All agog at Mount Roland

I was rather proud of this heading until I realised that Mt Roland isn't actually part of the Gog Range. That's a few kilometres to the south east of it.

Never mind, it's a meritorious and gog-inspiring mountain, and it's a prominent landmark from most parts of Tasmania's North West Coast.

Life under Mt Roland must be very scenic, but I wonder if it's really paradise?

The nearby town of Sheffield is the usual stopping off place for a Mt Roland visit. It's renowned for its public murals, many of which feature the rocky edifice. There's even a cut-out of it there.


I took the short, sharp route up the mountain, starting at Kings Rd, in the settlement known as Claude Rd. It's a good, well marked track, and takes you up from about 400m altitude to over 1230m. At first it's in forest, and then you're scaling boulders up a steep gully.










The last kilometre or so is on open plateau, and there are views across most of the northern half of the state.



The whole walk took about five hours.

Don River rattler

They run a fine little historic tourist railway line  at Don, near Devonport, in north west Tasmania.

It's all run by a crew of enthusiastic volunteers - I've known a few of them, and a fine bunch they are too.

They run backwards and forwards between Don and Coles Beach. They've got a museum, and a very impressive array of steam engines on show.

But it seems the steam engines only get an outing on special occasions. I was in the vicinity on a weekday, walking the very pleasant walking tracks nearby. And all they could put on for me was this little red-and-yellow rattler - a diesel electric railcar, with all the historical charisma of the No. 587 bus.

Deloraine

Scenic Deloraine and the Meander River.

Deloraine's long been a centre for arts and crafts, and indeed the Tasmanian Craft Fair was being held as I passed through. I studied all the posters around town, but none of them bothered to say where it was being held exactly! They assumed everyone knew these things.

Driving out of town, I saw the big paddock where the fair was, but by then I'd given up on it, so continued on.

Notley Gorge revisited

I had to think twice before revisiting Notley Gorge. It's a small and scenic nature reserve to the north of Launceston. The last time I called in there was in 1999, and I found a dead person there.

I'd turned up quite early in the day, fresh off the car ferry from Melbourne. Ignoring the other car parked there, I'd walked the bush circuit and re-emerged. Something looked rather odd about the other car, so I took a closer look. There was a strange arrangement of vacuum cleaner hose, and it was connecting the exhaust pipe to the window, which was otherwise taped up to stop any fresh air coming in. The doors were locked, the engine still running, and the chap inside was very pale, and very dead. Not a good start to that Tasmanian holiday.


So this was a chance to exorcise that experience, and maybe enjoy the place again. It's a patch of remnant rainforest, with tree ferns and other rainforest species, and a towering eucalypt canopy. One of the trees is a burnt-out one called 'Bradley's Tree', after a bushranger who used to hide there.

So a few dead trees, but most things around me were very much alive this time.

Launceston's new (to me) museum

Launceston's Inveresk museum complex was new to me. I'd had contradictory recommendations, but decided to go and check it out for myself.

There's the old tram sheds and railway workshops, a functioning tram, a college of the arts, a university campus, a cafe or two, and last but not least, there's the Queen Victoria Museum.




It's not a bad little museum at all. It's got a good sprinkling of the usual dinosaurs and wonders of science stuff. But I particularly liked the fine collection of Tasmanian animals.

There was a good display of old railway trains and other memorabilia too, with maps and a history of the Tasmanian railway system. Launceston had been the hub of said system, and in its heyday it had quite a respectable network.

Oldest bridge, newest tourists

Australia's oldest bridge is in Richmond, Tasmania. It opened in 1825. It's very scenic, and well worth a pilgrimage.

I enjoy watching the Chinese tourists at these places. These days they're by far the biggest group, and they all seem to have lots of fun!

My life as a Hobartian

I was a Hobartian from late 1986 to early 1998.

It was quite liberating to escape from the ultra-rural backwaters of north west Tasmania, where I'd been for the previous ten years. And I wasn't yet ready for a big city again, so Hobart fitted the bill perfectly. Just big enough to be interesting, but small enough that you can easily get around, easily get out of, and soon get to know and love. (Sort of - nowhere's perfect.)

The air's good. The scenery's good. The bushwalking's excellent. The water's good. There's art, culture, fine food.

Fine beer too.

More fine scenery.

Life as a Hobartian isn't bad.








As for Errol Flynn's life as a Hobartian? I'll have to defer to this article in The Australian: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/in-like-flynn/story-e6frg6n6-1225737141066