It’s Australia
Day! And what better way to celebrate
than with a sleep-in and a pancake and champagne breakfast!
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| Wayne and Wok enjoying the champagne and pancakes |
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| Wayne is back for seconds or was it thirds .. maybe fourths |
Needless to say that
after breakfast the rest of the day was a bit of a blur. However on Monday morning we were ready for a
walk on the wild side and Mount Field National Park seemed like a good place to
start. This National Park is very
popular as it is only an hour’s drive from Hobart and is easily accessible. We stopped in at the Visitor Centre and
watched a slide show on the park before we tackled one of the tracks.
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| Wok and Wayne taking a stroll |
As we walked through
the tall timber and tree ferns we caught a glimpse of what we had come to see.
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| A glimpse of the falls through the trees |
Russell Falls is the
most photographed waterfall in Tasmania and photos of it grace the pages of
travel brochures and magazines. With its
tiered layers of falls it really does look pretty and professional and amateur
photographers alike were taking multitudes of photos – as were we!
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| Russell Falls |
After visiting the
park we headed back to New Norfolk and passed fields of hops.
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| Hop fields |
Cascade Brewery
sources their hops from this region and it was interesting to see how the bines
(no it is not a spelling mistake – the vines for hops are called ‘bines) are
hooked onto wires strung high in the air above the plants.
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| Hop bines |
We finished our day
off by replenishing our supplies at the supermarket before heading back to
camp. In the morning we headed off early
as Mitzi was going to get checked out by the local Mitsubishi dealers for a hiccup
problem she had developed. We dropped
her off at 8am and piled into Wayne’s Prado and headed for Rosny Hill Lookout
on the eastern side of the river. The
lookout provided a great view of Hobart, the Tasman Bridge and Mount
Wellington.
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| View of Hobart from Rosny Hill Lookout |
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| Wayne goes to great lengths (or heights) for some shots |
We managed to fit in
a Subway breakfast before heading back across the bridge to the Royal Botanic
Gardens.
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| Wok and Wayne trying to work out a smart phone ap at the Botanic Gardens |
We wandered through
the gardens checking out different areas.
The Japanese Garden was really nice
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| Part of the Japanese Garden |
and this water
feature was very interesting.
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| Wayne and the water feature |
We did read what this
plant was supposed to be but we have forgotten.
To us it just looked like a large thistle …
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| Looks like a large thistle - doesn't it? |
Wayne was interested
in seeing Pete’s Vegie Patch from the ABC TV series ‘Gardening Australia’ but
it no longer exists in its original form and was a disappointment.
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| Robyn and Wok head up into what once was Pete's Vegie Patch |
When we first arrived
in Tasmania in November the roses were in full bloom and every home garden
seemed to have roses growing. Their
season has nearly ended but there were still some lovely flowers to be seen in
the rose area of the Botanic Gardens.
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| We really like this colour rose |
The conservatory was
rather nice with its pond and orchid display.
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| Wok and Wayne in the conservatory |
As we wandered back
through the gardens to the car we could feel the heat starting to build. The temperature today was to be close to 40
degrees and that is extremely hot for Tasmania.
Our next stop was to be at MONA – the Museum of Old and New Art . We’d had mixed reports about MONA but one
does have to see for oneself – doesn’t one! We got a taste of
what we might be in for in the car park where places had been reserved for ‘God’
and ‘God’s Mistress’. More disturbing
than the actual signage was the fact that there were cars parked in the spaces …
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MONA is housed in a most
unusual structure. You enter at the top
reception area and then descend three levels into a subterranean building which
has been cut into the rock. Now we are
not modern or contemporary art lovers but we were prepared to ‘give it a go’
and for the next three hours we genuinely ‘gave it a go’. The following photos are a sample of the
works on display.
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| On the lower level is this rock wall and speakers mounted in the wall play funeral dirges from around the world |
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| Electonically controlled waterfall spells out different words as it falls |
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| A large room full of TV's speaking different languages |
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| A photo of a broom, an actual broom and the description of a broom |
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| Two pieces of wood tied together with a piece of rope |
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| A stuffed possum, a line of ants, flies and a spider ... |
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| This room is set up like a library. Books have white covers and no writing. Display is called 'Untitled' |
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| A mound of magnetic beads |
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| Yep ... looks like a paper bag wrapped around a metal something or other! |
We finally emerged
from the depths and as soon as we stepped out into the sunlight the heat and
searing wind hit us. Man was it
hot! But what did you think of MONA we
hear you cry? Well … the building was
fantastic … and we did like that waterfall display … ummmmm … and it was air
conditioned … ummmmmm … we think you get
the general drift to that question.
As it was nearing 2pm
we were all getting hungry so we stopped at a hotel not far from the museum and
had steak sandwiches for lunch which were absolutely delicious. So you see, the day hadn’t been wasted
because if we hadn’t gone to see MONA we wouldn’t have called in at that hotel. At 3pm we were still enjoying the air
conditioning at the hotel when the Mitsubishi Dealer rang us and said Mitzi was
good to go. When we got back to camp the
first thing we did was turn on the air conditioning in the van and that was
where we all stayed until the cool change arrived in the early evening. In the morning Wayne packed up his A-Van and
checked out of the caravan park while we hopped into Mitzi and headed south to Kettering. We wanted to give Mitzi a good run to make
sure her hiccups were all better. At
Kettering Wayne parked his rig and joined us in Mitzi. By 11am we were waiting in line for the ferry |
| Mitzi waits in line for the ferry to Bruny Island |
and once the cars
were unloaded
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| The Bruny Island ferry |
we were on our way
across the D’Encastreaux Channel to Bruny Island.
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| View of Kettering from the Bruny Island ferry |
Bruny Island is
nearly 100 kilometres long and shelters a section of the southern Tasmanian
mainland from the Pacific Ocean. At
Adventure Bay a sculpture commemorates the part that whaling played in the area.
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| Sculpture commemorating whaling at Adventure Bay |
Further around the
bay we stop to explore the landing place of Captain James Cook.
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| Wok and Wayne at Captain Cook's landing place |
We always seem to run
across Cookie in our travels. A meat pie
for lunch hits the spot and we then drive south to Cape Bruny
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| Cape Bruny |
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| Cape Bruny Lighthouse |
As we head back to
the ferry Mitzi has a few hiccups. Oh
Oh! The problem is not fixed. We phone the Mitsubishi Dealer from the ferry
and arrange to drop Mitzi back in on our way through Hobart. Back on the mainland at Kettering we drop
Wayne at his rig and say goodbye … but it is only for a few days. Wayne is heading south to do some exploring
and as we have already ‘been there, done that’ we will meet up with him again
on the way to Port Arthur. In Hobart the
Mitsubishi Dealer supplies us with a courtesy car and we leave Mitzi in their
hands to try and figure out what the hiccups are all about. Back at New Norfolk we enjoy a relaxing few
days before we have to pack up and continue our travels around Tasmania. Mitzi is returned to us after two days and
hopefully her hiccups are a thing of the past.
We’ve enjoyed our stay at New Norfolk with the picturesque Derwent River
but all good things must come to an end and it is time for us to move on …
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| The River Derwent at New Norfolk |
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