Day 173 Nubeena Tuesday 19th July 2011

Gold at the end of the rainbow



How big?



Rainbow over Pirates Bay



Pirates Bay



Pirates bay panorama. Click to see the big picture!


Hi all,
As if on cue for our day off it rained. A good excuse for a slow start to the day. However we did eventually leave Stalag 13 in good humour at around 130. We drove around the local area and up Firetower Road to find the Mount Koonya Walk. However we were unsuccessful we did locate Clark Cliffs circuit but that was 3 hours and rated medium so we kept driving up and down roads we normally drive past. Eventually we arrived at the Pirates Bay lookout the subject of an earlier visit at night for a moon viewing that was not possible due to rain and cloud. This time the view was good with the obligatory Tasman Peninsula rainbow. After snapping merrily we ascended back the sticky track tothe car and drove down to the Taranna Forest Walk which had well disguised signposts. The walk was quite pretty through the original vegetation, a marked difference to surrounding logged and reforested areas. The ground was quite soggy and the recent storms had felled trees across the path. We pushed through one lot of fallen branched but were forced to forgo the loop and retrace our steps. There were some very large specimens of Eucalyptus regnans or Mountain Ash up to 100 metres tall. According to our walks book that makes them the tallest flowering plant in the world.
The real excitement did not start until we were back driving on the track down the hill. Susan discovered she had picked up some hitch hikers in the form of leeches. There followed some minutes of panic and then paranoia involving grass seeds and any strange skin itch. I found one on my trouser leg and Susan had 3 or 4 including one on the dashboard. One completed the trip back to Parsons Bay until she discovered it on the door. Hopefully there are no more surprises lurking in the car.
Light rain has been constant most of the late afternoon and evening. I note from a cursory inspection Keith made progress on installing services along the trench to the new kitchen area.
The goats were bleating on dusk so I wandered out to retrieve them, Phoebe was loose and running around and returned to the enclosure. I gave her food but this did not dissuade her from jumping the fence and running back down to join her sister. Ellah was tangled and there was no lead so i let them run free back to the pen. My large blue and yellow umbrella scares the bejabbers out of them. They certainly run fast and had no trouble jumping fences as they bolted around the paddock. The promise of food lured them back to captivity where hopefully they remain.

This evening has been spent on chores like dishes, blogging, youtube and facebook.

Cheers Simon