unidentified critter
Howdy all : We left Adelaide and flew through Melbourne to Launceston, Tasmania, arriving about 8:00 pm. Although I had loaded MS Flight Sim onto her laptop, Diane would not let me practice flying while we were in the air for some reason. Any way, it was dark when we got to Launceston, rented a car, and were due in Bicheno, on the east coast, for our first night stay. It was a 2 1/2 hour drive, a short drive by main-land Aussie standards. The road cuts down through the middle of Tasmania.
We Didn't see much country as it was night and we drove for about 1 1/2 hours without meeting so much as a car. But we were not alone. I have never in my life seen so much wildlife on the roads. Diane began spotting road kills and before long there was all sorts of critters eating the road kills. We are certain that we saw one dead, Tasie devil and some sort of strange thing eating a dead roo that to me can only be described as a cross between a raccoon and a possum only larger. We had insurance but, if we damaged the rental car, we would have to come up with $2500 (Oz bucks) and sort out getting it back later — we prayed heaps. We mainly learned never to drive through Tasmania at night.
Arriving in Bicheno, we found a locked-up Best Western and a sign saying to inquire at the tavern next door. They called the hotel to wake them up for us. Diane has been sick all week with the flu I gave her, that she gave me, that I gave her, etc. Consequently, she couldn't stomach the Airplane food and we had not seen an open place to eat since our arrival. The tavern was nice enough to half-warm a couple meat pies, which was very nice of them. They said it was unusual to be open that late (10:00) but some guy was playing pokies and wouldn't leave. We were lucky there.
This really is a rural area. Even upon leaving the airport we didn't go through anything other then small towns without a single MacDonald's or anything of that sort in sight. Don't know where Launceston was from the airport but we seemed to have missed it, LOL. Anyway, all was well and we looked forward to a nice night's sleep.
Day two mostly consisted of traveling from Bicheno to Port Arthur. It is a fabulously beautiful country. We were breathless most of the way. It is much nicer then even the Great Ocean Highway from Victoria.
When we checked out of the motel, we discovered that our Internet use was actually long distance and not local, so we are accepting donations for the $60 bill we received. Motel management also couldn't get over the fact that the travel agent sent us from Launceston to Bicheno at night. The locals are well aware of the wildlife out there and tell us that no one who cares about their car would attempt that drive at night. To top it off, there was a sign at the Bicheno motel, letting us know that the water there was unsuitable for human drinking and had to be boiled, LOL. Oh, well.
It was an amazing drive to Port Arthur where we are spending the night. There is no way to describe it but felt like we had gone back many, many decades. We saw one old home with firewood piled up about 12 feet and about 20 feet around. We called it Tasmanian Light & Gas Company.
Port Arthur is most famous (as far as I know) for a guy going on a shooting rampage here a few years back and killed around 50 people. It was because of this incident that they stripped Aussies of their guns. In a few hours we are going on a ghost tour. Not sure what it is, but has something to do with the harsh treatment of the prisoners here and the many ghost sightings since. There are many large buildings at the old prison location and some have a castle look to them.
With all the distance we have traveled, we finally found what we wanted to find most of all — MCDONALD'S ! It was a small affair but there she was in all her citified glory !
Perhaps the most notable experience today was ... well, Diane had to wee wee. We traveled on and on and on without a town or gas station. Finally, she spotted a single gas pump in front of a shop with the door open. Devil be damned, we decided to get gas there for an excuse to use their toilet. Not finding anyone, she goes to the front door of the adjoining house and gets permission to use the house's toilet. An old woman shouts out the door to go around back. I had hollered several times with no response. I walked through the garage, out the back past some chicken coops, and found a man working on something. I holler “howdy” and he looks up but doesn't seem to see me. A third greeting later, I waved my arms in the air and his poor eye sight finally picked me up. I was only 10 meters away.
Anyway, we get 10 in gas and exchange some small talk. Diane comes out, and off we go. Now if that was all there was too it, it would not be worth mentioning. However, I managed to pick up a bright-green substance, laying plentifully about the chicken coops, on the bottom of my shoes, when I went to look for the man. Diane has been sick and didn't pick up on the smell ... YET. We saw a cafe, in the next little town, and decided to stop for lunch. As we were walking to the cafe, we noticed a church in the middle of a service. They were singing quite nicely, and as it was 11:30 am, we decided to pop in the back and enjoy what was left of the service. Diane begins to sniff and to nudge me. The service took on a much deeper time of worship as many began to repeat over and over, “Oh Lord, Oh Lord.” I finally got the message that Diane wanted me to leave with her immediately. Those poor people never knew what hit them but they sure smelled it. Diane has developed an unpleasant habit of calling me The Chicken Man.
They have a strange habit of naming hills over here. They look more like mountains. I wish we'd got pictures of two we saw within 10 km of each other, but camera batteries going dead. They were Break Me Neck Hill and Bust Me Gal Hill. What on earth is busting your gal ?
Day three was somewhat uneventful. We went to Hobart, changed our schedule from two days there to just one, and continued to Launceston, from where we started. We would spend two nights there. We haven't really gone on too many tours or anything but have just been enjoying traveling and seeing the country. This is absolutely the most beautiful place on Earth. We stopped trying to get a picture of every breath-taking place because we were stopping every few minutes and the pictures just weren't doing justice to what it was really like.
Diane had one central goal in all this trip. As a chocoholic, she came for the Chocolate! This morning leaving Hobart, we stopped at the Cadbury factory for a tour. It was sheer hell keeping her from jumping into the vats of tasty, tasty chocolate. But in retrospect, I should have let her as she bought so much chocolate, when we left, that my arms hurt from carrying It all. As a chocoholic, she quickly went on a binge as soon as we got to the hotel.
Anyway, we are done traveling now and just going to do a few things here at Launceston in the next couple days. I was going to fly fish for trout, but unfortunately this is off season and not open for business ... sniff, sniff ... that was my main goal coming here, LOL. Oh, well. I even had Di talked into fishing with me, but there ya go. I will continue to take heaps of pictures.
Our final day here is at a place that was a bakery in the 1800's. There is the main part, but we are staying out back where the stable used to be. It's the loveliest room we have had yet — It really looks like a stable. We had our best day yet, I reckon. Again there is just too much to even try to get on camera; you have to be here to see how lovely it is. The entire island of Tasmania has about 1/4 the population of Adelaide where we live. Diane and I went over Cataract Gorge on a ski lift type of thing and I'm scared of heights. The prize of all prizes our last evening here — Diane wore her Cadbury jacket and was full of chocolate. I'm a very lucky man !
We will make a CD of the trip, which will include several hundred photos and all the videos we made. Due to the large-size files, we have only e-mailed a few. If anyone wants a copy of the CD, just let us know, and we will be happy to send you one. dwheat@bigpond.net.au
Thank you all for your interest in our trip. Love and God bless to all.
Bill and Diane