Damnation!

I was sitting in a park the other day and could see only part of a street sign, ...nation Drive. Despite an adequate vocabulary, the only word ending in ..nation that I could think of was Damnation. Damnation Drive had a nice ring to it. As most towns have a theme in naming streets, I amused myself redesigning the neighborhood - Lucifer Lane, Satan Street, Brimstone Bridge. Then I remembered that Dad used the word to express dissatisfaction (which incidentally I also did this evening when I failed to save the post and had to start again.) That gave a new emphasis to my creativity. When I finally got to my feet and discovered I was looking at Coronation Drive, I had run out of ideas. To my consternation I realised that I needed to bring more determination and imagination to the designation of this task. (I knew there were other ..nation words.)

Once again my travels have been through some beautiful country in lovely clear crisp weather. I left Hobart yesterday to drive the Huon Trail. With perfect weather I decided to drive direct to Southport which is the furtherest the sealed roads go in all of Australia. I followed the Huon River most of the way. David Jones (of Hobart, not Peninsula Toastmasters or Department store fame) had showed me his photos the previous night and made me very conscious of reflections. I hope I have some good photos but can't download them till I get back to Zudi's on Tuesday night.

I made a couple of detours on the way. The Thermal Springs sounded like a good way to ease aching muscles. The photos from the promotional brochures must have been taken in the depths of Winter, showing steam swirling around swimmers. The reality was not so exciting. The pool was a standard rectangular concrete pool, not the bubbling spring in the wilderness that I had envisaged. I don't know if it was really 28 degrees as promised. Perhaps it was, but it was barely lukewarm, not the languid heat I had imagined. The hot shower afterwards was very welcome, though. I had planned to visit Hastings Caves as well. The advertisement said that no particular skill or equipment was needed. That sounded like me! No particular skill! When I arrived I found that the tour started with 50 steps down, which for me is harder than going up - and plenty of them as well, 500 steps in all! So no cave exploring for me.

When I finally got to Southport, I considered for a moment (well, I could have!) taking the dirt road as far as it went and then doing a three hour walk to the most southerly spot in Australia. I know I have been to the most easterly. I also managed when I was in Ireland going the the furtherest north, south, east and west. In Iceland (as distinct from Ireland) I stood on the most easterly point and I have done something similar in other places, so a long trek just to gaze out into the ocean left me  as cold as the Thermal Springs.

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I camped here metres from the water
with Bruny Island in background

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Sunrise taken from my bed

The last two nights I spent in camping grounds very close to the beach. Sunday night was at Port Huon where I was about ten metres away from the water. On Monday night, I was barely three metres away, looking out towards Bruny Island across the D'Entrecasteaux channel. As the sun set, the cliffs were golden in the sun. But even better this morning, I saw the sunrise. Yes, I know that some people see it often. I don't so this was quite an occasion for me. However, the very best part was that I took photos without getting out of bed, then rolled over and went back to sleep.

I spent much of Tuesday wandering around a couple of little towns. I stopped in Huonville for breakfast and had a quick look around there. Then I went on to Cygnet on a mission. I had read a feature in a local newspaper about a chocolate maker in Cygnet, with her product called Cygnature, which appealed to my love of word play as well as chocolate. When I finally located the shop, I found it closed on Monday and Tuesday. Then I searched for The Deepings Woodturners as their advertisements looked interesting. After cruising up and down the highway and asking several of the locals I found it - also closed. Despite current advertising, it seemed to be a permanent closure as it is a bit early even in Tasmania to close down for Winter.

At the last stop for the day, I met with success. I called at the Grandvewe (note the spelling) farm and sampled sheep milk cheese, a liquer made from the whey and also an ice-cream. I have brought some of the cheese and a pinot paste back to share with Zudi. It has a different taste from cows milk but it is quite pleasant and the cheeses are lovely. I'll follow up on the website for more infromation as it was an interesting stop.


My neighbours last night are from the Gold Coast. I think Queenslanders outnumber Taswegians at the moment. David and Vivienne are travelling with their seven year old daughter who seems to be having a wonderful time. While her parents spoiled me with black rice pudding and alcohol, Kirra discovered the joy of iPads. There may be a bit of pressure brought to bear - and I may not be very popular in days to come.


I had every intention of attending a Toastmasters meeting at Kingston tonight. I got the details from the TMI site and then found it in a local paper yesterday as well so I was pretty sure of the venue and the time. But I have been caught before. Fortunately I rang the contact number. The club has amalgamated with the Hobart club which meets next week. Damnation!