Hobart to Orford

Today we left at a reasonable hour with Bitching Betty leading us down the garden path. We were to meet a couple of friends at a shopping centre and we used info stored in the GPS memory to find the “Glenorchy Centro”. Luckily we realised early and reset the destination to the Post Office. We eventually got there and saw some new scenery along the way. We met jack and Joan and had a nice cup of coffee and a chat.

We left Glenorchy and headed for the Cadbury factory at Claremont. After paying the $7.50 each to get in we were presented with a large block of milk chocolate each and taken into a small area where the the production process was explained and we were given a couple of little chocolates, milk chocolate and a cherry ripe. We then were taken to a little theatre and on the way we were given another couple of small chocolates.

After we finished the formal part (including tastings) we were shown where all the chocolates were for sale. There were quite a lot of seconds on sale as well. You can get three 250g blocks of chocolate for $6, a normal block there is $2.80. We walked out with a bag that weighed about 25 kg or at least that's what it felt like to me.

Our destination after Cadburys was Oatlands, that is about 1 hour away from Hobart. On the way we passed through a small village called Kempton. There were some interesting silhouettes along the main street. As we went along the highway towards Oatlands there were more. There were things like a coach and horses, sheep and a shepherd and the one I took a photo of which was a bushranger holding up a person on a horse.

Oatlands has a windmill that has been restored and according to the tourist information it was open for visitors. Unfortunately it wasn't. Oatlands has a fantastic collection of old buildings most of them going back to the 1830's and 1840's. Tasmania is very laid back. There is not much traffic on the roads. I have taken a photograph of the main street of Oatlands which is also the Midland Highway and there is only one car moving. It was taken at 1230.

We headed from Oatlands to a town called Orford which is on the East Coast. We went through the mountains over some interesting roads some of which were dirt. Everywhere in Tasmania doesn't see far away. Orford is only an hour away from Hobart and is in the middle of the bush. It would be a really nice place to live.

We are staying at a motel in the town which is one of the few places to stay. It is called the Island View Motel which overlooks Maria Island which was one of the first penal colonies in Tasmania before Port Arthur. It is now a national park. I have put in a picture of the view from our window.

Tomorrow we head north along the coast.

Den