Nov 28 - Tassie Day 4

  Bright and early we arose and looked outside to find our magnificent view staring back at us.  Diamond Island was alight with morning sunlight and there were two whales splashing their tails into the water.  It wasn't long before we were up and dressed and Kath, our hostess, was bringing us breakfast.  Breakfast with a view, and seagulls, and a nice pussy cat called Maple who did her part keeping the seagulls at bay.

  Breakfast was homemade fruit salad with vanilla yoghurt, a nice big filling bowl of warm oat porridge, a glass of orange juice and a cup of tea with milk and one sugar.  It was a great way to start the day, especially as we knew we were having a relatively light lunch.
  Our first port of call for the day was the Bicheno information centre where we bought my souvenir magnet and commemerative penguin postcard.  We asked for directions to the blow hole and headed off.  It was only a few minutes away so we were soon at a section of rocky but pristine beach.  Mr Smart went to explore some rock pools and managed to find crabs, starfish, limpets, pippies, and more.

  The blow hole was on a pristine section of rocky beach.  All the beaches we've seen in fact have been pristine.  There were quite a few tourists perched on the rocks around the blow hole itself, one so close that I found myself muttering "This won't end well."  But no one managed to get drenched while we were there.   At one point, Mr Smart managed to get on the opposite side of the blow hole from me and we both managed to catch an eruption that blotted the other from the picture.  We had quite a chuckle about that and as I processed the photos I realised a stranger front and back also appears in the shots, and my.. isn't he priceless!?

  After the blow hole we headed on further down the Freycinet Peninsula to Coles Bay.  We needed fuel so that was our first stop.  I hadn't seen an Ampol in years but it seemed to be the only petrol station in that little town.  $1.78 per litre, most expensive tank of fuel in my life thus far! With the tank full again, it was off to the to the Freycinet Marine Farm for lunch.  It's a working farm for oysters, mussels and other seaford but they have a very simple, unpretencious little canteen just off the highway that serves up super fresh seafood.

  We started with a cold seafood platter containing oysters, mussels, pickled octopus, smoked salmon and Tasmanian brie and a fresh bread roll followed by hot scallops and abalone slices in a Japanese-style sauce with another fresh bread roll.  Seafood isn't terribly filling and I still hadn't eaten my fill of fresh oysters so we ordered a dozen natural oysters and scallops in garlic butter with one final bread roll.  It was a wonderful meal and experience.  In fact it was really the only reason we'd ventured down to Coles Bay, so back in the car we hopped and set off on the longest driving leg of our trip.
  Now a long trip has to have a few stops of course, stretch your legs, take in local sights, buy wine.  We stopped at Gala Estate in Cranbrook.  It looked like an abandoned farm building by the side of the road.  Were it not for the warning signs announcing 'Gala Estate 400m' we might have just drive straight past.  The interior was very rustic country feel but it was very unassuming and homey.  We found plentiful stores of wine and a huge basket of locally grown walnuts and were greeted by a small girl of about five.  "Mum" she called with a smile, and our hostess appeared.
  We tasted a few wines, a light Pinot Noir in the Beaujolais style, a heavy Pinot Noir and a late harvest Reisling.  I also tried one of the beautiful fresh walnuts.  We chatted about wines and produce and her family enterprise.  Her husband is part of the seventh generation of their family in Tasmania.  His great-great-great-great-grandfather was one of the passengers on the first boat of free men to Tasmania.  We ended up with a bottle of the light Pinot, a Reisling and a bag of walnuts.  I see a cheese platter in the near future.
  We also stopped at Milton Vineyard also in Cranbrook to try a Gewürztraminer.  Neither of us was very sure of it.  I didn't hate it, that's for sure, but with two bottles of wine already purchased and luggage space finite, I didn't love it enough to plump for it's $27 price tag.  This wasn't a great cellar door experience either as the lady behind the bar seemed almost utterly indifferent to our being there.
  We didn't stop for a while after that.  A brief sidetrack to look at a section of beach, but nothing after that until Triabunna.  I'd been driving for quite a while at this point and needed caffeinating.  Mr Smart too, though travelling in a navigational capacity, was a little on the sleepy side.  We went to a local cafe and Mr Smart ordered his usual skinny latte.  I was going to have an iced coffee, but the place we went makes theirs with syrup not with real coffee, so I went for an affogato instead.  After our coffees we had a quick walk around to spot some historic buildings (some of which were for sale) and then we headed off again.
  Our destination on this long travel leg was The Mussel Boys in Taranna near the Port Arthur historic site.  This was our bed for the evening.  A bit of a disappointment really.  It could have been really good but it just smacked of people who didn't want to be running an accommodation site.  This suspicion was confirmed when going through their dilapidated visitors book when we came across a business for sale listing.  There was no breakfast and no internet, which admittedly I did know when booking, no restaurant as they were no longer running it, a weird shower set up, pumped tank water, no intructions for using the provided appliances and light switches in weird places!
  However, not ones to be put off, we decided to book into the Port Arthur Ghost Tour for the evening and then to go and find a restaurant or cafe with internet so we could sit and finish Tuesday's blog together, Mr Smart writing and I furiously assembling the photos.  We spotted nothing on our way to Port Arthur but we went in and bought our tickets for the Ghost Tour and for Thursday's entry and historial tour as well and we asked the lady serving us if she could think of anywhere we could go.  She directed us the Village Hub at Parsons Bay Retreat in Nubeena, owned by friends of hers.
  We had a little under two hours to use before our Ghost Tour and the pressure was on.  We had little trouble finding it as we hadn't quite caught the name the first time but eventually we found ourselves there.  We walked in and said "We want dinner and internet please" and Rachel said "Well you've come to the right place".  She seated us, gave us the internet password, cold water and menus and left us to it.
  As it turns out, my booking a room with no internet was a fortuitous event.  Were it not for my lack of foresight we would never have discovered this divine eatery.  Mr Smart and I found ourselves staring at the most remarkable specials board either of us had ever seen.

