Australia - Tasmania, Hobart, Port Arthur, Tasmanian Devils, and Possums for dinner !

ExploringRTW

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3rd - 9th December 2007

Tasmania - Our first week or so.

We arrived in Hobart and were quickly through immigration and surprised to see how small the airport was. We were to be met by the car hire firm we’d selected and true to their word, they were there, and, after a few minutes waiting for two other passengers, took us to collect our car. Booking over the phone with an unknown company is always going to be a risk but we were well pleased to see our recent Nissan Tida saloon. Some concerns we’d had about it having sufficient boot space quickly evaporated as we opened up its huge boot.

We signed all the necessary papers and asked is they could recommend a cottage/unit not too far away. They could and rang to confirm that they had some vacancies.

We set off and to my sheer delight it started to pour down with rain. Never have I been so pleased to turn a set of wipers on. So many people had told us “what a shame it was that we wouldn’t be riding the bike in Tasmania” and how “we should have selected another way of shipping to ensure use of the bike“. Each time we’d heard these words they fell harder on our ears and perhaps even harder on mine, having ridden so many straight roads on Australia’s main land. :tears And here we were in the pouring rain. :D My delight though in driving the car was abruptly brought to a halt by the significant steam build up on the windows and the inability to find the cottage. :rolleyes: In the end we had to call the Car rental office again, whereby the young man who’d collected us from the airport drove out to find us and take us to the cottage. ( Yes, oh yes-I did say I’d ridden round the World….hmmmm :rolleyes: )

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Such a shame about the rain....

I asked to see the inside of the cottage as the rent was higher than we were used to at $AU113 per night. If the outside looked a bit utilitarian, the inside was positively beautiful. The basic shape of the cottage was round and everything within it had been designed to elegantly use its space perfectly. I didn’t need to look a second time before I confirmed that we’d take it for 2 nights.

Sylvia walked in after we paid and was delighted too. We unloaded the huge ‘flight’-bags :eek: we’d bought at a market in Melbourne into the cottage and slumped into the sofa. We consumed a few teas and finally forced ourselves to go shopping as we had nothing to eat or drink save the tea & milk supplied by the cottage owner.

We found the local village and shops and filled the car with quantites of food and drink that just hadn’t been possible on the bike. It was a very strange adaptation in terms of how we viewed shopping. It may sound a bit melodramatic to you but we’d lived from the bike for our 4 months in Australia and all our shopping-thinking had learnt to be geared to the little space we had.

We returned to our cottage and almost barricaded ourselves in as we no longer needed to go out for at least a day !! :D:thumb2:D We were so tired this first night that we bought ourselves a Pizza from a takeaway and so just sat there eyes half-open appreciating the opportunity to stop for a while. With the Pizza we’d bought some Tasmanian beer & wine. After dinner we were pleased to be entertained by anything. Anything came in the shape of an American law/Police TV programme. Somewhere along the lines we both fell asleep ‘watching’ it and as a result decided to go to bed. The time, about 10pm.

The following day, (we had no morning that I remember of), we cooked a huge English breakfast and delighted in slowly eating it. :D

Afterwards we were so bloated that Sylvia departed back to lie on the bed to 'stretch her stomach' :sleep I meanwhile, a more steadfast character :rolleyes:, planned to do something more productive…..but before I did, I needed a short lie down on the sofa. :sleep We both woke up at around 5pm !! :D……

….and then of course it was Tea-time ! :hapybnce:

We planned to eat dinner out but fell foul of the Australian restaurant rules yet again as it was around 7:30-8pm…yes, 7:30-8pm. I was fuming :spitfire and we returned back to our cottage.

Having spent the whole day resting I was keen to do some web updates :type before we headed on, and despite our concerns over the higher-than-usual accomodation costs, we decided to stay another night.

The following day was far more productive and I managed to prepare 2 or 3 web updates which I was delighted about. Sylvia used this time to unpack and prepare all our equipment that we’d huridly thrown into our bags at Melbourne.

In the evening we went for a drive to try and photograph a beautiful lake we’d seen the first night where we’d bought our groceries, however the weather was overcast and left us no picture worth taking. So, we had a relaxing evening in, enjoying our last night (and television ! ) the best we could.

I found it very cruel leaving the following morning. :( I could have stayed in ‘our’ cottage for the whole duration of our time in Tasmania but that was not to be. Sylvia had missed Tasmania on her first visit to Australia back in 1991 :rolleyes:, and that combined with $AU113 per night ensured that we would be leaving.

We had some shopping to do in Hobart so we drove in and found a parking space in a Multi-story car park in the middle of town.

