Arrival in Strahan

We arrived in Strahan in time for a late lunch so joined everyone in town for a nibble at the local bakery cafe. After a very good toasted pita bread with chicken and salad washed down with banana flavoured milk (tasted exactly like banana lollies!) we headed off to walk around town exploring. We collected tickets for the boat cruise we had booked for the next day, then checked in to our accommodation. Everyone is very trusting here - we were directed to head on up the road to The Crays - Kelly and we would find the key in the door. We did, and it was! Neat and tidy, with a living area, kitchen and two bedrooms we had everything we could need for a couple of days stay with a glimpse of the water and walking distance down to the main part of town. Perfect. Being early summer it is easy to spot the tourists, but being early in the week was still quiet. We went to the local IGA and got supplies for self catered breakfasts, water, snacks then headed back into town for dinner at the local Hamers Hotel. All good and everyone happy. 16.12.13

Strahan, Tasmania

We decided to take the opportunity to head over to Strahan for a couple of days. I had not yet ventured to the West coast of Tasmania,while Frank knew something of what was on offer. Given Samson was with us for a few days and he too had not been to Strahan, we decide to go exploring. Leaving Tunnack on Monday morning we passed through a number of interesting towns. Tasmania is full of history and each little town or hamlet adds to the story. Bothwell had street signs of tartan with names harking back to what could only be a Scottish background. Even more intriguing was that each street sign seems to boast a different tartan pattern. I needed Mum or a book of Scottish tartans to translate. A cab driver might not like it trying to find a particular street, but for me they were a unique feature of this little town. Hamilton might be worth a stop over on another visit as it seemed to have a cluster of little shops, most of which seemed to be selling antiques and collectables. Just my thing. Then there was Ouse. Apparently this is pronounced "Ooze". Why, I can not say. Just seems to be the local vernacular, and with a servo and newsagent mixed with a supermarket of sorts it didn't seem likely that I would find out any time soon. These little places were on the Tunnack side of the drive. All up it was approximately a five hour trip to Strahan. At times the road was serpentine winding up and down mountains as we worked our way from the Southern Midlands across the range and down to the Central Coast and the township of Strahan. 16.12.13