Day 17 Yass - Home Sweet Home

I am glad that it is sunny when we leave Yass, although there is some evidence of fog about.  We get about 15mins down the track and visibility goes from wonderful to zilch immediately! Dave reckons less than 40m and due to the very thick fog our clothes are getting wet....oh joy!  The fog is sort of clearing as we pull into the servo in Goulburn.  We fill up and get some nut bars for morning tea and then ride a little further down the track and stop at this huge rest stop next to a servo.  By the time we get there our clothes are dry again and the sun is out.  While we are sitting enjoying our cuppas in the sun another biker comes over riding a big Harley with his wife on the back comes over and introduces himself and we have a bit of a chinwag.  Their bike wouldn't start this morning so they had to have it towed to the Harley Dealer in Canberra and get it fixed, something to do with the alarm system $550 later they were on the road!!!


Our next stop is on Pennant Hills Rd to refuel and then Maccas for lunch OK OK I relented one Maccas meal is not going to kill me.....well maybe LOL


Then we stop for a wee break at the twin servos and then power on home  and arrive at 3:00pm to Jenny, Jesse, two very excited dogs, LOADS of washing (and ours was still on the bike!!) a full fridge/freezer (what did they eat?) and a filthy loo!!  mmm maybe need to employ a housekeeper next time we go away?

boot marked pipes - boot came off second best

dirty girl

that whitish stuff on the guard is dirt!! note bald tyre OMG!

better view of bald tyre - one is on order!

Day 16 Melbourne - Yass

WOW I finally worked out how to caption photos LOL only 15 days into our trip!
Had the worst nights sleep!!
Our disembarkation of the boat was a little smoother this time but once in Melbourne we got a little lost, we found the Westgate bridge but then ended up wending our way through the back streets of Melbourne until we finally found the Hume Fwy woohoo!!  so once on it we rode for quite a while to try to make up some time.  Breakfast this morning was Hungry Jacks I know I know but we managed 15 days without one McDonalds 'meal'!!
Then we stopped in Benalla for morning tea and dropped into Glenrowan to have a squizz just a giant tourist trap!!  check out the huge Ned Kelly! LOL
We have lunch at an Irish pub in Wodonga O'Mailles $13 including a beer woohoo!!
We stop in Tarcutta for fuel, an ice cream and a stretch.  Our original plan was to try to make Goulburn but David suggested Yass and I was so glad because my seat felt like rock and my butt was oscillating between numb and aching.  And by the time we make it to Yass I am dying to jump off the bike.  The room is a little expensive but we are desparate and it includes breakfast which we can take early.

Walking downtown to buy some takeaway gives us the opportunity to stretch.  We decide on Chinese for dinner yum.
Can't wait to head for home tomorrow.

the view from the deck of the ship towards the Westgate Bridge

can you see me smiling because we are heading home LOL

freeway view ::)

Giant Ned Kelly Glenrowan

Day 15 Westbury - Devonport

As we have decided to go to Hollybank Treetops Adventure we need a quick breakfast and our hostess Pam is quick to ask which type of cereal we want etc and before we know it we are eating.  I like a woman with purpose!!  We had planned to leave at 7:45am as the ride out to Hollybank is 45mins and we need to be there at 8:45am.  In reality we leave the B&B at 8am and arrive at Hollybank right on 8:45!!

Michelle the young girl behind the counter addresses us by name as we walk through the door which is kind of nice.  We fill out the necessary paperwork and then with the other 3 people a family group (Dad - Kev, son - Frank and daughter - Hannah) we proceed to the locker room, our bike gear won't fit into a locker so the staff put our jackets, helmets and boots in their office.  The locker is for my bumbag, earrings and our rings.  Then the next step is to kit up in our harnesses which is a bit of a process and the thing that strikes me is that they are VERY safety conscious which is good to know.  We introduce ourselves and Kev and his kids are from QLD.  Our guides are Carlos and Will.  Carlos explains the steps to us and then takes us out to the practice area.  After we all take one go on the practice area we are ready to go to the 'system' which is a course of 8 ziplines.  The first couple are fairly short and then there are three really long ones and then a short one to finish our guides show us through and explain the story of the forest to us.  Carlos goes ahead and sometimes provides the break and helps us up if we don't make it all the way and Will follows behind with his ferrari pulley!!! he flies!  There is one shortish line and at this point Carlos show us how to belay ourselves out so that we can stop and have our photos taken it's a bit disconcerting as after the photo he suggests we look down and we are VERY high off the ground.  The last 'drop' is a bit different because instead of 'sitting' in the harness and holding the ropes we are instructed to stand with our knees straight and our arms out and fall backwards and I let out an involuntary scream as it feels like you are falling.  We had the best time and then went back to the start by walking up the track to the centre.  We enjoy a cup of tea and then move on to Cataract Gorge.  Just a little funny.... I decided that the people exercising on The Nut in Stanley should be called Nutters so the people exercising thru the gorge must be called Gorgers and before you say it Jono I know I'm a dork :)

