29 March 2011
March is almost gone and we have now been here more than 6 months! Yes, MJ, we are still traveling with 6 more months to go! The last day we were at Fortescue Trox walked out to Cape Huay where he found lots of wind and rain but breath taking scenery. From there we went back to Sorell to dry out and restock. Then back to Tasman Peninsula and Port Arthur area where we spent 4 or 5 days.

Cape Huay end of walk from Freycinet

While in Sorell we breakfasted in the local park near a weir and spotted a Great Cormorant that according to the maintenance man lives in the area but doesn't seem to have a mate.

Great Cormorant

On one of the trips to and from Port Arthur we stopped and explored Marion Bay which was pretty but no camping. To get to the beach you had to wade through a river (not very deep) but once on the beach it was nice soft white sand and lots of surfers to watch. This beach is known for the good surfing.

wading across the river to get to the beach at Marion Bay

On the way back to the main highway from Marion Bay we spotted an Echidna who didn't just bury his head when we tried to watch him. They are a very primitive mammal and lay eggs rather than giving birth to live young. They remind me of a cross between a porcupine and a hedgehog. Fun to watch

Echidna
did you know they lay eggs but they are mammals?

hitchhiker in power box
venomous? who knows?
ugly for sure

When we got to the visitor center in Port Arthur on Sunday it was CHOCKED FULL! Ended up they had a special going and tons of people came to visit - we decided not to go that day so headed further into the Peninsula and ended up at Lime Bay where we spent two nights. Trox was able to get two loop rides in. One ended up on another bay (on the other side of the peninsula). Our first night there we were inundated with Opossums coming to see if we would feed them. Young ones along with adults. Also among the opossums was a Pademelon (small Roo) who actually got slightly beaten up by the opossums.

night visitor at Lime Bay on Bunyip's box

climbing the ladder on the back of Bunyip

on the ground

at the end of the beach near Lime Bay

without Trox

Back in Port Arthur we spent the night at the carpark near Remarkable Cave. Trox did a long walk from there up to the top of Mount Brown where he had wonderful views and also access to another bay.

steep sand dunes on Crescent Bay

Crescent Bay from hike to Mount Brown

zoom in to see the Crescent Honey Eater spotted on a walk

From the car park we had a wonderful view of Cape Raoul with tall spires of dolorite. According to a man we talked to in the car park they used to be much higher until the navy used them for target practice during WWII - yish.

Cape Raoul from the carpark near Remarkable Cave

On or final trip away from the Port Arthur area we stopped to explore some of the tourist type places which included Tesselated Pavement and arches and unbelievable rock formations along the beach. Also a blow hole that once was a cave until the top caved in.

Tasman Arch

Dolorite Cliffs

watching the waves crash near Tasman Blow Hole

Tesselated Pavement

When we finally left Port Arhtur we headed into Hobart to get a new house battery and the place replaced our existing one for FREE! We also found an online place that cost $s but has a good connection so we are going to try and get our taxes done - oh, joy! The internet place is a gaming shop and watching the "kids" game makes for fun people watching.

1 April
Hmmmmm April Fool's Day and Happy b-day to PEA! We spent the night half way up Mt. Wellington which towers over Hobart. Then this morning we drove the rest of the way to the top (4300 ft) where we had breakfast while Bunyip rocked and rolled in the high winds.

top of Mt Wellington

Bunyip sitting in the shadow of the radio towers

The outside temp was 6C/43F and the wind was strong enough it was hard to walk into it and with it at your back it was hard to walk slow. It was cold and damp to say the least! When we first got to the top it was enclosed in a cloud which eventually cleared and then we could see forever! What a view. We could see Freycinet and Fortescue and Raoul and Port Arthur and Lime Bay and Tasman Peninsula - all places we've been over the past few eeks. As I write we are heading back to the place we spent the night so Trox can ride.

5 April
Well, bah humbug! I am sick! I have a really yucky chest cold that I picked up somewhere but so far Trox claims he doesn't have it. Hopefully that will continue to be the case.

