I must apologize for not giving an update of my activities sooner; somehow while traveling time seems to just slip by. The Monday after my last post, March 19th, Viola and I both left Burnie on the bus. I got off in Launceston, about a two hour drive east of Burnie, and from there caught a bus out to the little community of Exeter. At Exeter I met my new host family, the Grosvenors. The family owns a small apple orchard where they grow and sell organic apples. While I was staying most of the apples were in fruit and I enjoyed eating as many apples as I wanted. The Grosvenor family consists of Peter, his wife, Gwen, and their two teenage daughters, Jodie and Amber. There was also two other helpers staying at the same time I was, a couple, Alex and Elisa. They are French and Italian respectively, although Elisa speaks fluent French.
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| Elisa and Alex at Cataract Gorge |
On my first day I washed and vacuumed out Peter’s car, and helped him adjust the seat coverings. In the afternoon Elisa helped me make peanut butter cookies. Peter was very nice, in the evening he played a game of Uno with us, and Alex won by a landslide.
Wednesday morning I worked with Alex and Elisa to cut back the old blackberry canes that surround the vegetable garden. Once we had finished, Peter drove us into Launceston and we helped him mow the lawn at a property the family rents out. Since Peter had some errands to do in town, he dropped us off near the trail that leads around Cataract Gorge.
We walked all the way to the end of the gorge and across the river on the suspension bridge at the other side. Even though it was a cloudy and rainy day, the view was still beautiful. On the drive back to Exeter, Peter acted as a tour guide. We stopped at Brady’s Lookout, which has a gorgeous view of the Tamar valley and Tamar River.
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| Cataract Gorge |
We walked all the way to the end of the gorge and across the river on the suspension bridge at the other side. Even though it was a cloudy and rainy day, the view was still beautiful. On the drive back to Exeter, Peter acted as a tour guide. We stopped at Brady’s Lookout, which has a gorgeous view of the Tamar valley and Tamar River.
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| The Tamar Valley from Brady's Lookout |
Thursday morning I baked some cookies and helped with some of the house work. In the afternoon, Elisa and Alex took me with them to go see some of the local sights.
We saw the Batman Bridge which crosses the Tamar River, and we also stopped to see a local lavender farm. The lavender farm has its own distillery and sells lavender products made on sight from the lavender grown out in the fields.
The scenery in the Tamar valley is very beautiful. There are many farms, vineyards, and orchards. So the valley looks green and prosperous. In the evening I made a pumpkin pie for my host family from fresh pumpkin.
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| Batman Bridge |
We saw the Batman Bridge which crosses the Tamar River, and we also stopped to see a local lavender farm. The lavender farm has its own distillery and sells lavender products made on sight from the lavender grown out in the fields.
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| Lavender Farm |
The scenery in the Tamar valley is very beautiful. There are many farms, vineyards, and orchards. So the valley looks green and prosperous. In the evening I made a pumpkin pie for my host family from fresh pumpkin.
Friday morning Elisa and Alex spent part of the morning making a homemade Italian dish for dinner called Gnocchi. It consists of a tomato sauce base with handmade meat balls and pasta. The pasta is made of flour and potato and each piece of pasta must be rolled into little individual balls.
While they were cooking I did a bit a floor scrubbing. Then all three of us spent the rest of the morning outside cutting up the large branches Elisa and Alex had pruned from some of the trees the day before. We cut the branches into little pieces that would fit into a branch mulching machine. In the afternoon, I also made two apple pies for my host family. I must thank my mother and grandmother for teaching me how to bake. Those skills have served me very well while traveling and sharing American culture with others.
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| Elisa making Gnocchi pasta |
While they were cooking I did a bit a floor scrubbing. Then all three of us spent the rest of the morning outside cutting up the large branches Elisa and Alex had pruned from some of the trees the day before. We cut the branches into little pieces that would fit into a branch mulching machine. In the afternoon, I also made two apple pies for my host family. I must thank my mother and grandmother for teaching me how to bake. Those skills have served me very well while traveling and sharing American culture with others.
