A summer in Tasmania

[drron]

Around the corner on the hill overlokking DPO a place that was significant in Australia's political history.
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Christine Milne: her journey from Tasmanian 'farm girl' to Greens leader

Three days in jail during the Franklin Dam blockade in the 1980s sparked a passion for activism that would take Milne from state to federal politics

www.theguardian.com

And DPO.
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Then back on B74 to Shearwater.
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[drron]

And typical Tasmanian rocks by the sea.looking over Port Sorell to Narawntapu National Park.
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[drron]

Moving along to the beach at Port Sorell.Things have changed and their is a wide path/cycleway along the beach side from Port sorell to Hawley and beyond.The area has grown a lot since my last visit.Lots of people out walking their dogs but not much for the lifesavers to do.
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Many nice flowers.
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[OZDUCK]

Sunday and the forecast was for rain all day.Although it was overcast in the morning there was no rain so off we set on a short drive to Port sorell and Shearwater.I mapped out a mainly circular route going first via Wesley Vale and DPO.
Just out of Wesley Vale a huge raspberry farm.
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Looks like these have been harvested.
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Across the road trees under cover.
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A 100 metres up the road the Biomar fish pellet factory.
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I had to google the "fish pellet" factory. I thought it was turning fish into pellets instead it is basically doing the reverse.

 

[drron]

Yes to feed all those hungry salmon.

 

[drron]

Monday and off to Wynyard.Decided to swing by East Devonport to see if any stragglers in the Melbourne Devonport Yacht race were still to come in.On the TV news on Sunday night it was suggested the race record would be broken and the leaders would arrive before sunrise.Apparently a storm sprang up and arriving just before 11am we were in time to see the first 2 yachts finish.An outsider won and according to a couple of old salts they won in a tacking duel.They tacked towards Ulverstone,the favourite tacked towards Launceston.Unfortunately for them the wind swung around and they were comprehensibly beaten.
First the winner.
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[drron]

The favourite came in second.it had led for most of the race.They were to compete in the Sydney to Hobart but scooted south when it was called off.The race is for the Rudder cup.The first race was in 1905 but the finish then was at Beauty point in the Tamar.It is Australia's oldest open water yacht race and the 5th oldest in the world.For the last few years the race has ended in Devonport.
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There is an interesting side story to the actual cup.In the 1905 race there were only 5 yachts.There was a gale.The smallest yacht turned back to Melbourne.The other 4 finished safely.But the owner of the winning yacht had taken his wife and daughter along for the ride.The wife took the cup and hid it so as not to risk the lives of future competitors.In 1960 the son found the cup and handed it back.It cost 60 guineas in 1905.It is pure silver and today worth $180,000.

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

That's first and second in the Mersey River.

 

[drron]

Next stop Burnie Park where there is a good rose garden.A few other flowers as well.
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For the gardeners at the end of each row they have the names of the roses.
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[drron]

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[mrs.dr.ron]

 

[drron]

It was then on to the Wharf hotel at Wynyard for lunch.The restaurant has changed hands but the seafood is still cooked perfectly.moist and tasty.A pinot gris this time.Mrsdrron had the garlic prawns and I the seafood platter.
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[drron]

Then on to Table Cape.The tulip farm had another flower as a cash crop.
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[RooFlyer]

Then on to Table Cape.The tulip farm had another flower as a cash crop.

Tulips, or opium poppies?

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

Tulips, or opium poppies?

Opium poppies ! They are growing everywhere this summer. Definitely more than previous seasons.

 

[RooFlyer]

Opium poppies ! They are growing everywhere this summer. Definitely more than previous seasons.

That's good to hear. It was reported last year that the Tas opium poppy market had declined, due to the bloody Vic*****ns getting into the act.

Fortunately we don't hear so much these days about the young 'uns stopping and helping themselves to a few capsules for a cuppa.

 

[drron]

Around the North West the poppy crops are nearly back to the level of the pre Victorian days.It might be because the majority of the Victorian crop is planted in the second half of June when the second wave was taking off.June 16 had 73 cases and by June 19 daily cases over 100.Restrictions started to be tightened on June 20th.

Now Glaxo takes a large proportion of the crop in southern Victoria but also supplies many of the growers in the North West.As the Tasmanian crop is usually planted later and go into August and even september they would have had time to switch growing to Tasmania.

Of course it wasn't all interstate competition that caused the downturn in Tasmania.Tasmanian Alkaloids was a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson who were the largest legal maker of narcotics i the USA.The crackdown on opiate use there hurt J&J big time and they sold off Tasmanian Alkaloids.

But back to the TR.Great views from Table Cape over to the east and Wynyard.
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Wynyard and BWT.
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Even though lousy weather still colourful looking down on the water.
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[drron]

From Table Cape we went along C234 beside the coast back to the Bass highway.Some good views.If you are an ABC tragic Quentin dempster has an AirBNB along this road-the Winged House.You can just see it as you drive past but can't stop along most of the road.
Very mixed farming including deer.
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And some of the views.
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[drron]

We then drove down to Boat Harbour.A beautiful spot but the weather wasn't co operating.
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10 lifesavers on duty though they didn't have much to do.
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A great place for young families.Quite a few places to rent and a cafe on the beach.
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[Cossie]

From Table Cape we went along C234 beside the coast back to the Bass highway.Some good views.If you are an ABC tragic Quentin dempster has an AirBNB along this road-the Winged House.You can just see it as you drive past but can't stop along most of the road.
Very mixed farming including deer.
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And some of the views.
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Ahhh, it's his, didn't know that, wouldn't mind a week or two there.

We also stayed at Wynyard over the road from the Wharf Hotel, the motel with the container pods, anyway, neither of us can remember what we had for dinner at the Wharf, although I remember it being very busy.

Cafe at Boat Harbour is good, excellent fish and chips. Have to get back to that part of the world.