Thursday April 25

The weather was a bit rougher today with gusty showers and strong wind.  I’m hoping it will ease by tomorrow so I can pack the annex away without it getting blown away and, secretly, I am hoping the seas will also become calmer for my crossing of the strait tomorrow night.  I was looking for a bag to carry some stuff up to the cabin but it may be that I will use a bucket which will serve a dual purpose!

I drove up to Wivenhoe today which is a suburb of Burnie.  I went prowling in the local graveyard looking for our maternal grandfather.   He is buried in what is politely called the “Non-Conformist” section.  I guess this means he was not a good catholic when he died.  I also found 3 other graves with the O’Connor surname so will pass the info on to the family historian who will no doubt delve into their past.

As the weather was not really conducive to sitting around camp I decided to “steer”(an islander term for driving) my way up to the Rhododendron Garden at Emu Valley in the hinterland behind Burnie.

Just beautiful!!  While the Rhodos are not in flower till spring the autumn colours were stunning.  A visual feast for us gardeners.  Enjoy!

 

 

The gardens cover some 11 hectares and contain over 22 000 plants.  The whole thing is maintained by a group of very friendly volunteers.  Entry is $8.00(April 2013) and well worth it.

Web site www.emuvalleyrhodo.com.au add this to your links list on the blog.

 

 

 

Friday April 26

Very windy today which does not bode well for a calm crossing.  Mrs Bucket may be accompanying me tonight.

I know I seem to be spending a lot of time looking at trees and gardens etc. so you won’t mind if I tell you about the Tasmanian Arboretum which is located just out of Devonport on Old Tramway Road.  This is a large open park area and displays woody plants from the temperate zone of the world.  It has a particularly fine stand of Wollemi Pines and a terrific section on Tasmania endemic plants.  There are plenty of picnic areas with tables and barbeques.  There is a resident platypus in one of the lakes.  I went into the hide and found a fellow all set up with his camera on a tripod trying to get a photo of one.  It seems he had been there most of the morning with no success.  I wander in and within a minute spotted one in the totally opposite direction to where he was looking.  He didn’t seem to pleased by that!

Saturday April 27 Sunday April 28

3 Quells and a stubbie of beer worked wonders for keeping my stomach on an even keel during the crossing!!!  Unfortunately not a lot of sleep though as the engines were quite noisy and the occasional crashing of waves/swells on the hull kept me awake.  Still I was thankful I didn’t need Mrs Bucket.  Off the ship by 6.45am and at my sisters by about 8.  It has been a quiet weekend catching up on all the family happenings and visiting my other sister and brother.  Having a nice home cooked roast for Sunday tea.  Yum oh!!!