  Everything sounded tasty and creative, everything seemed different and new and it was all so modestly priced.  For the first time in forever, it took me and Mr Smart a very short amount of time indeed to pick from the menu.  Rachel was soon back to take our order and we parked our furious internetting and gave her our attention.  Food was ordered, internetting resumed and we excitedly anticipated the arrival of a wonderful meal.  We were not disappointed.

   Our entree arrived, Possum & duck terrine with warm toasted wedges of Turkish bread, pickled cauliflower salad and caramelised onion relish.  That's right, Mr Smart and I have now eaten possum and we liked it!  This was sensational.  Sweet onion relish, vinegary pickled cauliflower, warm toasted bread and cold pressed meat terrine.  Each morsel complimented each other perfectly.  It truly whetted our appetites and we eagerly awaited our main courses.
  We were not kept waiting long.  Table service was really great.  Not so fast that you felt rushed, but fast enough that the table did not feel cluttered with dirty dishes, our water bottle was exchanged swiftly.  Our needs were obviously being surreptitiously monitored.

  I ordered the Herb crusted wallaby rump with creamy mashed potato, zucchini and mushroom sauce and Mr Smart had the 'Wallaburger', a wallaby burger with crispy bacon, tasty cheese, lettuce, beetroot relish and mayonnaise in a Turkish bun.  Both were astonishingly good.  I swapped Mr Smart a third of mine for a third of his so we both got to taste them both.  Mr Smart was most definitely considering licking the plates.  So now we've both also eaten wallaby, two new meats in one meal!
  Lastly, dessert.  I'm on holidays so I decided to indulge.  I couldn't resist the Pumpkin pie slice.  It was only $4 too!  Unbelievably good value.  It had pumpkin coloured edible glitter on top and sparkled in the sun setting over the bay.  Most magical dessert I've experienced in a long time.  It came with runny cream so I just poured the tiniest dribble along the side of it.  After questioning, it turned out that Rachel makes all the baked goodies herself.  The woman is clearly a marvel.
   Spectacular food, interesting and creative, modest prices, fabulous service. stacked with culinary geniuses, a view to die for and ambiance coming out of your ears.  We decided then and there to make the most of our proximity to this establishment the following day as much as we could.  Put this place on your must do Tassie list everyone!  We came for the internet, we will return for the food.
  At 8:15pm sharp we posted Part 1 of Tuesday's blog, downed laptops and raced back to Port Arthur in time for our Ghost Tour with our guide for the evening, Todd Darling.  Apparently among the Port Arthur staff he's known as "The Prince of Darkness", a joking reference to the fact that he has worked there 14 years but has never once been on the day/historic shift.  He certainly knows his ghost stories though and claims to have seen five ghosts himself and heard many more.
  He explained that for the purposes of ghost tours, they don't include any stories that haven't been experienced by less than three people.  If someone has a ghostly experience they can fill out a form as a 'proof' and three forms will mean the story is considered 'true'.  They do often look for matching historical figures and appropriate circumstances but generally the tours are just about fun.  I am pretty skeptical about ghosts but it was fun to listen to the tales, including details of reactions from Ghost Tours of the past.
  My favourite ghost story for the night was one told early in the evening.  Our first stop was in front of the ruinous remains of Government Cottage.  Several people claim to have seen a redcoat in that area.  Through various ghostly interactions they believe he was a soldier guarding Port Arthur who was about to be shipped off to fight the war in New Zealand.  One night while guarding he tripped, fell and broke his neck and died.