At the gorge we have lunch first and then go for a short walk over the suspension bridge and then back over the causeway to the carpark.  The gorge is beautiful and there is a chairlift across the gorge $12 one way what a rip off!  While we are eating lunch we are hassled by the resident peacocks I know the only reason that they hassle people is because some people feed them!!  And when we return to the carpark there is a couple standing in the carpark eating their sandwiches and breaking peices off and throwing it to the peacocks!! stupid people!!

We decided to ride the 'long' way via Beaconsfield to Devonport and take a little detour along Rosevears which is a very bumpy narrow road that runs along the waterfront not keen to do that again LOL.  When we are still 20km short of Devonport it starts to rain lightly and then starts to get a bit heavy so David stops under a big pine tree to change into our rain gear and in the process it stops raining LOL when we arrive at the wharf we are the only bikers and it has stopped raining and the road is dry so we remove our rain gear and eat an apple while we wait, in the meantime, a few more bikes pull up and we get talking with Diego (from Argentina on a BMW) and his friend (never did find out his name LOL an author from WA via UK on a Harley Sportster) and then a few more BMWs pull up.  The gate opens and then we move over to the line where all the bikes line up together and we get talking to another couple who have been touring around for 3 weeks I am even more aware that we have missed so much of Tassie, we will just have to come back!!  Also while we are waiting Steve comes over to say Hi!!  haha We have to wait in the line for what seems like forever!! and then finally not last we are asked to board the ship.  Again we are parked on deck #5 and I filmed us boarding not great but you will get the idea once I upload it.

Once boarded and showered we head up to the buffet for dinner and are a bit wiser and instead of getting a $24.50 plate we get a small $16.50 plate each and stack it up and share a dessert much much cheaper!! We had bought a bottle of wine in Coles Bay and have a glass before heading up to dinner.  We are in bed by 9pm.

 Dave and I on the suspension bridge Cataract Gorge

 suspension bridge over Cataract Gorge

bikes waiting to board Spirit of Tasmania II

      

me in midair 50m above the forest floor OMG

group photo on the 'cloud'

David and I on the 'system'

Day 14 Coles Bay - Westbury (near Launceston)

We have a magnificent breakfast starting with porridge, then David had scrambled egg and sausage and I had scrambled egg and smoked salmon with tea and coffee it was awesome and Sally, Bob, Heike & George to share it with.

We stopped at the showground this morning for morning tea after a drive through Elephant Pass not sure why it's called Mount Elephant but it's an interesting winding road and the weather is perfect.  I'm in a bit of a silly mood this morning.  At the showground there is a chatty couple from Geelong Vic who are travelling around in a tent camper and waiting for their tent to dry in the sun. They tell us the fog has just cleared and was quite thick.

We ride towards St Helens and from there ride out to Binalong Bay (my silly mood really kicks in as I sing a song about Binalong Bay LOL) it is on the Bay of Fires, the rocks have this bright red lichen on them which looks like fire from a distance, we are only there a few minutes and as we return to the bike who should pull into the carpark but Steve & Delores!!!! so funny!

Next it's on to Derby for lunch we stop and get some fuel and then head across the road to the Tavern for lunch only to be told that the kitchen is closed noooooo!!! LOL the woman behind the counter suggests the cafe down the road.  We have toasted sandwiches which are very tasty.  A trip to the loo up the back of the property reveals a very swish loo for a country dunny!!

