Pearls On Wheels

Morning has broken...  Last night when we rode (slowly) up the drive in the dark we spied opposums, rabbits and a wallaby.  Kirk said that the opposums get to the walnuts on the tree a week before they are ready to harvest. Only one half-eaten walnut remains. The mist has begun to lift as we set off.    JW - a man who made me laugh today. He took us in the shuttle up to Dove Lake. and   Cradle mountain . Today we discovered that there is an annual pass to the Tasmanian parks. The Tasmanian National Parks service need to know that Hayley in their Cradle Mountain headquarters is the one of the best national parks employee we have encountered on this trip.  A wallaby looking for a cuddle. He spent quite a while cleaning up in preparation. A video will follow soon. We had lunch at Wilmot at the original Coles grocery store. We rode 341km today. The temperature ranged from 11.5degC to 18degC. The roads were wonderfully ...

Mining history, natural history, rural scenes on the agenda today as we ride from Launceston along the Tamar Valley to Beaconsfield, Beauty Point, La Trobe, Sheffield to Mole Creek. First stop is at the   Mine and Heritage museum  in Beaconsfield. The most poignant and heart-grabbing exhibit is the  mine rescue  of Brant Webb and Todd Russell in 2006. The exhibit conveys the hope, the  ingenuity and the courage of their rescue. The men were trapped 925m (3034feet) deep in the mine. As an symbol of the close knit community a group decided to knit a scarf 925m long after the rescue. Knitters from around the world contributed. The scarf is over 2km long. Next stop a chance to see platypus at Beauty Point. Platypuses A poem from my childhood. Banjo Patterson  Far from the trouble and toil of town, Where the reed beds sweep and shiver, Look at a fragment of velvet brown - Old Man Platypus drifting down, Drifting along the...