Day 29. Devonport Day out. 08-03-16

Today is a mix of sightseeing, browsing around and looking for photo opportunities ! We started by heading off to the north west of Devonport towards a village called Ulverton, where it was hoped to find a craft shop where Lis & the "girls" needed some bits and pieces for knitting, embroidery and sewing.. It did not take long to get there and we parked up to let the "girls" out of the van.. We agreed to meet up at the 'Banjo Bakery' café later as the "boys" were going off to find something to look at and photograph.. We headed off in the van to find the 'Wharf & Beach Lookout' which we found quite quickly but were left a bit disappointed as there was actually nothing to see. We decided to head back and fill the petrol tank on the way into town.. The tank filled we drove back towards town and saw a monument in the middle of the main roundabout.. This is meant to represent the comradeship between the 3 services, one column for each service joined by chains to represent the bonds between them .. Trev attempted to take a photo but was not happy with it, so we turned around and came at it again, still not happy we went off on a different exit, turned round and approached from a different direction.. Another photo, still not really convinced it was the one… We tried every exit and approached the roundabout from every possible angle and eventually we think the first one was actually the best !!! Having done this we found a place to park in town and strolled into the café.. We were a little early but a coffee/milk-shake could not possibly hurt !! However, once inside the aroma of the pies and cakes and pastries was too much to resist so we also had a bite to eat as well.. Trev & Paul had a beef and bacon pie, while John had a sausage roll. Trev & Paul also had a 'Double Choc Muffin' as they were totally irresistible behind the counter.. We sat down at a table in the middle of the café and munched our way through the pies, muffins and sausage roll and also drank our drinks.. All the time we were looking out in case the "girls" came down the road and 'caught us'.. When we had finished the pies and sausage roll we moved the plates so that if the "girls" did walk in they would think we had just had a 'cake'… We actually managed to finish everything when we suddenly spotted them walking towards us… We quickly ducked our heads and tried to hide behind our hands pretending that we were not there, but luck was on our side.. Pat wandered off to our left while Lis and Dee kept walking right past us.. Although they now say they looked in but didn't see us, we cannot believe we could not be spotted as we were in full view through the window.. Once they had walked away we calmly took all of our plates, cups and cutlery to the counter and walked outside to find the "girls".. They had walked on to find another shop so we had 'got away' with it !! Shortly after this we did all meet up and the "girls" thought it would be a good idea to have lunch so we went off to find a café of their choosing.. Luckily they did not choose the 'Banjo Bakery' so the staff behind the counter would not recognize us.. Still not telling the "girls" that we had eaten they asked what we would like…. Oh just a drink will do.. and perhaps a small cake or something…. Is all we could reply !! The "girls" gave us some funny looks but decided we were saving ourselves for the evening meal.. However, whilst we were sat with them eating (again).. Trev could not keep a straight face and spilt the beans about what we had done… The "girls" looked at us "boys" in utter amazement as we could no longer contain ourselves and we burst into great fits of laughter… The "girls" decided we were in trouble and would have to do a lot during the rest of the day to atone for our crimes and indiscretions !! Oh well we had fun while it lasted !!

After this we planned to drive up to a nature reserve where we may, if we were lucky, see some Duckbill platypus .. We drove there and parked up, walked along the river bank and although seeing lots of bubbles coming up from river bed and a couple of birds on the far bank, we did not see anything.. Oh well we tried.. Next we decided it might be a good idea to drive up to a place called Ridgley and find some waterfalls called 'Guide Falls'.. Again it did not take long to get there and we drove to the top of the hill and parked up.. wandered over towards the viewing point but were disappointed at initial sight as it appeared the fall was only about 6 feet high.. ' Oh what a waste of time' we all felt but the closer we got the more we realised that it was only the first small fall that we could see.. Once close to the overhang view point we saw a quite wonderful fall !! We took lot and lots of photos, walking and climbing into as many vantage points as we could to get some great pictures… That being done, we all got back into the van and planned to drive "home" and on the way we could stop off at the supermarket, Dee could get a bit of necessary shopping for tonight's meal, then the rest of us could take a trip to a 'Cider' factory for a 'tasting'…

On the way we spotted a sign on the motorway that said we needed to go straight on for Devonport, Launceston and Hobart.. Hobart we could drive to but "Devonport & Launceston", think it's a bit far to drive ??? It took a while for the Aussies amongst us to figure out exactly what we were talking about, but they got there in the end !! So shopping done, we dropped Dee and John at "home" and Pat, Paul, Trev & Lis went off to the Spreyton Cider factory.. Again it was only about a 10 min drive away and we got there quite quickly.. We entered and were presented with a 'rack' of shot glasses with 6 different 'Ciders' . We could have a taste of them all and choose which one we preferred and we could take a bottle of that "home" with us.. Paul, Pat & Lis tasted all of them.. Pat and Lis didn't like the 'Classic' Cider, had mixed feelings about a couple of the others but did have a preference. Paul, as you can imagine, liked them all and could not decide which 'one' to have.. Pat chose a 'pear cider' and Lis did not want one to take with her so she offered Paul the option to have hers.. That still left a big decision to make, so Paul had to finish the 'tasters' that Pat & Lis had left to try to help him choose.. After much deliberation and heartache the choice was made and Paul left happily with 2 bottles to have later !!

On the way back, Trev now driving, we stopped in a car park that we had noticed on our way to the Cider factory that had about a dozen "Classic Rolls Royce's" lined up in it !! For Paul & Trev it was 'boys heaven' and they went off with cameras in hand to snap as many and as much as they could.. Whilst looking inside some of the cars to drool over the beauty of these "Old Ladies" we spotted a 'programme' that claimed it was a Rolls Royce tour called the "20 Ghost Club Tassie Tour". It had started on the 26th Feb and was due to end on the 9th Mar (tomorrow) where they would no doubt split up and go their own ways until the next one.. The only question we had was if it was meant to be 20 on tour, where were the rest of them ?? Had they not made it for some reason or perhaps gone off early for a ferry etc. ?? We will never know !!

Once we returned "home" we all had a good chat about the day, and the 'Rolls Royce' cars and had a nice meal waiting for us… We had an aperitif and a few nibbles before dinner and discussed the plan for tomorrow as we were due to leave Tasmania and head back to Sydney.. This was the last little bit of our 'mega' trip which had been excellent so far.. As the flight was quite late in the evening we plan to visit a 'Chocolate factory' and take the tour, then travel towards Launceston (which the locals pronounce differently to UK) turn off north to visit a place called Beauty Point where they breed Sea Horses and also have a Platypus House.. If we have time we also plan to take a trip on the "River Tamar".. Its funny how many 'English' names they have in Australia-New Zealand & Tasmania…

Hopefully the plan will work but as we have said before.. tomorrow is another day !!!