On the Road Again & Again & Again: March 2017

Friday, March 31, 2017

Last day at Saffire Lodge… sniff!

We both slept so well the evening before. Woke up ready to go… and it will be on our time schedule and we took advantage of that! Lazed around with our coffee and books after a great breakfast. Today we planned on taking a good walk. And a good walk is what we took, 5+ miles.

Walked to the town of Coles Bay in search of… yes you guessed it… a geocache! Great walk along the shoreline for a little more than a mile, then we went into this sleepy town… population 250 (unless it was their summertime, but we are here in their fall, so it was just perfect!) We have noticed their birds here and the songs and chatter they make are so different than at home. We meandered along as they chirped and made our way to the beach surrounding the Bay. Found the geocache, and then just stood there a while enjoying all that God has created!

We headed back to our digs cuz by now it was after noonish! Got to our room and took advantage of that little plunge pool they had. We could not stay here and not check it out. Kinda chilly when I first put my toe in it, but that passed. Cleaned up afterwards and went for some lunch before the massages we had scheduled. Met a nice young couple from Chicago and spent the better part of 45 minutes chatting. We’re both leaving tomorrow, they for Hobart, ourselves for Melbourne. Jerry and I love connecting with folks on our journey and this was one of those times.

Tomorrow morning one will find us at the airport, headed for Melbourne and it's new adventures that await us!

Takes courage to post some of these closeups!

The lodge from the shoreline!

See, if we weren't geocaching, this is a view we never would have seen. Ya gotta try it out folks!

Signing log!

These mountains are called the Hazard Mountains...

Pano shot of the bay...

Star light, Star Bright, First Star I see tonight! No Big Dipper in this part of the world!

Thursday, March 30, 2017

Wineglass Bay and the Tasman Sea by Catamaran!

Woke up and asked "What’s on for today?"… we checked our schedules… and this day we will be taking a Catamaran to Wineglass Bay. The hills we see out our room windows are hiding the big Tasman Sea. We will be going around them and enjoying the views on our way. This area is known for its Red Granite and it is indeed very pretty. Maybe that’s why the hills look pinkish/red at sunset… I thought it was just the evening sun.

Saw lots of birds, but the highlight was a sea eagle just sitting on a rock island, surveying the area. In a couple minutes, we then saw the huge eagle nest… and I do mean huge! On around the corner, and you could feel the difference in both the wind and the ocean swells… not horrible, but different, a bit more lumpy. We were greeted in a bit by a pod of about 100 dolphins: eating, playing and enjoying the current put off by the boat. We slowed for a few minutes just to enjoy them. We picked up speed and headed to out destination, but not till we checked out the stinky seals. Seals must poop right there on the rocks they hang out on. It's an awful odor. (Sea lions, we noticed, don’t smell as much so they must use the water as their toilet, cuz we were up close and personal with them in the Galapagos and they never stunk!). Anyway, I digress, back to the journey!

Finally headed to the Bay, and it seemed opened to the water at first. Jer and and I both commented it didn't seem like it would be a nice spot for eating. But, then, we tucked away in a nice little corner, dropped anchor and had lunch (and a very good one at that!) We were wondering how the bay got its’ name; it certainly didn’t have the outline of a wineglass. Found out, this use to be in whaling station in the 1800’s, and as they slaughtered the whales, the bay turned red with the blood of the whales, making that water look like claret wine. There are no remnants of the station, just a fine, white, silica type sand. All the sand here is very white… very pretty.

Finished lunch and headed back home. Arrived at 3 and made the mistake of picking up the book I am reading and got lost in that, then got snoozy, and next thing you know my eyes closed until about 5:30… Where did that last hour go???

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Pinch Us! We cannot believe this lovely place called Saffire in Freycinet!

So, left Hobart at 9am… had the same driver who picked us up at the airport, Peter. Nice guy and we headed out for our next destination for three nights. It was about 3 hours from Hobart and he took some of the lesser traveled roads which is something Jerry and I do all the time. It’s always so much more interesting. Went through a small town called Richmond which is home to the oldest bridge in Tassie, built in 1823 by, you guessed it, the convicts.

We were so excited to think… a real legit bridge picture! Asked Peter to take our pics, told him we wanted the whole bridge in the pic. Yes-siree he said…I’ve got eight cameras at home, I can handle it for you. We got on the bridge and he spent one minute appearing to take a gazillion photos. We rendezvoused back together… I checked the camera as we drove away… TWO pictures and they were closeup of us, so you can’t see the bridge!!! WHAAAAAT? Think I still might use them as a bridge pic… way too funny!

Got to our home for the next three evenings and couldn’t believe how nice it was/is. Oh my, we certainly are not use to this kind of place but are happy to try it out!

The center has a Tasmanian Devil Sanctuary for older Tas Devils. The Devils are only found here in Tasmania now and unfortunately, a horrible, spreadable cancer has decimated about 80% of the population. The government is working to help get this disease under control but not so easy with wild animals, but they are making progress. So here, there are five older Devils (one male and rest female)… and females are the aggressors, especially when they mate. They tend to all beat up on the poor guy and he is exhausted from trying to service them all, which is funny, cuz their age keeps them from procreating, you'd think they would loose the drive... guess not. Interesting critters which eat meat… and the bones, and the fir, well, every single bit of their food.

Enjoy the pics!

This is the bridge...pic from a web site

We drove up, they asked our names and had us sit and relax, gave us some wine and talked to us about the center. While this was happening, our luggage was whisked away to the room. The staff member than walked us to out home for the next three nights and showed us how to operate all the gizmos. The view... well, you will see down below!