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. ********
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.
