Our time in Tassie 2024
Monday 8 April – Wednesday 22 April 2024
North-West Coast
Jeremy and Jenna's Farms
After getting off the boat, we called in to see Jeremy and Jenna.
Jeremy rang his local tyre shop and sorted some tyres for my ute and I went to get them fitted while Angela went with Jeremy and Jenna to do some farm chores.
New Tyres
A big shout out to Locket Tyres at Spreyton for squeezing me in first thing on a Monday morning and sorting me out with some new treads at a brilliant price.
Random shots
Some of the fabulous scenery driving to Devonport…
Some of the fabulous meals we had…
Launceston
The Basin/Gorge
We visited the Basin again to marvel at how unbelievable it was that this natural attraction could be so close to a major city…
Dinner with friends
We caught up with Kirsty and Chris for dinner. Angela and Kirsty were roomies in Longreach back in the olden days of the early ’90s…
Park Runs
While we were in Tassie, Angela did two Park Runs.
The first one was at Kate Reed Reserve at Prospect and was a fair dinkum trail run.
The second one was at Windsor Precinct in Riverside and was fast/flat like her home course at Kirra.
Multiple Birthdays
While we were in town we celebrated my nieces birthday with afternoon tea at my sisters…
We also celebrated Dad’s 80th with afternoon tea at my sisters…
…and then dinner with family and friends at Bluestone Restaurant.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
If I could have your attention, please.
I’m delighted we could gather here tonight to celebrate a remarkable milestone – the 80th birthday of my old man, Bob.
We are here not only to celebrate eight decades rich with life but also to relish the wisdom that each of those years have brought to us, courtesy of Bob.
He’s always been a bit of a trailblazer in many ways:
- from building and racing his own sports car in the 70’s and giving me a memory I’ll never forget as an 7-8 year old – what seemed like to me as full noise down the back straight of Symmons Plains
- to running his own business, for as long as I can remember
- to helping build and finish his and mums house in Swansea
- to raising two wonderful children in Hayley and myself.
He has shown us the value of being a leader and demonstrated a resilience that inspires us all, especially when overcoming his near life-ending illness a few years ago. There were a couple of times there where we never thought you’d make it… but we are so glad you did.
To everyone who has attended tonight, thankyou for coming – your presence here solidifies some of the impact Dad has made on all our lives.
It’s nice to reflect on the experiences we’ve shared with him, the lessons he has taught us, and the stories that we’ll continue to tell.
We can look around and see the evidence of his influence in the smiles, laughter, and nods of agreement here today.
Now, please join me in a toast to Bob and to the bright future we all hope to share with him.
Happy 80th Birthday Dad!
I was also lucky enough to celebrate my Birthday with family for the first time in over 25 years…
North East Coast
Day trip to Bridport
Mum and Dad drove us to Barnbougle, just outside of Bridport, on one of the days for lunch.
It was a beautiful drive over the sidling into Scottsdale on the way down and we came back via Karoola, on one of my favourite roads ever.
Barnbougle
We visited Barnbougle for lunch.
Back in the day all the land, which is now a world-class Golf Course, was just beach dunes and rolling hills of tussock grass.
“Meandering through rolling coastal dunes the 18 hole golf course was developed to compliment the natural layout of the coastal dunes and enhance the beautiful surrounding landscape rather than detract from it.”
Bridport
We called into Bridport after lunch and I was amazed at how big it had become. I hadn’t been to Bridport since circa 1998 and I reckon it had quadrupled in size, or maybe more, since that time. There were lots of $M houses with spectacular views of the bay.
We drove to the burnt-down jetty, near where we used to spend summer in the caravan, and checked out our old site.
I have awesome memories of summers at Bridport and still remember the first time hearing ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’ from AC/DCs NEW album, Back In Black, as an 11 year old on New Years Eve in 1980…
Great Lake
We got up early and headed for Angela’s brother’s shack (aka new house) at Miena at the Great Lakes.
It was a lovely drive up on a cool but sunny day…
The new shack is amazing with an incredible view of the lake…
We decided to go to the pub for lunch and a drink – Angela had wallaby patties and I had a schnitty as it had been a while…
When we got there, we saw three Lambos in the car park and when we left, this had grown to five.
We went through to Devonport upon leaving as we had a couple more houses to look at.
In the end we looked at around 15 houses and finally put an offer on, and purchased, this one…
The start of our journey home
We embarked the Spirit of Tasmania 2 (it was a different boat for the return journey) at around 1745 on the Monday night for our 1845 sailing.
We’ll disembark in Geelong tomorrow to start our drive home…