Ronnie in Lonnie.

[drron]

Also present was Petrarch's Books from Lonnie.If you really like books it is the place to go in Lonnie.Most of the books were on gardening but they had a couple of books on Old Houses in Tasmania.Interesting.
To the stables and a couple of old cars and a lot of junk.

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And some iron art.

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[drron]

We now headed back through the rose garden but beside the central watercourse.

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Someone was flying kites.Tassie is good for flying kites as very often windy.

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[drron]

Some more roses-

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The kite flyers were operating from a bank overlooking the car park.

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Was I glad that mrsdrron insisted we get here early.There was a long queue of cars entering to park in a paddock.We certainly had the best of the day.
So off to lunch at Evandale.review here-
Launceston Restaurants

 

[drron]

Nothing exceptional during the week as I was working and busy.Fortunately another day of reasonable weather for Saturday.Slept in so set out late. Decided on the scenic route to Devonport where we wanted to have dinner. Off on the Meander Valley road through the smaller towns.
Went through Hadspen then a detour to Longford,Carrick Hagley and then the first stop at Westbury. Beautiful countryside.
At Westbury the Catholic Church has a bit of history.The Holy Trinity Church was completed in 1874.Designed by Henry Hunter a prolific Tasmanian architect.

But the real story of the church was that of the first parish priest.He had been the priest for 25 years before the church was consecrated and survived another 25 years.Renowned for riding his horse to visit his flock but jumping fences instead of going by road.He also helped a few escaped Irish catholic convicts.One was John Mitchel hidden in Westbury for some time before travelling by coach to Hobart and boarding a ship for America.Another passenger was the recently retired Tassie Attorney General.

More famous though was Thomas Meagher who also got to America.He became a Brigadier-General for the North in the Civil War and then the Governor of Montana.
So the church-

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A nice entrance to the "historic village."

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Unfortunately not much in the village.

 

[drron]

The next stop was Deloraine where we had a coffee and snack,visited the craft shops and galleries before stopping at the Information Centre.Some nice old buildings.Not grand but with character.

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At the centre there is a statue of a horse outside.This time I actually read why the statue is there.Winx has nothing on this fellow.

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The statue actually overlooks his place of birth-

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It is now a Pepper's hotel.
Lovely country in the Meander Valley.

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[drron]

Our next stop was Sheffield.A nice down totally dominated by Mt.Roland.

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A change from my last post.In Today's Launceston paper it was announced Calstock has been sold and bought by a Victorian couple who are going to run it as a hotel.So It is no longer going to be a Pepper's hotel.I tried a few dates in winter next year and unable to get a single days vacancy.

 

[drron]

Typical of Tasmanians many do obviously love their gardens and flowers abound.

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Sheffield is also known as the town of murals.This one is on the side of the local Department Store.

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So the message is that in 1926 Mr.Coles from Wilmot tried to talk the owners to invest in his sons new business in Melbourne.They didn't.So the family are still running the Department Store.It is actually a good place to shop and i have bought a few things there over the years including one of my "Rex"jackets.
The pub.

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This image causes me a little anxiety.Why have the Chinese flag flying.The General store also had one window in Chinese advertising Chinese products.And this is rural Tasmania.

 

[drron]

Last stop for the dayu is Devonport.We were about 45 minutes early for our dinner so drove up to Mersey Bluff.Leaving the port is Goliath-a concrete carrier taking concrete from the Railton works.

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In the background is DPO.Walked down to the lookout and a Natural sculpture.

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A lot of people fishing from the rocks.

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Then time for dinner at a new restaurant for Devonport.Recommended.Review here.
Devonport restaurants.

 

[drron]

This last weekend I got out of Lonnie.I was told of a reserve south of Hobart that was a good place for wildflowers.Kept checking the weather reports as not great but by the middle of the week it was looking OK for a fine day on the Saturday.So early Saturday morning I set off.Stopped at Ross for brekkie.This was to help in my study of Tassie scallop pies-great for breakfast.
See here.
Where to get the best scallop pies in Tassie
A few little friends helped me to finish off the pie.

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It was early and very few people around so lots of birds dropped by.Also means a good time to look around.

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The local pub is for sale-

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But not all historical buildings are grand.

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[drron]

A little more on Ross.

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The female factory-basically a home for female convicts who were leased out to the landholders.Quite a few children were born to these women.

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And the famous Ross bridge built by convicts.

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[drron]

Onwards.When I drive through a city every now and then I like to drive down the old main road so I did this in Hobart this time.Not much but the Glenorchy Council did have some lovely roses.

