Monday 18 March 2024

Still on the Road

Thursday, Day Five of our Tour of Tasmania, started at Swansea with a chilly but fine morning. We wanted to explore the Freycinet Peninsula, directly across the bay from Swansea, but access to the area is only available by foot or boat and since we had limited time so we took a third option - a helicopter flight. So a short half hour drive took us to an operator near Coles Bay. 

In clear skies we took off, and cruised along the coast heading towards Wineglass Bay. We passed over the Hazards, a range of low mountains that rise as high at 480 metres and stretch between Coles Bay and Wineglass Bay and circled over the bay. 

Running up the east coast, with Coles Bay visible top centre of the shot.

Wineglass Bay with the Hazards rising beyond

Circling over the bay

Running back up the coast...with more of that lovely fine sand that I am forbidden to touch.

Next we doubled back a bit and drove north to another seaside town, Bicheno, where we visited another wildlife park. This is a great little place with a good number of Tasmanian Devils (about 30 by my count), some wombats (that insisted on hiding in their burrows), and a large number of wallabies and kangaroos, all in very large enclosures. This time we did see an emu up close, but the echidnas still remained elusive. 
 
Two of the wallabies thinking that we might have food...

...and one is certain we had food

A couple of rather timid white wallabies

A cheeky parrot.

After lunch we pointed the car towards Launceston and headed off. After a pleasant drive we arrived at Tasmania's second largest city at around 3:00 PM and settled into our hotel.

Day six was a quiet sort of day. In the morning we headed north to George Town and Low Head at the mouth of the Tamar River. I had hoped this would be a bit of a ramble along the eastern bank of the river, but alas it was relatively short drive up the highway inland from the river. Still George Town was a pleasant enough place and there were nice views across the Tamar mouth from the Low Head light house, despite a sharp breeze.

Looking across the mouth of the Tamar River

Low Head Lighthouse

Looking out into Bass Strait towards Melbourne

The little museum at the Pilot House was also worthwhile. After lunch in George Town we headed back to Launceston to look around the central city and around the dock lands and all if its eateries and bars. I was amused to see the boats in the marina berths locked in mud at low tide - you would have to hope that you got a discount on mooring fees the closer your berth was to the river bank since access would be limited.


Day seven was a full day in Launceston.  First stop was the Cataract Gorge,  a narrow gorge on the western edge of the city through which the South Esk River flows. It is a lovely spot and was like being in the wilderness while still being in the city. As usual we got there early to beat the crowds and once again this proved a successful tactic as the carpark was full when we went to leave. We did the touristy thing and took the chair lift across the basin ant the centre of the gorge and then walked along the banks in both directions. 





For the afternoon we elected to take a cruise on the Tamar. We booked and paid for it but when we got there we were told no that cruise wasn't running. So they refunded our money and put us on a different cruise for free. This took us up the river a bit then up the gorge as far as we could. It was interesting to see the gorge from a different angle.




Day eight saw us leave Launceston and head for Devonport the Northern Coast. Rather than take the main highway we headed up the road towards George Town then turned west across the Tamar via the Batman Bridge. How disappointing - no bat cave, no Batmobile and the bridge was under repair so the structure of this suspension bridge could not even be seen. 

We drove on through narrow country roads through pretty, rolling countryside and beside large fields of vegetables toward the Tasmanian Arboretum, crossing the Rubicon as we went. 


The Arboretum was an interesting place a huge piece of land made into a large park planted with a wide array of trees from around the globe. It is an incredibly peaceful place and remarkably popular. We spent about an hour there, the most of it spent watching a platypus forage along the banks of the lake.


From there we drove on to Devonport the third largest city in Tasmania and the transport hub where the roll on-roll off ferry from the mainland docks. It was Sunday and not much was happening - except for a group of bagpipers playing near the local Irish pub - it was St Patrick's Day of course. We had a quiet afternoon and evening ready for the next phase of the Tour of Tasmania, down the West Coast and into the Central Plateau.






Wednesday 13 March 2024

As Willie Nelson Sang...🎶 On the Road Again...🎶

Bright and early on Sunday...actually it wasn't very bright, in fact it was still very dark at 5:15 AM...we drove to the airport to catch a flight to Tasmania. Three hours and fifty minutes after our departure we landed in Hobart. After the usual stuffing about at the baggage carousel, customs, immigration and rental car booth we hit the fresh air and drove into Hobart to our apartment near Salamanca Place - great name for any wargamer with an even passing interest in the Napoleonic Peninsular War. It was a bit of a grey day and drizzly, but that didn't put us off setting out in the town for lunch and to get our bearings. As the rain settled in a bit we  headed back to the apartment for a 'home cooked' meal and an early night, since we had been up so early. 

