One of our reasons for visiting Tasmania was to spend a few days with Carolyn's sister and brother in law who had recently moved from mainland Australia to the North end of the Island, near Launceston. But we flew in to Hobart in the South to spend a couple of days in that area before moving North. We were staying in a hotel in Hobart, then later with the relations, so hired a small car for the duration. The first day we travelled to the South West of the island. Morning coffee at the Oyster Cove Inn in Kettering with very interesting wooden sculptures by Roland Gabatel. Afterwards round the peninsula passing small harbours and wineries - yes even as far South as this, grapes grow well enough for commercial production. We bought some very nice wine at the Panorama vineyard. We also travelled into Tahune forest on the Arve forest drive, visiting an area containing huge Eucalyptus regnans 'Swamp Gum' trees, including the largest tree in Australia the 'Big Tree'.
Our hotel had a nice view over Hobart harbour, and the following morning we spent time in the town,walking along the quayside and enjoying a trip around the bay with coffee, cake and biscuits on the good ship 'Emmalisa' with beautiful views of seafront housing, a panorama of the town and views of the Tasman Bridge and Governor's house. We had the boat pretty well to ourselves and were very well looked after! The magnificent bridge was extensively reconstructed following the 1975 disaster. The town nestles under the 4,170 ft (1,271 m) Mount Wellington, and although there is a good road up to the summit we did not have time to visit.
But we did visit the superb Saturday market before exploring further into the town. Hobart is one of the oldest settlements in Australia and boasts some beautiful old buildings. The horizontal wind turbines on top of this modern building were destined for disaster later in the week when a severe storm hit Hobart. Despite assurances that they were stormproof, they were badly damaged with some of the blades being detached. Big news locally! Later that afternoon we were given a warm welcome by a local and well respected amateur astronomer, Shevill Mathers, who lives on the outskirts of Hobart and has a very well equipped Observatory. His excellent web site is here.
After our enjoyable two days in Hobart we travelled north to Launceston. We took the main road up the centre of the Island, because of time and possible bad weather constraints we were unable to explore the wilderness to the West of this beautiful island. We may return! There is a remarkable diversity of terrain for such a small island. From the lush forests of the South West the centre is almost desertified before returning to greenery in the North. Indeed the dry clear air in the centre has encouraged the building of a new Observatory for the University of Tasmania. Still under construction at the time, and not open to the public.
But on the way up we stopped off at the admirable Bonorong wildlife sanctuary. It is not a zoo, rather a study and protection facility, breeding endangered animals where possible, and specialising in the engaging if somewhat ugly Tasmanian Devil, under pressure from a disfiguring and eventually fatal facial tumour transmitted by physical contact. Although the Devils have the most powerful bite pressures of all carnivores for their size, they are primarily scavengers. And once they get to know the staff, particularly if hand reared, they enjoy human contact, as does the young wombat which was orphaned as a baby and will eventually be released back into the wild. The Kookaburra was injured by a dog and cannot be released. The Koala amused us with its slow but sure antics!
As I mentioned earlier, the area in which the Sanctuary was situated was quite arid. Among the other animals there, I'd never seen an Echidna before. Emu came over for a chat, and feeding the Kangaroos in their large enclosure was a popular attraction both for visitors and the kangaroos!
After our interesting couple of hours at Bonorong, we completed our drive to Deviot, North of Launceston for a family visit. Our relations have a substantial spread at a beautiful spot overlooking the Tamar river - they need the space for the horses! They showed us some of the interesting places in the area. A wild Wallaby in the woods which opened out to a rugged coastline. Woolmers Estate - a fascinating colonial house and grounds. Woolmers is also the home of the National Rose Garden, but being winter time there were no roses to be seen. Quite a mixture of old cars!
More cars on a trip into Launceston and a visit to the well stocked Motor Museum. The 1949 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith was in superb condition with an interior fit for a King. The 1914 Day-Leeds is believed to be the sole remaining example of the 300 or so that were built. The Triumph Tiger Cub takes me back - that model was my first motorcycle in 1961! But for me the most interesting vehicle was the 1906 Orient Buckboard with its unusual friction drive mechanism. Presumably the friction wheel was moved across the steel disc to vary the speed. It might even have gone as fast in reverse as forward!
After the lack of opportunity in New Zealand to photograph some of the Southern Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds, I had pinned my hopes on the four nights at Deviot which had good dark skies. But alas the weather conspired against me. All but one evening was completely cloudy, and that one finally clouded over as I was setting up my equipment. The first night I woke up around 3 am and the sky had cleared, but too late to do anything about it . Most disappointing.
Tasmania was about as far away from home as we went. But only two more stops. Three days with in-laws at Burleigh Heads (part of Gold Coast near Brisbane) was our next stopover. Again we visited some interesting places nearby. A family picnic at Cape Byron Lighthouse. Cape Byron is the most Easterly point of the Australian mainland, and we were lucky to see a Sea Eagle doing the rounds.
On our way home we stopped off at a beautiful Art gallery which afforded magnificent views of Mount Warning and the Tweed Valley. The whole area is part of a giant caldera from a huge ancient volcano. The next day was spent in and around home - a walk along the coastline with a dim fuzzy view of a wild turkey, and an afternoon fishing in the bay just across the road from the house. We got more than this one, so fresh fish was on the menu for the evening meal. The pelicans would no doubt have appreciated it as well!
Another beautiful area nearby is Tamborine Mountain - a raised plateau with a number of pretty villages and a picnic spot with a superb view. Lots of gift shops, and we bought a few presents to bring back to England. In the other direction was the showroom and workshop of Farrell Glass - we'd seen a number of their products in the house, so our interest was already aroused. But when we saw this vase it was definitely on the list! Now mounted at home with a backlight and absolutely beautiful. Although that part of Australia is quite badly light polluted, the central part of the Milky Way was right overhead, and on one clear night I was able to get a few photographs of it, and a closer shot of the Southern Cross and Coalsack nebula. More information here.
So finally our long holiday was coming to an end. Just one more stop - Singapore