MOT Tour Day 19 - Burnie to Launceston

Whoopee. Left the caravan park before 10am for once: 8:30 in fact.

The Big Penguin

Road day today in order to move the 139kms to Hadspen, which is on Launceston’s door step. Superior caravan park in a chain we have been members of for quite a while. They’ve changed names a few times as they have bought out other groups and become bigger, but their quality has always been consistent. The one we stayed at in Burnie was below par. Clean enough - just. Sites were good enough - just. No one died, although the young bloke living in Toyota van near our site probably will and won’t be found for a week or two!

First stop was at Penguin, east of Burnie and still on the coast. Quaint little place. The big penguin statue was decorated in the colours of some coming event, which is a regular manner of advertising. Friendly locals and nice coffee from the one we chose, The Letterbox Cafe, which was located beside Australia Post. Penguin adorned the garbage pins, were on the notice boards, in shop windows and of course, there was the big bugger at town centre. The only problem was, they were the black and white variety and the ones who come ashore along the northern coast of Tassie are the Little Penguin, notable for a shiny, blue coat. I knit pick.

The Uniting Church deserves special mention. On a rise, facing the ocean in two directions, it opened in 1903 with its unique design by William Henry Morris. Morris was a well known architect in the North West. The window design is most unusual. Shaped like keyholes, they feature stained glass. We couldn’t see inside, but I read that carvings by Morris feature, including the handrail on the gallery. Most of the windows have been protected with clear Perspex on the outside but not from vandals or passing boys trying to mark their position in the group but rather from hail. The coloured glass would be very expensive to replace. A new cross stands at one of the high points on the top of the gable, illuminated at night to advertise the faith of those who attend.

A passerby - a local - engaged me with commentary about the church, which started with admiration for the building but ended in caustic comments about “the homosexuals who run the Uniting Church”. In accepting his point of view I did pose the question, “so you’d prefer the pedophiles that run the other churches?” He left.

As did we.

The other cool thing in Penguin was a street library, located in a replica of Dr Who’s TARDIS and senior lady, standing nearby, encouraging people to borrow.

The House of Avers, on the Bass Highway at Latrobe, is a chocolate factory and cafe, which provides you with information about the history of chocolate making and a collection of museum pieces which illuminate that history. Lots of chocolate moulds. You can also watch chocolatiers doing their thing on the other side of the glass, which was fascinating. Sue went shopping. Wyndarra Lodge, as the building was formerly known, is an oversized Californian bungalow, built in 1931.

Down the road a bit further - nowhere was far today - we stopped at Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm, with the raspberries filling the hills behind the cafe/restaurant. Two big dams provide all the water they need to grow the berries and they are covered with netting to stymy the birds. We ordered gluten-free scones and raspberry jam. Judging by the time it took to clear up the debris in my moustache, they were delicious. Ron was pleased.

Click here for today's photos

We hoped to visit Pearn's Steam World but ran out of usable time. Shame, I love steam engines. We had several other things to see on our way but for a combination of reasons had to scrap them. We did find time to call in at Westbury Oval to see and photograph the giant  wickets. After seeing “big things” all over Australia, I declare these my favourite!

Hoping to catch up with former Tamworthian,  Marcus Wilson for coffee tomorrow.

MOT Tour Day 16 - Burnie Art Gallery/Museum

Smooth as silk pack up. We really are a team.

Boat Harbour Beach

Dreadfully sorry to be leaving Stanley. We both really loved the relaxed vibe of the place. It’s a town that seems happy with the way it is and pleasantly welcome new neighbours.

A few restrictions on calling in to see places along the way. It’s not always easy to turn the van in some of these small coastal villages. Rocky Cape Lighthouse was postponed for a return from Burnie when we just have the car but we did make our way into Boat Harbour Beach. Why, I don’t know. Almost immediately we turned off the access road, the carriageway shrank to barely two car width and dropped alarmingly. Every van driver’s nightmare is to drive into a situation where there is no space to turn at the end and this was looming as a trogglehumper.

About three quarters of the way down, a space opened up on the left side and I took it gladly and we walked on from here to find the only coffee shop in the village, attached to the surf life saving club. Lots of people, big line up, “sorry, there will be a wait for coffees”. I ordered and Sue wandered off to enjoy another beach. Sixty plus, you’d think she’d be over them but no. 

Back to the coffees: mine was in the wrong mug, was luke warm and had no crema but other than that, fine.

We walked back to the car, completed the drive down the hill, turned in the car park and returned … despite a big bus that was in the way. Regardless of all that, it was a pretty place and I’m sure the cafe was just having a bad day.

On into Burnie where we missed our turn into the caravan park because it looked like a motel. We reset our GPS and returned to find out the caravan park is a motel … with a caravan park out the back. Sites are all across a significant slope. Challenges.

After setting up, we ventured in to the CBD for a visit to the Art Gallery and included the Museum as a bonus.

Pioneer Village Museum

The Burnie Museum is a cracker, with a permanent exhibition that was the brainchild of Peter Mercer, Burnie have a really unique take on displaying items from the 1800's. An avid collector, he had small museums in the district but always had the idea of creating a village street scape inside a larger building. This he achieved in 1971 and then the local Council took it on. What we saw today is his masterpiece - a village in microcosm, displayed as though its early evening inside a huge, purpose built building. Inside each residence are the things of everyday. You can peek in on the dentist, the newspaper office, the saddle maker, all as if they have just stepped out of the room. In the storeys above, curtains are drawn over lit rooms. It really is a brilliant exhibition. An adjoining room is a more conventional display of the early history of the north west of Tasmania. An enthusiastic volunteer, Chris, added many interesting anecdotes.

The Burnie Art Gallery, next door to the museum and part of a large performance space which would rival Port Macquarie's Glass House, had an exhibition called The Games We Play. It was interesting but not really art. It was more of a museum exhibition. Apart from some photos, the only art piece was an early Ben Quilty painting of a Holden Torana. Despite my qualms about the efficacy of an art galley hosting a museum-style exhibition, it was a really good exhibition with a number of quite nostalgic items.

Click to see today's photos.

Burnie is an international port, with a big cruise liner at berth currently. It seems a busy place and from the lookout, a very industrial place. The roads are a blur of cars. The lookout's major reveal was a large industrial area, a port and railway lines.

Back tracking tomorrow to the places we missed today.