16. Heading to Tassie for almost four months (Part 3)
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| Wild Wave - Sydney to Hobart yacht once half owned by yours truly |
I had a hankering to spend New Years Eve at Constitution Dock with the
Sydney to Hobart revellers. The thought came to me while on board the
Spirit of Tasmania - that I was in the right place at the right time to
finally attend that event.
A long time ago when my kids were
babies; their Dad, Ian and I had a 47ft Tasmanian built huon pine yacht,
Wild Wave. She was launched in 1951 and sailed in the 1953 Sydney to
Hobart, was first across the line, 4th on handicap, but was disqualified
for something that happened on the start line. While we owned the boat
in the mid nineties, she was invited to compete as an historical boat in the 50th anniversary
of the race
Boxing Day 1994. The kids and I, and from memory, my sister Shayne, were supposed to meet the boat in
Hobart at the end of the race, enjoy the celebrations of the race and
New Year, and then sail home with Ian. Sadly this never eventuated as
the boat was dismasted off Eden on the way down the coast and all those plans fell over. When it
dawned on me that we were so close to Hobart at this festive time I
pestered Pete to go down there for NY. The fleet was sailing past our
camp on their way to the finish line.
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| Sunny house of Laura and Nigel |
On 28th Dec we headed to Bicheno - Pete has a couple of friends there, Laura and Nigel, who very kindly put us up in their beautiful home for a couple of nights. We had lots of fun yacking and cooking, playing cards and music. The garden is a work of art, there are ocean views to the north, east and south, and they keep a separate wing ticking over as Bicheno Bell AirBnb.
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| Cards, yacking, good times |
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| Views to the left of us... |
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| Views to the right! |
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| Glass Bottom Boat, The Gulch, Bicheno |
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| Laura an Nigel's garden |
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| Glass Bottom Boat, The Gulch, Bicheno |
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| Pete picking rasberries in Laura and Nigel's garden |
Laura and Nigel took us on the local glass bottom boat to see and hear all about the many sea creatures and their habitat. The boat is run by a friend of theirs, Maitraya Randall who is incredibly knowledgeable, and run off his feet with willing bums on seats.
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| Salamanca Market |
So off to Hobart for NYE on Constitution Dock we went. Salamanca Market first stop mid morning - beautiful weather and crowds galore.
We spent the afternoon settling in to our comfy AirBnB - Natali's Accommodation, up a hugely steep hill at Mt Stuart.
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| Mt Stuart AirBnB - Natali's |
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| Mt Stuart AirBnb - Natali's |
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| Print in our airbnb bedroom - The Alma Doepel - A boat built by my Godmother's family. |
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| Natali's Accommodation Mt Stuart |
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| NYE Constitution Dock |
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| NYE Constitution Dock |
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| NYE Constitution Dock |
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| NYE Constitution Dock |
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| NYE Constitution Dock |
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| Donna...Donna...Donna - the whole line was calling my name |
Amazing
Food Vans. It was funny I ordered our dinner from the Indonesion St Food Van and they said it would be twenty minutes. When I came back twenty minutes later the whole line was calling out my name. I was famous for being late for dinner...
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| NYE Constitution Dock |
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| Fireworks - love them. Happy New Year!! |
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| Backdrop at Constitution Dock |
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| We saw the final boat come in - two women crew. |
We danced; watched two lots of fireworks; and we watched the
final boat, Currawong, with a two woman crew, finish the race just
before midnight.
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| e-scooter home - hilarious fun 😂 |
Our trip home to Mt Stuart was hilarious - on e-scooters
- until they died half way up the hill on which we lived. We went to
bed happy and exhausted in the early hours of 2023.
While in Hobart...
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| Longley International Hotel south of Hobart |
On Boxing Day we went to see an all male dance band, The Bad Dad Orchestra, recommended by Nigel and Laura, at the Longley International Hotel. Nigel and Laura likened the hotel to the Bruns Hotel - live music and food under brollies at outdoor tables in a bush setting with a trickling stream across the road beside which you can camp for free.
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| Bad Dad Orchestra |
We didn't camp - just went there for the day, feeling a little underwhelmed after our big NYE to be honest. We didn't dance. Although plenty of people did.
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| Mt Wellington on a clear day |
The following day we went to the Summit of Mt Wellington and it was clear as a bell - fantastic visibilty. I walked down the Zig Zag trail - about an hour and a half walk - and met Pete at the bottom. I loved the walk and took a ridiculous number of pictures as always. The flowers and trees, colours, vistas, moss, ferns, rockery paths - all just gorgeous.
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| Beginning the Zig Zag Track down |
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| The Zig Zag Track |
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| The Zig Zag Track |
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| The Zig Zag Track |
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| The Zig Zag Track |
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| The Zig Zag Track |
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| The Zig Zag Track |
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| The Zig Zag Track |
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| Hungry Zig Zag Track walker |
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| Stay away from my lunch! |
When I reached the bottom I was starving! I'd packed a picnic which was in the car with Pete. I had started my annual January detox, which I have been doing or about ten years now, on New Year's Day (the previous day), which knocks out lot of things from my diet and vices (Coffee, Tea, Sugar, Alcohol, cigarettes, wheat and dairy.) So,it seems,to say I was looking forward to my rice cakes, peanut butter and banana and a cup of herbal tea would be an understatement. Pete had been cruising in my absence, met some guys who run the Wooden Boat Festival which was coming up in February and which we were planning to attend. He had a sandwich from the cafe at the Springs while chatting to them, not far from our rendez-vou. As I sat down at the picnic table focussed on my lunch - Pete went to take one of my rice cakes peanut butter and banana - oh dear bad move - I almost bit his hand!! Poor Pete xxx
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| Cyanotype materials for Laura |
Our final day or so in Hobart saw us visit Pete's friend Zoe briefly - a lovely catch up; and I finally got to meet her in person. I sought out some cyanotype printing materials as a gift for Laura, who is seeking to do some art. With her beautiful garden and her love of blue, I thought it might be a good place for her to start creating. And we went to the refurbished State Theatre at the bottom of our hill, recommended by our lovely AirBnB host Patricia. I'd been looking forward to seeing Banshees of Inisherin... We loved the cinema, but I would have to say I found the movie Just a little too odd for me - I struggled to make sense of it. I didn't really know who to feel about it. Pete had no doubts - he didn't like it. I've just read a number of reviews to get others take on it and there are a whole mixed bag of responses - so I will just accept it was not everybody's favourite, including mine or Pete's, but some thought it a masterpiece.
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| Cherrycot purchase |
After a fabulous four days we mosied back to Bicheno via Cherrycot where we bought a mixed box of stone fruit. Yum.
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| At the lookout at the Bushland Garden |
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| Tasmania Bushland Garden |
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| Tasmania Bushland Garden |
We stopped at the Community built Tasmania Bushland Garden. We enjoyed a lovely wander around the garden, sculptures, and Hill Top track. We read the story of the amazing people who had the dream and did the work.
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| Tasmania Bushland Garden |
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| Donna's detox blue eye trevalla and calamari... |
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| Pete's famous Fish Van feast From Triabunna |
We stopped at Triabunna Fish Van for some famous fish and chips. Due to my detox, I had steamed blue eye trevalla and calamari while Pete had the real deep fried mccoy. His was very moreish and mine was nice just the same.
Until next blog xxx
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