Caught up with long-time friends Anne & Bob to be run around changing Canberra, a city they love and we can see why, and enjoyed lunch at the new Arboretum. It was short but very worthwhile.
We visited the National Museum, which has an intriguing outside of mostly Aboriginal design, and a fascinating vehicle from the past inside. There was much more of course!
Uluru Central Axis at the Museum
Intriguing historic tool sharpening vehicle!
Tasmania
Our route
A first visit here, starting in Hobart and ending in Launceston!
Staying down by the waterfront in Hobart in an arty hotel that had once been a jam factory with lots of character, we were able to wander the wharf, still very much a working harbour but also subject of some regeneration, very atmospheric.
Henry Jones Art Hotel on the waterfront
Inside Henry Jones
Early morning on the waterfront
Jean crouches under an old crane, it made in Leicester!
After a scenic coach ride to the Tasman Peninsular, we took to the sea in a 750hp boat to pound over the waves, look at the dramatic mudstone and other rock cliffs, then to find ourselves in the middle of a super pod of dolphins, hundreds of them breaching everywhere around us. They came in under the bow of the boat, keeping up if not overtaking at what seemed full power and it was just fantastic. We could also view a second boat nearby us with the dolphins leaping up in front, seeming to enjoy the play. You see films of this stuff but they really can't project the fun and excitement of having dolphins all around at play.
Climbers barely visible at the base of The Candle about to start
Dolphins playing alongside and underneath our boat
Old and young
Best appreciated in some video:
Seals
Southwesternmost point and lighthouse
Our pilot said how exceptional it had been.
We saw some native and NZ fur seals, distinguishable by colour, even without the difference of accent we had been told about!
After rounding the southernmost point, an island and lighthouse, of Australia, we then headed for Port Arthur, the ex-penal settlement. After a very informative and amusing guided tour of its past and what remains, we felt we should have had more time to digest more about its history and the attempts at penal reform.
We learned about the move from punishment by flogging to reform and rehabilitation in the later Pentonville section, although the conditions of total silence in solitary confinement seemed barely better and some prisoners did indeed go mad. The penal settlement had a short life of just over 40 years, but it became a tourist attraction as soon as it closed in the late 19th century, such was its significance.
Approaching Port Arthur from the sea
The Penitentiary Block
Inside the Penitentiary (cell sizes marked in the new floor)
Entrance to the blackout solitary confinement cell
Prisoners could only see the pulpit, not each other, in the church
The lunatic asylum for those who cracked in isolation
We also spent a few moments at the garden of remembrance there for the 35 people shot by a lone gunman in '96. Once again, the weather was kind, sunny and dry, after several poor days in Hobart just before we arrived.
Heading north from Hobart, we passed through Swansea, in Glamorgan too, where we dropped into the local museum to discover that it had been randomly named from memory by an early settler, so no real link there for Jean!
Onward, we turned south to Freycinet National Park where we had a short wander before heading for Bicheno. Being Australia Day and a public holiday, we were nonetheless lucky to find a very decent seafood restaurant.
Swansea Museum
Freycinet National Park - The Hazards capped by cloud
Peppermint ice cream capped by chocolate!
On up the coast was St Helens, a seaside fishing port where we happened upon a couple about to go fishing with their three dogs and parrot on board!
Afterwards, we enjoyed an excellent light lunch in a free library/cafe/gallery and clearly a popular local venue:
Further up we entered the Bay of Fires, partly so called because of the orange hue on many of the granite rocks, actually caused by a lichen, but also because Aboriginal fires were spotted from the sea as they cleared land. The colours were fantastic and once again we were blessed with hot sunny weather. When we checked into our bungalow in Binalong Bay, we were told that there had only been 8 days of good weather this summer - how lucky indeed we have been. The bungalow was idyllic overlooking the Bay and Jean, inevitably, took off across the white sandy beach for a yomp.
And that blue sky!
Binalong Bay in the distance
Cottage overlooking Binalong Bay
Barely visible, single person, Jean yomps along the beach
Back to the Tasman Highway, the road via Scottsdale to Launceston was pretty and hilly, looking much like England in places except for the local trees. At a coffee stop, we met a guy from Victoria who was bemoaning the terrible weather he had had during his 2 weeks, emphasising for the last time how lucky we have been - even today defying the cloudy forecast and giving up a lot of sunshine.
Launceston was rather uninspiring and a bit stuck in a time warp, the part of town around our hotel being more light industrial, although there was attempted waterfront development in progress on the junction of the rivers Esk and Tamar. It did have some fine old buildings that they seemed to want to preserve and it was our jumping off point to start the journey home.
The holiday will be long remembered for its variety - six weeks in 20 different accommodations with even more places and stops to enjoy, 12 flights, 3 hire cars, fantastic scenery of many types, fascinating bubbling and steaming ground, excursions and trips by land and water, some adventure too, more interesting facts and history than we could absorb, a welcoming hospitality everywhere we went, especially catching up with old friends, and it was all enjoyed in exceptional weather, even including the deluge on Doubtful Sound! It really couldn't have been better and we were sad it came to an end!
