06 Jun Travels in Tasmania- Weeks 3 & 4
Monday 18th May
In the morning I packed everything up ready for my next adventure with my next hosts which was Sarah and Alex, which were based in Ulverstone. They are both part of Devonport Rural Youth.ย We then headed to a crop research farm for a tour. Sarah used to work for this company so was good to get some insight information. Two colleagues showed us the farm and the experimentational methods throughout the different vegetables grown.
There was explanation surrounding the splitting of the paddocks and how on each paddock is different crops and fertilisers to see what caused the best outcome and therefore could be sold onto the farmers for commercial usage.
After the tour we went to a local bakery for something to eat. In the evening we then went for a walk on the beach near their house. We then made dinner and had a relaxed evening with her and her partner Alex.
Sarah and I went to Leven canyon which was a beautiful walk in the bush. It was such a steep climb up towards to top to see the view but was so worth it. There were over 700 steps up to the viewpoint. We had a picnic before the climb so that was a relief.
Once we had finished our mini hike, we then went to the silver falls which was a waterfall close by. In the evening we went for a pub meal at the local pub called the Fourth Pub and I meet some more of Alex and Sarahโs friends.
This morning we got up bright and early to go to another research farm this one was a dairy farm which was partnered with the University of Tasmania.
This farm had a rotary parlour which had only one worker overseeing the operation.
Collars were used to control the cowsโ moments when in grazing in paddocks as there would be virtual fences programmed in the collar through the GPS to manage grazing within the herd. The farm manager of this farm explained their system and showed myself the farm. This was overall a very interesting and insightful farming method. We then went into davenport in the afternoon to run some errands.
Thursday 21st May
Early morning, I went with Sarah and Alex to their work which was working for a contracting business. They were spreading effluent and I got to see the workings of this. Then in the afternoon I then went with Jordan to visit Sheffield. We went to a nice bakery to eat and then got a traybake for dessert. After this we went to see all the beautiful murals that people had painted and was on display all over the town of Sheffield. In the afternoon I was with Alex in his tractor, he was ploughing so got to sit in and observe his work.
In the evening we all went to a Devonport club meeting that evening and the activity was bowls which I had never actually played before so this was super interesting and great to meet more members. I had a lovely chicken burger and chips for dinner at the bowls club.
The next morning it was an early start again with Alex and Sarah as they were still on the job of spreading effluent. I stayed with Sarah in the tractor for a few hours before her sister and her daughter came to pick me up and take me to Christmas Hill Raspberry farm. This was a place that had a beautiful cafรฉ and freshly grown berries which they were selling. I had loaded fries with chilli and a raspberry lemonade which the flavours were used from their own berries. Then after we had a lovely lunch, we went and bought chocolate covered raspberries which were absolutely extraordinary tasting. In the afternoon I stayed with Sarahโs sister and went up to their property to check on their horses and dogs. I was then back with Sarah in the tractor for a while before they were finishing up for the day. Sarah then suggested that we go and see the little penguins at Lillico conservation beach. It was amazing to see these fascinating creatures. We then went back to Sarah and Alex for dinner and the rest of the evening.
I had a very easy morning compared to the early starts during the week.
Then Ashtyn another of the Devonport member came and picked me up and we went to go visit the Lighthouse in Table Cape and had a bit of walk to see the coastline. In the afternoon I went for a walk down to the beach near Alex and Sarahโs before getting ready to meet Georgie and Becky in the evening.
Sunday 24th May
I packed up all my things which was contributing to the heaviness of my suitcase now. I was then taken to Ashtynโs house in Devonport as she was my next hosts in this journey. I had a tour of her house and got settled in for the evening.
Monday 25th May
We got up relatively early and went to Don head which was a nice walk overlooking the coastline and Devonport. We then went to a cafรฉ not far from where we had walked and I had some beef tacos which were delicious. Ashtyn then had a work meeting in the afternoon so I went for a walk down to Coleโs beach which was about a half hour walk from her house. It was such a beautiful afternoon with the sun shining so I sat on the beach for a while and soaked up some sun.
Then once Ashtyn was back, she took me out to Mount Roland which was near Sheffield. We drove up to the lookout point and it was such a beautiful evening sunset and so clear to see the wonderful landscape. We then went back for some dinner and a movie night.
I was with Georgie another Devonport Rural Youth member and we had decided to go to Penguin to attempt a bit of hike up Mount Montgomery. It was about a 45-minute incline the whole way up was tough walking but was extremely rewarding once we had got to the highest point. We then climbed all the way back down and went into penguin for something to eat. I had calamari and chips to eat which was so taste with a raspberry gin and lemonade. After this we went bowling in Devonport and had 2 games, I won the first won and Georgie won the second game. Once Georgie dropped me back, I then went down to Coleโs beach as Ashtyn was working and it was another lovely day.
Ashtyn took me to the Gunnโs Plains Caves for a tour which was very exciting as I hadnโt experienced being that far underground before. The tour was amazing as it was just me and Ashtyn and the tour guide. After this we then went to Preston falls to see a water fall. It was beautiful and not far from the caves.
For lunch we went into Ulverstone for lunch and I had beef sliders and chips.
Ashtyn then took me to cold rock for dessert and had a caramel milkshake. In the evening I went to see a netball match Ashtyn was playing in which was fun as I loved playing and watching netball and was great to meet some more people.
In the morning I was with Jordan. We went into town and had a look around Devonport. For lunch we went to a place that sold loaded potatoes which was delicious. Jordan dropped myself home in the afternoon. In the afternoon I went down to the beach again and had an afternoon to myself.
I spent this day with Amber who was the State President of Rural Youth. Amber and her partner Josh own a Laundromat, so we went to collect the coins in the morning, this was a fun job seeing how much they may have possibly earned in coins. We then went back to Amber and Joshโs house. Amber planned for us to go on her quad bike down to look at a viewpoint of Mount Roland from their bushland. She allowed me to drive her quad and it was so much fun. Once we were back at her house, we had lunch and I got chatting to Josh about his work in mining in mainland Australia, which was very interesting as I knew very little about this topic. In the afternoon I helped Amber feed her horse, goats and cows. I got a go at driving the skid steer, which was so much easier than I thought it would be and it was great fun. In the evening I went out to dinner with Ashtyn, Georgie and Annalise at the Fourth Pub. The meal was as usual delicious, I had Mongolian loaded fries.
Ashtyn and I got ourselves packed up for the Agfest Dinner which was being held back at Quercus Park near Launceston. I was quite excited to see everyone again since Agfest had been held. This evening was a celebration of all the hard work everyone had contributed to the runningโs of the field days. We arrived about 2pm and got to work helping with the set-up of the room the function was being held in. I was making balloon tower decoration. I then went and got myself ready for the night. The night started with presentations from the Chairperson, Vice Chair, Exhibitor Manager and Operations Manager. They all did great speeches surrounding their thankfulness of our hard work and how the organisation relies on all the volunteers. We then had an amazing dinner and dessert. The most important part of the evening was hitting the dance floor!
We said our goodbyes to the Quercus Park and then headed over to Beauty Point, where Platypus House and Seahorse World tourist attractions were located. I was very excited about this. We went on guided tours for each of these places and it was fascinating to learn about. I then had a look around the gift shops for some souvenirs of the experience. We then made our way back to Devonport and went to the supermarket for ingredients for dinner that night. Ashtyn made a delicious French onion pasta bake.
Monday 1st June
