Day 3 - Beaches and Barn dances

Day 3 - Sunday 27th March

Ged had mapped out a lovely run around Swansea the night before and as promised, woke at first light to hit the gravel/rocks/road. For once Steve wasn't too far behind. Ged ran three laps and Steve walked two (OK - he took a teeny shortcut just before the hilly bit)

First Light

Swansea Sunrise

Swansea has had problems with rotting seagrass over the past few weeks and it was a problem again that morning. The pong could be overwhelming and wafted in or out of the first floor motel room with the breeze. There was a lot of opening and closing of doors.

http://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/big-stink-of-seaweed-swamps-tiny-coastal-town-of-swansea-in-tasmania/news-story/d75b44bdee9ce5130a7dd20fd86c6c42

The Motel didn't offer breakfast, so it was uncooked cheese and tomato on toast and a couple of cups of coffee. We checked out and headed south - minus one of Steve's favourite jumpers, but that's life. Once again, the drive was spectacular, but the fields got browner and browner the further south we went.

Trusty Google Maps had fared us pretty well for navigation, but Ged wanted something oversized and old fashioned, so after a quick stop for a map we headed to Orford. Steve had spent plenty of time there at the Neigbour's shack and was keen to find it again. We found the road OK, but not the shack. Orford had grown from a sleepy town in the 70's to a pretty flash resort town now. Think Torquay or the Peninsular. It was very pretty, quite busy and some of the houses were quite spekky.

After driving up and down the same road a few times to no avail, we visited Spring Beach - another white sanded, blue watered gorgeous Tassie beach. No pong here, so we had a walk around and headed off. We had planned to see Richmond a few days later, but had plenty of time, so dropped in.

Spring Beach

Road from Orford

Richmond is a real tourist hotspot, well preserved buildings, lots of history and lots or arty crafty type things to see. We popped in to the Catholic church, then the bridge and headed into town.

Unbelievably brown for southern Tassie

 We couldn't resist the gin and Wine tasting, so tried a few versions of the McHenry and bought a nice bottle of Riesling..

Time for lunch. We had a curried scallop pie in mind, but the only option was microwave, so we headed to the pub for a bar meal. It was very busy and a 45 minute wait, but the fried blue-eye and chips were superb and plentiful, washed down with a couple of light beers.Time to head to the big smoke.

We arrived in Hobart around 3 and took a quick detour to Steve's old place in Lenah Valley. Ged's good friends Nicci and Stu had offered us a couple of night's accomodation, so we made sure were at their house in Mt Stuart at 3:30.For those who have never been to Hobart, it's pretty hilly and Nic & Stu's place was no exception. A steep narrow street with no gutters got Ged's heart beating soundly, but we didn't slip over the edge. T'was a really cute place on the side of a hill and we were made most welcome.

We had tickets to a Barn dance at the Speigeltent at 5. The Bushwackers were playing. Steve and Stu sat of the sidelines watching and downing a Moo Brew or two, but Ged and Nic hit the dancefloor. It was a very confused dancefloor, but fun to watch.

Got home around 8.30, ordered in some pizza and called it a night - MONA tomorrow