Sunshine Village Hike Jun 2010

 
 
 
 

Huntsman Spider

Mt Gambier, S.A.

The ferry trip from Tassie back to Melbourne was much better than going over. We used our oceanliner recliner seats and I actually got a few hours of sleep, with snorers all around me; I must have been tired. They give you a blanket and pillow to increase the comfort. The sailing was smooth and we got off the boat around 6:30am at Port Melbourne. The rest of the day was catching up on laundry and repacking for a quick 1 hr flight to Mt. Gambier. We were delayed about an hour as they had had a medical emergency earlier in the day which backed up all later flights.

Ed picked me up at the airport; off we go to their lovely home on 5 beautiful tree-laden acres. Jan works in Forestry SA and they have planted more trees for windbreaks. The weather had been quite fine last couple of days - about 27C. Jan took a couple of days off and we've done some touring around here. They are only 15 mins from the ocean and 15 mins from Victoria border. Ocean views are rough - strong winds coming off the Southern Ocean. Mt Gambier is an industrial town with about 30,000 souls. Big forest industry here. Monterey Pine plantations for lumber industry. Fast-growing here. In about 35 years they can harvest and replanting goes on every year. Yesterday Jan and I took a tour of the Princess Margaret Rose Limestone Caves - over in Victoria about 15mins from here. The cave for viewing is open to about 120 metres - and quite magnificent.

The other morning, I saw the biggest spider ever. Jan and I were standing around her kitchen counter when she remarked "Oh, something just dropped from the ceiling" and we walk over to the counter and this huge spider(yes it was the size of the palm of my hand - without a word of a lie)was sitting on the counter by the toaster. Krike bob, eeeek, eeeeek, I have a picture to prove it. They call it a "Huntsman" and apparently it is harmless, and does not build a web, but 'hunts' for its food. Since then, I've been watching the ceilings. Ha Ha Ha.... The birds around the yard are plentiful and varied - songs are quite beautiful and its a joy to sit out on the patio with your 'cuppa'

This afternoon, its back to Melbourne for a couple more nights - visiting a lavender farm tomorrow afternoon, then leave Melbourne at 8:30am Friday morning, bound for Sydney, then Vancouver and on to Calgary.

Oh yes, I hear it is Christmas - it just doesn't feel like that here. Decorations are starting to come out all over the towns but there's no snow and it looks so out of place.

This is probably my last blog for the trip - its been a great one with incredible moments - I will have much to share. The web album to appear.....soon...

Bicheno / St Helen's / Launceston, Thur Nov 26

This was a spectacular, but incredibly windy drive. St Helen's is quite popular resort, Binalong Bay, which is the major jumping off point for the many walks along the Bay of Fires. Beautiful, white powdery sandy beaches as far as the eye can see. Its called Bay of Fires because the first whitemen to land on the shores noticed a number of fires burning on shore due to the many aboriginal tribes living here. Today you can still see the middens the aboriginies created by piles and piles of mollusk shells over the decades.
Other highlights today were St. Columba Falls at the bottom of this beautiful rainforest, laden with huge tree ferns, sassafras, blackwood and myrtle trees. Fresh, lots of bird songs and wonderful earthy smells.

After stopping at a cheese-making farm, we continued to Launceston and got here late afternoon. Its only about 120 kms from the coast but because of the roads, it took ages. You get really tired from constant curves one way then the other and really start to appreciate the straight stretches!

Tonight, Friday Nov 27th is our last night on Tassie. Tomorrow night we spend back on the ferry to Victoria. From there I am heading to S.Australia to visit friends (from Banff who now live in Mt Gambier) for a few days.

Freycinet National Park - Wed Nov 25

Our centre base was a wee town called Bicheno for 3 nights and stayed in caravan park. The highlight around here is Freycinet National Park, Wineglass Bay Lookout and lots of hiking around the area. Unfortunatey Jean is not a strong hiker, so we just did the 30 min trek to the Lookout. I would have liked to do the 4 hour circuit hike, down to the WineGlass Bay and over the isthmus to Oyster Bay and around to parking lot - oh well, another time. There's much more to see on this Island. We also took in Cape Tribulation where the views were awesome, cliffs that drop into the ocean, granite everywhere. On another day here we walked the Foreshore Footpath along the Beach around Bicheno - watched young kids fishing for bait, trekked to the Blowhole (low tide, so nothin' blowin!) But the beach was spectacular. It is quite a holidayer's paradise around here.

Maria Island National Park, Monday Nov 23

"They call the wind Ma-rye-ah" Yes they pronouce it Ma-rye-ah, not Maria. Its named after an aboriginal tribe that used to inhabit. Talk about wind - blew all the cobwebs out of my brain. It blew the Entire day and didn't matter if you were on the coast or inland. A very small island that has a lot of history. Started off at aboriginal colony, then a convict establishment; followed by a private wine/silk-making industry by an Italian, then a large National Portland Cement plant, then a holiday-island for the rich in the early 1900s, and its been a Nat'l Park since around 1976. No shops or restaurants on the island. One dorm style cook-your own food and camping is available. The island has several interesting walks. Fossil Cliffs where they gathered cement by rail line to the cement plant. Painted Cliffs - sculpted sandstone cliffs stained with iron oxide in a myriad of colours. Its a 30 min ferry ride to/from and was quite rough on way back.

We continued up the island to town of Bicheno, near start point of Freycinet National Park. Drive was magnificent, jaw-dropping scenery.

Port Arthur Historic Site - Sunday Nov 22

Another cloudy cool start to the day with a bit of rain. Today Jean did her own thing, while I took a GrayLine Tour down to Port Arthur where over 12,500 convicts were held from about 1830 to 1877. The structures are brick, built by the convicts and many are mostly intact so its quite worth the day to see. They were treated quite brutally here, and were used to build up many industries such as timber, shipbuilding, brick and nail production, coalmining etc. Many of them learned trades and on good behavior actually excelled. I did the self-guided tour with my own headset and audio piece. I enjoyed this because the guided tours had masses of people and I could go where I wanted. My tour included lunch and a cruise and guided tour to the Isle of the Dead - a tiny island used as the cemetary. Of course the convicts were buried in unmarked graves at the bottom of the island and the free/military types buried at the top with massive headstones. It was a full day and well worth the effort to see. Torrential rainfall this afternoon all the way back to Hobart.