Day 36 - Road tripping

Today we are on a mission. Which is not to say there might not be a bit of fun and frivolity along the way, but it is a day with a purpose. Up early before the sunrise, with the pups on board in the Bandycoot’s ute Brutus, we are on the road. This probably sounds more organised and enthusiastic than is the case, as the sun doesn’t come up now until after 7:30 in the morning. We are headed for Hobart. Well, just south of Hobart to be precise, to pick up the new members of our little farm family. The Bandycoot (my boyfriend) and I have dreamed of this moment for some time but were not sure it would ever actually happen. After falling in love with these beautiful creatures years ago, we are finally getting four alpacas to call our own.

It’s a long drive. Though Tassie isn’t big area-wise, there is no direct road down from the North West and so we have to drive almost to Launceston (2 hours) before we can start to head south to the capital. It’s exciting to be exploring new areas though we don’t really have time to look around. Lots of quaint small towns that must have been stops for the days of horse and coach, with their inns, colonial buildings, old pubs and stately government buildings all beckon for a closer look. Next time! We do stop for a lunch in a sweet little park in Campbelltown and get a look at the bridge on the edge of the town build by convicts in the early days of Tasmania. There is so much history here that we both long to learn more and so the Bandycoot stopped at the town’s bookstore and purchased a fascinating illustrated book on life in Van Diemen’s land for those early inhabitants.

 

After a long day’s drive we spend the night at a pet friendly B&B down in Margate. We watch a glorious sunset over the harbour and out over Bruny Island. The rooms are just beautiful and the Bandycoot describes his first Bed & Breakfast experience as 5-star! The rooms were so fancy that we took the pups out three times during the night to do their business, even though it was freezing, just because we didn’t want an accident on the fancy carpet. Thrilled to have access to fast internet, the Bandycoot took advantage of the free Wi-Fi and managed to download over 13GB of data! After a rainfall style shower, it was time to snuggle under the glorious doona (duvet) to dream about meeting our alpacas in the morning.

Room with a view