What a magic day! Clear blue skies, no wind, and
plenty of opportunities to be out enjoying the weather. It’s almost hard to
believe that we are in Tasmania in winter! Eric-the-bus-driver introduced us to
the current Hobart Town [as distinct from the one we had already visited] where
we were lucky enough to [still] see snow on Mt. Wellington, and the Aurora
Australis in dock…what an impressive ship! Everyone appreciated Eric’s
knowledge and insights delivered in his usual ‘hysterical’ style [Who said
history wasn’t fun?]
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| Snow on Mt. Wellington! |
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| The [Antarctic ship] Aurora Australis |
Once we’d left Hobart behind, we settled in to
watching the next installment of ‘For the Term of His Natural Life’ ….but not
before a quick Karaoke session up the back of the bus capably led by Conner,
Chris and crew….now what was it they were singing? Georgia W was very excited
to arrive in the historic township of Ross around 11:00 for a late morning
tea/early lunch with her grandparents.
I’m sure they were just as excited as she was! The rest of us enjoyed
the break in the trip to wander along the historic streetscape, maybe checking
out the woodwork shop or wool shop/museum, or just enjoy soaking up the sun. Of
course, the takeaway food shop received more than a few visitors as well!
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| Soaking up the sun in 'Ross' |
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| 'Jodie' the mascot wombat getting lots of attention |
From Ross we headed straight to Launceston for a lunch
of hot noodles and cheese and bacon rolls, which sustained us as we ventured to
walk along the Cataract Gorge. A great chance to stretch our legs and enjoy the
beauty of our surroundings….and for maybe one last ‘group photo’ before we
leave Tassie.
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| Lunch time |
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| Swing bridge at the start of the Cataract Gorge walk |
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| Where are you off to Mr G? |
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| Good friends….good times…... |
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| ….good memories! |
We had time for one last port of call before we headed
to the boat… the Ashgrove Cheese Factory. An interesting talk about how cheese
is made was listened to by a tired but attentive and respectful group of
students…very impressed! Of course the ‘tasting’ session was appreciated by
everyone, so too, the resident cows out the front of the complex!
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| Do you want some cheese? |
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| Talk about taking the bull by the horns!! [trouble is….. it is a cow!] |
The ‘Last Supper’ was a buzz of excitement as everyone
realized that the time had come to head back to the mainland; Mr G had
preempted this by asking us to discuss “What have you bought to take back
home?” and “What are you looking forward to most about returning home?” ….lots
of excited chatter over Roast Lamb or Chicken Parmi, overlooking the river and
boat. Lets hope we don’t get to repeat this scenario (minus the excited
chatter) later in the evening; should be okay as a calm crossing has been
predicted!
