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You guys are slow. I already did it before xmas!
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Haha too many other things to do before Christmas Sharon ;)
My news years resolution - wakeup! You are never going to fit into those clothes ever again LOL
My old clothes from australia which I no longer fit into, (compliments of the amazing food and choices here) are slowly being drycleaned and given to some of my new friends at work. Some of the women here are seriously, seriously small. Makes me wonder how I ever did fit into some of them too. My new motto is, you can always buy more!
i held onto some clothes i never thought I'd fit back into and amazingly i have..but for the most part yea better to chuck than hold onto
Laura wrote: "Elaine - Did you go all around Tassie or just stuck to a certain part? Thanks we shall :) Yea, Huon is lovely area..I sometimes just go for a drive down there to escape..Always relaxes me :)"
We tried to do as much as we could Laura....we came on the Spirit and so drove through Deloraine to Launceston, stayed in George Town which I loved. Then headed down the East Coast to Bicheno and did Freycinet and Wineglass Bay. Then Port Arthur, Hobart and then along the West Coast to Strahan and finally Cradle Mountain and back to Devonport so drove through the Huon countryside. We only had 12 days and it was not nearly long enough to see everything of course. I know there were a lot of amazing places we missed out on seeing. I totally fell in love with the whole place. My bucket list wish is to come back and stay for at least a month so I can explore the whole place thoroughly. Personally I would love to retire there....either George Town or Richmond but I think for that to happen I would have to divorce my husband as he has no desire to live in Tassie!!! I'm hoping though he would come back with me for a longer visit. That's a bit less drastic. Lol. :)
Elaine wrote: "Laura wrote: "Elaine - Did you go all around Tassie or just stuck to a certain part? Thanks we shall :) Yea, Huon is lovely area..I sometimes just go for a drive down there to escape..Always relax..."
A place I have never been to, but would like to . Glad you enjoyed it Elaine.
Thanks Dale. It was almost a year ago now but the memory of it is still very vivid. An absolutely gorgeous place. If you ever get the chance Dale you should go. I know there are so many beautiful places in Australia that I've yet to see but there was something very special about Tasmania for me.
Elaine - Wow!! That sounds like a jam packed time full of fun :) The east coast is really a wonderful place to go...I want to head back up there sometime.Richmond is a lovely area..It's very quaint..Usually head there once a year.
Your hubby wouldn't like to retire here cause it's too cold or possibly too boring?
As a family we went to Pagan Cider and did a cider tasting..It also included a mead tasting too which wasn't for me. Took a small clutch of stuff home along with some bags of cherries from another place.
Oh if you do come back..They have some fantasic boat rides that show you the coastline of Tassie..It's a real pleasure to do..provided you don't mind sea travel and possibly getting wet. One of their rides is actually near Port Authur too.
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Today is my families traditional day of cherry picking...Except we go buy them directly from the cherry farms..Which takes us on a l..."
That would be so much fun!
Elaine wrote: "We tried to do as much as we could Laura....we came on the Spirit and so drove through Deloraine to Launceston, stayed in George Town which I loved. Then headed down the East Coast to Bicheno and did Freycinet and Wineglass Bay. Then Port Arthur, Hobart and then along the West Coast to Strahan and finally Cradle Mountain and back to Davenport so drove through the Huon countryside. We only had 12 days and it was not nearly long enough to see everything of course. I know there were a lot of amazing places we missed out on seeing. I totally fell in love with the whole place. My bucket list wish is to come back and stay for at least a month so I can explore the whole place thoroughly. Personally I would love to retire there....either George Town or Richmond but I think for that to happen I would have to divorce my husband as he has no desire to live in Tassie!!! I'm hoping though he would come back with me for a longer visit. That's a bit less drastic. Lol. x..."I have always wanted to go to Tasmania. My husband went once for a work thing and I was extremely jealous. I always thought though, after living briefly in Melbourne during a winter, that Tasmania would be horrid place to live because of the weather, but having chosen a place with very humid weather when I was a beach girl, who now desires nothing more than a cooler lifestyle, I imagine Tasmania might be the prefect place for retirement.
Sharon wrote: "My news years resolution - wakeup! You are never going to fit into those clothes ever again LOL"LOL
I think we're behind everyone else with moving on from Christmas. Still have 1/2 of the Christmas cake left (although it's mainly DH who eats it)and have just put away the Christmas tree and other decorations and taken down all the outdoor lights. Think we might be ready to move on now. Roll on Australia Day!
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Our summer to Tasmania - our winter to Queensland:)
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Can't rush these things Carolyn;)
Brenda wrote: "Sharon wrote: "Elaine wrote: "We tried to do as much as we could Laura....we came on the Spirit and so drove through Deloraine to Launceston, stayed in George Town which I loved. Then headed down t..."That would be almost perfect Brenda if you could manage it.