  In life he was determined not to be sent to New Zealand as he feared he would die there and then no money would return to his wife and child and they would starve.  This unfinished business is what's said to keep the ghost guarding Port Arthur.  He can't face his death as this would mean facing the realisation that he had failed them and that they had perished.  He has been known to ask people "Halt! What's the password?" and no one knows what it is but Todd's suggestion was to pick something very British.
  We had no ghostly visitations on our tour, no one fainted, no one's hair turned white in an instant, but our guide did managed to make us jump once or twice.  I wasn't scared, but I was glad of Mr Smart's hand around mine on a couple of occasions.  When the tour concluded we were both issued with certificates stating that we did with bravery and courage complete a Ghost Tour at the Port Arthur Historic Site.
  We wended our way back to our bed in Taranna, watching closely for wildlife on the road.  We've seen a ridiculous amount of roadkill on this trip, it's been heartbreaking to see.  When we got back the light switches in weird places definitely caught us out.  It was light when we arrived and then headed off so we hadn't actually located any yet, so in practical darkness we had to unlock our door and find a light switch.  It was a bit of a pain in the arse.  Once we were in though, we settled on the floor and couch to offload photos and have a glass of Moscato each and then went to bed.
  Jess

Nov 27 (Part 2) - Tassie Day 3, Guest Blog!

And now, Part 2 of our epic Tuesday by Mr Smart. 

  We began the drive to Bicheno and soon found the freeway leading out of Launceston.  In only a few short minutes we had left the city behind and were surrounded by rural countryside.  We couldn’t get over how you could live in the country and still be less than 5 minutes from a large town like Launceston, not to mention such a natural wonder like Cataract Gorge.

  We made our way along the winding road but soon had our first low point for the trip.  A little bird flew in ahead of us and landed right in the middle of the road.  With traffic behind and oncoming, there was no chance to slow or swerve to avoid him.  RIP little Starling.

  Continuing on, we made the turn off to head up to Bicheno and while it was mostly farmland in amongst the hills and trees, we did came across a great view of Moulting Lagoon Game Reserve, so we pulled over to a really small lookout spot.  By one of those weird coincidences the universe throws at you, on this otherwise really quiet road, two other cars stopped there at the same time, and all of us popped out to take some snaps.

  We arrived in Bicheno, passing through the town to the other side where our B&B, Bicheno Ocean View Retreat, awaited.  Our host Kath was nearby when we parked the car and she showed us to our room and gave us the introduction.  She also let us know that whales had been sighted recently.

  To say we had an amazing view just doesn’t do it justice. We could see the whole coastline, with mountains to our north, beachfront stretching down, and the wide open ocean directly in front.  Just below us there was a little paddock where sheep were roaming just before the rocky shoreline, and our B&B’s property had a couple of ponds with resident ducks in attendance.

  While unpacking, I couldn’t help looking out to the ocean and was soon rewarded with the tell-tale splashes that indicted whales at play.  Despite how far out they were, we could clearly see them jumping out of the water and landing back with a great white splash.  Efforts to photograph them proved futile though, as they were quite a way out and moved fairly fast.

