FROM THE EAGLE'S NEST

Eagle's Nest

Well, hello – sorry it has been a little while since I talked to you. I’m told that a certain cat and dog stepped in and had a chat since my last blog – seems that really nonplussed many of you – never mind, I’m back in business now.

We are back in Kingston – yes I know this was not the plan, but our hostess Lee had to shoot back to Perth unexpectedly and we volunteered to step once more into the breach. Lee will be driving back, with her daughter and two 6 month old kittens, known broadly as The Ferals – the vehicle of choice is her daughter’s somewhat dubious 4WD ute – she is actually considering camping along the way! We expect to be greeting a dishevelled, disgruntled, disenchanted, distracted woman when she returns.

We did actually get as far north as Swansea and from the little we saw it looks absolutely wonderful. We will be returning there when we leave here so I’ll tell you all about it on our return.

We have completed our list of ‘to-do’s in this region, the last one being our return to Bruny Island – this time driving – I’ll deal with that shortly. The remainder of our stay here will probably be pretty ‘un-blog-worthy’ but we will see what pops up.

From the Deck

Before I tell you about Bruny – you might like to know a little about where we are now. Lee’s home is in the hills, bush really, (albeit only around 12 ks from Hobart) and is just a hop skip and jump away from Mt Wellington. The so called organ pipes on the mountain are very clearly visible from here – when the mountain is not wearing it’s fluffy ‘ hat’ that is. The house is a 2 story cedar character home – quaint from the outside and multi-levelled on the inside. The home reflects Lee’s personality and is warm, welcoming and somewhat eccentric. Lee and her husband Lloyd have travelled and lived in some exotic worlds and their home reflects their travels with its eclectic collection of curios. We certainly feel very much at home here (probably due to our own eccentricity). Due to the close proximity to the mountain, the weather here is inherently cold. The front deck benefits from the generally somewhat anaemic sunshine in the mornings as it faces east, from somewhere around 1.30 in the afternoon however, the home falls under the shadow of the mountain and temperatures start once again to plummet. I dare say in the summer it is perfect! Having said all that, mind you, today is just a glorious day – sunshine poured in here earlier, but now predictably at 2pm we are in the shadow of the mountain and the temperature is dropping away quite quickly.

'Organ Pipes' From the House

The home does have a wonderful large and very functional Pot Belly Stove (2 in fact) and DD is in his element every day lighting the fire – he is a fire bug from way back. He has had a small problem getting used to the fire and the ‘baffles’ inside the fire-place. Dare I say – in typical ‘man’ style, he completely ignored Lee’s instructions about the fire, believing of course, that a bloke would automatically know far more and far better than a mere woman. Needless to say, the baffles fell down at least 3 times during Lee’s first absence. A fair indication of the baffling problem was the copious mutterings, swearing and banging emanating from the lounge room from time to time. We (he) suffered burnt fingers – trying to replace baffles whilst still hot of course – and a big scar on his forehead where he head-butted the apparatus the other day. Did I ever mention his propensity for self-harm. DD has been sporting a fat lip these last few days from when he tried to bite the washing machine in the caravan – no, don’t ask me why – I’m just a woman and wouldn’t understand!

Being pretty much in the bush, the home is visited by an abundance of wild-life. The odd wallaby, wombat and echidna call in from time to time. A multitude of little pademelons come in daily to see what is to eat, a posse of possums peer thru’ the windows in the evenings, hoping for a hand-out and an abundance of bird-life enlivens the air and the air-waves. In fact, they used to be visited daily by a flock of Sulphur Crested Cockatoos until Lee’s husband took matters into his own hands and during Lee’s absence, installed a fake eagle and a network of wires on the deck to discourage these beautiful but destructive guests. The cockies, were, it seems, eating the decking. Not the first time I have heard of this mischief – obviously it doesn’t pay to encourage these characters.

A Member of the Posse

As you already know, the home also sports a rambunctious young cat and a darling old dog. I won’t bore you with their tales (tails?) again, suffice to say they are a delight and certainly bring back fond memories of sharing our home with our own dear departed critters. The cat’s antics in the morning are absolutely amazing and I do sport a myriad of cuts and scratches due to his very endearing exuberance. DD is not particularly enchanted with the cat’s efforts to wake us at 3am to play – it seems that Bugsy’s favourite tactic is to sit on DD’s head! Can’t understand why he is not thrilled!

The Dog, Daisy is a darling, her biggest thrill (apart from biting the cat) is to go in the car. Anytime we decide to go somewhere, we find Daisy firmly attached to the rear of the car waiting to be lifted into the back. Yes, I did say lifted – she is no small dog either – but she is old and arthritic – so DD, bless him, lifts her in and out of the car. He really is a good boy you know. You may have guessed from Daisy’s blog that she is a TV addict – I have never known another dog be so ‘into’ TV – she watches it avidly and gets particularly excited whenever animals of any kind appear on the screen. It’s quite sad really, she has so many routines that we just don’t understand and we feel like we are letting her down when we don’t perform to her expectations.

We still have a few little things we can do from here, so stand by for a couple of brief stories from the eagle’s nest. In the meantime tho’, we will content ourselves with the Bruny Island adventure – so sit back and enjoy the ride.

BACK TO BRUNY ISLAND

All Aboard!

