The time has come,' the Walrus said, 'To talk of many things'

Cold, Filthy & Dirty… this is a reasonably accurate description of my reason jaunt south to Tassie.

It was my birthday and I share this Kristy, one of my new friends in Tassie. David’s girlfriend Emmas’ birthday is just 4 days after, so what better excuse is there to head to Tassie for 4 days and paartaay!!

I figured it was time to catch up with best mate Shaun who has been in Adelaide for a few years, so the invite went out for him to join me in Tassie and assist with the celebrations. Thankfully he was more than happy to fly in from Adelaide and join in.

I decided to spend as much time in Tassie as possible, so I took two days off work and made it a Fri-Mon long weekend.

I booked myself on the 6.25 am flight out of Sydney that arrived in Hobart about 8.10am. My friend Steve (aka Smack) picked me up from the airport (thanx Smack!!) and dropped me at Davids place so I could pick up the Zook!!

I then proceed to find myself some breaky at Hungary Jacks and sourced some supplies for the weekend at Eastlands shopping centre. It was then time to head back to the airport to pick up Shaun. His flight arrived at 12.15pm.

We both then headed directly to Mt Wellington. I knew it was going to be cold and windy…. but I was not expecting snow!!! It had snowed earlier in the week, but it did not stay around long… so to witness it snowing on Mt Wellington was an unexpected bonus.

After enduring the cold of Mt Wellington we headed to the Cascade Brewery at the base of Mt Wellington for a tour of the factory. I had been wanting to do this tour for may years. It was fascinating, however it was a bit disappointing that it was the monthly Rosterd Day Off for the factory, so not a lot was going on, it fact the place was very quite. I would like to go back and do the tour on a working day to see everything in action. After the tour we are given three tokens each so that we can sample three beers. The area where you meet for the tours is very nice, set in beautiful gardens. The gift shop has lots of very cool Cascade stuff. Shaun & I settled for a stubby holder each.

It was then time to head to town, find a park near the Ocean Child, where we are meeting the others for dinner. I wanted to show Shaun ‘Joe’s Garage’, which rightly calls itself the most unique bar in Australia. It’s on old car mechanics workshop, transformed into a very cool drinking facility. There are all kinds of motoring related paraphernalia attached to the walls, ceiling and floor. A very cool place to visit and have a beer.

 We then walked back to the Oceans Child were we found a good portion of the gang had already arrived. Time for introductions and another beer. A good time was had, and of course the food was out standing… I had prawns, wrapped in chicken, wrapped in bacon covered in a wonderfully creamy light mustard sauce. Pure heaven!!!!

After dinner Shaun & I made our way to Eaglehawk Neck for a much deserved good nights sleep.

On the Saturday I took Shaun on a tour of the Tasman Peninsular, having lunch at Nubeena. I wont go into too much detail, but he got to see a few of the sites, and Shaun now has a taste for the area. I’m sure he’ll be bringing his family back for a holiday.

We arrived back at Dads place in time for festivities to begin for the impending night of drinking & fun. It truly was a top night… I’ll let a few pictures tell the story.

On the Sunday we started with bacon & egg rolls , and then a few hours of 4WD’ing was planned. Cousin Leigh arrived in his Landcrusier, and Shaun & I followed in the Zook, just 10 mins up the road to Murdunna. As Leigh had other commitments that afternoon, we could not play for long. But we had a few hours to get the Zook very bogged and very dirty!!! It was alot of fun.

That afternoon we just chilled for a few hours, and then had dinner with Dad & Maz. After dinner Shaun & I chatted for hours before hitting the sack.

The following day was home time for Shaun & I. Shaun’s flight left at 1230 so we left kind of early so we could take the scenic route thru Primrose Sands, Carlton & Dodges Ferry. I dropped Shaun of at the airport and then had to occupy myself for the afternoon. First stop was a car wash to give the Zook a hose down…. she looked so good with all the mud… but it had to come off. Then I headed to Sorell where I picked up a Chips & Gravy from ‘Legs n Breasts’, which I shared with some friendly ducks at a park in Sorell.

I then had a drive around Midway Point, and a beer at the local Tavern and headed out to Richmond where I put the new camera to good use, taking some pics of the Richmond Bridge…and more ducks!!I had a snooze in the Zook… and soon enough it was time to meet up with David and head off to dinner at the China Diner before he dropped me off at the airport for an 8.30pm flight back to Sydney.

It was certainly a top weekend, made even better by catching up with Shaun.

I am now much more certain that my impending move to Tassie is the right thing to do…. bring it on!!