Travelling along the Tamar

Pictures:
Scottsdale tree sculpture honouring those involved in wars.
Our camp spot in Lilydale.
Lilydale falls -no leeches thank goodness!
Beaconsfield hat dress up and scarf display.



Over the last few weeks we have enjoyed being around the Launceston area. We spent time over Easter based in a van park in the city and enjoyed - visiting Legana Christian Fellowship for the Easter convention, they are a great church and have excellent teaching, probably the church we would feel most at home in since we have been here in Tasmania! We took a tram ride in the city, (recommended by a man at the church who Jerome greatly enjoying talking to!) We also visited the central Baptist church who stage a large drama performance over Easter to celebrate the awesome and wonderful Resurrection of our Saviour and Redeemer Jesus Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That was great!

we were blessed to spend some time with Martin and Louise Filluel, who are the state directors of GFA, they have a lovely spot overlooking the Tamar river and we enjoyed our time with them and their family of four young children. We headed north to Beaconsfield and visited the Heritage and Mining museum there which has alot of historical equipment and also a tribute to the miners of the 2006 mining rock fall. They had a glass case there that contained 956m of knitted scarves that people had made to represent the depth that the miners were trapped at. People all around Australia and the world knitted these as a community identification and support at the time of the disaster. There was also a small telephone section that had dial phones, you know, the ones we had when we were kids, and didn't we feel old when our kids said, "How do you work these!" But they did have fun calling each other!

We left Launceston and travelled up to Low Head, on the east side of the Tamar River and to the north. We visited the Bass and Flinders museum up here and they had a replica of the Norfolk, they boat that the men used to travel around Tasmania and also do some other trips. The boat was sailed in 1998 as a commemorative trip to celebrate the 200 year anniversary, it was sailed by the man who built it - all wood, without any nails or screws by the way!! - and it cerainly showed the endurance and persistance of those early settlers. We went over the boat - down stairs into the three cramped compartments that the 8 men lived in - and we were showed around by a very enthusiastic guide who really loved the boats, the men and this small slice of history and its importance in our nation. He was brilliant and made our time there very informed.

Jerome writes:
From Low Head, we travelled up to Lilydale, which was about 50km. It was a fairly hilly drive, but the farmland was very spectacular and green. The free campsite was at Lilydale Falls reserve, set on the edge of forrest. After we set up the caravan, we went for a walk to the waterfalls, being careful of the leeches, which we'd been warned about! The falls were, well, pretty, but not as pretty as some of the other waterfalls we've been to. Still, its God's creation and it was nice and it made a terrific noise as all waterfalls do!

The following day, we woke to find it drizzling. We went for a drive out to Scottsdale, which was about 40km from the campsite. The drive was very pretty, through the rich farmland and forest. When we got to Scottsdale we went to the info centre, then to a park for some morning tea. The park a wooden tree sculpture, like that of the ones in Campell Town. This one was to play tribute to the many wars Australia's been involved in. We drove home at lunch time and most of our afternoon was spent doing nothing much, until another family with five children pulled in oppisite us. The were from NSW, but originally from South Africa. They were very nice to talk to and their children were great to play with.

We had plans to push on back to Longford on Sunday, but Lilydale was so nice that we decided to stay an extra night, we went for a walk along the railway line that ran by the camp (it isn't used anymore) and we collected wood, chopped it and then we lit a fire in the evening and sat around it with the other family we had met.

On Monday, we left Lilydale and travelled back to Launceston, intending to find a service station with cheap fuel that had been recommended to us. But, finding the service station turned into a wild goose chase across the city. Our silly GPS dosen't know we have a caravan on, so we ended up on a steep back street that we had to back out. We did enventualy found a some cheap fuel. We filled up, then drove down to Longford and set up at the caravan park. We're all (execpt Dad) are looking forward to our plane ride to Melbourne today. Poor Dad has to battle to Bass Strait on his ferry ride back to Melbourne, but he has a cabin so hopefully will get a good nights sleep.

Thanks Jerome. We hope all is well with everyone back home, we miss you all and trust your holidays have been great. Enjoy the months ahead. It is 5 degrees here this morning so we figure we are leaving Tasmania at the right time!!