We spent a day/night near the Air Walk where near dark Trox took a walk along the river. He walked across the Huon River on a swing bridge. This area was a busy logging area in the 30s when they were harvesting the Huon Pine as fast as they could. This pine is used in ship building and is really a nice wood. Although Pine it is classed as a hardwood and therefore grows real slow. There is a tree in the area that is estimated to be the oldest tree in Australia and is in the neighborhood of 3000 years old - pretty old. A quilting group in the area created a quilt and donated it to the visitor center where it is on display. It is really cool with 3D effects using just about every type of stitching and arts using material and threads possible.

phenomenal quilt

swing bridge across the Huon

We are currently south of Hobart on the furthest south road in Australia. We are staying at Cockle Creek and pretty much have the camp area to ourselves. The bay here is Recherche and many years ago was the site of massive harvesting of the Southern Right Whale which is, of course, now protected.

Monument to the Whale

Bay along the walk to Fisher's Point

6 April
Last night we had a visitor to our campsite that took some research to figure out what he was. He was bigger than a opossum and had a really long tail and SPOTS! We thought he might be a Bandicoot - after all we have no idea what a bandicoot looks like. Ends up he was a Spotted Tail Quoll - a carnivorous marsupial! COOL! We have now seen a mammal neither of us had ever heard of before. Also spotted a bat in the dunny after dark.

Spotted Tail Quoll

a bat in the dunny

Trox did a long walk yesterday - about 20 kilometers - across the peninsula to another bay - South Cape Bay - where once again Mama Nature performed at her best.

viewscapes along walk to South Cape Bay

rocks

some rough shores

As we explored around Cockle Creek area last week we found another cemetery that could use a little tender loving care. There seem to be lots of crumbling cementeries here - I sure hope someone has photographed and recorded all the information!

Cockle Creek

Cockle Creek Cemetery

8 April
The first week we were in TAS we met a local couple at Hellyer Gorge - Jane & Ralph - who told us to look them up when we got south of Hobart so yesteday we did just that. They invited us to park Bunyip in one of the their driveways just 20 meters from their vineyard. Jane was in Hobart for the evening but Ralph was a wonderful host. He helped us set up where we would have a wonderful view and we invited him to dinner. He provided us with steaks which Trox cooked and along with all the fixings from Bunyip's larder we had a wonderful dinner. Ralph's steaks were from his own steers which are a cross between a Holstein (dairy cow) and Angus. He also brought fresh strawberries from his garden and a bottle of Wombat Springs Pinot. Wombat Springs is their vineyard.

The morning view of the fog over the river

Checking out the vineyard from the lanai

Raplh is a wealth of knowledge and I got lots of my questions answered. We have noticed that many of the vineyards have roses at the ends of the rows and have wondered why. Ends up, according to Ralph, the roses are llike the canary in a mine. Grapes are susceptible to mildew and so are roses. In fact the roses get it before the grapes so as long as the roses are healthy so are the grapes. The other thing we've noticed here is that the vineyards (and orchards) net their crops and we figured it was because of birds but weren't sure. Ralph says his vineyard will stay netted from the time the grapes start to ripen through harvest (about 6 weeks). If they don't net the starlings will wipe out the crop. The nets are put on and taken off mostly by hand with the help of a tractor. It takes 2 people and each net (at least at Ralph's) covers three rows of grapes. We went out after dinner last night looking for wombats. No wombats but lots of wallabies and pademelons. Along the walk we encounted a long haired cow with HUGE horns. He was a Highland Long Horn.

A young Highland Long Horn

What the Young'en can expect to be!

On the way into Hobart from Wombat Springs we passed a gorgeous waterfall falling over what I thought looked like a wall of Obsidian. No name but I think it might have been Silver Falls.

Water fall

Tonight we are meeting a man that Trox hooked up with about a week ago while riding. Going out for Thai! Yum!

Saturday 9 April
Taxes are FILED!

Dinner last night was wonderful! We met up with Tony and Kerry and her Mum at a little quiet Thai restaurant in Bellerive. The chef/owner is a friend of their's and they promised wonderful food and DID they deliver! I had Drunken Scallops with basil and chilli. I asked for it spicy and it was perfect. Trox had Mie Goreng - stir fried egg noodles with chicken and it was also wonderful. Then an order of Kaeng Phed Pak - red curry vegetables was ordered for the table to share. It was a nice sweet red curry with a hint of hot. All the dishes were beautifully presented and it was fun to meet the chef. So, if you find yourself on the east shore of Hobart check it out. Tell the chef that Tony & Kerry's American friends sent you :)

Darjoh's Asian Cuisine
60 Cambridge Road
Bellerive TAS
6244 6002

We thoroughly enjoyed Tony and his family and hope to see them sometime in the future!