Peter and Gwen would like to set up a wooden frame around their vegetable garden on which to hang a roof of hail netting in order to keep out the birds. Saturday morning Alex helped Peter to mark out, dig and set the first two posts for the wooden frame. Meanwhile Elisa and I mulched up the branches we had cut the day before. In the evening, Peter drove Elisa, Alex, and me all the way up to the coast at Greens Bay. We were just in time to watch the sun set over the water.
In the distance we could see the light of the lighthouse rotating and acting as a warning beacon from the shore of the opposite head land. On the drive back, we kept stopping the car to try and catch pictures of the nocturnal creatures that would scamper across our path in the dark. We saw wallabies, wombats, and possums. But it was very hard to take pictures in the dark.
We also stopped at the Beaconsfield gold mine on our drive back. It was difficult to see anything in the dark, but we could watch the shaft elevator running up and down. And in one of the main buildings, a wooden structure that has been there about as long as the mine, there were holes drilled into the large wooden door, through which we could see the inside. But I don’t know enough out mining equipment to be able to describe or explain what was inside.
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| Greens Bay |
In the distance we could see the light of the lighthouse rotating and acting as a warning beacon from the shore of the opposite head land. On the drive back, we kept stopping the car to try and catch pictures of the nocturnal creatures that would scamper across our path in the dark. We saw wallabies, wombats, and possums. But it was very hard to take pictures in the dark.
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| Possum up a tree watching us drive by |
We also stopped at the Beaconsfield gold mine on our drive back. It was difficult to see anything in the dark, but we could watch the shaft elevator running up and down. And in one of the main buildings, a wooden structure that has been there about as long as the mine, there were holes drilled into the large wooden door, through which we could see the inside. But I don’t know enough out mining equipment to be able to describe or explain what was inside.
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| Looking through the eye hole in the wooden door of the mine |
When we returned to the house, Jodie had made pancakes for us for dessert. The Australian version of pancakes reminds me of what we would call crepes. On top of our pancakes we put sugar with either lemon or freshly squeezed apple juice. It was delicious.
Sunday morning Elisa, Alex, and I continued to help Peter put in the posts for the garden roof. We finished setting all four corner posts and one of the side posts. And we also were able to help stake out where the remaining posts should go. The holes we had to dig were deeper than the length of my arm.
And in one hole, halfway down, we found a little frog, still alive, buried in the dirt. He seemed rather sleepy, so we gave him a new home in the strawberry patch.
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| Amber and Elisa showing how deep the holes were |
And in one hole, halfway down, we found a little frog, still alive, buried in the dirt. He seemed rather sleepy, so we gave him a new home in the strawberry patch.
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| The sleepy little frog |
On Monday, Alex and Elisa said good-bye to the Grosvenors.
Alex and Elisa continued on their trip around Tasmania, and I took the local bus into Launceston where I met Charmaine, my first hostess, and went back with her to Burnie.
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| Peter, Gwen, Amber, Jodie, Alex, Elisa, and myself |
Alex and Elisa continued on their trip around Tasmania, and I took the local bus into Launceston where I met Charmaine, my first hostess, and went back with her to Burnie.
On the drive back from Launceston, we stopped to visit a friend of Charmaine’s in the historic town of Evansdale. As drivers enter the little tow, they are greeted by the old water tower that looks like a small castle turret. The water tower was build of bricks in the early 1900’s. Evansdale is also known for its Penny Farthing races. Each year the main street of the town is closed and racers perched precariously on tall bicycles sprint as fast as they can down the avenue. A statue in the main park is a year round testament to the city’s famous event.
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| Statue of Penny Farthing Racer |
We also made a stop along the way to tour a local cheese factory. I learned that the type of cheese depends on the kind of bacteria that is first added to the curds and whey at the beginning of the cheese making process. We could watch cheese being made in one room and also see the racks and racks of cheeses in the storage room.
And around the outside of the visitor’s building where several painted cows. So were even hiding in the bushes.
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| Cheese storage room |
And around the outside of the visitor’s building where several painted cows. So were even hiding in the bushes.
The drive back to Burnie was also filled with beautiful scenery. The wonderful thing about Tasmania is that you are never too far from the sea.
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| Scenery on the drive back to Burnie |
Hana
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