7am in Scottsdale spot our rig if you can
Across the bay in Georgetown
The Tamar River in a blur as we drive through rain
Hello Again,
Seems the 4th of March is a wet day in Tasmania. It was last year and it certainly was this year. We hunkered down in our swag last night, with sufficient preparations for a dry night or so we thought. Simon awoke to a persistent dripping on his forehead; the prevailing winds had changed direction and the rain was now getting in under the swag awning. Actually I could have told him that the wind direction had altered at 00:04 last night. The wind howled and I was sure our tarp would take off, I awoke Simon a few times in the night with concern, he grunted and fell back to sleep, so I did the best I could to sleep also.
The drips getting the better of him forced Simon out of bed before 0700 with me a close second, yes the mattress was damp, but not too much. The threatening skies and the bucket of water emptied of the sagging Pajero awning spurred us in to action and we packed the sag in double quick time, had breakfast then waited out the showers, unable to get properly packed up before 1030! We did have lovely showers, $3.00 for 4 minutes, actually they seemed longer.
We didn't chance making a hot drink for breakfast so drove into Scottsdale to find a cafe. We can highly recommend the Art Gallery coffee shop besides excellent coffee (we had 2 lattes each) the galley showcases excellent quality artistic works. The owners are very friendly so drop in if you are in Scottsdale.
We drove westward to Georgetown intending to drive down the East Tamar highway to Launceston but deviated across Batman Bridge and Sidmouth. Before this Simon ventured into Bell Bay to see what changes there were to the Alcan smelter since his previous trip in 1979. "Looks just the same" was the verdict. The Tempco ferro manganese plant was still the same "bloody big muddy brown buildings". Both businesses are under a cloud in the current economic climate.
The trip along the Tamar River was quite picturesque, we would like to explore the area more, perhaps we will have time after our HelpX in the Tarkine next week. I had confirmed this earlier in the day, although the commencement day may now be Wednesday rather than Tuesday, we will know for sure tomorrow. We are going to help with minor building projects, track maintenance, firewood collection and general cleaning.
After deciding to camp at Lillydale we made our way eastward again stopping at a craft shop where I spied some cute slippers for Abella and Arleigh, in conversation with the assistant we discovered she has a brother in Port Noarlunga. I suggested Simon might know him, he was skeptical and pooh-hooed the idea but he did know him, they worked at Mitsubishi together, she took Simon's name and we all had a laugh at what a small world it is!
Lillydale camp at Lillydale Falls is just the same as it was last year, not sure in they ever replaced the stolen washing machine (see day 50 16th March 2011). Sausages for the this time, trout last time....
Mozzies are getting fierce so time to take cover.
Cheers
Susan
No comments:
Post a Comment