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For an explanation of photos, position mouse over photo.
I departed from Hobart on February 1 for a quick trip home to attend to some
business.
When I arrived back in Hobart on February 13, we had a busy weekend. First, our
friend Simon invited us over for a tour of the Antarctic icebreaker, the Aurora
which was in port following her latest voyage. It is an impressive ship and we
also met the captain, Scotty, who is getting ready to build his own sailing
yacht. We invited him over for a look at Shear Madness. Later, we joined Simon
and Clare at their house for a barbecue with some friends. We enjoyed lots of
wonderful food.
The next day, Bernard and Carol had invited us to join them on their power boat Cassida (the one we spent New Year's Eve on) for a cruise up the Derwent River, a trip we could not do on Shear Madness because of the low bridges. It was a wonderful trip, very scenic and very enjoyable company. We stopped for lunch and a visit to the pub in Norfolk, the longest continuously operating pub in Australia. When we returned to the marina, after just a few small drinks, Bradley mentioned that he had never actually played cricket. Next thing you know, we had a cricket pitch set up on the dock! We all got a chance to bowl and bat, but spent most of our time retrieving the makeshift cricket ball (a tennis ball) from the water!
The icebreaker Aurora carries two helicopters on board and they were to be flown
to a local airport for service.
Soon it was time to bid all our friends in Hobart a fond farewell, with hopes
that we will see them again next December when we return here on our way to New
Zealand. Then it was off to spend the night in Kettering before heading south to
Recherche Bay and eventually around the west coast to Port Davey. After
motoring a short way, we were ready to put out our headsail and no sooner had we
done that than the halyard gave way and the sail came flopping down on deck.
In Southport, we enjoyed a very nice hike of several hours, leading to a
beautiful cape with a nice sandy beach. Though it is mid-summer, the weather
continues to be chilly. But it was a comfortable, sunny day, perfect for a nice
walk. The next morning, we set off for Recherche Bay where we planned to wait
for favorable weather before venturing back out into the Southern Ocean to begin
our trek around the west coast. After a pleasant sail with some motoring,
we arrived in beautiful Recherche Bay. It is very remote and boasts the end of
the Cockle Creek Road, the southernmost road in Australia. There is a ranger
station, a payphone and campgrounds here, but no stores or shops of any kind.
There are several good hikes in the area which we were anxious to take advantage
of. The weather does not look promising for the next several days, so it
looks like we will get a chance to thoroughly explore this area.
Bradley and I started off with the hike to Fischer point which begins at the end of the Cockle Creek Road where there is a nice sculpture of a whale to commemorate the whaling past of Recherche Bay. The walk is mostly along the beach and is about an hour each way. There is a small lighthouse and the ruins of an old pilot house at the point. The next day we took the longer hike to South Cape Bay. This is part of a long hiking track that goes over 100 miles from Recherche Bay to Port Davey. It is one of the most popular multi-day hiking trails in Tasmania. The four hour walk we did was great. The terrain was quite varied, ranging from forests to open vistas to rocky cliffs and crashing waves at the Cape.
Meanwhile, the weather continues to be uncooperative. Winds are from the west
(where we want to go) with gale warnings every day. We need the winds to ease
and shift direction before we can venture out into the Southern Ocean. Bradley
discovered that he lost his sunglasses somewhere on the hiking trail so the next
day he plans to go back on a search and rescue mission. As we are getting low on
fresh fruit, I decide to strike out on an adventure of my own - to hitchhike to
Dover, about 25 miles away to buy some fruit and hopefully check emails. As I
started out, I was not that worried about getting to Dover, but I was a bit
concerned about getting back as the Cockle Creek road is unpaved and does not
have tons of traffic.
