May 2015

Mainly fine, but still windy for our relatively short trip from Longford to Forth. Today we said goodbye to Paul and Lee after enjoying their company for the last 4 days. Too much eating and drinking.......!

There were only a couple of vans on site at the Forth Recreation Ground so we were able to pick a good spot for the night. The nearby Forth River was running fast and furious, although still a metre below flood level. There had not been any heavy rain for about a week so the water was probably snow melt from recent heavy snow falls on the Western Tiers.

Camped at Forth Recreation Ground

Forth River running a banker

This morning we headed for Evandale which hosts a regular country market every Sunday, from around 8:00am until around 1:30pm. The markets are located in Falls Park, which serves as a free RV caravan and motorhome park during the week. However the free campers are evicted on Saturday to make way for the Sunday Market.

There was a great variety of stalls, including local produce, second-hand books, food vans, general bric-a-brac and local crafts. Brian and Lynn, our dinner companions from last night have a stall at the market and specialise in plaques for football and rugby teams.

Seeing as it was Mothers Day - Di and Lee were treated to morning coffee with scones with jam and cream.

Evandale is renowned as the home of John Glover who was the most important early 19th century landscape artist to work in Australia. In 1832, he settled at Mills Plains (Deddington, near Evandale) on a property that he called 'Patterdale'. Here, he farmed and painted commissioned works for the proud landowners of the Colony, and landscapes for sale in London. Many of these now grace public galleries throughout Australia, as well as overseas. A bronze statue of Glover is located near Falls Park.

Statue of John Glover, colonial artist, at Evandale

Brian and Lynn with their stall at the Evandale Sunday Market

Go Cats!

Today we decided to visit Brickendon Colonial Farm Village which is one of Tasmania's oldest farming properties, settled in 1824 by William Archer. The farm has been continuously operated and lived on by his direct descendents, now in their 7th generation. In July 2010, Brickendon Estate along with its neighbouring property, Woolmers Estate were listed jointly as a World Heritage Site being part of the Australian Convict Sites World Heritage Property.

The two Estates are regarded as the most significant rural estates in Australia having the second largest number of convict workers and still retaining a living history from early European settlement to the present day.

In the evening we had dinner at the Happy Chef Restaurant in Longford with Brian and Lynn, who are old friends of Paul and Lee. An excellent meal with good wine and good company.

Brickendon Colonial Farm Village

The Granary circa 1830

Capped piers known as staddle stones to keep the vermin out

One of two Sussex Barns

Inside the Sussex Barn

Di with Chappy and Lee

Old farm machinery

The Chapel

The Bakery

Woolmers Estate in the distance

The origins of the 5th wheeler

Brickendon Homestead

Weeds in the lawn

Coach House and Stables

A couple of peeping toms at the Coachman's Cottage

Mainly cloudy and 14 degrees, but still very windy.

We visited a few caravan accessory dealers around Launceston without success. We followed up with a visit to a new Bunning's outlet in Launceston, where we found a few things that we did not know that we needed.

On the way back to camp we checked out Old Mac’s Farm Stay which is a picturesque setting on a 44-hectare site that includes a scenic lake to fish from within five kilometres of the Launceston CBD. It is an ideal location for anyone exploring Launceston offering unpowered sites for $10 a night, with enough room for up to 50 vehicles at any one time. We will remember this spot for our next visit to Launceston's Festivale.

A very long happy hour with Lee and Chappy and we shared our food for dinner - a good night.

No photos today.

As the weather forecast for today was reasonable - fine and windy - we decided it was the best day to go to Agfest at nearby Carrick. Agfest is a series of three agricultural field days and is dominated by farm machinery dealers, as well as car dealers, caravan dealers, 4X4 dealers, and craft stalls. The organisation is fantastic with roads closed for one way traffic into the site in the morning, and one way away from the site in the afternoon. Three large car parks are established for traffic from the south, the north and the north west, which allows all traffic to be sent back from whence they came in the afternoon.

While wandering around the site we ran into Nick and Christine Tall who were also caravanning in the area. We all had lunch together and caught up which was fun.

That's snow on them there hills

Well organised car parking

Put-put engines chugging away

A tow truck from yesteryear

Big boys playing in the mud

Oops

In the evening we all drove into Launceston to meet up with old friends Hoges and Roz for dinner at the Metz, a local night spot. It was great to catch up after not seeing them for many years, and later we went to their home to see progress on their renovations which have been going on for several months.