By lunchtime we were
pulling into the free camp at Deloraine.
We’d camped here a few months ago before Wayne joined us and thought he
might enjoy staying here for a couple of nights before moving on. The horses in the neighbouring paddock were
still as curious as before
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| Our horsey friends at Deloraine |
and were not averse
to a feed of fruit. It was settlement
day for Wayne’s town house in Brisbane and by mid-afternoon his solicitors
advised that all had gone according to plan and the money was being transferred
into his account. Woo Hoo! Celebrations could commence! We joined our next door neighbours (Geoff and
Monica) beside their blue bus for happy hour
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| Settlement Day celebrations |
and a couple of
bottles of champagne were quickly consumed along with an abundance of beer
followed by scotch and coke chasers.
There were a couple of sore heads in camp the following morning but a
leisurely walk across the swinging bridge
 |
| View of the river from the swinging bridge in Deloraine |
and along the river
soon cleared the fuzziness away. There
were some modern sculptures in the riverside park which we are positive would
not have looked out of place at MONA in Hobart.
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| Wok and Wayne ponder over the modern sculpture in the riverside park |
From the river we
walked up into Deloraine’s main street and strolled along checking out the Arts
and Crafts workshop as well as the sculptures along the footpath.
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| This fishy footpath sculpture was titled 'Got one ...!' |
We stopped for lunch
at a café and chose a table on the footpath and ordered hamburgers. The vote was unanimous – best hamburgers we’d
eaten in Tasmania! On our way back to
the vans Wok and Wayne decided to try and work off some of the extra calories
on some exercise equipment near the bridge.
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| Wayne and Wok really didn't put too much effort into using the equipment |
Eventually we made it
back to camp and needless to say took it easy for the rest of the day. In the morning we awoke to find everything
covered in heavy dew.
 |
| Sunrise at Deloraine - from the Avan |
Temperatures during
the day had been hovering around the 23 degree C mark but night time
temperatures were in the low teens. Just
perfect for sleeping snuggled up under a blanket. We break camp and head west into Mole Creek Karst National Park.
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| Mitzi and the Van heading to Mole Creek Karst National Park |
There are over 300
limestone caves and sinkholes in this area and we stop to take a tour of King
Solomon’s Cave. This cave is small and
compact but offers the same wonderful formations that larger caves exhibit.
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| Wayne tries for that perfect shot in King Solomon's Cave |
Our guide is very
informative and we duck our heads and squeeze thru narrow openings between the
chambers. Sparkling calcite twinkles
everywhere.
 |
| Cave formations in King Solomon's Cave |
It’s always fun to
find a cave dwelling insect. Most of the
time you never see them but this time we find a ‘Harvestman’ bug high on the
cave wall and our guide is very excited.
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| Harvestman bug in King Solomon's Cave |
Our tour takes 45
minutes and although only a small cave we are impressed with the variety of
formations it possesses. It is better
than many of the larger caves we have seen.
 |
| Wok and Wayne at King Solomon's Cave |
We continue our drive
through the hills and scream to a halt beside the road. Blackberries!
Out came the plastic containers and the three of us spent the better
part of an hour happily picking berries off the thorny vines. If it wasn’t for those pesky thorns it would
be even more fun!
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| Stopping to pick blackberries |
With more than enough
blackberries to fill the pot we make our way over the mountain range and as we
round a bend in the road Mount Roland comes into view.
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| Mitzi and the Van round a bend - Mount Roland comes into view |
We descend into the
valley and stop at O’Neills Creek Picnic Reserve at Gowrie Park where we make
camp for the night. The striking Mount
Roland serves as a backdrop for our campsite.
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| The view of Mount Roland from our campsite at O'Neill's Creek Picnic Reserve |
While the freshly
picked blackberries are cooking on the stove the boys settle down for ‘happy
hour’.
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| Beer, chips and blackberries and ice-cream for dessert .... yumm |
Life is good ….
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