Wynyard 15 – 17 February 2008

Woke up to a very cold morning. Examined the car and it was covered in ice and frost. Frost on the grass as well with the car thermometer stuck on minus 2deg! The morning quickly turned into one of the most beautiful days. The weather man tells us there is a high stuck over Tassie! We had a wonderful trip travelling out of the alpine landscape and stopped at a high spot to look out to the many mountain peaks. Heather found a number of special flowers that were still out, even though the best time to see them is late spring and early summer. I think we were a little late - another time!
Stopped along the way at Hellyer Gorge for lunch and enjoyed two short walks along the river and into the forest. The river bed was strewn with large smooth rocks showing the force of the river when the snow melts. We moved on through lots of state forests in various stages of harvesting in great contrast to natural forest and suddenly we were in farming fields with hay and livestock again! We had not seen any of this since New Norfolk! It was surprisingly very dry and yellow, not green as it was in November as we approached Wynyard. It was so warm and summery after frost for breakfast. Back into sleeveless tops! The town looked so pretty and lively! This was a big surprise to us! We came here one, cold wet Sunday afternoon and found it to be miserable! How impressions are made and can be so opposite!
We joined in with the local Film Club in a lovely restored theatre to see a 2007 French movie, Orchestra Seats. We really enjoyed it and loved the chocolate brownies and cuppa as a finishing touch!
Next day was more perfect weather. After spending the night in the official free camp at the cricket grounds we moved down to a perfect spot for the day on the harbour, (to avoid a cricket ball through the window)! Peter scored well at the garage sales, we read the Australian, BBQ’d lunch in the park, walked the local streets finding nectarines on an overgrown tree in the street and chatted with fellow travellers! Back to the Cricket Grounds where we had to wait with 4 other vans for someone to get “out”! We actually watched cricket, as it did not finish until 6.30. The evening was so beautiful no one wanted to stop! Had another quiet day on Sunday and enjoyed the ambience of the town.