We both badly needed haircuts. :yikes Sylvia, whilst reluctant to trust any Aussie hairdresser again after the disaster in Brisbane, admitted that time for a tidy-up was becoming long over-due. :yikes After a wander around town we found what looked like a decent hair-sylists and so booked in consecutive appointments in the afternoon.

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Hobart.

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If you haven't seen it yet, have a look for the VW Camper.

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Chrissy Children carol singers - Tassie style.

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Eric Clapton...he wasn't, but he made some pleasant sounds.

We then continued on our shopping quest which was basically for a some hiking shoes for both of us as I’d left mine in Nepal(worn out) and Sylvia had sent her boots home due to their weight & volume. We were also looking for a new cooker as our Supa-Dupa MSR Expedition kept sooting up every time we used it with unleaded fuel. I looked for a Primus Omni fuel stove as everybody we’d met who’d used them said they worked well with all fuels. Meanwhile I also looked on the net to discover that MSR discourage the use of unleaded fuel(despite their claim that the stove is designed to burn it) on the grounds that it more quickly soots the stove up. We were just managing one burn before it required cleaning again which is obviously unacceptable. In the end we couldn’t find a replacement stove but did manage to get some decent hiking shoes. We got our haircuts, such that they were(aarrrggghh)-bring back the Lorikeets in Hydeaway bay !!! We also found a nice bakery where they sold some very tasty pastry treats which we had to have twice because………just because.

We found an Internet café and tried to sort out some accommodation for Christmas in New Zealand
but were unable to before they closed. We returned to the car-park to find all the shutters down !!! Eek !! However one shutter was still on the way down so we ran underneath it to get inside. We returned to the car and drove down to the exit assuming that once we’d paid our exit fee the door would just open up again. Ahem….no. The car park was now closed. It was 7pm. Out of hours access could be gained by calling a local security guard who charged a further $AU35 (on top of the actual parking fee) to come and let you out. I rang him and 15 mins later he turned up, took my money & let us out.

We’d planned to stay at Richmond tonight and despite the hour (around 19:30) decided to press on. We arrived at Richmond and a pretty grotty campsite. We paid for one night and learnt that we ‘may just catch the local restaurants if we hurry‘. Our hurry wasn’t enough and so Sylvia made us some sandwiches whilst I erected the tent upon returning to our campsite.

The following morning we had breakfast with a slightly dysfunctional family. Whilst it was a little uncomfortable eating with 4 or 5 staring children, their stares were innocent enough and the eldest daughter seemed to take a bit of a shine to Sylvia. The whole family actually seemed grateful for our company so I was pleased we were there in the end.

Later we visited an old Goal near the infamous Richmond Bridge. The Goal was interesting and I couldn’t believe how bizzarly goal rules were applied to its inmates. For example, accountants who were in Goal were allowed all sorts of privileges such as collecting monies owed to them or something like that anyway. As you would expect the Goals rules were vigorously applied with all sorts of punishments for any signs of disobedience.

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Richmond bridge which attracted Tourists and Geese alike.

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OI !!! YOU !!!!!, keep your eyes off my kids !!

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........I SAID !!!.....

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KEEP YOur..........oh, you have bread do you....


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The Inner court yard of the Goal.

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One of the inner rooms - I think a too-many number of people used to sleep in here.

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A solitary confinement cell for woman, apparently they sometimes got themselves put in here to keep away from the mens unwanted advances.

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I had a try of the leg-irons.....and made myself look menacing .......yes I did !!

In the afternoon, and after some exquisite sandwiches, we headed for Port Arthur which was home to a disastrous series of British convict experiments for around 40 years . We arrived at our campsite, bought some easy-cook meals for tonight, erected our tent and cooked dinner. After dinner we retired to the car to watch the first instalment of ’A Long way down’ which we’d managed to buy in Hobart much to both of ours pleasure. The first instalment done we retired to bed and found sleep after a group of screeching 18 year old girls finally settled down.

The following day we drove to Port Arthur, purchased our ticket and audio commentary, ate some lunch, and set off to discover what the British had been up to 160 years ago.

All in all, Port Arthur was part of Britain’s attempt to reabilitate those who’d committed crimes in Britain, and in doing so, create a civilisation in Tasmania. In actual effect there were so many problems with the prisoners and the very under-paid discenting soldiers that eventually the project was abandoned. The British Government in this experiment effectively wasted 40 years of many men’s lives, and as a result, compensated them later in life so they might live without undue hardship.

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Port Arthur, its hard to believe this was 'home/prison' to our then deemed undesirables.

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The Harbour area.

