime, which is doubtless why we ended up drinking so much. Still, we managed to book the campervan to Adelaide and accommodation in Melbourne before the shambles really kicked in.
John did sterling work driving most of the windy, windy way to Strahan, while I groaned in the passenger seat. The small number of roads in Tassie leaves little navigating for the hungover co-driver.
At Strahan, we went on a non-gay cruise. We couldn't find the quoits or sequin encased warbler, so we settled for enjoying the buffet and tour of the stunning world heritage area.
We also saw a 2,200 year old tree! I again thought about Man's impact on the earth. Can Michaelangelo, Sydney Opera House, Mozart, the pyramids, Eddie Izzard et al really make up for the endless human destruction of such environments? The boat ride was pricey and we felt rather young (as in much of Tasmania), but it will live long in the memory.
Tassie is just overrun with what you might call ‘places of outstanding natural beauty’, and we had time for one more big one-Cradle mountain. This is favourite to be Tasmania’s representative on the Australia Special Edition Monopoly. That’s how good it is! We drove over from Strahan, taking in a couple of viewpoints, checked in, got a very small map, didn’t prepare properly and headed off walking about lunchtime. We had a small circuit in mind and decided to do the most difficult part first (it was rated as rough and steep). We completed this in half the recommended time-still being competitive as we are in Australia. This expanded our horizons and we greatly expanded our route. We did stop short of the summit; I’d like to think my rational argument persuaded John against it, but I suspect it was the experienced walker when she said ‘You’d be silly to set off up there at this late hour.’ Anyway it was wonderful.
Cradle mountain
Rough and steep
The lookout
Lake triple
And in the evening we found a nice bar, where a lot of Australians spent 3 hours telling us there was no way England were going to win the first final of the tri-series. Once England had won by 4 wickets, they all disappeared. Quickly.
By Saturday, I'd hit the wall. Tasmania had worn me out totally, with a little help from the 4 preceding months. I'm looking forward to doing very little in Melbourne on Sunday. We wound our way back to Launceston via a couple of eateries and one final rainforest walk to a hidden away waterfall.
All told, we drove about 1500kms, didn't run out of petrol or damage the car. I loved Tasmania and despite my best efforts, photos cannot do it justice. If you get the chance, go. Shame our flight was delayed and we spent 6 hours in a very entertainment light airport.
Port Arthur was our next stop, en route to Hobart and was rather strange. It seems a strange juxtaposition that a place so feared and so renown as a home of human suffering, could be so breathtakingly beautiful. Port Arthur was where convicts who had reoffended in Oz were sent, so there were hard nuts and solitary confinement. There was also a timber and boat building trade in this location.
The solitary confinement church ensured the prisoners stayed in solitary even when talking to God. It was here that the Reverend van de Poll
(Photo to be humorously inserted when I get if off John’s camera)
Showed the prisoner Adams the error of his ways.
I learned a great new bit of Australian tonight: 'I've got a couple of straight guys need a room' means 'do you a twin room available tonight'. Fortunately they did and we spent two quality nights in a backpackers above an Irish pub. The first night England won another cricket match, qualifying for the one day finals against Australia
On the second night we got stuck into what the pub had to offer, starting with a pint of moo and moving on from there....
Come on ladies, you won't have to drink that much.
We should probably have just spent the one night in Hobart. The crazy golf had closed down and the historic walk, Bellrieve and Mount Wellington
could only amuse us up till lunchtime, which is doubtless why we ended up drinking so much. Still, we managed to book the campervan to Adelaide and accommodation in Melbourne before the shambles really kicked in.
John did sterling work driving most of the windy, windy way to Strahan, while I groaned in the passenger seat. The small number of roads in Tassie leaves little navigating for the hungover co-driver.
At Strahan, we went on a non-gay cruise. We couldn't find the quoits or sequin encased warbler, so we settled for enjoying the buffet and tour of the stunning world heritage area.
We also saw a 2,200 year old tree! I again thought about Man's impact on the earth. Can Michaelangelo, Sydney Opera House, Mozart, the pyramids, Eddie Izzard et al really make up for the endless human destruction of such environments? The boat ride was pricey and we felt rather young (as in much of Tasmania), but it will live long in the memory.
Tassie is just overrun with what you might call ‘places of outstanding natural beauty’, and we had time for one more big one-Cradle mountain. This is favourite to be Tasmania’s representative on the Australia Special Edition Monopoly. That’s how good it is! We drove over from Strahan, taking in a couple of viewpoints, checked in, got a very small map, didn’t prepare properly and headed off walking about lunchtime. We had a small circuit in mind and decided to do the most difficult part first (it was rated as rough and steep). We completed this in half the recommended time-still being competitive as we are in Australia. This expanded our horizons and we greatly expanded our route. We did stop short of the summit; I’d like to think my rational argument persuaded John against it, but I suspect it was the experienced walker when she said ‘You’d be silly to set off up there at this late hour.’ Anyway it was wonderful.
Cradle mountain
Rough and steep
The lookout
Lake triple
And in the evening we found a nice bar, where a lot of Australians spent 3 hours telling us there was no way England were going to win the first final of the tri-series. Once England had won by 4 wickets, they all disappeared. Quickly.
By Saturday, I'd hit the wall. Tasmania had worn me out totally, with a little help from the 4 preceding months. I'm looking forward to doing very little in Melbourne on Sunday. We wound our way back to Launceston via a couple of eateries and one final rainforest walk to a hidden away waterfall.
All told, we drove about 1500kms, didn't run out of petrol or damage the car. I loved Tasmania and despite my best efforts, photos cannot do it justice. If you get the chance, go. Shame our flight was delayed and we spent 6 hours in a very entertainment light airport.
posted by Poll Star at
3:40 AM
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