Friday 18th December 2015

We pick up the trailer finally - all is well - we now have a helper spring on the back tailgate so it is quite acceptable to be lifted by one person - and maybe a second spring would not be out of place. Terry (yes Terry the trailer or sometimes TT) has a nice vent on his roof so we don't get a build up of petrol fumes from the bike and generator - so that has also been addressed.

So off we sailed South to Wings Wildlife Zoo - the day had turned hot and the animals were suffering as we all were. We headed across country, up and down and left and right till we got to Sheffield - a sort of Tasmanian Montville - all done up with murals - every town has to have some claim to fame - we finally settled in Railton - yes they have a claim to fame too - topiary - yes bushes that have unbushlike shapes - one of the best was a cow looking over a wire fence about a km out of town - in an otherwise normal farm paddock - very effective.

We stayed in a free camp and Sue organized to see a Bowen therapist in Sheffield at 9am the next morning - apparently a person had cancelled and she had an opening the only one this side of February.

So we settled down by the train line to hear the trains rattle by - the first one had Christmas lights on the engine - Christmas is a big thing down here - lots of santas and Christmas gear.

Saturday 19th

There we are heading off to Sheffield in the morning, the lycra clad cyclists are all racing down the hill one way and others are plugging their way up hill, side by side on a narrow road with a marked centerline - they seem to have little sense of self preservation.

Sue has a great session with Barbie and comes out with her ankle feeling like it is on the mend. We buzz out of town and head roughly North towards Latrobe.

In Latrobe a fierce witch has a shop full of bewitched people and animals from the 13th centuary. She also has a dozen daughters, all with long blonde hair that will never grow up but live an enchanted life as fairy helpers in the wicked witches business. A frail, thin man poses as a husband. The shop is full of the most amazing stuff from Starwars to ancient prison padlocks, from the betwitched people who are dressed in harlequin gear and laugh and stare back at you with knowing eyes.

While we are ancient we were obviously not quite ghoulish enough to become part of her stock and we escaped onto a Christmas busy street and bolted for a National Park. The park has such a complex name that some locals remember it by calling it NannaWantaPoo - well it is something like that.

It is Saturday night and Col who tweaked Terry has warned us that week-ends can be boganville in the main campground - so we stay back in the old fogies powered site about 5ks from the boat ramp. It is hot so we throw the air con on for a run to cool things down.

We have a leisurely evening laughing as we watch, "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines" - yes a movie nearly as old as us but a beauty, none the less. No trains in the night, just a sprinkle of rain.

Sunday 20th

After an early morning shower gives way to sunshine, we hop on the bike and race up hill and down dale back to Latrobe. We are not afraid of the big bad wolf (read witch here) - Mal reflects on the sound of the wind rushing by - the Harley boys must relish the sound of their ear shattering exhausts - but Mals soundtrack is just the wind (yes I know he has no hair for it to rush through and by the way he wears a helmet) - the soft growl of the intake as he accelerates out of the corner and just the soft whisper of his exhaust - he likes the sense of gone before he is heard coming. Gertie picks up her muddy skirts and we whisk into Latrobe. The town is busy with Sunday markets and Mal is keen to visit a gallery café which was closed by the time he found it yesterday. We have coffee and browse the images - very competent.

The markets get a once over and Mal buys more books - the trailer is looking more like a mobile library these days than a bike trailer - Gertie needs reading glasses and a little reading light so she can also catch up on the classics.

We ride over to ………… where the mining disaster happened a few years ago. We have lunch at a café which is also hosting the church Christmas party. We sit outside and one of the departing parishioners stops to tell us her life story, she is well into her 80's, no wicked witch this one, more the fairy godmother type. She tell how she and her husband had roamed far and wide playing golf - way down South to Roseberry (about 120km away) and how she had never been North of Sydney (as they have a daughter who lives way up there). She was just beautiful.

We rode through Beauty Point where the beauty-ful people obviously go - well we were not allowed in so skipped on to Greens Beach. More lavish houses cluttering up the coastline - we rode out to a lookout in the National Park - Park entry fee for the day $24 - we have an annual pass at $96 which coveres 3 vehicles and all parks in Tasmania - affordable if you want to visit places like Cradle Mountain etc.

We take a gravel back road back to our camp spot - we can feel the odd spot of rain, then the odd spots get a bit less odd and a bit more common - but still infrequent - Mal lowers the back gate of the trailer and Gertie pops inside and seconds later down comes the rain.

We have a quiet afternoon reading as the rain tinkles on our roof. Later we bar b queue in the picnic shed, with the paddymelons gentle grazing near by and the late afternoon sun warming a sky full of at least 5 different families of clouds - clouds are not inbred down here, there is lots of diversity.

Mal asks Sue, what day is it today? Sue says Mal it is Today. Mal sighs, Ah, Today, that is my favourite day. (Thanks to A.A. Milne and Winnie for those lines).