Then we ride up the Sideling Rd to Scottsdale it is very very winding but a great ride we scrape on the right quite often no biggie but one corner we grind on the left not sure what we hit but it was nasty! LOL  The next stop is Westbury and our B&B Fitzgerald Inn which we find after a few little diversions ha ha.  It's an Inn that was built in the 1830's quite beautiful.  For dinner tonight we have steak sandwiches and lovely desserts David has an apple tart/vanilla bean ice cream and I have chocolate delice/vanilla bean ice cream.  YUM! chocolate delice is hazelnut sponge 'disc' with chocolate mousse covered in ganache OMG!
While talking to the hostess we find out about Hollybank Treetop Adventures (8 ziplines thru the forest!) and decide to book for tomorrow.  It's a 3 hour tour with 2 guides it sounds like sooo much fun! we are booked for 9am so we have had to organise all our stuff tonight so we can have a quick brekky and go go go woohoooo!!

Elephant Pass

driving on Elephant Pass

St Mary's Pass - or as some wag had altered a sign it said "you are now entering St Mary's ass"

Binalong Bay on The Bay of Fires

Day 13 Hobart - Coles Bay

Dad outdid himself again at breakfast and we all cleaned up and then said goodbye.  Mum and Dad's plane to Sydney left at 8:50am.  I was a little sad to say goodbye we had had four glorious days together exploring Hobart and surrounds.

I must admit to feeling a little scared this morning and it took a while for me to settle, the weather was perfect for riding though and the roads pretty good.  We stopped in a little fishing village called Triabunna (pron. try a bun nah) for a cuppa down at the Maria Island (pron. Mariah like Mariah Carey) ferry wharf.  There is a little bit of activity at the wharf men fixing crayfish pots and getting ready to go out for a 5 week stint on the West Coast crayfishing.  There is a young girl who works on the ferry waiting for the next one to arrive to commence work.  And there is a cute Labradoodle dog hanging around and the girl tells us his name is Dudley and the wife of his owner called him that because he is a dud!!! he's sooo cute!  We then wander down the wharf a bit where another man is preparing his fishing boat to go out for a few weeks catching Trevalla & Pink Ling, he has a special machine that makes ice for him.

We get back on the road and our next stop is Swansea for lunch.  We stopped at Swansea Bark Mill Tavern, I had Salmon patties and Dave had Battered Scallops it was yummy and after lunch we walked through the museum and learned about the Frenchman Baudin and Matthew Flinders who 'raced' to navigate and map Australia.  This explains a lot of the French sounding names around the place but who has ever heard of Baudin?  No wonder because on his way back to France to share his maps and the more than 200,000 live specimens with Napoleon he died in Mauritius on the way back (his 'friends' Freycinet & Peron changed all the names on his map to suit themselves) and was posthumously disgraced and therefore his findings lay hidden in the French archives never published.  When his ship returned to France Josephine (Napoleon's wife) thought that all the animals and plants were meant for her and so she commandeered them ha ha.  Matthew Flinders married and then left for his journey to map New Holland and didn't return to England until 10 YEARS later!!!  His journal was published 'just' before he died although he never saw it in print as he had slipped into a coma.  So sad that both these men sacrificed so much for the sake of being first to map New Holland.  The rest of the museum was dedicated to the Bark Mill.  They used to crush the bark of the Wattle tree to use in the tanning process.  The machinery that they used to use is still functional in the museum today.  It was all very interesting.

Back on the road again we head for Coles Bay and find Sheoakes on Freycinet our B&B for the night.  The host Alan shows us to our room and it's really beautiful with views out onto Coles Bay.  We put our stuff in the room and then ride up to Freycinet National Park to walk up to Wineglass Bay lookout.  The walk is about 3km round trip BUT it's very steep and by the time we get to the top I'm hot, sweaty and puffing!!  I don't like being sweaty icky!! BUT the view is amazing and the sun comes out just in times for me to get THE quintessential photo of Wineglass Bay awesome if I do say so myself!!  The walk down is a bit easier but the stairs are a hazard! desparately in need of renovation.  As we are descending to the carpark we see the Westpac rescue helicopter landing in the bus carpark not sure what happened but seeing that is never good and just as we jump back on the bike they lift off again.

