Coles Bay and Sky Diving

We have now been here a few days and settled into the relaxed atmosphere of the area.

Harrison went sky diving this morning at Mayfield Beach, which is about 15klm south of Swansea. The people who ran the jump (Skydive Tasmania) were a mixture of types and ages but all very professional with a touch of good quality humor. There was a group of older (read 50 something's) pro jumpers who turned out to be Victorian and thrill junkies who traveled to different sites to jump both in Australia and I gathered overseas.

They were an impressive lot full of life talking about their jumps, rock climbing, Kayaking etc. Some had been in the Murry River challenge, all of this talked about without boast but with a simple of cause this is what everyone our age does while one of there group was out in the bay on his Kayak, as we spoke, fishing while waiting for a time to parachute. Amazing.



So the weather cleared and it was Harrison's time, Instructions where minimal as he was tandem with a guy, Heath, and other Victorian who came to live in Hobart 6 months earlier.


Great confidence builder on rear of harness

DANGER

PELIGRO GEFAHR

Parachute systems sometimes fail to operate correctly
even when properly manufactured assembled. packed
and operated. You Risk serious injury and even death each
time you use this system. read, understand and comply
with all manufacturers manuals, recomendations
procedures placards and limitations before use.


Its hard to tell if Harrison was nervous but he certainly was looking forward to this.

So up they went to ten thousand feet!!!!!!!!!!!!!. I just could not spot them at first but one of the pro's said the plane'll throttle back in a second and on que we hear the engine cut acceleration and in a patch of blue sky I saw the plane, then a tiny speck then after 30 seconds a bright yellow explosion of the shoot opening. they slowly floated to earth and Harrison landed with the biggest smile I've seen in a long time. He loved it and even while driving back to camp I caught a small smile on his face as he thought about it. he was also ravenously hungry, a good sign of the adrenaline.

We will get a DVD from the company so I will post a copy on site in the future.

Yesterday was a beautiful day so we walked out to the Wine Glass Bay lookout






which in the warm weather was a great stroll. The Bay is regarded a one of the "Best Ten Beaches in the World" but I'm not sure by who. It certainly must be as it was stunningly beautifully and so perfect we did'nt want to walk on it, though others did. I also think this must be one of the most photographed Bays in the world as there were people of all nationalities, families, backpacker's and couples walking the trail.

There are quite a few Americans and Germans here which is great.




On Friday we 4x4 to Friendly Beach via a little used track. As there was a gentle rain the drive was pleasant and dust free. The beach is within the Freycinet national Park. The windy beach was deserted save for us.

Arrived Coles Bay

Wednesday 18th and Thursday 19th

Arrived at Coles Bay at around 3pm Wed.

Wow what a beautiful spot. Three rocky hills fall to the shore line, "The Hazards" on one side while the hamlet of Coles Bay is on the other.
Freycinet National Park and Wine Glass bay form a part of this area. Wine Glass Bay is noted as one of the ten top beaches in the world.

The shore line on this side is lined with Gums and groves of Sheoak together with the commercial hub, the "Coles Bay Trading Company", a cafe and a small pub, Importantly the pub overlooks a small shoal, part of Great Oysters Bay, with white a sandy beach and magnificent sunsets. Its very inviting.

The drive from Ulverstone was Ok but with little site seeing. We booked into the Big4, "Iluka" and have a good site with glimpses of the beach from a hill that overlooks the roof of the pub and beach below.
Many places in the town are prefaced "lluka" but there seems little available about this name other than a brief reference to "by the bay".
The towns origins come from whaling, tin mining and some farming.
We drove into Swansea today to top up supplies and check out Harrison's SKY DIVING which is booked, finally, for Sunday. (More to come)
I learned a bit about the car and towing, keeping to around 2000RPM at between 80-90Klm seems to be about right but often I need to let off the accelerator in order to get it to drop in to D. Diff light has come on but reading says this relates to a fuse rather than a problem. In all the LA ran well.
Harrison is still becoming accustom to a new life but I think is slowly getting into it. I think it takes a while to understand that life do not end just because you are away. The internet and phones work OK (Next G) only and we networked between the new computer and this clunker. (How come I get the dog?).
One thing we have noticed is lots of road kill, no foxes and beautiful bird life. We will do some walking tomorrow.

First Day Tassie

Arrived at 6.30 am

Good trip with little sleep

HB read first time in a long time then about 2 put his book down said Im going to sleep and did just that in about 2 secs how do kids do it ?

We arrived at the Apex caravan park Ulverstone which looked like a dump from the street but its right on the beach and we where given a great site just beyond the trees on shore.
$16 per night its better than I expected.

Slept at first then HB and I when for a short drive to Burnie. Did not think much of it but the coastal drive is beautifull. Penguin is a small coastal town about 8k from our camp and is a pretty little town but certainly arriving at this very relaxed spot Ulverstone is a highlight.
Our camp is now setup and we are sitting outside for the first time.