On to Yackandandah

 Leaving Bendigo I headed towards Rochester for breakfast and a wander around the sights of another silo and street art.

This is also the place where Ron Iddles, a detective, known as a really good cop (has been on TV talking about the cases he solved) came from. His brother is also a well known (?) chef. The people of Rochester decided to have a lane dedicated to the family.

I then headed towards Shepparton and came across ' Mooving Art' which depicts the strength of Shepparton's dairy industry.

It appears that there are 90 cows spread around the area and are painted by established and emerging artists - I didn't see them all!

I then headed on to Yackandandah - a lovely little village. Autumn was really displaying it's colours and the main street was a riot of yellows, golds and reds. It is a very small village, with 2 pubs, Thai restaurant, supermarket, bakery, fancy tea shop (you can book for high tea) and a few little boutiques. 

Dinner at the Thai restaurant was an interesting experience where I was invited by a local to join their table of ten rather than sit by myself. I declined the kind offer and actually got my meal before them!

Friday saw me heading to Beechworth, another gold rush town. I had originally planned to stay here but saw an article stating that Yack was a much nicer place and I can now say I totally agree. There were numerous shops but the main one was the Honey shop where 40 different honey's were being sold - who knew there were so many varieties! 

Saturday was a bright but cool day so it was time to go exploring locally. I took the Gorge scenic walk which was built to sluice sand and gravel in the hope of finding gold. It was lovely walking through the falling leaves beside the river.

Later in the day I took a forest drive and encountered numerous mountain bikers - there was some sort of competition happening. 

A slightly longer drive took me to Mount Beauty, alpine country.

Back to Victoria

 An early, cold start had me on a long drive to Bendigo.  Bright blue sky and sunshine started me off but that slowly saw the temperature drop to 0C with frosty fields, misty valleys and finally fog as I travelled further south. 

A few stops and 800 kms later I arrived in Bendigo. My hotel is an art themed place 

 and is about a 20 minute walk to the centre of the city.

My reason for visiting  bendigo was to see the Mary Quant exhibition being held there. It also gave me the chance to catch up with Valda (haven't seen each other, apart from Zoom for 2 years!) and a couple of other friends.  

Arriving at the Art gallery early I took a walk through Rosalind Park to the Information Centre. It was a true autumn day, bright and cool with leaves crackling under foot.

I found the information I wanted  and then met up with my friends for a coffee before entering the exhibition. I really enjoyed reading about and seeing all the Mary Quant fashions which had been put together. It was a true 'blast from the past' and it was funny listening to people telling each other about what they had worn in the 60's. 

After the exhibiton we crossed the road and had lunch at a fabulous italian restaurant - truly one of the best meals I've had - perhaps it was the garlic, anchovies, al dente spaghetti or the olive oil!

It was soon time to say goodbye to friends as they headed home - perhaps it will be a case of same time next year for another exhibition!

I walked back through the park and visited the Golden Dragon Museum which told the story of how the Chinese community was built from the gold rush days and how they influenced the history of Bendigo. There was a display of the different 'dragon heads'  and the 'dragon' - which usually parades on Easter Sunday and takes 60 people to lift and work it. Anyone who wishes to be part of the 'dragon' has to show that they are able to lift it go through a weight-lifting test!!

Launceston and home.

 Arriving in Launceston I walked to the City Park, which was just down from my hotel and was intrigued to find a Macaque monkey enclosure there.  I headed towards the Boags brewery hoping for a tour. Unfortunately they were closed so I continued to head to the river. It was a pleasant stroll although it was a very muddy river - I did see a lonesome dolphin. There is obviously a tidal problem here as there were many signs about the mud. When the tide is out most boats are stranded and high tide is 3m higher so you have to pick your time to move. I went on a short boat excursion into the Cataract Gorge.

In the afternoon I had a walk around the Cataract Gorge reserve.

I had to head back to Davenport for my evening ferry and headed to Deloraine and wandered around looking at some of their sculpture trail.

I then went for a very nice lunch at Christmas Hills Raspberry farm - delicious food and lots of raspberry products.

It was then on to Devonport.

I erred on the side of caution, after chatting to a chemist, and took a seasick tablet! I was in a recliner chair and actually slept a lot better.

The trip home was long! Left Melbourne just after 6am and arrived home around 4:30 pm - with stops for nanny naps, food and petrol!

Had a wonderful time in Tassie and will return.

On to Launceston

 A half hour drive took me to the Bruny Island ferry. It was easy boarding and 20 mins later arrived.

Had a good going from one end of island to the other. I must admit that, although it was  beautiful, I did get sick of driving down dirt roads!!

The next day saw me heading to a different ferry - this one was to take me to Marìa Island. It was a 30 min ferry ride, accompanied by dolphins for a while. Stepping off the ferry was like being in another world - the water was so clear and the sand so white. There were a number of walks on the island and although the day started bright sunny and warm within a few hours that all changed! The rain was torrential and there was nowhere to shelter under cover! The best thing about the rain was that the wombats came out to feed. There were lots of the and the cutest was a mother and baby. The pademelons  were also out and about.  There were three major downpours and unfortunately the temperature dropped, the thunder rolled and everyone was soaked! There were no shops, cafes etc on the island so you had to carry everything you needed. The rain continued to come down and the ferry ride back was interesting!!

Tuesday was a drive through, almost different countries first place was Richmond     (England?), then to Oatlands ( Netherlands?) finally I reached Launceston. Plenty of hills to walk here.