Friday 20th February 2004

We took some time off this morning to try to set up the computer wiring a little better and to organise a few other things about the place before we ventured out of the caravan park.

Shopping... Who mentioned shopping? 'One of us' did so off to the post Office to post another letter to Jay (youngest daughter) and then straight to Coles for another fix (and a few groceries).

After the few purchases in Coles we set off in a westerly direction and traveled a little further up the coastline through Somerset, past Doctors Rocks, through Seabrook and into Wynyard.

Wynyard was a bit of a surprise as it was larger than we expected and was quite a pretty little town. Having said 'little' it did have a good size Woolworths store and many other quite large shops, along with numerous smaller businesses.

Our first stop in Wynyard was at the fisherman's wharf that is located at the entrance to the Inglis River and almost in the centre of the town. There we met Wynie the Sea Lion who is an old identity of the area and a real celebrity. He performed for us by lazing on the surface of the water both on his back and on his stomach, caught a fish, tossed it in the air and catching it again before eating it. He also rested against the bow of a boat and against the wharf poles, and in general just seemed to have a great time. He was still lazing about when we left about half an hour later.

After watching all that exercise, one of us wanted some chips so we purchased a helping of fish and chips and consumed them before driving up through the town to Fossil Bluff which overlooks the town. This required a bit of a climb up a pretty steep walk way to get to the lookout. 'One of us' reneged on the climb but the other one made it and it was well worth the effort.

From there we drove out to Table Cape which is another high bluff just west of the town that provides good views over the ocean and along the coastline to the east.

It was then time to return to the caravan which was done in the reverse order of our drive out to Wynyard, arriving back at 4:pm, in time to prepare the evenings web site bulletin and the usual e-mails for sending.

Hope Kym (eldest daughter) is having a great time in Karratha with Nikki and that Lee (Son-in-Law) is surviving at home alone.

Saturday 21st February 2004

The decision today was to remain in the Burnie area and tomorrow move back a little closer to Launceston, possibly Deloraine if we can get into a caravan park there.

Our first port of call was the Burnie Visitors Centre and the local Pioneer Museum, which turned out to be a very interesting place. Entry to the museum was $6:00 each and when walking into the museum itself it was like walking into a street in the old town. The 'shops' were quite small and had to be viewed from the doorways, but were filled with the wares that would have been used way back in the late 1800's through to the early 1900's to around the 1930's There was also a section on the First World War that focused on of the local identities. It really is a sobering thought when you read of the hardships and some of the courage shown by some of the old diggers.

From the Museum we headed about ten kilometres south of the town and called in to Annsleigh Gardens. These garden started in 1983 and have been planted, developed and maintained by two people, Pat and Lou Barrett. It is a real credit to them and it was judged as one of the top ten gardens in Australia on the Better Homes and Garden Show. We can remember seeing them on that show either last year or the year before. They also run a tea rooms in the garden and it appears they only have the assistance of one other person to run the whole show. They are amazingly friendly people and as we pulled up, Pat came out to the car to greet us and provided information about the garden and introduced us to her husband Lou before going back into the tea rooms to look after other people. Lou also likes a talk and spent some time with us talking about the garden. Maybe it gave him a break from the pruning he was dining at that time.

One of us was getting hungry before we left so we had a very nice light lunch consisting of vegetable soup and an Apricot cake with ice cream and cream. One of us thought it was great, the other one couldn't disagree with that either.

We then came back toward Burnie where we called in to Fernglade which is a river with platypus swimming in it. Although they are supposed to be a bit hard to see, particularly during the day, we did get a good long look at one as it swam about not far from us, surfacing often, not worrying about us on the river bank. It was a bit too quick for us to get still photographs of but we do have a fair bit of digital video footage to 'entertain' people with..

After this rather entertaining little spectacle we returned to Burnie where we filled up with $60.00 worth diesel at 96.9 cents per litre less 4 cents per litre for a Woolworths docket. (92.9 cpl) This was in preparation for moving on to another caravan park in the morning.

Sunday 22nd February 2004

Last night we had to have a taste or two of Eddies port with 'Cec & Ella' as Cec had sampled a small drop of it a couple of nights ago and would have driven back to the mainland to get some of it himself if it had been available. One could say he appreciates good port. Thanks Eddie, maybe you should fly over and join us with another bottle as although it has lasted well, there is an end to every bottle and this one has almost reached that point

This morning we packed up and said farewell to a few new friends we made over the past week, then set off back east along the Bass Highway through Ulverstone, Turners Beach, Don and around the outskirts of Devonport and Latrobe then through Elizabeth Town, arriving at Deloraine at about 11:45am.

The Apex Caravan Park in Deloraine is set on the Meander River and if I reversed the caravan much further back we would be swimming with the platypus that live there. At this time it is a little cold and there is a fairly strong breeze blowing that has quite a chill factor. We have been told it was only three degrees here last night and we believe them. (Thank goodness for reverse cycle air conditioning!)

After setting up we took a short drive around the town and called in to the Visitors Centre where we stocked up on MORE pamphlets and information brochures. There does not seem to be any end to the things to see and do in the area. Anything from visiting caves, national parks and scenic outlooks through to having lunch at the 50's Diner which is also an antique museum.

It appears accommodation without your own caravan or motor home is getting pretty hard to come by at this time of year in Tasmania, due in part to the increased tourism created by the three Spirit of Tasmania ferry's plying between Melbourne and Sydney to Tasmania. This being the case we have already booked Judy (arriving in Tasmania to join us on Sunday 29th February) in to a local motel for three nights after arrival and confirmed our own caravan site until the morning of March 3rd 2004.

Now all that is left to do today is to relax near the river, watch the swans, ducks and maybe even platypus frolic in the water at the back of our caravan. It's a tough life, but someone has to do it.