Out of the Cold

I am so pleased I went to the west coast last week. Yesterday it snowed at Strahan and the road back from Queenstown was cut. I could have been sitting and shivering. As it is, I couldn't warm up yesterday so I rang Helen and Chris and landed on their doorstep last night. Their house is lovely and warm and the wood heater is going all day.

After having my awning fitted in Launceston, I stopped overnight in Deloraine, abandoning the idea of going north again as I felt I was running out of time. Deloriane is a very crafty area, with lots of artists and artisans. The free camping area was interesting with football practice taking place at night and then horse exercising in the morning. I was all set to watch the meteor showers from a nice dark area, though one of my neighbours left an outside light on for ages. However, as usual, there were periods of rain and if there were meteor showers, I missed them.

I spent an enjoyable hour at the Yarns display. This is an amazing display of wall hangings on silk, with many different fabrics used. There are four panels representing the four seasons. I think each panel took about 2500 hours with many workers contributing.  Different parts were done by different people and the finished result is wonderful. Although I am not a sewer or quilter, I really appreciated the intricacy and artistry and could have spent more time there.

Through the town there is a sculpture walk, with works representing the people and products of the area. Even in the information centre, the creativity is evident. I was impressed with a musical sculpture in the lovely gardes. I wandered through yet another historical display while I waited for the Yarns video to start and took photos of a children's play room which is one of the best I have seen.

I had intended to just stop at Latrobe but it wasn't far along the road and not a great deal to do in town. I did the Anvers Chocolate Factory stop, of course, and  watched the chocolate making process. I am meeting the Red Hatters for lunch on Monday so got a small pack of chocolates to share at lunch. Beyond that, I was very restrained - although I managed to sample almost every type they offered. I ended up not taking the chocolates for lunch and unfortunately they ended up under the front seat where they melted and set and remelted and reset and had to be scraped out after I got home.