  After the long walking exertions of early in the day, we were both more than glad to see our place had a spa in the bathroom, and a good long soak and spa did a lot to ease my sore and tired muscles.

  We decided to head into Bicheno ahead of our penguin tour in order to grab some dinner first.  Jess had spied a place advertising wood fired pizzas and it didn’t take much to convince me that could be our dinner.  It was pretty much just the mention of pizza that did it.  We parked the car and walked into Pasini’s, thinking we would have our choice of tables since it was only a third full.  Instead we were told that they were really under the pump since there was only three of them and we could only order take away.  When we asked if we could still sit at their empty outside tables with our take away pizza, we were informed that we could not.  We did take a moment to peruse their menu but decided to see what else was on offer in the town.

  Walking through the town and see so many business, including other restaurants, that had closed and were for sale, it amazed me that Pasini’s were happy to turn away paying customers.  We passed a typical take away shop, like you would see anywhere in Australia, city or country, and checked out the French restaurant.  In my mind, French restaurant is synonymous with expensive, and this proved the case here too.  Since we were after a simple meal before our tour and not a dining experience, we made our way back to the take away shop, Pork's Place, and ordered a couple of small pizzas.

  The difference between Pork's Place and Pasini’s couldn’t be more stark.  This one was pretty much empty, whereas Pasini’s was still quite busy despite being only a third full.  Only one lady was behind the counter here and I assumed she was the owner / operator.  When she brought us the meals, even though we were eating in, she put them in boxes to keep them warm, brought us a set of cutlery to use as well as a pizza server each.  I guess part of me thinks she went to all this effort because it was quiet and we were the only customers, but I was impressed none the less, especially after the treatment at the other place.  The pizzas themselves were really tasty, generously piled with toppings, and Jess mentioned that it reminded her of her Dad’s pizzas, high praise indeed!

   As we left the pizza place I saw a couple of martins swoop under the overhang. Returning to investigate I spied a little nest with a number of hungry chicks sticking their beaks up to be fed by their mother.

Suitably nourished, Jess and I made our way back to the penguin tour meeting point to wait for it to begin.  We browsed the ship window, reading an old newspaper article detailing how the tour began, and I got really excited when it mentioned that having penguins stand on your feet during the tour was a common occurrence.  Sadly, the article was nearly ten years old, and along with no photography, the tour operators discouraged any touching.  Also while waiting, I couldn’t resist buying one of the toy penguins they had for sale, and Jess quickly coined the name Pengi.

  The small tour bus pulled up and the group of us, nearly thirty in all, piled on in an orderly manner.  The trip was just 5 minutes down the road to the hatchery, but they don’t like cars driving there themselves since the penguins have been known to wander along the roads.  We disembarked and passed over to our guide for the evening while the driver returns to get ready for the next group.

  Our guide led us down path to the hatchery area, pausing long enough to point out a penguin that had already made his way up to nearby path, and into the station for our final instructions.  He explained that since penguins are unable to blink, flash photography was particularly damaging to them including the possibility of blinding them.  Touching was also frowned upon, not least because the penguins have sharp beaks and can be quite vicious.  Suitably warned, we began the tour proper.

  Almost right outside the station were a couple of penguins which elicited shouts of glee from the tour members, though our guide seemed non-plussed by them.  The reason why was soon apparent as he guided us to what he described as one of three paths the penguins took as they returned from the sea back to their nests.  Up this path were walking a group of a dozen or so penguins that had no issue walking pass the group of gawking humans that were only a few metres away.  Our guide then showed us the group waiting down at the beach, and described how they would leave the sea and wait at this meeting point, in this case a group of rocks.  Once enough of them were grouped up, they made the trip from the rocks, across the beach and up to their nests.  Just as he pointed them out to us, the next group had decided that there were enough of them, so we watched as they waddled their way across the beach and up the path.

  Soon after the second group made the crossing from the rocks in the beach to the nest, we spied another group swimming in from the sea and making their way to the meeting point at the rocks.  It was fascinating to watch the different groups in the different stages of crossing: from sea to rocks, from rocks to path and from the path to their nests.

  We must have been standing between one of the penguins and his nest since he stood there in front of us, preening and clearing the salt from his body by shaking his head, while waiting for us to leave.  This didn’t stop the second group of penguins coming up and barging past time, resulting in some very angry squawks back and forth.  Soon enough we moved on, no doubt to the penguins relief so that he could return home.