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Laura wrote: "Oh if you do come back..They have some fantasic boat rides that show you the coastline of Tassie..It's a real pleasure to do..provided you don't mind sea travel and possibly getting wet. One of the..."We did do a lot in a short time, very tiring but very satisfying too and I will make sure that next time I come I do some of the things you've suggested Laura. I loved Port Arthur and a cruise around the island would be amazing, although I'm not big on cruises. Bruny Island was another thing we missed out on so would love to see that next time. There are a few people here on AR that are from Tassie so next time I plan on checking in with them first to get some first hand advice on what to see and do.
Sharon wrote: "Elaine wrote: "We tried to do as much as we could Laura....we came on the Spirit and so drove through Deloraine to Launceston, stayed in George Town which I loved. Then headed down the East Coast t..."Sharon when we were there in Jan last year the weather in Hobart was 16 degrees and raining!!! Personally I loved it. I'm really not into the heat. We were a little surprised at how cold it could be in Summer and not very prepared but it didn't take the enjoyment away.
Brenda wrote: "Of course Elaine - a house in each place;) I need to win that $$$$ billion they have going in the US at the moment!!! lol"Don't we all Brenda. I never play the lottery but my Dad has been playing it for more than 40 years. I figure he's due a win soon surely and as his only child......Well we can all dream can't we? Lol. :)
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I went with a friend to Tassie when I was sixteen and we spent three months taking a good long slow look at things. Arrived on the boat, travelled across the top to The Nut which we climbed, back to Burnie, down to Launceston then down the east coast, back up to Deloraine, across to Queenstown where we got snowed in for a week, down the west coast and round to Hobart then back up the middle. Went to Port Arthur which I found eerie and found a cave there called Remarkable Cave which was so big, so tall, so beautiful but a death trap if the tide changed. We stayed in the Port Arthur Governor's house which was then a youth hostel and really spooky. Saw Cradle Mountain before all the fuss there which was sublime. Of course, there are so many places we visited which I haven't mentioned. My all-time favourite places are Richmond, Swansea and Bicheno and Strahan. The weirdest place is Zeehan. But the best is those AMAZING sand dunes at Strahan.
Oh Bette that sounds wonderful. What a great experience for you. I can imagine it would be really eerie staying at Port Arthur. What did you do in Queenstown for a week? We drove through it on our way to Strahan and as interesting at it looks I couldn't imagine staying there for a week!!! But I guess you had no choice. I loved Richmond too. Bicheno was lovely. We spent ages at the blow hole. It was fascinating. And I do remember driving through Zeehan and thinking the same. They do have some unusual town names. I think you and I could spend quite a bit of time together chatting about that trip. I would love to be able to spend 3 months there. The weirdest thing just happened....as I was typing this I've had the TV on in the background on the ABC and there's a program on tonight at 8pm called Back Roads and it features Queenstown!!!!
Elaine, lol re your 'esp' moment just then. We hadn't actually planned on staying in Queenstown because we hated what all the mining had done to the countryside. We ended up in the Youth hostel which was this huge old pub. Brian and I were the only two there and they expected us to sleep at different ends of the hotel from each other, lol. No Way! he's gay but we shared a room the whole time we stayed there, which the guardian hated because in youth hostels, it's separate rooms unless you're married. We got stuck there for the week and all I mostly remember was how silent and dark the hotel was and how the locals were not really all that friendly. Oh, and the snow. We did hitch a ride on a logging truck up and back down a mountain, UNREAL experience. Those guys are incredible at handling those big trucks on the snaking dirt roads. We had our own car but we got a ride with him just for the experience.
Then we went to Zeehan finally, got there about 9pm on a Friday night, the place was deserted. We walked into the pub which was crowded and the place went silent and every head swivelled and looked at us. No-one said a word the whole time we were in there! Caravan park was closed so we asked at the police station where to stay - he said the safest place to stay was in our tent behind the police station! We slept in the car and left for Strahan really early the next morning, lol:) It was a really strange place.