Bradley had no luck in locating his missing glasses, so he and I made one more trip out to South Cape but still with no luck. Those sunglasses seem to have just disappeared. But at least we got some good exercise. We have been in Recherche Bay now for six days and it finally looks like the weather will be favorable in the next day or two so we will depart for Port Davey, about 60 miles away. Our final fond memory of Recherche Bay was when a crayfish (lobster) boat came in to anchor for the night. We grabbed another six pack of beer and dinghied over to see what he could tell us about the weather and to see if he had any fresh catch he wanted to trade. We were successful on both counts as he provided us three large crays for our dinner. A great deal for a six pack! On our last night in Receherche Bay we were also joined by our friend Matthew from Lindisfarne who owns an abalone boat. He was headed out the next day to do some fishing and then to dive for abalone. He was planning to stop the next night in Port Davey and said he would bring us a Stiped Trumpeter fish for dinner.
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Our
friends Neil and Shelley visited Shear Madness to keep Bradley and Ron company
in my absence. During that time, they cruised around Bruny Island and saw the
penguins and seals that reside there. They also took the mountain bike ride down
Mount Wellington - on a nicer day that we had previously experienced there! We
couldn't quite manage to overlap our trips, so I missed seeing them this time.
They'll just have to come back again. Also while I was gone, Bradley and Ron
took Simon, Clare, and Ellie, our Hobart friends we had met at Port Arthur, out
for a day sail. 
Simon
invited us to go along for a nice aerial view of Hobart. So back we went to the
Aurora where we watched the engineers move the choppers from the hangar on board
to the flight deck. They then had to put the rotors on, a fairly quick and
simple process. Then we were ready to go. We each had our own helicopter so we
could have a front seat view. It was a short, ten minute flight to the local
airport, but it was fun. Simon had asked me to try to get a photo of all three
Antarctic ships that we in port at the same time - the Aurora along with the
Vasily, both chartered by the Australian government, and the Kapitan Kalebnikov,
an adventure cruise ship which takes passengers to the Antarctic and I was able
to accomplish this mission. 
We
soon had the sail under control and determined that the halyard was fine, but a
small connecting piece had given out and would need to be repaired. Not a big
job, but it would require Ron going up the mast to retrieve the halyard. We
decided to head for the nearest anchorage for the night and to do the repair
first thing in the morning. After a quiet night, the repair was soon made and we
were off for Kettering where we arrived by mid-morning. After running a few last
minute errands we decided to continue on to Southport, which we comfortably
reached before dinner. 
However,
I was to have a very lucky day. Within ten minutes a car came along and stopped
for me. It was driven by Winton who was visiting Tasmania from Sydney for a long
weekend with his eight year old son Ayden. Winton said they were going to
Dover but first they were going to stop at Hastings to see the caves there. He
invited me to join them which was great as I had wanted to see the caves but had
not had the opportunity. Soon we arrived in Hastings and had a quick breakfast
followed by a visit to the thermal springs where Winton and Ayden enjoyed a
swim. Then it was on to the main attraction - a huge cave which was spectacular.
Our tour guide, Dave, was an American from North Dakota who has been in Tasmania
for 35 years. He sure knows his caves and did an excellent job on the tour.
Soon, Winton, Ayden, and I were off to Dover with a promise to catch up with
each other again in Sydney. I found plenty of fruit at the local
supermarket, made a few phone calls, and stopped by the local internet access
center to pick up emails. Then it was time to try my luck on the return trip. Lo
and behold, the first car to come by stopped (this definitely doesn't happen if
Bradley is with me!). The driver was on his way to Hastings where he works as a
tour guide in the caves! This was great as it got me just over halfway back,
leaving me just 23 kms (12 miles) to go. As I stated down the very long dirt
road that lay ahead of me, I heard a car approach. Sure enough, it too
stopped, making me three for thee on the day. Not a single car had passed me by
and I never waited more than five minutes for a ride. There were three nice, but
rough looking guys in the car, but they were going all the way to Recherche Bay
and we had a good time. I promised them two six packs of beer when we arrived,
which they greatly appreciated. All in all, an excellent adventure.