  Along the path we continued, the guide quickly pointing out penguins that had ventured up to it and suggesting we use the opposite side while passing them. In this place, penguins have right of way.  He also showed us the way to tell the difference between the chicks and the adults since they were pretty much the same size.  The chicks tended to have the soft, fluffy down still on their body, though there were a couple without any down that he assured us were still chicks.

  Continuing on around the tour we saw two other pathways that the penguins took to reach their nests.  One in particular was pointed out to us because it involved the penguins having to navigate over a boulder and a drop of at least a metre.  Our guide recounted to us how surprisingly agile the penguins were, but more than a few ended up belly flopping on the drop, but soon jumped up again to continue their march.  Sadly our timing was a little off as no groups were in the process of crossing the boulder, but we did watch them make their way across the sand to their pathway.

  The last sights we were privileged to see were a number of artificial nests that had been created to help increase breeding numbers.  Our guide was able to open the roofs of these hutches and show us the mother and chick waiting inside.  It was amazing how fearless all of the penguins were.  While they generally kept their distance, moving off the pathways as we approached, there was no panicked fleeing.  This was especially true of the ones in the hutch whose home we were invading, as they just ignored this group of humans that were staring at them from just a couple of metres away and continued as they were.

  Soon enough our tour was over, so we all thanked our guide for an unforgettable experience and made our way back up to the bus.  There we were lucky to get one more experience as a group of penguins had made their way up to the car park, nearly a kilometre from the shore.  It was now perfectly clear why they didn’t want anyone driving and parking there themselves.  Waving goodbye to these little guys, who soon disappeared into the bush as the bus started up, we boarded and returned to our origin.

  The drive back to our B&B proved quite exciting as we shared our experiences.  Also, after an hour of searching for white patches in the dark that turned out to be waddling penguins, any white shape on the road could have been another penguin that we would have to swerve around.  Luckily they ended up being just sign posts.

  Driving up the driveway to our B&B, the headlights surprised groups of rabbits and wallabies that had ventured onto the property.  They certainly added to our wildlife adventure for the night, but paled in comparison to the penguins who were the star of the trip so far.  For anyone visiting Tasmania, I would thoroughly recommend a trip to Bicheno to see the penguins with Bicheno Penguin Tours.

  Mr Smart

So just to detail the full food list for me, today's food and exercise were:

• Breakfast wasCuccina's Eggs Royal, two slices of multigrain toast topped with two poached eggs, smoked salmon and a very nice Hollandaise sauce.  I also had their large Combo Juice which is fresh made orange, apple, carrot, pineapple and ginger juice.
• Exercise was traipsing up and down Cataract Gorge for the better part of three hours including a gajillion photo stops and a lot of huffing and puffing on the Zig Zag Track.  I was really stoked though at how quickly I recovered each time we rested before attacking the next section of elevation.
• Morning snack was a slighty unripe banana and a whole heap of water!
• Lunch was a single Coles dolmades, half a dried apricot, two Brazil nuts, two hazelnuts, two pecan nut halves and four almonds and some swigs of Mr Smart's Coke Zero.
• Afternoon snack was half a navel orange.
• Dinner was two slices of Pork's Supreme Pizza and two slices of Pork's BBQ Chicken Pizza and a large vanilla thickshake.

  The second-hand books I bought were:
The Collection and The Lover by Harold Pinter
Sometimes Gladness by Bruce Dawe
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (my copy got lost somewhere along the line)
Deranged Marriage by Sushi Das
Memoirs of a Fat Bastard by Chris Gibson
  The second-hand books Mr Smart bought were:
Summertide by Charles Sheffield
Divergence by Charles Sheffield
Out of the Dark by David Weber



  The penguin tour really was truly amazing.  I learned a fair bit about penguins including that shaking their heads when wet isn't just to dry off, they have little desalination plants in their heads and are shaking excess salt out of their bodies!  We really saw so many animals today, it was really wonderful.
  Hope everyone is enjoying reading about our trip, we are certainly very much enjoying having it!  Sorry we're a bit behind on the blog but we are trying to fit it in amongst all the cool things we are doing!
  Jess

Nov 27 (Part 1) - Tassie Day 3, Guest Blog!