@Bette, we had exactly the same experience in Queenstown...especially when we walked into the pub, exactly the same reaction!!! Needless to say we didn't stay long.We did a very similar trip to Elaine's many years ago, and also had a very weird experience at a little place (which name eludes me ;) somewhere in the middle of nowhere, when our petrol was getting very low and it was getting dark so we stopped at the next place we came to. There was a petrol station and a B&B opposite. It was 7.pm and not a soul to be seen anywhere! We tried the B&B where we were told emphatically that they could probably put us up for the night but we had missed dinner and would not get anything until breakfast in the morning...which would be served promptly from 6am to 7am...do-not-be-late! The petrol station would open around nine. After the Queenstown reception we were by now just a tad creeped out, but too cold to sleep in the car. We hardly slept a wink, and when we arrived (at 6.15am sharp) for breakfast, the door was closed. We knocked and gingerly entered the eerily quiet room...imagine our shock when we discovered it to be packed to the rafters with people eating breakfast! They all promptly stopped and watched us as we surveyed the room for...I kid you not...the ONE empty table set for two on the very farthest side of the room! It was surreal, we kept thinking "are we in a movie or something"?
I could go on with the rest of this tale, including the, later getting of petrol, but it would take too long here. Suffice to say that breakfast was very nice and we couldn't get away quick enough!
We had some very strange (to our mind) encounters on that trip, but for the most part our experiences in Tassie were lovely and I fell in love with the country too, it is a very beautiful place. I think I could retire there as well, but DH wouldn't, too cold for him.
I will definitely go back :) ...waiting for someone here to organise a bookswap meet over there! :D
Oh yes, I could have retired there but my Sydney born DH was against the idea. Ironically (you could say), he did not live to retire and I have moved to a place he also did not like because he said it was too cold.Tasmania is indeed a beautiful place but I was watching a show on the ABC over the weekend which was previewing how much of the north west of the state they are mining in. It is horrifying. They are now planning to mine in the beautiful Tarkine region, see link: http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/20...
The tarkine region has the southern hemisphere's largest cool temperate rainforest, giant forests, pristine creeks and waterfalls and hidden forest treasures link: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/australi...
Brian and I went to that rainforest in the Tarkine and it outdoes the one up near Byron Bay. Walking thru it you feel totally removed from the modern world, the air is clearer, fresher, a delight on your skin; the old trees are just enormous and I even gave one a hug. Yes, I am old vege-munching, animal advocate, tree hugger from way back, lol:)
A place my DH and I went to down south was King Island which is just so beautiful but also windy. We saw heaps of things but the best was a petrified forest down at Seal Rocks.We flew in by light plane as you do but a friend of ours was the pilot and my poor DH was terrified, he hates flying at the best of times. Before we boarded to come back, DH down three beers in quick succession which was in addition to all the great wine we'd had with lunch. He slept all the way back!
Loving all the Tassie stories here it is a truely magical place. Sad Bette, will the pollies ever learn :(
They are just SO into mining in Tasmania, Ace, it is scary. I have a Tasmanian b-i-l and we always tease him for being a 'Tasmanoid' as we call him. Lots of 'two-head' jokes at his expense - in-breeding was supposed to be problematic in some families in Tasmania and Paul has said he went to a farm once where a young guy, obviously retarded, was chained to the door of a hut in the backyard. I am not saying this is indicative of Tasmania as a whole! I did not see it while I was there. For his part, Paul said Tasmanians always referred to the rest of us as 'Mainlanders' If you ever get the chance, Ace, you should visit there.
B the BookAddict wrote: "They are just SO into mining in Tasmania, Ace, it is scary. I have a Tasmanian b-i-l and we always tease him for being a 'Tasmanoid' as we call him. Lots of 'two-head' jokes at his expense - in-bre..."They also had the same issue in Tamworth (NSW). When went about gosh, twenty years ago they still had people living in the mountains who had lived there for a hundred years or so an interbred. They were all white haired, and I was told when they went into town they were chained together. I don't know if they still live in the mountains now or were moved.
@Sharon Scary, isn't it, you think everyone lives the same as you do! I'm glad I didn't see that personally in Tassie. I would hate to see that anywhere actually:(
hahaha yes we do refer to the rest of Australia as mainlanders!!! It was a hard habit to break when i lived in Melbourne for about 4 years! lolI always like to hear what ppl say about Tassie and their experiences. Some ppl are negative about the place but when they get there they love it.
Tomorrow I'm heading down to Eagle Hawk Neck to go to DOO Town to grab some fish n chips at this popup van..They have amazing food :)
I will say Hobart as in the central part of town is really changing (finally) and becoming more modern but I still don't bother with town unless i must.
On the coldness...Our summers are getting hotter. Tho we managed snow in Summer on the mountain..lol...Still I prefer cold over hot but I don't think it's as cold as it used to be in general. I thought it rained way more in melb than Tassie..lol
I have a ForesterFriend Card which allows me to go back to the Tahune AirWalk for free again..It's an amazing place to go walk amoung the trees!! Been a few times now and i love it everytime.
Bruny is awesome..Not stayed over there in a while but the beaches and the feeling of being removed from technology is always a welcomed break tho.
