Tasmanian relief - PART 6

(Return to - PART 1, PART 2, PART 3, PART 4, PART 5)

The next day we had to get up early for the Gordon River Cruise. Getting up early on one's holiday is so wrong but we managed. We were shown to our comfy leather seats, on the Captains Deck no less, by the attractive hostess. Once more we paid for premium class and we were not disappointed. The customary champagne was dealt with in the customary way, and beer and food consumption commenced. They hadn’t even started the motors yet!

Twin V8 turbo diesels, 1500 HP each, got us moving out to sea. Yeah baby, beer and V8’s. Our Captain was full of excellent stories and he knew how to tell them. He also liked to set the cruise-control and wander around the cabin having a chat. (Obviously this party trick freaked out a few people who seemed to think he should be guiding the boat.) I hovered around the controls but refrained from touching them, although it wasn't easy. All that marvellous power and we were just toddling along. Sacrilege.

I can’t stress enough how good this trip is. Really, really, good. I’m saying this a lot but you must include this on your list of holiday destinations.

Zeehan museum. World-class. Leave enough time, (2-3 hours or more), to enjoy this place properly. Absolutely huge and jam-packed with Aussie-British history.

Hopefully by now you’ll see where the time goes. I don’t believe we would have done ourselves any favours by rushing through any part of Tasmania. I also know we missed a lot.

Cradle Mountain. Ah yes. The ‘get back to nature walks’ that I love so much. Quite a few damn tourists overcrowding the car-park made it hard for us to barge our way in, but we weren’t discouraged. We lucked out on the two-hour "easy" Dove Lake walk. Most people didn't want to do this one. Jules and I did it in 1 hour 45 mins. Just about had to run to achieve this time but we had a tight schedule. The temperature would have been around 10 degrees C but I was down to my singlet about halfway through the 'walk'. We tried to tell a bunch of people, kitted out in arctic weather gear, to leave their jackets behind. Perhaps the sight of my sweaty, fat body didn’t convince them, or maybe they didn’t speak English. Hope they enjoyed carrying all their kids’ jackets around the lake.

Sheffield is a town of murals. Some gifted artists were apparent amongst the many over-sized pictures on every blank wall in town. Yet another good motel with friendly, helpful owners made our stay pleasant.

Tasmazia in the Village of Lower Crackpot is a little gem of a place. It has the world’s largest hedge maze. Seeing it for yourself will convince you that it was worthwhile hunting it down. If any place can make a couple of thirty-something's act like 5 year olds, then this is it. Nita and Eric enjoyed it too but I didn't see them crawling through a 'Secret Tunnel'. My knees are still wondering why they had to carry my lard through it too.

(See - Tasmanian relief - PART 7)