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Then on to my destination-the Peter Murrel nature reserve and Conservation area.It was set aside because of the diversity of flora.The orchids are at their peak in spring and early summer.As the day was the first day of summer I was hopeful for a reasonable show.I entered from the back door.It didn't look promising to the untrained eye.

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However disturbed land next to trees is often the best place to actually see orchids.However at first it was a fruitless search though there were other little flowers.

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[drron]

But it was a lovely day,blue skies,24C and a gentle breeze.A perfect day for a walk in the bush.There are lots of fire trails but in the centre a Nature walk for foot traffic only.Unfortunately it is obvious people are riding their bikes through here.Also dogs are meant to be on a leash but all I saw were running free.
But lots of flowers.

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[drron]

Little green beetles were everywhere but they had a preference for 1 species of bush.

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Views to one of Tassies most recognisable mountains.

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And to the west.

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[drron]

After walking right across the reserve I wa yet to see an orchid.I then walked a distance around the perimeter track and out in the open near a neighbouring properties fence was a little sun orchid.

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I then started back on the other side of the nature track.

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An interesting banksia.

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A modern midden.

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Someone has had a nice feed of scallops.
More evidence of human stupidity.

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And I was being watched.

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Just after this I had an unusual experience.Running down the fire trail close to the nature track was a fellow and his dog who was off leash.The fellow stopped.I thought he was going to call his dog.Instead he dropped his shorts,carried them in one hand and set off running naked.

 

[drron]

A little while after the bush streaker I found what I had hoped to find.Caleana Major or the Flying Duck Orchid.

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This shot probably best shows why it got it's name.

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Of course once seen I started finding them regularly even on the last stretch back to the car.Unless you are lokking you won't see them.There are 3 in this picture.

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This shot is taken less than 50 metres from my start point and there is an orchid in the middle of the shot.I walked straight past it the first time.

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In my defence it was hiding behind a fern.

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[drron]

I picked the road to the wrong side of the reserve as I just had to continue on it to 2 more reserves.On the way passed a beautiful bay with a terrible name-Stinkpot Bay.

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Now to the Tinderbox Hill walk.Some flowers but not orchids.

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The track not surprisingly is uphill and I am noted for being terrible at going up hills.However there were flat sections at regular intervals so it was only on the final bit uphill that I started to flag.It is however a thin strip of land between private properties.You may notice the wire in the second photo.

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[drron]

The reason I picked this walk is that the hill has Storm Bay on one side and North west bay on the others.You do get views of both as you climb.

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Storm Bay above.North West bay below.

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After getting up the steepest section and having had to stop a couple of times it looked like only 1 gentle climb to go to get to the top of the hill.But at the foot of this climb was this sign.

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I felt cheated.My head and heart said ignore it.No buildings up there and you won't get caught.But my back and legs said no give us a break and obey the law.They won.

 

[RooFlyer]

lso present was Petrarch's Books from Lonnie.If you really like books it is the place to go in Lonnie.

But not necessarily if you are a small time author. If judged not to have 'northern appeal', they make you supply them 'on consignment' which means you give them stock, and they pay you as they are sold. That's the theory - in my case (one of my own books, not the good one you might be thinking of) I realised that I hadn't gotten any payment after about a year. I inquired - two sold - 'oh, sorry, looks like we overlooked paying you'.

It took me a further request to extract any money out of them. I then asked for the other copies back. First they were 'lost' (what? not even on the shelves?), then they found them but couldn't account for another one. They paid for that and eventually I got my books back.

Never shopped there again.

There is a fantastic book shop in Campbell Town - The Book Cellar - in the basement of the 'Fox and Hounds' building, by the bridge. One of those wonderful, book-crowded places with all sorts of nooks and crannies. And a coffee machine on the counter.

 

[drron]

Well thank goodness I'm not an aspiring author.
But back to the TR.My body was seeking a break so I sought out a flat rock and collapsed on to it.great views of Storm Bay

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Not expecting this in Green Tasmania.

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And now the walk back downhill.

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[drron]

I now drove a short distance down the same road to the Boronia Hill Reserve again meant to have orchids.However it is a thin strip of bushland between 2 rows of houses.Only walked a short distance and very degraded due to the dumping og garden waste so when a big dark cloud came over with a few drops of rain I decided to call it a day.
Before I set off I took a couple of pics at the entrance.These people have fantastic views.

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I then began the trip back through Hobart and up the east coast where I enjoyed the hospitality of Rooflyer.There was someone to check on the steaks.Not me I was too busy demolishing/tasting the reds.

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