And so my final night on this beautiful corner of the world is here.
This morning (about 5.30) I made my way back to Wineglass bay to make sure I didn't miss what I promised myself two weeks ago I would make an effort to see,
Yes, that's the sun rising over Wineglass Bay. As an old school romantic I can only say it was the perfect way to start the day. The waves were exuberant, crashing every few seconds and destroying the calm quiet that surrounded me. The clouds conspired to block out the Sun's view of our wondrous planet but her gaze eventually made it through to reflect lovingly from the surface of the water.
I walked back to Aztec, which reminded me that my legs took a beating yesterday! My left leg doesn't work properly now, but I wasn't expecting to do much mountain climbing today, thankfully.
I then tried to use the shower back at the free camp site but the water was half a degree from firing icicles out of the shower head, so less shower more splashing water under my arms and on my face.
My next task was to drive to Launceston, which is in the middle of Tasmania. It is a city that prides itself on having immaculate 19th century buildings.
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| That's one hell of a town hall you've got there. |
Sadly, it was a rainy Sunday and nothing much was open. So after an hour of walking her streets I took some photos and left Launceston to head north along the west side of the Tamar river.
My destination was Beauty Point, but on the way I drove through Beaconsfield, home of
a rather famous mine. I could have paid the entrance fee and seen more, but I wanted to continue northwards. I might head back there tomorrow though.
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| Grubb Shaft? Flowery Gully? |
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| Oh come on. Hart Shaft? |
Eventually I reached the Beauty Point turn off, but I headed a few km's further on to Greens Beach.
Yep, it's no Wineglass that's for sure. So I went back to Beauty Point making a note about a place called 'West Head', but that was for later. Beauty Point is pleasent but the rain clouds were persistent and annoying so I sought out shelter...
Yep, this'll do. Platypus House Mafia feat. Echidna
I haven't and probably never will see these Australian natives in the wild so I thought 'why not see them now?'. They are related species and both quite bizarre, although the Platypus is a little stranger.
The male platypus has a venomous barb on each front foot and the females sweat milk along their bellies and they have claws on their knuckles and are really hard to photograph when they are behind perspex.
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| Yes that one is hiding in a log. |
Echidnas are Australian Wombles. Unlike the similar looking porcupine, echidnas cannot fling their spines, instead they raise them up to become spiky death mammals, mammals that lay eggs! Once a year.
They also have little barbs on their tounges to rub away rotten wood in an attempt to get at those tasty termites that dwell inside (although Tasmania doesn't have termites). They will also lick your shoes, I found out, as they investigate with their tongues and noses. Again, they are hard to photograph because they move quite quickly and we weren't allowed to have the flash on.
A great way to spend an hour out of the rain. But I felt I should check into the campsite nearby (one that has a hot shower) before it got too late. After checking in I made myself a coffee and an old man came up to me to have a look at Aztec. He said he converted his friend's van by putting an old computer desk behind the fold out bed/seat, a bit like what Aztec has, only Aztec has a custom made unit with cubby holes and such. Anyway, I walked with my coffee to a nearby conservation area called Redbill Point.
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| Somehow I doubt 'baby snails' will get the same reaction as Franky did. |
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| You remember Franky, don't you? |
Oh, and here is where this conservation area gets its name
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| See, their bills are red! The guy that came up with that name was a creative genius. |
Enough bird spotting. The Sun was beginning to dip, which meant I felt an urge to go back to West Head which, if the map was accurate, should give me a view like this...
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| Oops, sorry, that's a double rainbow. |
I meant a view like...
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| This. |
The rain had stopped and I looked on as our star sank below the watery horizon to greet another part of the planet. It is an amazing site that I have never seen before and I feel lucky to have captured such a regular yet special moment.
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| Going.... |
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| ...going... |
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| Gone. |
The time was only 5.30 as I drove carefully back towards the camp site. The wallabies were out in force and it was dark by the time I got near Beauty Point, at which point I thought 'I don't want to cook pasta, I'm going to get a porterhouse steak and chips', that may not be my exact thoughts, but it was what I did. To be honest, steak and chips is the only way to cap off such a marvellous day.
Tomorrow night I will be sailing back to the mainland, safe in the knowledge that I have spent the past week doing nothing but what I wanted to do and seeing more than I could have ever imagined.
From the west coast to the south west wilderness, Hobart to Port Arthur,
From clear skies to rain, sunrise to sunset, Freycinet and Franky
One week in Tassie wasn't nearly enough, but still a great adventure,
Which is exactly what I wanted it to be.
-Me, just now, 2012
(Who said rhythm is important?)
And it was raining.
Then I walked into Melbourne, but a lot of places were shut because of the public holiday so I couldn't ask many shops if they have any jobs going. Yes, that's right, I'm looking for a job again. I walked back to the shrine after a while in the city, just in time to hear the last post.
Then it was time for me to get the tram back to St.Kilda where I would meet a few of my fellow hostelers. A pretty good night, with a lot of beer, a free meal at a place called Base and more beer. There are quite a few long termers here which is good as I'm probably going to be here for a few months as soon as I get as job, which will hopefully be soon as today I handed out a load of CVs to some shops and found out about a website for labourers.
Yes, a whole corridor of knob jokes thanks to a collection amassed from 1985 by a guy who clearly had wood. Each knob is from a different Australian