The cruellest story I heard was that instead of punishing men with the normal methods, the Quakers suggested that the men might be kept in solitary confinement to reflect upon their lives. Sounds reasonable perhaps BUT part of this regime was that on the occasions they were let out, they were not to talk to anybody and/or wear a muslin head bandage so they couldn’t see or be seen by anybody. One British inspector commented when he saw it that this was a short route to lunacy for some if not all of the inmates, which we understood became the case.

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The Hospital.....they should have got 'Changing Rooms' in to do a make-over.

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The view of the sea....so near .... and tempting for an escape by swimming.....but too far away from anywhere.

Many of the soldiers were generally treated little better than the prisoners, with poor food rations and very low wages. It wasn’t unusual for them to commit some felony and end up with the prisoners. All in all, Port Arthur was a disaster.

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Two of the few signs of hope they may have clung onto.

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No matter how bad things were though, it's good to see that the Govenor had his priorities right !

In the evening we did another oven-ready meal and watched our second instalment of ‘Long Way Down’ in the car.

The following day we left Port Arthur & headed for the Tasmanian Devil sanctuary, not so far away. It was far more expensive than we’d imagined at $24 each but we had a great time with the Devils, Birds & resident Kangeroos. We saw the Devils being fed, what was believed to be Kangeroo flesh. They go crazy and chase each other round and round their compound trying to get a piece of meat. After that we were treated to a bird show which may not sound much but turned out to be a lot of fun. The main attraction was some type of parrokete(if I remember correctly) who would collect coins from the audience and drop them into the handlers breast pocket of his shirt. The bird did this one by one through the participating audience. What however was more impressive is that the Bird then returned each coin to the original owner one-by-one. All the owner had to do was stand up and the bird would return their coin. It was very impressive.

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Some Tasmanian Devils waiting for lunch.

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Oh Yeah !!

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They look quite innocent like this but they have enough power in their jaws to break a wrist bone in an adult human !

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...that's right !!

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Finally lunch arrives, as does another Devil

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Each one has to fight/wrestle for his/her piece. We understood this to be Kangeroo or Wallabie road kill

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Once the main eating was done, there was a chase on to see who go the fur bit....it was very funny to watch.

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...and the lucky winner was .....


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The very smart financial investor...and their handler.

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These were a species of Owl I think.

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Very bizzairre looking....they looked like living tree branches.

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Sylvia becomes part of a stunt where a hawk flew between her legs.

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The said Hawk.

As we continued around the whole sanctuary we saw many Kangeroos lying on the grass. I saw one man even manage to stroke one for a few minutes. I could hardly believe my eyes and so tried it myself. One or two weren’t so keen but I managed to spend about 5 mins with one and about 10 with another. It was quite an amazing and unique experience.

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Hey, LOOK !! It's Mike & Sylvia !!!

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Various stages of my encounter.

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We left the sanctuary and headed off for our next camp-site.

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There was no bottom to which the 'Tasmanian road namers association' were afraid of plumetting to.

Further along the road we saw a sign for Gum Tree camping resort. It looked like it would be off the beaten path and so we set off. Some 8 or so km’s later we came to what looked like a resort for adolescents to play out any number of different adventures. We got the whole camping area to ourselves so we set up the tent(just before it started raining) and got set up in the kitchen as well.

I went off to do my hunter/gatherer bit and built a fire in a barbeque area to cook our steaks. Whilst I was doing so I was visited by some very insistent ducks. They were insisting that I gave them some bread. There were only three of them but half a loaf of bread later with their throats bulging from the undigested bread, they were still quacking for some more !!! At this point I decided enough was enough…but it was very funny to see.

Later in the evening we were visited by some Possums which sent Sylvia into her Seventh heaven…so it was out with more bread and then even more Possums turned up to our surprise. I think the most we saw at any one time was 10. However they were very territorial and so many minor skirmishes broke out which was often accompanied by some very shrill shrieking which resembled the noise of the victim in a horror movie. We both slept very well despite a very rainy evening with a lot of wind when we went to bed.

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The Possums and their many antics.

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The fight that erupted over who was going to be King of this log was incredible.

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This one REALLY did want this piece of bread and stuck its claws right into Sylvia..and drew some blood.

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We had breakfast, packed up and left the camp site. Shortly after we left I heard a scream of ’Stop the car’, ’Stop the car’ from Sylvia. I looked over to Sylvia who is not normally given to outbursts to see a grey spider just a little bit smaller than my hand crawling across the car door…inside. I stopped as soon as I could, Sylvia threw the car door open and the spider jumped or fell off. Try as I might to see it again, it was gone ! We sat looking at each other incredulously wondering where it had got in the car in the first place.

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The inside & outside of an old (but still in use)Tasmanian store.

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Mike
 


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