PREPARING FOR ANOTHER TRIP
Barberscat and Driver are preparing for a trip to a Toastmasters Convention in Washington DC. We had already paid our air fares for "around the world", and also the registrations for the Convention. Just "by the way" the travel consultant said "You won't need a visa for USA" - Visa! Hell! I hadn't thought of visas. We are friends of the USA - we do as they say! Why would they want a visa from an Aussie. She continued: "You only need a visa if you are a journalist, or have been in jail, or have been arrested or charged with an offence ........ ". Driver went very quiet and his colour drained from his face. "Back in 1994 I was driving a coach that collided with the back of a semi trailer that was parked partially on the carriageway with no lights." He knew little about the charges, except he was fined (everyone who runs into the back of a vehicle is fined in New South Wales). Travel Consultant said we should find out the details, but should get a visa just in case! We went to the local cop shop, and they had no details of any black mark against Driver's name. We went to Queensland Transport and they knew nothing. We phoned Narrabri where the accident happened - they turned up the papers but had transferred it all to Moree. Phoned Moree - whoopee! They had the details. Conviction of some sort of ?? driving and a fine of $250. Back to Travel Consultant - "Get a visa".
Now, it turns out, the only way to get a visa to USA is to travel to Sydney and undergo an interview!! Barberscat and Driver stay away from cities, and we had decided that if we had to go to Sydney, we'd cancel Washington and that would be another city we could dodge! After my phoning all around the country, I finally got a phone number that did not refer me to the website with the unclear instructions - it allowed me to talk to a real person in the office of the Consulate in Sydney. You can imagine our relief when she said if it didn't involve a jail term, we didn't have to get a visa!! Phew!
That took a week to find out and put my plans well behind. But we are happy we don't have to fly to Sydney just to ask one question. When we arrive at USA customs, we will both have our hearts in our mouths waiting for there to be a policy change, and to be put back on the plane for OZ. Wouldn't that be a bugger!

Tassie Holidays

Barberscat and Driver are back from Tassie. We took far too many photos as usual. What a pretty state of Australia!! We loved it. The weather was somewhat indifferent, but we can't expect to see all those beautiful forests if it never rains. As for the cold ........ just as well we prepared for a Toowoomba mid-winter to visit Tassie in April. We stood on one side of Lake St Clair and watched snow falling on the other side of the lake. It was 2 degrees, and freezing. But I didn't waste the opportunity - yet another photo (see above).
It was the perfect time of the year to catch the autumn colours. The best places for these were in the Hobart Botanic Gardens and around New Norfolk. The conservatorium in the Gardens was chockers with the most beautiful flowers - more photos.

We stayed with friends at Stanley. They are farmers with the most magnificent views you can imagine. They are on the isthmus that extends northwards towards The Nut. Straight out their front windows is The Nut with pretty bays on each side. The back windows have views of another bay - the side windows yet more ocean views, and the south windows ... the neck of the isthmus with bays on each side. I hope the developers at the Gold Coast do not find this little gem - it would be full of high rise buildings in no time. Fancy all those gorgeous views and only cows to live there ...... don't tell anyone. In the above photo, their farm takes up the bottom left hand corner, and runs back to the sea behind the camera. I can't imagine living there hand having to work each day - I'd want to spend all day looking at the scenery.

We did the touristy things like riding on the rack and pinion railway (The Wilderness Railway) from Queenstown to Strahan. That was an experience. The train was an old puffing billy which travelled through dripping rain forests. For the sake of comfort, the old carriages had been widened slightly. As we passed through the cuttings, the ferns flicked water at us through the windows. There wasn't much room between the carriage and the bank. The mountains we climbed were steep and the cogs creaked and groaned as we went upwards. At Dubbil Barril we changed trains. The old puffing billy was turned around on a turntable by one man and a little girl (the photo shows the train engine on the turntable being turned around. Note the steep hills behind the train - we really were in the wilderness!). That train went back to Queenstown and we caught an old diesel train to complete the journey. This followed the King River. What a wonderful sight. Last time I was there (30 years ago), the river was clogged with silt and muck from the mining at Queenstown. There has been much work done on restoring the river to "normal" - it's not there yet, but give it another 30 years!!!!!!!!

It was the Easter weekend, and we expected crowds to be everywhere. Crowds?? What crowds?? Even on the Thursday night when were camped by the roadside in Huonville, about 12 cars went past at around 7 p.m. - that must have been peak hours because there were only one or two for the rest of the night. Free campsites abound in Tasmania. The above photo is taken from where we camped FOR NOTHING beside the Huon River at Huonville. We woke in the morning to see the most beautiful reflections on the river, now and then broken by occasional rowers. In my photos (still more), it is almost impossible to work out which way is up. We made our way south to the most southerly point to which one can drive in Australia - Cockle Creek. At this point there is a monument - a baby whale. More photos. The road to Cockle Creek was not good, but okay for us farmers who are used to driving on much worse roads that that. Many people had pulled off the road, only to find they could not get back on - bogged to the axles. It looked as though they could be in for a very long weekend.
We did the Tahune Air Walk in the drizzly rain. This was lovely - reminiscent of the one in W.A., but this time there was a cantilever which made us feel we were flying. Some people were too scared to go out on this because it seems so ........ dangerous. But the pamphlets said it would hold 12 elephants. Now, even between the two of us, we weren't quite that heavy, so we went out and enjoyed the views up and down the river - and we have a photo to prove it.
To be continued .........