Hi All

We are both good. The caravan hasn’t leaked since we have been in Tasmania, so that is one less worry for the moment. The cat loves this park as there are very few dogs and she is wandering everywhere; making friends with all, including children. She has not scratched anyone since we have been here. As per usual we are racing around to see all. We have been out to Liffey Falls and a great pie in Deloraine. We start to drive to Meander Falls but the weather was changing for the worse, so went to the Honey place in Chudleigh; brought some nice creamed blackberry and leatherwood flavour honeys.

On Friday we went to Wynyard. It has some geological formations-"fossil bluff" didn't the find missing link but got some great photos of shell fossils, and the Table Cape. This is where you can find the tulip farm and a lighthouse. It is said to be one of the longest running lights in Tassie. The tours run from the tulip farm, conducted by the owners’ son. A lovely guy who thought he was going to operate the tour like he normally does. Nope, Ness and I gave him a bit of a hard time all with a smile and I think he enjoyed himself just as much as we did. The tour is normally 45minutes but with us it was an hour and it costs $15 ea. It runs every hr regardless of how many people. I only threw that in as we over heard a couple of people talking about the tour and they had it all wrong- $25 ea half an hr and needed four people and you don't get to see much, sorry no photos- tourist. As I am over our monthly download I could not show you any photos it just takes tooooo long. Ness was blown away by the fact that the actual globe is the same size as a car headlight globe and she has the photos to prove it. There were a number of buildings in the immediate area but they have all disappeared when the light became automatic in the 1920s. Of course we don’t actually remember why the light was there as there was no reef formation etc maybe they just kept running in to the wall of cliffs in the area. We picked a perfect day, we could see islands about 70kms west with binoculars and Low Head 50-60kms to the east. Neither of us could see Melbourne but we could see the cloud front formed from all the hot air in Melbourne. The water was so blue and like glass. (Both hoping our sailing day is as calm) We then made our way back into town to have lunch. It was suggested by the information centre a fish and chip place just out of town has great seafood. The fish was certainly good as were the scallops and calamari; I was disappointed with the prawns. Nothing beats Illawarra lake prawns. Ness said the chips were good and her flathead was lovely. It was back in to the car, as we headed to Launceston we made a stop at Latrobe.

Latrobe is like many country towns- lots of empty shops but we were happy as a particular shop we visited in 2007 was still there. It is packed to the rafters with anything and everything. We brought some fudge, unfortunately they didn’t have any of the latest dolls Ness and I collect. I did buy a birthday present for someone.

Saturday it was a trip into Launceston. I broke my sunglasses. We wandered around but could not find any sunglasses and any shop that may have had some closed at 1pm. So we only had coffee and that was it. We then went food shopping. It was a normal Saturday, washing housework shopping. It was then a short drive to Perth to have dinner with Di and Ricky, I nearly forgot and the dogs.

Sunday, today, we have been to Evandale markets. It is a market that has a bit of everything- food home cooking fruit and veggies new touristy things and trash and treasure. It was a gorgeous day and we both got a little sun. We then followed Di and Ricky to their new place. Its is tucked up in to the hills looking across to Ben Lomond (Tassie’s highest mountain) but you can’t see it as there is another hill in the way. It is a beautiful peaceful place that you could easy loose track of time.

So now you have caught up with us let us know how you all are and what is happening with you. Catch you next time. Michelle and Ness

Launceston

Its bloody cold!!! Yes it is and we haven't reached winter yet. This hasn't stopped us from doing things. Sorry no photos as I have exceeded our downloading, and therefore the Internet is very slow. AAAARRRGGGHHH.

In between Ness working we have been doing some looking around, so where have we been- we drove out to Derby. Derby was a tin mining town until a major flood back 1920's. A number of people drowned- none of the miners. The town has created a museum to share their history and we fell in love with the area in 2006, so of course we had to go back and have a look at the new museum. It was great. At the same time they were getting over more recent floods. The main road from Scottsdale to St Helens was still closed.

I started to write this yesterday- it rained overnight and there is a current flash flood warning for the East Area. This is the area I was just writing about. Enough about the weather. As I said we went to Derby and then took a different route back via Bridport. Bridport is a pretty little coastal town- we came to the conclusion it is a summer holiday place as most places looked locked up. We then continued on thru the countryside taking back roads to Launceston. It was a lovely day to finish off the weekend. As we are reading the paper nearly everyday, we have been discussing the local politics. No we are not joining any protest marches against or for the new pulp mill but did learn something interesting, for every dollar collected in GST in Tassie the government receives $1.60, they also have the highest unemployment; I wonder why that is? Recently two sawmills closed- maybe relying on two industries Forest and Tourism is the problem.

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Anyway back to what we have been doing- we drove to Port Arthur and stayed overnight at a motel with unlimited access to the complex. Our view from the veranda was spectacular. We went on the ghost tour that night. Oh I forgot we went to the Cadbury chocolate factory. It was great I mean how often do you spend $50 on chocolate. It was different as you don't got through the factory just a demo and video., but the shop prices were great. Back to the ghost tour- I was lamp carrier- personally the group was too big and would have liked to hear more stories about the people who lived in the area than stories about other groups. Our guide overall was OK- we didn't think he believed in ghosts but he did had respect for the area and its history. I would recommend it to anyone but try to do it outside the peak season as the groups might be smaller. Neither Ness or I felt any creepy moments- though as per usual someone saw something/ or was that felt something. We both love Port Arthur and the history, we will be making another trip there. On Saturday we drove back to Launceston via Swansea on the east coast. How quickly you forget- 2006 we drove down this road towing and we couldn't remember it. Maybe the road has been fixed updated or ???. It was a great two days.

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Yesterday we didn't do much of anything- we have new neighbours, hope they are not staying long, as they are noisy and both are smokers. Finally just got let everyone know we are going back to Wollongong. For couple of reasons, we will be staying for about 6 months. We leave Tassie 22nd April. Catch you all later.