Everyone seemed to be taking it easy packing up their tents. After we finished packing we went for a walk around to say goodbye to friends, some we won’t see again till the next AGM.

We travelled to Launceston via Sheffield, stopping to have a look at the murals that are painted on walls throughout the town. We saw a man with a baby alpaca on a lead at one of the tea rooms; it was very cute and so soft.

On arrival at the caravan park we saw that Wobbly Bob was staying here also, so we asked at the office if we could have the campsite next to him. He’d left Ulverstone early and we’d missed saying goodbye to him, but as it turned out we didn’t need to.

The rest of the day we just relaxed around the caravan park, it’s been a full on week and it’s nice to sit and do nothing much.

One of my ancestors was a publican and had several pubs throughout this area including one at Perth which was called the Jolly Farmer. After enquiring at the tourist info centre as to its whereabouts we rode there and took a couple of photos.

There are some lovely examples of early Australian architecture in many of the towns in Tasmania. Both Campbell Town and Ross have really nice bridges, the one at Ross earned a pardon for the stonemason who worked on it.

We had a wander around Ross and saw the four corners, Damnation, a prison, Salvation, a church, Recreation, the Town Hall and Temptation, a hotel. We also saw the remains of the Female Factory, a place where woman prisoners were sent.

When we rode back to Campbell Town we stopped off at the roadhouse and had a cup of tea and their specialty - a deep fried mars bar, not something you’d find every day!

There’s still a lot of Ulysses members around Tony was talking to a couple while I was looking at a tourism brochure.

When we got back to Launceston we went grocery shopping and on return to the caravan park we sat a talked with Wobbly Bob.

ROSS BRIDGE

First stop was the Westbury maze. Mazes really appeal to me; I have a small one in my garden at home. This one took us about half an hour to complete. A smart alec kid solved the maze straight away, after we’d been trying to find our way to the centre for ages. It was a bit of fun and we got some exercise as well.

We then went to the Post Office which doubles as the information centre. I wanted to see if I could find anything to do with my family history. Some of my ancestors were married and lived in Westbury in 1880. The lady at the PO sent us to see Max at the Historical Society.

I spoke to Max and he told me that there are quite a few Delanteys in the district still and he gave me a name of a lady who had published a book on families of the area including Delantey. I’ll pass it on to my sister, Gail who is the one doing all the research.

We went to the church where John and Bridget were married and took some photos and we also visited the cemetery to see if there was anything there that might be of use, and drove by the land where their house once stood.

While in Westbury we visited a photography gallery also.

On our way back into Launceston we stopped off at Richardson’s the Harley dealers to confirm our appointment to get the bike serviced. While there we had a look around the store and at the museum upstairs. The staff even made us a cup of tea.

We went back to the caravan park and had some lunch before heading in towards the city to Cataract Gorge. The gorge carpark is sloping ( like the whole state of Tasmania) and as Tony turned the bike in the carpark it decided it wanted to go over, he tried to keep it upright but wasn’t able. No damage done to the bike but Tony’s arm is a bit sore; it’s a big beast to argue with. We were going very slowly when it went over, I hopped off, but Tony didn’t want to just drop it and that’s how his arm got hurt, wrestling with it.

We parked the bike properly, on two wheels instead of the crash bars, and went for a walk through the gorge.

It’s a lovely spot, would be nice on a hot day if they ever had any here. Right in town is this lovely bush setting with the river cutting a deep gorge. There’s a chairlift and a suspension bridge across the water, a swimming pool and a pond on the river. There’s a couple of cafes and a lovely old rotunda set in very old gardens with magnificent trees. There are walks of varying length throughout the park.

We rode back to the caravan park after a bit of a look around. We sat outside talking to Wobbly Bob and Alan and Fiona who arrived earlier in the day.

We had a bit of a look around before coming across a cinema at 10.20. the only movie that interested us, Walk the Line, started at 10.30, what good timing that was. It was a very good movie, we both thoroughly enjoyed it. The actors did a great job, they did all the singing themselves.

TONY AT RICHARDSONS HARLEY DAVIDSON

When we got out of the cinema at 12.50 it was pouring with rain. We went to a bakery for lunch then wandered around the shops a bit more. Shopping’s boring when you’re not looking to buy anything.

We tried ringing Richardsons a couple of times but it rang out. We decided to go back there anyway and wait at the shop. By this time the rain had stopped, so we caught the bus back.

When we got there they were in darkness, the power had gone off in the storm, which meant they had gotten behind in their work. As we walked in the power came back on. We sat in the lounge area and watched a video and had a cup of tea.

It was after 5pm before the bike was ready to go. So now the bike has been serviced in every state of Australia except South Australia, where they couldn’t fit us in.

Back to the caravan park and more socialising before the rain drove us into the tent for the evening.