Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts

Sunday, April 22, 2007

The Most Amazing Pizza

With the rest day over in Swansea, B rejoined the ride south. I chased up a potential new position back in Melbourne via some *very* dodgy internet connections and then hoofed it down to Triabunna to meet B. We were staying in a caravan park, so I took advantage of the excellent weather and got a load of laundry done and basically wandered around town waiting for B to show up.

3 Hours later and still no B, my mind is now replaying scenes from the first 4 days...
I decided there was nothing constructive I could do - a drive through town looking for him took all of 5 minutes, and thinking it was likely he had gone over to Maria Island, I decided to head down to Orford to check out a gluten-free pizza joint I had heard of.

And glad I was - the pizzas were simply amazing. The base itself was nothing special - quite satisfactory though, but the toppings were devine! The focus seemed to be on specific combinations of one or two items matched with a different cheese. There were blue-vein options, Camembert, cheddar and everything in-between. The base is one size only, small, so they recommend you buy two for a decent meal. Not a problem - meant making the decision on toppings was slightly easier. The pizza place is Scorchers by the River Gallery Café and I highly recommend it! The only really strange thing is that they don't seem to advertise that they do gluten-free pizzas! Although it is completely possible I missed the sign, I did look for one.

After partaking of the amazingly excellent pizzas I returned to the caravan park to find our unit had been broken into! Strangely the only item moved was B's bag, from which his plate and cutlery had been removed. Yes, he had returned late from Maria Island due to a late returning ferry, managed to convince the caravan park owner that he was with me and raced up to get a meal with the bike riders.

The next day was Saturday, and glad I was that I had a car and was less than 2 hours from Hobart. In the morning B set off for Richmond, and I drove south instead aiming for the famous Salamanca Markets!
I did a little sightseeing on my own on the way, taking this panoramic photo of The Thumbs, before arriving at the Salamanca Markets later in the day.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

In Need of a Manicure

So after 3 days of waiting, B rolls in. But by then I am a wreck! Emotionally exhausted, not coping with the 5 am jump starts from a dark tent, followed by 8 hours of labour and not enough food. Not to mention I am desperately in need of a manicure, my cuticles are torn and bleeding... So regretfully I exit the volunteering life and travel on ahead, while B joins the ride (finally!) and wiles away an easy 81kms down the east coast of Tassie to meet me in Bicheno.

While riding through Elephant Pass, B stopped at the Elephant Pass Pancake Parlour where he noted that they had gluten-free pancakes! He didn't bring me one however..... :( OK it probably would have been cold and squished by the time it got to me....

While in Bicheno we went on a Penguin Hunting Expedition. We saw many, many penguins, up close and personal, one even made a break for it running between my feet. But alas all the photos failed, due to the low lighting, no flash conditions. You'll just have to believe me that they were all exceedingly cute.

The next morning B continued on - riding along the coast, and I hopped a bus to Hobart to hire a car and meet him back up in Swansea where we had a two day stop.
Swansea was also the first place on my list of gluten-free restaurants - The Ugly Duck Out, and I was keen to try it out.

I think I ate every meal there for two days: breakfast, lunch and dinner. And I still hadn't worked my way right through their menu. It was a little pricey and I got gluten-ed once (although the chef did apologise profusely, citing a busy lunch and perhaps not cleaning the grill properly).

On the no-ride day we went around to Coles Bay on the Freycinet Peninsula and took in the Hazards.


Monday, March 05, 2007

Back from Tassie

I'm back!

Here's a quick summary of the last 3 weeks....

Launceston - arrived 9 Feb
Pipers Brook - camping - B missing
Branxholm - B still missing
St Helens - Filed Missing Persons for B. (B turns up)
Bicheno - Penguins
Swansea - Coles Bay
Triabunna / Orford (Great pizza!)
Sorrel / Richmond - Scottish Festival
Hobart - Cruise Derwent River, Pub Tour (Great Indian!), Bruny Island
Dover - The End of the Road
Huonville - Airwalk, hang gliding, Jet Boat (Great seafood!)
New Norfolk - Gordon Dam, Something Wild
Queenstown - hills!, Great Western Railway
Strahan - Gorden River Cruise, Hells Gates, Sarah Island
Burnie / Stanley - The Nut, Dismal Swamp
Beauty Pt / Launceston - Platypus / Seahorse / Hang Gliding / Penguins (Great pancakes!)
Sheffield - Murals, Cradle Mountain
Devonport - Sail home......

Monday 5 March - back at work.....

Details and photos coming soon.....