Hi Guys, today we thought it would be fun to view a day from a different perspective so it's with great pleasure that I introduce to you, for the first time appearing on this blog, the fabulous Mr Smart!  Also guys, please click for the bigger versions of the photos as the small ones really don't do them justice.

As I woke up this morning I noticed the sun already shining over the lovely city of Launceston.  Knowing that I had forgotten to do any writing the night before, I had a quick shower before grabbing my laptop and headed out to the balcony to enjoy the view and do my writing.  It did serve to confirm my belief that having a good view can inspire me to write more effectively and I had no trouble putting the words down.

  Soon enough Jess awoke also and we made our way down to Cuccina’s Café for breakfast.  They appeared to be quite busy and despite our sitting next to the counter it was quite a while before they came to take our order.  The wait was more than worth the while though when the meal arrived, Cuccina’s Eggs Benedict with a side order of grilled Haloumi for me, and Eggs Royal for Jess.  They also provided the best coffee I'd so far had in Tasmania but like all the others it was served too hot which made it harder to drink but also brought out the bitterness.

  After the huge breakfast we decided that lunch would be a light affair and headed towards Coles to get some fruit that we would tide us over until dinner.  As we meandered our way through Launceston we came across a dying species that was already pretty much extinct in Melbourne: a second-hand book store.  It didn’t take much contemplation before we ventured in and began browsing the well-worn and well-loved tomes.  After far too long spent deciding, we both had selected various titles to take home with us.  We then continued on to Coles to buy our lunch items before returning to the car to make our way to Cataract Gorge, one of the must see attractions in Launceston.

  Our original plan was to take one of the river cruises which advertised that they ventured into the gorge and seemed like it would be the perfect opportunity to experience it.  Luckily we discussed it with our hotel concierge the evening before and he advised us that the rapids in the river precluded the cruise from venturing into the more spectacular part of the gorge.  He also let us know that there were a number of walking tracks throughout the gorge and we might be better off driving up there and experiencing it by foot.  Eventually this was the course of action we decided.

  We arrived at the gorge, parked the car and headed to the chair lift that would take us over to the other side while also giving us a nice aerial view of it all.  We decided the walking track options with the ticket seller who suggested the walk up and back the other side, a 20 min trip each way.  With no further ado we purchased our tickets and grabbed our ride.

  The view from the chair lift was pretty spectacular and hopefully some of the photos are able to capture what it was like.  The most striking part was that the front section had been converted to include carefully manicured lawns surrounding a public swimming pool.  The contrast between the modern park and the natural bushlands water course was like something out of a fantasy book.

  On departing the chairlift we made our way to the start of our planned walk though we got diverted by a wandering peacock who deigned to let us approach and grab some close up photos of him.  We continued on our way and began our walk along the path.  Looking across the gorge, high up the side of the facing cliff, we could see the lookout that was accessed by the rough dirt track, and seeing how daunting it looked, I was glad that we had taken more sensible path.

Circle shows position of lookout

  Along our path we were passed regularly by keen joggers as well as sightseers who weren’t delayed by the constant photo taking that we were performing. Soon enough we arrived at King’s Bridge, which marked the end of track, and ventured out to get some pictures from the above the middle of the river.  It struck home how close we were to the city, since the bridge was a main thoroughfare in, and from the bridge we could easily see parts of it, yet just a few minutes early we were in the middle of the gorge, completely cut off from any sign of civilization.

  On the other side of the bridge we saw some colonial style houses that had been painted in some interesting colours so we ventured over for a closer look.  At first it looked like it was some sort of historical attraction, but they were actually serviced apartments that had been done in the colonial theme.  It was also interesting to see a tram line running past them, though it had been a long time since it had been used since the tracks had turned to rust.  There was still a tram hidden away in a nearby shed that had also seen better days.

  We made our way back to King’s Bridge and saw the steep stair case leading up the dirt track known as the Zig Zag track.  Without too much encouragement needed, we decided that we would brave the climb up, careful to keep a slow pace as needed.  This was needed on more than a few occasions as the climb was very steep without much secure footing.  It wasn’t too long before I was rueing the fact I was wearing boots instead of the much more sensible sneakers that Jess was wearing.  The climb was more than worthwhile when we finally reached the lookout we had spied from the easy walking track.  Not only was the view absolutely fantastic, but the sense of accomplishment was even more worthwhile.

