It was another traveling day. It was not a long distance from Scamander to Coles Bay, so I appreciated that we were able to take a few detours. The first was a charming little town called St. Mary's, which was inland and on the other side of a small mountain range. It was one of those little country towns where some enterprising people are setting up businesses to attract people and I really liked their humor and style.
When we first arrived, we were photographing a coffee shop in an old bank, which advertised having a 'man cave'. As I mentioned in a previous post, people talk to each other here so I should not have been surprised when the proprietor stepped out to have a chat. He made suggestions for places for us to visit in town - just one main street with a few stores on a side street!
First we have a pretty traditional type of business - old fashioned prettiness!
Then I thought you might appreciate the patriotic fervor of the chemist (we call them drug stores in the USA, but here it is more like just the pharmacy section of the drug store without all the other paraphernalia)
This mural appealed to me. It was a combination of pebbles, ceramic tiles and other media.
Toad Hall was a more recent addition to the town. The gay owners had put together a very excellent collection of antiques and collectibles. If I were a local I would be in trouble here, as there were many things I liked.
Finally we headed back to our 'Man Cave' tea room, but on the way I snapped this photo of a competing restaurant across the street. As I passed the table of people enjoying their coffee they asked if I wanted a picture of the 'natives'. I had to confess that I'd already snuck them into my photo and we started one of those lovely 'chats' that people have here! They were from St. Helen's and were on their way to see the biggest white gum trees in the world about 70 km south. I was quite proud of myself for indulging in a chat without Judy helping me!
I really liked this chair in the entrance to the coffee shop above.
This is the 'Man Cave'! It was formerly the bank vault. Angus was thrilled to find a little hand powered drill to take home.
I liked this sentiment.........
..........and I couldn't leave without posing with this mural at the Bank Tea House where we had enjoyed an indulgent morning tea! (The door behind me is not a door at all - just a painting of one.)
Then we moved back to the coast to Bicheno, a name I had heard over the years, but never visited. I have a picture of my father's family holidaying there. It was less charming than St. Mary's but we had a recommendation to visit a fish and chip shop at The Gulch which we were glad for. Again I loved the unpretentious way that the entrepreneurs fit themselves into the existing space with a few little enhancements for the good of the order. Not to mention that the fried flathead was the best, best, best fish I've had in ages and I'm sorry to say the fries were pretty good too!
A very utilitarian space - a few umbrellas and picnic tables and a warning about the birds.
Just a few simple additions in amongst the trash make it much more interesting!
It was a marine reserve and an active fishing area.
We finally arrived in Coles Bay on the Freycinet Peninsula in preparation for a walk tomorrow into Wineglass Bay, a well visited natural beauty. It will be good prep for my walk next week on the Tasman Peninsula.
This is the apartment we were staying in - we were upstairs where you see Judy waving.
It looked directly across to this range of peaks that are called the Hazards. Tomorrow we plan to walk through the gap you can see on the right center of the picture to view Wineglass Bay. Angus and I will also walk down to the beach of Wineglass Bay and return around the base of the mountain on the right of the picture.
The other special event was the fact that Angus and Judy were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary, so it required a celebration. We also snuck in as a sideline excuse, my birthday a few days ago, so we indulged ourselves in a very excellent high end dinner at the Freycinet Lodge in the National Park. A beautiful sunset ended another very satisfying day.
So refreshing to read about your travels!
ReplyDeletewhat fun!