Back at the B&B we both have showers before dinner.  Dinner is provided by our hosts Alan & Margaret for $40 a head including drinks which is a good deal.  We start with nibbles soft cheese with herbs, a blue cheese, duck liver pate, pickled walnuts and a trout dip all very yummy the pickled walnuts were a very unique taste accompanied by a yummy Tasmanian Cabernet.  Main course was a fish 'pie' Trevalla with a walnuty 'crust' and a lovely salad with pear, watermelon and lettuce delicious.  Dessert is a flummery type pudding rose water, orange and rhubarb flavoured (I don't normally like this type of dessert but it was more the consistency of ice cream and yummy!).  The other guests an older couple from Victoria Sally & Bob and a couple from Hanover in Germay Heike & George and of course Alan & Margaret are wonderful company and we had a lovely evening.  By the time we have a cup of tea it is time for bed in the huge King sized bed lulled to sleep by the sound of the waves.

view on the road to Sorell

Dudley the Labradoodle

Our room at Sheoakes on Freycinet

the view from our room

bushwalking up to Wineglass Bay lookout

looking back towards Coles Bay

Wineglass Bay

Barney soaking up the sun on the deck at Sheoakes on Freycinet

Day 12 Bruny Is

Today after another yummy Daddy brekky we decided that we would ride to Kettering and park the bike and jump in Mum & dad's car to catch the ferry across to Bruny Is.  We are the first car on the bottom level and one of the first off the ferry.

We drive the windy country road down to Adventure Bay to join the cruise boats.  I thought it would be a flat bottom boat but it was like a speed boat and so as soon as I saw them I knew this was going to be no ordinary cruise :)  We had a cuppa at the boatshed and then walked the 250m to board the boat (3 going out today) we end up sitting 4 in a row in the middle of the boat behind a plastic 'screen'.  

The cruise starts with the skipper Chris handing out ginger tablets for seasickness prophylaxis, he recommends at least 2 tablets, 3 if you have hhaaarrrd core seasickness LOL  and the crew hands out knee length spray jackets to anyone who wants one.  David and I are dressed in our bike gear so we don't really need one.  The swell today is running and about 1 - 1.5m and so is very calm and we are able to pull in very close to the shore to check out caves and channels and the blowhole!!  Then we go for a really fast, really full on ride towards the seal colony.  Part way to the seal colony Chris blows the airhorns to signify crossing from the Tasman Sea into the Southern Ocean our second foray into the Southern Ocean this trip :) When we get there we are literally metres from shore so close we can see the seals really well.  And the smell OMG!!! it was soooo bad!  There was this one seal Fabio who poses for photos he was so funny! Then we head back to the start via the open ocean and see albatross, shearwater and gulls.  On the way back Matt the first mate hands out BBQ shapes to help stave our hunger LOL. And then they hand out Tim Tams at the end of the day.  We get back to the boatshed and David and I had packed sandwiches and apples so we break those out and Dad grabs some pumpkin soup which looks really good.

We then race back to the ferry wharf to try and catch the 3:15PM ferry and miss it by seconds doh!  There is a kiosk at the wharf and they serve coffee so we all head to the kiosk there is this cute little girl who comes out to Dad and says "no no no don't go that way that's the kitchen, what do you want?"  Dad says "coffee" and she runs inside saying "My Mum will make you coffee, Muuum this man wants coffee!!!" LOL David walks in and then me with my bike gear and sunglasses on and she says "are you a boy?" and then when I took my sunnies off she says "oh no you're not" ha ha "so why are you wearing those pants?" she was so cute her name was Ruby and her older sister Bella was there sweeping the floor and Mum said to her "are you the older, quieter sister?" and she just smiled .....:) it seemed like no time at all before the ferry was back to pick us up.  This time we are on the top level the last car on.  Dad walked onto the ferry this time.

David knows we need petrol and we saw a petrol station just before the T junction going down to the ferry so we ride up there and find it closed!! at 4:30pm??? we were planning to drive south to Gordon and then do a loop via Huonville back to Hobart so we head that way and find a petrol station open at Middleton thank goodness because then the next one was at Huonville more than 50km away!!  We see a head on accident at Cygnet a small town out of Huonville.  Then we have the closest shave ever!!! we are riding along at 100km/hr on a 4 laned road in the left hand lane and there are two vehicles coming towards us indicating that they are turning right the first one a small blue sedan goes across in front of us (both David and I say later that we thought it was a pretty radical move) and then the red 4WD ute looks like it is stopping when sudedenly it starts towards us and makes it across 1 1/2 lanes and miraculously misses us!!  (we both say later that we thought it was stopping) if I hadn't had a vice-like grip on David's shoulder epaullettes I could have reached out and touched the bumper!!  OMG my heart was in my throat for ages!!!  David did an amazing job of manouvering out of it's way.  If it had hit us we would not be here now I'm sure.  Thank you God

Mum makes another amazing dinner Apricot chicken....haven't had that for years.

