Far(m)Fetched: Part 2...

Tasmazia

Before we left the Cradle Mountain area we spent an afternoon at another magical place nearby, Tasmazia.

Sick of farming his dairy, the self-proclaimed "Laird Crackpot of the Village of Lower Crackpot" turned his farm into a fantastical monument to art, eccentricity and childish silliness. On a beautiful day you can roam forever through the Great Maze or imagine you are running from a King Henry VIII beheading through a replica of the famous Hampton Court maze. There is a confusion maze "made by a woman" and a mad Irish maze. So much more and so much fun.

Looking out over one of the mazes to Mt Roland.

A corridor in the "Great Maze".

The Village of Lower Crackpot behind the "Confusion Maze".

Follow that cat!

Strahan, Macquarie Harbour and the Gordon River

Our next stop was Strahan on the West coast. A quaint, sleepy little village. A bit on the twee side but charming nonetheless. The real treasure of Strahan is the surrounding natural beauty in Macquarie Harbour and the Gordon River. We did two tours while we were there - the Bonnet Island Experience and the Gordon River Cruise.
Bonnet Island was great - a small tour on a small boat to a small island near the mouth of the harbour to see small penguins (well, Little Penguins anyway). Oh, and there was wine and cheese!

Leaving Strahan at sunset for Bonnet Island.

Bonnet Island

On Bonnet Island

Waiting for the penguins.

The next day was our boat cruise up the Gordon River. Not before a heart-stopping trip through the very narrow and treacherous harbour passage, Hell's Gates.

Leaving Strahan again.

Bonnet Island - where we were the night before.

The small passage on the left is the only way in for large boats -
on the right is a sand bank.

Scary. It looks calm but there are massive currents pulling you every which way.

Looking into the harbour.
The breakwater on the right was built by convicts to make the passage marginally safer.

Into calmer waters now - the Gordon River.

Entering the Gordon River.

Sarah Island - convict settlement.

Ocean Beach

We drove out to Ocean Beach and took the car for a spin on the sand. Was so much fun - but constantly worried about getting bogged then swamped at high tide!

Ssh! Don't tell Mum and Dad we took their car on the beach ;-)

Driving over the mountains to the Highlands.

The Wall

Special mention here for The Wall. A 100m long wood relief carving depicting scenes from Central Highlands history. It is a monumental feat by artist Greg Duncan who works quietly and privately on each of the 3m high panels in his studio at Derwent Bridge. Once finished (hopefully a year or two), I believe it will be one of the great art works of Australia. Very deserving of a place in Parliament House or the National Gallery. However, it's home is Derwent Bridge and somehow it wouldn't be right to remove it to the mainland.

Tarraleah

Our next camp was in the Highlands at Tarraleah. It is an old hydro electricity town. You can camp or stay in a house or go posh at The Lodge. Lots of things to do here. My favourite were the Highland cattle. I wasn't such a fan of the extremely low temperature in the tent though...

We should have a sign like this at work.

I felt like this was a photo from a 70's roadtrip - you know the kind, with all the kids standing around in shorts, singlets and terry towelling hats...

Moooo cows!!

While at Tarraleah, we made a day trip to the Lake St Claire National Park. Some pretty bushwalks revealed unique birdlife and magical forests. Unfortunately, I sprained my ankle and put a stop to proceedings...

Very happy to come across a Pink Robin on a bushwalk
in the Lake St Clair National Park.

...and some weird coral-looking fungus.

Ahh.. the valley...

After driving around for a while we finally made it back to the Huon Valley.

Moon River Retreat, Cygnet.

Focus on Franklin

While we were visiting Franklin the town fair, Focus on Franklin, was on. It was a fun day with lots to see and do. The weather was crap (cold, wind and raining) but there were sunny patches to dry out your rain jacket and it didn't seem to bother anyone.
The highlight for me was the great Salmon and Apple race. Signs all around the valley in the leadup to the day hinted at what a spectacle this may turn out to be - Just what is a Salmon and Apple race? I asked myself this question many times before the big day.
Turns out that it is two different races...
We missed the apple race but I don't think it varied much from the salmon race. The latter involving carved wooden salmon (in the case of the apples, I think we can assume fresh) each adorned with a jaunty numbered flag. The contestants are rowed out to the middle of the river and set free by some charming Rotarians to swim (float - be dragged by the current...) their little hearts out downstream to the finish line. Just where that finish line is I wasn't quite sure but by one Rotarian's reckoning was "aw, whenever it's over" - the race presumably. To me it seemed when everybody got bored and left to get a hot scallop pie.
There was a fabulous demonstration of the Franklin Light Horse and all the usual food, wine and crafty goodies of the region.

Tension mounts as the Salmon Race competitors are ferried to the starting line.

And they're off!

The Franklin Light Horse - these guys were great.

A typical sight in Franklin.

Heading Home

After my parents visited for a weekend it was time to go home. Geoff had to get back to work quickly so he and my parents flew out together. I had the pleasure of a leisurely drive back to Devonport for the boat back to Melbourne. On the way I stopped at Ross and Oatlands on the Heritage Highway. I felt like I had been transported back in time. Very charming towns.