Week 10: Rugby on horseback

The trip this week: Naracoorte - Waitpinga - Adelaide

What happens when you take one posh British game and combine it with a combative native North American sport?  You get the awesome combination that is polocrosse! We attended the tournament in Naracoorte to watch our nieces show us their skills.

The game starts with the ball being thrown in (not unlike super rugby).  This is Emily (aged 13) at the back in position 3.

The grades are based on ability, not gender or age.  This is Annabel (aged 11) against her direct #2 opponent (some bloke who is 40 something?)

Polocrosse has teams of three riders on the field, position 1 is offence with their direct opponent position 3 in defence.  Position 2 riders stay in the midfield 
 

After the polocrosse, we were lucky to head down to Waitpinga for some work with the cattle.  It took me about three days to recover. 

Cattle on Waitpilla Downs, Waitpinga SA

It was a bit sad to say good bye to our beloved kayaks.  We were fortunate to sell them both to a punter in Adelaide.  I suppose we will have to find another way to get our fish on the West Coast.  Looking forward to the next week up in the the Flinders Ranges for some 4WD adventuring.  See you next week.

Matt and Kelly

Week 9: From the booze to the views

The trip this week: Melbourne - Whouraly - Wangaratta - Harrietville - Mt Hotham - Anglers Rest - Mitta Mitta - Wadonga - Cobram - Poolajelo - Naracoorte

This week brought us back to civilisation thanks to Jon Jon and Em's wedding in the gorgeous area of Whouraly between Wang and Victoria's Alpine National Park.  Feeling slightly worse for wear following a cracking night on a beautifully converted tobacco farm, we headed back into the Alpine region for some beautiful views:

The views near the summit of Mt Hotham

We can thoroughly recommend driving and camping along the Omeo highway between Omeo and Mitta Mitta.  There are so many awesome campsites along the upper Mitta Mitta River and for those less adventurous (but equally romantic), you might choose to stay at the Blue Duck Inn at Anglers Rest which is about half way along the road.  

Anglers Rest, Victoria's Alpine National Park

 

The second half of our week was filled with wonderful family and frequent showers!  Easter brought the crowds to the river land so we made a quick stop on the Murray before heading down to My sister's place in Western Victoria for some polocrosse.  

Laura Michelmore aged 7 (my niece) on Debbie warming up for their polocrosse tournament

Next week we will have some more polocrosse excitement and then off to Adelaide!  See you then.

Matt and Kelly

Week 8: Deliverance

Lake King William - Queenstown - Strahan - Kelly Heads - Rosebery - Lake Macintosh - Sheffield - Legana - Paper Beach - Greens Beach - Devonport - StKilda

It was very sad to say goodbye to Tasmania this week.  We completed our adventures on the West coast and were once again blown away by the countryside.   This week however, we encountered a part of the Tasmanian culture is not often included in the tourist brochures.

The small mining towns dotted through the central and western regions conjured up thoughts of Deliverance as we were stared at shamelessly by packs of mouth breathing local teenagers. The jury is still out on whether they were ogling at Kelly fashioning her stylish fluorescent pink running shorts (and pregnant belly) or me with my stylish 70's mustache.

Next stop will be at the Victorian Alps via Whouroly for Jon Jon and Em's wedding... Woo hoo!

See you next week!
 
 

 Kelly Heads/Hells Gates (Macquarie Harbour)

 4WD trip along the beach outside of Macquarie Harbour

 Lake King William

 Montezuma Falls

  Montezuma Falls

Lake Macintosh

 Lake King William

1890's railway track outside of Rosebery

Latest addition to the family

Week 7 - The Great White

The trip this week:

Lymington - Dover - Southport - Cockle Creek - South Cape -  Lake King William

An overview:

• The Big Catch
• Burnsey's naturist dream
• A surfer's paradise

So we are at the end of week 7 and we now consider ourselves to be accomplished fisherman. I do however get the feeling that catching fish in Tasmania is about as easy as getting a suntan in Queensland and we may be as likely to catch fish upon our return to Victoria as we are to get a suntan there.

That aside, this week marked a momentous occasion as Burnsey laid down his life for the big one.... The Great White. Whilst paddling off the shores of cockle beach on the southern most cape of Tasmania trawling for our tea, Burnsey got a snag. Or so he thought. In a moment he realised he was hooked and that this was no ordinary fish. Oh no. As he tried to reel it in, his boat rocked and swayed threatening to tip him out and right into the jaws of the monster. 'I've got something huge here' he wailed. 'This is crazy, it must be a shark!'. The beast thrashed in the water whilst Burnsey used everything he had to stay afloat and keep the catch, his biceps bulging under the strain of it all.

As he got it nearer the surface and braced himself in order to launch it into boat, he caught sight of his vicious foe.... The Great White.... Squid! Now don't be so quick to judge. This thing was massive. Biggest squid ever, I'd say. That blighter fed us for three meals! Bloody beauty.

The rest is really quite short and sweet. Whilst doing yoga (yes you heard it correctly) on our own private little beach in Catamaran Bay, Burnsey made a somewhat disturbing remark (strange enough I know that we are both doing yoga like a couple of hippies). Given the glorious weather, Burnsey had decided to partly derobe and complete his chakras shirtless. Halfway through he suddenly asked 'do you think we could do this completely nude?'... I didn't know what to say. 'I'm sure you could' I offered cautiously... 'Why?'.... 'Eh' was his returned. 'Just wondering'. And now it is me that is left wondering. Oh Burnsey. 

The last on the list was the spectacular South Cape. What a place. The surf was awesome and there were a number of surfers out there enjoying the breaks. We walked past a couple on the 15.5km round trip in and they were just carrying their boards in... barefoot. Awesome. We thought of you Hammo. Well worth the trip if you're ever down this way.

Well that's it for this week! Only a few more days here in Tassie and then it's back to the mainland. See you next week and enjoy the video.

Matt and Kelly x