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Sounds like a brilliant holiday Bette!
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Oh I've done the walk into a small town pub and everyone went quiet...Happened in Bothwell last year. We were told the pub was meant to have amazing food so my Dad and I decided to go there for lunch then head a bit further out to Nant Distillery afterwards...Pub was TINY and it had such an unwelcoming atmosphere that we quickly left. Now my Dad is a people person and for him to feel a bit creeped tells you something! So we headed off to Hamilton and went to a cafe which was tacked onto the side of another old pub.
Hahaha..What an experience that was...The woman didn't want to be there. She wasn't all that friendly to some other visitors to the state who wanted some place to stay..She promptly told them "Sunday is our night off so we don't allow people to stay here!" And she also said as they entered "Hi, i am the lady who works here who's meant to be working but isn't!"
I will say the food was good tho..lol But she left it up to us to go collect the salt/pepper and sauce from this little table and they were all empty.
We took it as a learning experience and laugh at it..But wow she could easily put ppl off. My Dad offered up advice to the couple who came in and wanted some place to stay.
On the bright side of things Nant Distillery was very pretty.
Laura wrote: "Oh I've done the walk into a small town pub and everyone went quiet...Happened in Bothwell last year. We were told the pub was meant to have amazing food so my Dad and I decided to go there for lun..."Lol Laura! I think we need a thread just for Tassie stories and weird holiday/travel experiences! (⊙_☉)
That's crazy about the pub welcomes (not ;) isn't it?
Although to be fair I don't think it is unique to Tassie...just that the pubs (and some other "hospitality" venues) in Tassie seem to lend themselves to that kind of territorial behaviour, probably because of their geographical locations in relation to the bigger communities....you know, don't get many visitors maybe??
@Bette, I have been to Tassie a few times, the first time was in year 10 with the school group, I remember it was freezing and we stayed in some hostels and that Port Arthur was spooky. The other times they were on Netball celebration trips across on the newer boat with the girls, I don't remember much due to too much celebrating :)
That is why I am enjoying this topic as it is dislodging some very old memories.
Mr Ace has never been however, so we do plan to go at some point in the next few years.
Julie - Hahaha! We could do!True on the small pub thing not just being a Tassie thing. Even though I live here..As much as I love the Huon walking around the town you can get some strange glares..Maybe they can tell I'm just not from Huon area! hahaha
Actually Bicheno (sp) was waaaay friendlier but I guess it's possibly due to being a holiday area. Still the bottle shop there was a bit dodgy xD
And yes I think the comment about the territorial behavior is true...It can be like that in any part of the world where there is less chances of visitors coming all the time so it's a bit strange when ppl come in from outta areas.
Want another quick Tassie story?It's about our very first impression of Tassie from the moment we hopped off our plane and it was sooo late, heading for midnight, that the place was deserted apart from a few staff...we soon discovered that nobody is awake in Tasmania at such an ungodly hour! In fact there are very few waking hours it would seem.
Anyway we asked for directions to our hotel but nobody seemed to have heard of it..even though it is quite a big one in Hobart ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ we were too tired to bother with looking for hotel buses etc. and it was verrrrrry ccccccold! So we asked the information desk if they would call us a taxi to take us to the hotel, which they gladly obliged.
We waited half an hour for the taxi who's driver came and collected our small bags and put them in the boot of the cab and then......I swear on my whole library that he drove us around the corner and pulled into the hotel!! We could have walked there and arrived at least twenty minutes before the taxi had even taken the booking!
Lol, we were off to a good start ;)
It must be said that DH and I, and holidays, weeeeeelll....lets just say that our friends don't call us the Griswolds for nothing! :/
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LOL!! Yea, everything is closer than you think here ;) What place was it out of curiosity sake?Sunday is the worst here everything becomes like a sleepy town...It's a bit better than it was when I was little but still it's nothing like the mainland where it's usually busy anytime of day.
Ooh now you've got me Laura...you mean which hotel? We are talking 30+years ago, I just asked DH and he can't remember either which probably means it wasn't all that memorable either! Lol. I know we only stayed the one night and then hired a car to drive all over, stopping wherever we wanted...or had too ;)That was my first ever flight on a plane so that kind of took priority in my memory as we no sooner landed in Launceston and I was about to hastily disembark when we took off again for what seemed like a 2 minute flight to Hobart!! Needless to say I was petrified! I still don't like flying :(
Sharon wrote: "Too funny Julie :)"Lol...all true Sharon :)
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I did nothing in the Christmas break - now I'm back at work I am doing it.
There's method in my madness - I was hunting up some clothes I need for my holiday that I had packed in a drawer but couldn't remember which drawer.
Found them!