MID STREAM

Here it is Anzac Day, Gaila and I are still at my Mum's at Cessnock. Since returning from Tassie we spent Easter in Bairnsdale catching up with family and friends before heading off over Mt Hotham to spend some time with Gaila's sister at Temora.

We have been here in Cessnock since last Tuesday and will be heading off on the next leg of our travels within the week. We have ordered new glasses and they will take between 5 and ten working days, so hopefully they are here by the week-end.

We are catching up with an old work buddy of mine from the Harvey days in Bairnsdale. Scotty has just moved to Medowie, just outside Raymond Terrace, his wife has been working at the RAAF Base at Williamtown since the beginning of the year, so it will be really great to catch up, haven't seen him for probably 4 years.

Our route for the next part of the trip will take us from Cessnock to Broome, we have booked into Broome for mid August, so that gives up three and a half months to get there. We will head to Broken Hill for a few days and then into the Flinders Ranges. Onto Woomera, and hopefully from there we will be able to get up to Lake Eyre. We will hit the Opal Fields of Coober Pedy, Ayres Rock (not climbing, just marvelling), Alice Springs, Darwin for probably a couple of weeks and to Broome. Not an exact itinerary but it will give us a guide of were we will be heading.

So until we hit the thriving metropolis of Broken Hill stay safe.

"LEST WE FORGET"

Tassie Week 9 and 10

Well here we are we have arrived back on the "Big Island". That was not without it's own dramas. Gaila flew out of Launceston on Friday night (30th March) and I travelled to Devonport on the Saturday and loaded onto the ferry. The crossing wasn't nearly as bad as our voyage over at the beginning. We were woken by the PA announcement , "This is your Captain speaking, on behalf of the crew and staff of the Spirit of Tasmania we would like to thank you for travelling with us on our voyage to Sydney.....", well as you can imagine there was a few bemused looks on the faces of the passengers. (April Fool). Any way 5.45am we are called to our vehicles for a 6.00 departure from the ferry. At 6.30 word travels down the line that there is a problem with the ramp preventing us from leaving the ferry.... April fool, no the ramp was buggered. So after waiting for 90 minutes for the service people to arrive from Hasting and a complimentary breakfast back upstairs in the cafe I finally drove off the ferry at about 10.00, 4 hours late.

GAILA WITH  NEW FRIEND"AL PACCA"

THE END OF THE WORLD

During our last 2 weeks in Tassie we visited The End of the World at Arthurs River on the west coast, Guides Falls south of Burnie, stayed at Ulverston, Greens Beach and Launceston. Gaila met a new friend, he lived on a farm south of Bernie.

GUIDES FALLS

Gaila and I have really enjoyed our 10 weeks in Tassie and there are still places that I haven't visited that I would have liked too, maybe another visit down the track. We found the people we met really really nice, we found very little angst towards anyone by anyone(except the greenies and Forestry, beats the hell out of me how they are going to sort that out).
We would like to thank Nigel and Cath Jackson for their friendship and their hospitality (well Cath anyway that Nigel bloke is a bit dodgy), we hope to see you guys on the mainland when next you travel. Nigel, are you sure that you don't have any contacts at the Spirt wharf in Melbourne? Kathy and Alan from Greens Beach, keep enjoying the serenity, Alan you keep flying in and flying out. Rob and Karen at Beauty Point, we tried to catch up the week-end before we left but you weren't home, hope the reno is going well and hopefully one day we will catch up.

Well everyone the next few weeks will be catching up with friends and family before we head off on the next leg of our journey. We go to see Gaila's sister and then my Mum, and at the end of April we head towards Broken Hill, Port Augusta and up the guts to Darwin and on.

To the rest of the family see ya soon and I'll email you all when we start again.