We have had the best couple of days with Mum and Dad.  Mum is having surgery on her hand on Tuesday and is very nervous.  Praying that it all goes well.

car ferry to Bruny Is

boats we are going on

ninja Mum

first cave

we went in the gap between the cliff and the 'monument'

David

Mum and Dad

a working blowhole this time :P

the staff get dropped on the other side of this cave and then swim through, but not today too darn cold!

Fabio

only in Tassie!!  LOL

Day 11 Salamanca Markets

Dad out does himself again for breakfast with eggs, bacon and tomatoes on toast.

Today we went to the Salamanca Markets they are huge and reminiscent of the markets in The Rocks in Sydney.  It is sunny but there are moments of very light rain and the wind is freezing!!!  So cold that my head starts to get very cold and I have to buy a beanie and a scarf to keep warm.  I found some lovely glass earrings and we bought tassie badges (metal) for our vests.  We will now have to find Victorian and NSW ones.   We found a blueberry stall and they have blueberry tea, fresh blueberries, blueberry jams we got talking to Carl (the grower) and his wife Nadia about their blueberries and comparing them to ours they grow completely different varieties to ours and his are so delicious.  Nadia has a pot brewing so we try some and it is delicious too ingredients are blueberry leaves, dried blueberries, raspberry leaves, spearmint leaves and cinnamon (all things we grow except cinnamon).  I hand the packet of 24 tea bags over to buy it and Carl refuses to take payment and says it is a present which is so lovely!! We bought some fresh vegetables for dinner.

We saw that crazy Moto Guzzi bike it has lots of little things attached to it including snow chains, steelwool and many little 'tools' that are obviously helpful LOL.  And the Endeavour is docked in Hobart so we decide to walk over and have a look.  It is a very small ship and I can't imagine sailing the open oceans in it!!!

We walk back to the car and visit the Wicked Cheese Factory which sells wonderful cheeses could have spent quite a bit of money there but it wouldn't keep :( we tried Brie, Camembert, Triple Brie and Chilli Camembert/smoked cheddar, cheddar/olive labna, sundried tomato labna yummy and Mum and Dad bought Triple Brie and Chilli Camembert for us all to share.

We drove into Richmond to check out the stone bridge and St John's Catholic Church.

Back home for wine and cheese and Mum is making beef stroganoff for dinner.

Sea Sheperd and Endeavour docked in Hobart

Dave and I standing next to The Endeavour

Dad taking a photo

Richmond bridge

St John's Catholic Church

Day 10 Port Arthur

Today we drove out to Port Arthur we travelled with Mum & Dad in their hire car.   Mum drove and we arrived out there at about 10:30am  we decided on the Silver ticket which included an audio self-guided tour, a harbour cruise and tour of Isle of the Dead (graveyard for officers, their families and convicts) and lunch.  We start with the cruise and it is very interesting to visit the graveyard they must have really valued burial because there was a baby only 6 hours old buried there.  As we step off the boat onto the island who should be there but Steve & Delores!!! The guide shows us some funny little quirky things on some of the gravestones and then we board the ferry back to Port Arthur.  We walk up to the cafe near the Asylum and for lunch we have a voucher for soup & roll, pie and slice and tea/coffee it is bitterly cold today so the soup and pie/pastie is welcomed.  After lunch we go to pick up our audio headsets and start our self-guided tour it is very informative and an easy way to visit all of the buildings.  Our last stop is the memorial garden and the shell of the Broad Arrow Cafe where Martin Bryant killed 35 people and injured many more on the 28th April 1996 it is a peaceful yet very sad place.

We had spotted a chocolate factory on our way in and decided to visit there on our way back to the resort.  Dad bought 2 packets of ginger slice (he loves ginger) and we bought 3 packets licorice/honeycomb/apple cinnamon.  We had some sample tastes yum.  We also stopped at the blowhole but it's not 'blowing' but the view is nice :)

Mum makes spaghetti bolognaise for dinner yum yum  While watching the news we hear that it has snowed heavily on the route Queenstown to Derwent Bridge exactly where we rode yesterday so glad we got through :P

Mum and I in the penitentiary

Penitentiary from the guard tower

Dave and I on the guard tower

Dad & Dave in the governer's house

Mum and Dad in the Governer's garden

Dave, Mum and I with the hospital (left) and the Pauper's dorm

sitting on the potty in the separate prison

Mum, David and I in the church 'boxes' in the separate prison

Dave and his mate in the separate prison

me in leg irons

Mum and I at the non-functioning blowhole