Monday was a public holiday and we headed off to the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary some 35 minutes to the north of the city. There was a bit of rain falling when we left town, but by the time we got to Bonoring it was all gone. The sanctuary is a nice place where a good number of Tasmanian Devils, Wombats Wallabies and, of course, Kangaroos were able to seen in generous enclosures. Sadly the echidnas found the weather a little cool and were tucked up out of view and the Emus were staying a long way back in their enclosure. We got there about 10:00 AM and were more than half way around before six bus loads of tourists from the cruise ship that was in port came surging through the gates. Perhaps it is the cynic in me, but I did find it mildly amusing to watch some of these people trying to catch their 'instagram moment' with a kangaroo, while the poor animal was looking completely disinterested in the food pellets being offered and just hopped away.

A young and freshly fed Wombat

A roo that was more interested in the hay than any pellets on offer.

A devil ready to bed down for the day.

We stayed about two hours, exited through the gift shop, ate our packed lunch and drove back to town for a walk around the city centre.

The Tasmanian Houses of Parliament

Tuesday, Day 3 of our adventure, saw us heading out on the water to see various points of interest on the lower Derwent River and around the harbour entrance. The water was rather choppy and the ride was bumpy - I was fine with this, but her indoors found it challenging and was pleased to be back on land again. The cruise was a little disappointing really. It was billed as an opportunity to see local wildlife, but we only saw a couple of sea eagles in the distance.

A view across the waterfront with our little boat in the foreground (the sky was not as threatening as it appears here)

The ruggedness of the coastline 

One of the many caves along the shore

At one point our skipper showed us a school on one of the bluffs and asked if anyone knew what famous Tasmanian was educated there. He seemed quite surprised when I suggested David Boon (the cricket player who played 107 test matches and scored 7,422 runs for Australia and holds the dubious record of drinking 52 cans of beer on a flight from Sydney to London in 1989). "Nah," he said, "it was Queen Mary of Denmark, Tasmania's own Mary!" I liked the idea of it being 'Boonie'.

The afternoon was spent doing a bit of shopping around the city. 

Evening drinks are an issue for me at I present as I am not supposed to drink alcohol because it conflicts with some of my medication. I haven't found a zero alcohol beer here that I like so I was quite pleased to find this 'no alcohol' cider which actually tastes half decent. 

 
Wednesday, Day Four, saw us leave Hobart, heading north up the east coast for a night's stay at Swansea. On the way we stopped in at Port Arthur - no not the one that was besieged during the Russo-Japanese War, but the one that was a prison for transported petty criminals. I have to say that if you had to be in a prison 12,000 miles from your homeland in Mother England, there are many worse places to be than Port Arthur. Once you get over the stark appearance of the penitentiary buildings the place is pleasant enough and again we managed to get in ahead of the bus tours. It is a wonderfully peaceful place and we spent a very enjoyable couple of hours wandering around this UNESCO World Heritage site.

The penitentiary building

Looking down on the penitentiary from the guard tower

The commandant's house

The Asylum

The cell row in the separate prison

The convict church

Looking up through the Government Gardens

Looking across the bay at the complex 

We then headed north, doubling back a bit, and heading for Swansea, a small seaside town at the western end of Nine Mile Beach. On a lovely sunny afternoon we walked along the beach and I noted what nice fine sand it was..."no you cannot take it home!" was the instant response.

The day's drive.

The beach...

...with its lovely fine sand.

Day five will see even more interesting adventures.

Sunday 10 March 2024

Bits and Pieces

In an effort to keep busy in the evening I have been finishing off a few bits that have been laying around for a while.

First up is a bunch of FPW French infantry that are destined to be used as skirmish stands. They were painted some time in November and were just waiting for me to get around to making their bases, which I did last weekend. So here they are...seven stands to add to the eight I already had.


Next are two groups of trees, the first of which goes back much further - a few years in fact. I remember seeing a Wargames Illustrated photo (or maybe on a blog somewhere) of a strip with four trees and I liked the look of it. So I made the wire armatures, applied the toilet paper and PVA mix, painted them brown...and there they stayed, gathering dust...until now where they have been painted, based and had foliage added. 


Having made the stand of four and was so pleased that I made another strip of three.


This encouraged me to make one more piece, this time a bigger, right angled piece. I also made some trees with darker foliage.



This piece can be used to dress up a road junction (as below) the surrounds of a village or farm, or the edge of a field.


I can see me making some more pieces like this in the future.


Thursday 7 March 2024

More Re-Basing

Following on from the rebasing of the four Confederate dismounted cavalry regiments, I have just completed five Union regiments.





I now have nine complete regiments of Union dismounted cavalry in the collection.