Sunday, 30 March 2014

BusTed in Bicheno at the "bloody brilliant blowhole"


Hi Again,
Still heading up the East Coast we found Bicheno, (not that it was lost).


Although the seas where not very wild, the blowhole was really cool.


The lady in the shop said it can really go off in big seas, not surprising, it was going off anyway.


Simply stunning.


Till next time
Ellen and Michelle
xxxx

BusTed in Friendly Beaches OMG....


Hello,
Talk about friendly, this little Echidna was so friendly..


Most of these little dudes run a mile, not this one, we even got to see his face.


This place had the most stunning coastline.


The photos really don't do it justice.


We spent quite a bit of time down on the rocks, just watching the waves roll in.




The rocks were covered in an orange fungi, they looked amazing.

Back up at the bus, after passing a couple of friendly wallabies, two  pademelon came to our door, mother and baby....so cute.


A lovely, cool sunset.


Ellen all rugged up.


"Morning Yoga"



 Another beautiful place.


Till next time
Ellen and Michelle
xxxx

BusTed on the road

Hi Everyone,
We headed further up the east coast, this time towards Freycinet National Park.
Along the way we spotted the most unusual bridge.....it's name
'Spiky Bridge'.



It was really quite an amazing structure.


Complete with a little tunnel.


Those convicts, or their overseers, sure knew how to build stuff down here in Tassie.


We drove through more picturesque landscapes.  
This is  'The  Great Oyster Bay' with Freycinet in the background.


Then we reached Coles Bay at Freycinet.


The mountains were incredible, they looked like painted rock . 


The place was sooo beautiful.


Till next time
Ellen and Michelle
xxxx

Saturday, 29 March 2014

BusTed in Mayfield Bay


Hi Again,
Just a quickie, this place is worth a mention Mayfield Bay...yet another place where our fellow travellers thought we were nuts going for a swim.



Ellen got up close and personal with the wildlife.



These big buggers are in large numbers down here, not quite sure what they are exactly.




A little more convict labour and another remarkable bridge.


Now this is perfect!!!! check out the puddle.



(oh yeah, that's awesome)

xxxx
Love to you all
Ellen and Michelle


Thursday, 27 March 2014

BusTed in Eaglehawk Neck

Hello again,
Eaglehawk Neck is a thin piece of land that joins the Forestier and Tasman Peninsular's.
 Just down from Eaglehawk is a little place called Doo Town, a lot of the residents have the word doo in their house names e.g thisldoo, doolittle, doous, muchadoo, gunnadoo and so forth. Cute. 
Anyway, we were told about this fish and chip van at the Tasman Blowhole in Doo Town. I thought it was lovely but unfortunately for Michelle they used real fish not hake.....Ahhhhh. 
She did think the chips were good.
The blow hole wasn't very active while we were there, low tide, but it was still beautiful and you could imagine how spectacular it could be.


Further down the coast was Tasman Arch, it was so high, made my legs go like jelly.

Then further along again was the Devils Kitchen, boy that was a long way down.

We went for a walk and spotted this tiny orange breasted bird, beautiful eh.

We stopped again at Dunally on the way back 

then via Sorell and on to Triabunna 
where we met up with some friends we'd made at Sheffield, 
Rob and Kim and their basset hound, Wally.

Who could move very fast....


Fortunately after the Doo Town fiasco we found another van here that sold hake
 and Michelle got her fish and chip fix, phew.


Don't you love a happy ending.
Catch you next time.
Michelle and Ellen.








BusTed in Port Arthur

Hi Everyone,
Well, if you have read all our blog pages you are now reading the
101st Blog.
That's right, it wasn't till I hit the 'publish' button on the last one I realised it was the 100th.

We arrived in Port Arthur and it was a beautiful clear day.
Upon purchasing our tickets we were given a playing card with a number and suit. We decided between us that whoever was the worst convict had to give a foot massage to the other.
Ellen was given the 10 of diamonds, I was 4 of spades, we went downstairs to find the convict that corresponded to that card.


He was a naughty boy as you can see, and was punished accordingly.



Here he was sentenced to the boat crew.


Mine was just as naughty, he stole some candles....but then later escaped stealing a musket and shot at a guard....this last little adventure cost me a foot massage with Ellen....she rightly thought her convict was better behaved, and won our bet.

Port Arthur's penal station was established in 1830 as a timber getting camp, using convict labour. In 1833 it became a punishment station for repeat offenders from all the Australian Colonies.


The convicts were made to go to church, the church remained non denominational, so that all military, their families and the free settlers alike could attend.


The remains of these buildings are stunning.


Our ticket included a 20 min harbour cruise.


This little island named the Isle of the Dead, was where the residents of Port Arthur were laid to rest.
The hierarchy was still present in burial, with the convicts on the low side in unmarked graves and the military and free persons laid to rest at the top of the hill, with grave markers and headstones. 


This island is the Point Puer Boys' Prison, and lay not that far from the Isle of the Dead.
It was not a pleasant place by any means.


Port Arthur was a bustling Harbour in its day, producing everything from worked stone and bricks to furniture and clothing, boats and ships.






There were two totally different lifestyles, those of parties, regattas and literary evenings, for the free persons and military.
In stark contrast to the convicts who were punished and worked hard.


 There were military barracks, and towers.
These were built between the penitentiary and the Commandants house, great idea.. 



This is the view from the military precinct, you can see the ruins of the penitentiary below.


This is the remains of the hospital.


The church is located on the hill over in the settlement part of the colony.


Here is a naughty little convict I found....





This last building was the Asylum. It housed the less, shall we say, 'stable' convicts.
This was a beautifully built staircase to the church within the complex. 


This place was completely silent, except for singing in church on Sundays. 


The cells were tiny and minimal, the stories heard from this place.....horrific.


Some of you may remember Port Arthur for a different reason. A crazed gunman back in 1996 took the lives of 35 people and injured 19 others.
A memorial garden and reflection pond is tastefully place where this tragic event took place.

Looking around Port Arthur it's hard to believe that in such a beautiful place, such pain and tragedy happened, in modern and days gone by.

Till next time
Ellen and Michelle
xx