The day dawned bright, fine and sunny but oh, so very, very chilly. As we left the eyrie we noted the white grass crisply sitting in the hollows and the white roofs of the surrounding homes. I don’t know what the temperature dropped to that morning, but it certainly was frosty. As we drove down to Kettering to board the ferry we could see deep white mists sitting in the valleys – the whole effect was quite stunning, but it meant that mittens and woollies ruled the day. Taking photos out of the moving vehicle was a different sort of pain.

From The Ferry

We opted to take the 9.30 ferry across to the island and arrived in good time at Kettering – there was absolutely no wind that morning and the marina was a picture with the abundance of boats and yachts moored there reflecting perfectly in the still dark waters. The cafe at the marina makes great coffee and we availed ourselves of a cup while we were waiting to board the ferry. There is something intrinsically wonderful about sipping a steaming hot coffee in the cold crisp morning air – especially whilst enjoying the visual pleasures of a picturesque marina. I have noticed that Tasmanian boat owners seem to prefer bright colours for their craft. Perhaps it is due to the predominantly muted hues of the sky and waters – whatever the reason, it makes for a rich and interesting tapestry of colours and shapes on the waterways.

I must be becoming accustomed to boarding these ferries etc as I didn’t so much as blink an eyelid when DD drove Zed onto the ferry – it all felt quite normal and safe. Once on board drivers and their passengers are free to leave their vehicles and wander around. Needless to say, no sooner had we boarded than DD vanished from sight. I finally found him, chatting, blokey style to another fellow – I tried to be the stalwart bride for a while, braving both the freezing air and the oh so scintillating conversation about tyres – but common sense prevailed and after taking the usual abundance of photos, I retired to the warm confines of Zed and spent the remainder of the brief 20 minute ride across in comparative comfort.

Beauty Spots Aplenty

Finally, my talkative bloke returned, somewhat blue around the gills, and we smoothly disembarked onto Bruny. The first matter to be dealt with, was a stop at Get Shucked. As you might have guessed, they are providers of oysters – not just any oysters, but absolutely delicious large fresh Bruny Island oysters – I would say they were the best I have ever tasted. From Get Shucked, we proceeded to drive thru’ the north part of the island, down over the narrow spit and all the way down to the southern- most tip where the lighthouse is situated.

Along The Way - Sad & Faded Memories Of A Bygone Era

Gulls By The Hundreds

We passed some amazing scenery along the way, one little bay particularly took my fancy and I could well imagine living a secluded beachcomber style of life there. Sadly, DD didn’t seem to share my enthusiasm for dropping out and so we continued southwards. The last time we saw that end of the island was from the jet boat – this was equally impressive from the land. The shore-line speaks quite clearly of grandeur. As I mentioned, there is a light-house on the southern most point of the island – the scenery from there was spectacular.

Stunning Coastal Scenery

The walk up to the lighthouse was testing for my knees. Why, I asked myself for perhaps the hundredth time, didn’t I have my knees fixed before travelling to Tasmania? Well, in truth, had we done that, it would have been another 6 – 12 months before we managed to get away and life being what it is, we didn’t want to take the chance of perhaps missing out on the trip altogether. So I complain loudly instead. Sorry! It is frustrating tho’ – because of the pain, I don’t exercise nearly as much as I should, and because I don’t exercise enough, I continue to increase my girth – because I continue to expand, the pain levels continue to increase exponentially – oh well, we all have our problems and as problems go, I know I could have so much worse. This house does conspire against me tho’ – firstly it is a very steep block and so the entire outdoor area is either steeply inclined or stepped, the decking is up and down stairs, the indoors is two story and split levelled, the couch is one of those oh so comfy soft things structured to be so very low to the ground and almost impossible for someone of my diminished capacity to get in and out of and then there is the bed!!! The bed is a wooden coffin structure with a mattress one size too small – when you wish to arise from the bed, one has to gather quite some momentum in order to avoid getting stuck on the rim and rocking painfully backwards and forwards on ones derriere! A glamorous and sexy look indeed – particularly if one is in a bit of a hurry to go to the ‘powder room’! Oh well, I’m sure it’s all good for me, and Lee did offer different and much more comfortable bedding arrangements, so I really only have myself to blame – but oh, my poor old bones!

Scenes of Granduer

Anyway, back to the southern end of Bruny, as I said, stunning coastline and totally picturesque – we were lucky enough to have a fine and clear day and so the visibility and photos were both very good. From the lighthouse, we travelled back to a lovely little picnic and camping spot and sat down to have a delicious repast of fresh oysters, along with our pre-packed picnic lunch. We were joined by a group of very friendly little birds who all clamoured for a titbit – we were, as usual happy to oblige. Although the picnic site was lovely, the breeze was totally lazy and we were compelled to eat quickly or freeze in the process.

A Little Feathered Friend Joined Us For Lunch

From our lunch site, we headed across to the eastern side of the island and up to the northern-most tip. The scenery continued to impress as we traversed the drier northern part of the island. Three thirty saw us embarking the ferry for the homewards journey. The ferry cost for a vehicle is $30 return trip - money well spent we felt.

A Dryer Climate On The North Of The Island - Still Beauty

Well, you will no doubt be pleased to know, that is it for this time around – so until next time, be kind to each other and good to yourselves. Stephanie

Quite A Climb

Coastal Splendour