Arrow points to where we first spied the lookout

  The map of the area we had, along with my phone’s GPS, showed that we had climbed up an elevation of 100 meters, and would head down just as far by the end of the walk.  No doubt Jess will have a few comments more to make of this! We continued on the path that would return us to our start point but not before we encountered some friends along the way. 

  On arriving back, we decided that we still wanted to walk across the suspension bridge but I desperately needed to change my footwear so I returned to the car while Jess saw to seeing our water bottles refilled.

Feeling far more comfortable, we headed up the must shorter track to the bridge, just  5 minutes away, for some more photos from the other side of the basin.  Once there we naturally decided that for completion’s sake we needed to continue across and back view the lower path, just another 10 minutes walk.  This took us underneath the chairlift that we had ridden earlier, along the water’s edge, and back to the pool and lawn area that I decided to call Shangri La.

  That concluded our activity for the morning, which has now stretched well into the afternoon.  All up we had been walking for nearly three hours, which I think went a long way to working off the large breakfasts we had consumed at the start of the day.  We jumped in the car and began the drive to our next destination, Bicheno.
  Mr Smart

  Hope you've enjoyed Part 1 of what was a very very big day.  We are trying to catch up and will have Part 2 to you hopefully tomorrow morning!  I will also add on the Zig Zag Track, yes I was very glad of sturdy footwear.  I was huffing and puffing away but was very pleased to see how much faster I was recovering.  My fitness levels have definitely visibly improved and I was extremely proud of both of us for tackling the "Hikers Only" track!
  Jess

Nov 26 - Tassie Day 2

  We ended up not staying up for the soccer last night, which was lucky as it ended up a nil all draw anyway.  We woke early and had a lovely breakfast in the Mole Creek Guest House dining room.  It was lucky in a way that we rose early again as it allowed us to make the very first tour of the day of the Maraoopa Cave at Mole Creek Karst National Park.  We got there early enough in fact to walk a 600m track called Fern Glade, up to the cave mouth and await our tour guide.
  Our guide Aaron, was very eco-conscious and had obviously had to deal with his fair share of dumb questions and behaviour from visitors.  He handed around some chunks of limestone of various types, stalacmites, flowstone, cauliflower formation so that everyone could feel them and thus not be so tempted to touch once inside the cave.  The other more amusing way he detered people from touching was to remind them that the cave was very dark and hosted six known species of cave spiders and and an unknown number yet to be identified and named.
  We saw cave crickets, a cave spider and of course, what I've been waiting for for seventeen year, the glow worms.  When Aaron turned out all the lights, I heard a soft "Wow" leave Mr Smart's lips.  They were breathtakingly beautiful, tiny green stars on a black sky, myriad constellations in ever changing patterns.  There was no photography of the glow worm chamber allowed.  Even without flash, the tiny infrared burst the cameras use to adjust focus is enough to annoy the glow worms.
  At any rate, Aaron assures us that the only way to get a decent picture of them is by a 40 minute exposure on a tripod.  He knows this because that's exactly what they have to do to track the success of the colony.  They photograph and then manually count the number of glow worms in the picture!  I could not imagine doing that, there were thousands of them up there.  Mr Smart took the best cave photo of the day shown below:

