Tasmania Trip (Tassie Trip)!

I didn't actually want to blog another travel post so soon after the last few posts about traveling, but we had such a fantastic trip that I don't want the feeling to fade before I write about it.  Tasmania or Tassie as we call it here in Australia is a small island south of Victoria and only an hour by air away from Melbourne. You can get there by car ferry too and that is what we did. The ferry takes 8.5 hours for either the day or night crossing. We did one of each. We left on Easter Friday and took the day crossing so we could enjoy the sea. The crossing was a bit rough that day, but it didn't stop me starting my Tassie Trip journal.

Keeping a journal on the trip was a lot of fun. Now I know why people do it. I would collected brochures, flyers, dried leaves and postcards. Apart from keeping a journal I took some stitching and I also did some jar dyeing.

 

The title page of the Tassie Trip Journal. I found a postcard of the Spirit of Tasmania ferry at the souvenir shop on the ferry. A perfect front page.

After staying overnight at Launceston we were headed to Hobart on the Heritage Highway. The first village we stopped at was the Historic village Evandale where Penny-farthing enthusiasts from around the world come to race around the streets of the village each year.

We stopped at Richmond where we found Australia's oldest bridge built in 1825. We arrived in Hobart by nightfall. We spent three days in Hobart and did side-trips to surrounding areas each day.   

The next day was Easter Sunday and we visited the MONA, Museum of Old and New Art. We were told about MONA and we weren't disappointed. My entry for the journal for that day was something to do with Easter eggs and MONA.

That afternoon we went to the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Garden and Japanese Garden. It was nice to be in the Japanese garden again right here in Tasmania. I collected some autumn leaves from the garden for dyeing.

It rained that afternoon. It was nice and cosy in our temporary apartment. I decided to bundle up for jar dyeing with all the leaves I had collected since I arrived in Tasmania.

I had been collecting leaves and twigs at every stop we made since we arrived. There was no room for dyeing in the apartment except in the bathroom, but I managed to fill all the jars I took with me. 

Here are the results of the dyeing. I opened them when I came back. I steamed the jars for an hour when I got home  and left the jars standing for two weeks.

One of the side-trips we made from Hobart was Tahune Airwalk. It was a 90 minute drive south of Hobart. The walks were high up among Huon pines. The view was breathtaking and some parts were very thrilling. The Huon River below was full of tannin. I wished I could bring some water back! 

 

We stopped at The Wooden Boat Centre in Franklin. We had a guided tour of the boatyard. It was most interesting. Mr Notjustat would like to take a boat building course with this outfit one day! We left Hobart the next day, but not before I made a stop at Wafu Works, traditional textiles, craft supplies and antiques from Japan. It was lovely to meet Jan in person. I got some Japanese fabric and other bits and pieces from there, naturally!

Next stop after Hobart was Tarreleah. A hidden place of nothing excepted a field full of Amanita Muscaria magic mushrooms. We did enjoy a Japanese style bath with the view in Tarreleah!

After an overnight stop at Strahan on the West Coast, we headed inland to Cradle Mountain. Cradle Mountain is a picturesque part of Tasmania. It has many walking tracks from 15 mins to 3-4 hours in duration. It snowed that afternoon, we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Next and last stop was Sheffield. I was feeling tired after over a week on the road and didn't have high expectations for Sheffield. To my surprise, Sheffield had so much on that we couldn't fit it all in. First was Hurlfield Farm Cottage we stayed at. The friendly Sharon and Chris made us so welcome we felt like we were in our own home. Chris's interest was Horse Drawn Carriages. He collects the carriages and runs services to weddings and special occasions.

In Sheffield that weekend was Murals Fest 2014. The artist came from all over Australia and overseas. We were lucky to see all the entries and artists busy finishing the murals for judging the next day. So Sheffield wasn't a sleepy little town as I thought before we got there. We had the best Fudge in Sheffield at Fudge Parlour!

Here is the mess I made each evening journaling. Thanks to keeping a journal I can now refer back to it when I'm wring this post. Also I didn't have to bring back so many flyers, brochures etc.

Needless to say, my stitching had to take a back-seat from journal keeping. I tend to keep stitching for road trips. I pieced this blanket over a year ago. I basted all the pieces over a woollen fabric. This was the first time I put some stitching on it. I had fun and wished I had more time to work on it.

It has been very busy since my return. Last Monday I started a new job. Still in the library, but doing different and more duties than in my previous role. Also last Monday I started an online workshop 'Alchemy2014' with Karen Ruane. I must say I'm enjoying both my new job and online workshop. The workshop includes keeping a designer's ledger. I will share something with you once I get into the stitching phase of the course.

Until next time
Nat