  After our tour we headed back along Fern Glade, picked up a souvenir magnet and headed off toward Beaconsfield.  We'd not gone very far when we stopped on the road to allow this little guy to cross.  They walk quite quick but Mr Smart managed to grab a camera and hop out and grab a couple of snaps.  The echidna of course, was completely unperterbed by this.  The truck that came up the road a minute later however, was a little upset with me for blocking the road.
  By the time we hit the turn off for Beaconsfield it was lunchtime so we made a pitstop in Westbury.  It certainly wasn't a memorable meal and for what it was service took forever.  Though as Mr Smart reminded me, it was a $10 pub counter meal and it was at it's value for money mark quality-wise.  It was certainly edible and managed to fill the hole.
  It was back on the road to Beaconsfield to visit the Beaconsfield Mine & Heritage Centre.   It was an interesting historical site.  The old mine ruins right alongside the current mine where Brant Webb and Todd Russell were trapped for two weeks following the collapse on Anzac Day 2006.  There was a whole large room dedicated to that collapse and the subsequent rescue of the two men and it's community knock-on effects.  Other rooms contained equipment from the past and Mr Smart and I both had fun ringing one another on old-timey telephones.
  My favourite parts of the Heritage Centre were the old mine ruins.  I always enjoy the juxtaposition of the idle machinery and decrepit buildings against the overtaking greenery.  The water wheel however, was still working.  You could press a button and water was pumped in to it to power a large stamp press.  Apparently it can generate 15 horse power.  It was a rather impressive and noisy sight.

 By the time we finished at Beaconsfield it was almost 4pm so we decided to head for Launceston, our next sleeping spot.  On the way we stopped at Brady's Lookout and we got a number of fantastic views of the Tamar River.  We also found out next native fauna for the day.  Mr Smart stumbled upon four skinks sunning themselves in a quiet spot.  Three of them scattered on seeing us, but the last one, the bravest I suppose, waited until I was really quite close before he scarpered.

   We reached Launceston and found our hotel, Auldington without much trouble, despite the abundance of one-way streets in the city centre.  We had picked up a brochure for a place called Jailhouse Grill at one of the other touristy spots and the desk clerk had it on his list of places to reccommend so we decided to go there for dinner.  We even scored a 10% off coupon from the desk clerk.  This is the view from our 'City View Room' on the second floor of the hotel.  It's not a perfect stitch but you get the idea.

  We got ourselves settled in our room then walked the two or three blocks to dinner.  We scoped out the menu displayed in front of the building and found some intriguing choices so we agreed this was a place to be tried.  Mr Smart ordered the pork ribs, despite warnings on the menu that they can be a little too salty for some people to handle.  Turns out that salty wasn't really the problem.  They were the toughest ribs ever.  You had to tear and gnaw the flesh off them like some sort of caveman.
  We mentioned the toughness to the waitress and at the end of the meal when we went up to pay the manager not only honoured our 10% off coupon, he also gave an additional 10% off for the poor quality ribs, admitting that they were in the middle of sourcing a new supplier.  That is all very well and good I thought, but if you know something you have is poor quality then just tell people you are out of it.  Don't go hurting your own reputation by serving up sub-standard food.
  On our walk back to the hotel, we stopped by the bottle shop and grabbed a bottle of Moscato.  After we shared a glass of wine, I started processing photos and here I have sat for far to long with Mr Smart now peacefully dozing beside me.  Not sure how he can sleep through the tappity-tap of the keyboard but he seems to manage very well.

  Today's food was:

• Breakfast was a glass of orange juice and a cup of tea with one sugar, a bowl of homemade granola with plain greek yoghurt and homemade fruit compote (an apricot and a slice of pear) followed by grilled mushrooms on toasted and buttered homemade seeded wholemeal bread.  It was definitely the highlight meal of the trip so far.  Every bit of it was scrumptious.
• Morning snack was half a dried peach, two Brazit nuts, four almonds, two hazelnuts and two pecan nut halves.
• Lunch was a pub counter meal lunch special in Westbury, $10 chicken parmy with veggies.  The chicken parma, for what was paid, was reasonable and tasty.  The veggies were a little weird, I suspect cooked up with some sweet chilli sauce or something.  There were not a great deal of lunch options evident in Westbury and I probably wouldn't try eating there again.  It was just unfortunate that we were still a bit far away from Beaconsfield as there were a great deal more options there.
• Dinner was a 330ml Bulmer's Apple Cider with a salad bar plate, half a bacon and scallop skewer (not pictured because we ate it immediately) and then duck with roast potatoes.  I also had a couple of Mr Smart's pork ribs and he had some of my duck.
• Dessert was half a glass of Moscato.

  It was a pretty full on day and I think Mr Smart and I are both wishing we had longer to spend in each place.  There are definitely some places we've missed completely and some we'd have liked to spend more time in.  I am trying to think of it as an overview, we can always come back another time once the coffers have sufficiently recovered.
  Jess