Preamble
Roger
Anna & Elias, three languages here for you to sort out, Dad or Uncle George can help with one. Uncle David, Aunty Lorna or I can help you with another. If you need help with the third I suggest you ask your first cousin once removed by marriage Sandra, married to Great Uncle David and Great Aunt Elaine's youngest son, Kenneth Elman, what " Mijn luchtkussenboot zit vol paling" means; yes she is a Kiwi living in Suffolk, England but she too is bilingual and I am sure agrees that "Een enkele taal is nooit genoeg".
As Herr Laing probably told George, perhaps whilst having a crafty
fag in the bushes when he, Herr Laing, should have been coaching a rugby session (American readers crafty fag is slang for an illicit cigarette) “Eine Sprache ist niemals genug”,
just before Frau Laing or as she is known, Ms Sludds, would have made the Music House ring with Beethoven’s
setting of it for an all-girl choir. It
is unlikely that the IB syllabus included such useful phrases as “Mein Luftkissenfahrzeug ist voller Aale”
or “Die Dame übernimmt die Rechnung”
but it would certainly have included a very timely “Frohe Weihnachten und einen guten Rutsch ins neue
Jahr’.
I don’t remember David’s French teacher very clearly, was it Mr
Hamill? I certainly remember my own, the
late Ben Young, MA and Croix de Guerre (1939-1945). He got his medal while working
as liaison between Monty and Charles de Gaul but deserved it more for teaching
me! He would absolutely have insisted ‘Une seule langue n'est jamais suffisante’ but I suspect he would
have left it to David’s IB teacher to translate “Mon aéroglisseur est plein d'anguilles”. Sans
douté Lorna remembers from her servitude in Geneva ; "Est-ce que vous pourriez parler plus
lentement, s'il vous plaît ?" Whilst I recall from my teenage visits to
Provence that the response I invariably received to ‘Voulez-vous
danser avec moi?” was “Aller se faire cuire un œuf’. I wonder if French girls still have the same great enthusiasm for boiled eggs they had in those days.
And now we leave the MUN and MEP and return to our travels in
Tasmania.
Launceston
Chiefly by Lorna
We rearranged our itinerary and deleted stops in Scamander and Devonport to give us five nights in Launceston as our final five days in
Tasmania. Our preferred hostelry, The Quest, was booked out so we had to spend the first two in the
country club villas – a nice enough place to sleep but unless you on a golfing or gambling trip, a
less than ideal hub. The last three
nights we moved into Launceston central to the Quest, awkward parking for a taller than 6.2 metre vehicle but
right in the centre of town.
Launceston is full of historic buildings, museums, walks and
parks.
We love looking at Georgian & Victorian architecture be it domestic or industrial and ambled past most of them. You can follow our path at Launceston Heritage Walks
Launceston has some very nice restaurants and unlike some places in Tasmania, the cost was equal to the value received. Stillwater, Black Cow and Novaro’s were really good experiences.
An equally astounding experience was at AJ’s Indian in downtown Launceston. This one chap seemed to greet, seat, wait and cook by himself for the twenty or so customers without ever losing his cool or seem hurried. Our curry was hot, the bread was freshly cooked and we were in and out of there in less than an hour. Roger verified that there was nobody else in the kitchen doing the cooking (or washing up).
 |
| I have put my order in for a window like this one! |
Launceston has some very nice restaurants and unlike some places in Tasmania, the cost was equal to the value received. Stillwater, Black Cow and Novaro’s were really good experiences.
An equally astounding experience was at AJ’s Indian in downtown Launceston. This one chap seemed to greet, seat, wait and cook by himself for the twenty or so customers without ever losing his cool or seem hurried. Our curry was hot, the bread was freshly cooked and we were in and out of there in less than an hour. Roger verified that there was nobody else in the kitchen doing the cooking (or washing up).
We did a Tamar river valley cruise, which was a pleasant way to
while away an afternoon. They also took
us into Cataract Gorge on the boat which was a
different perspective than walking on top of the gorge and looking down.
Roger
We like Launceston a far less touristy destination than Hobart and well worth a visit but it is a bit under promoted so you'll have to work hard to plan your visit. I'll cover all this in my debrief at a later date.
Dash to Devonport & Spirit of Tasmania
Lorna
We set out from Launceston at the crack of dawn to drive the
100kms to catch the 9am sailing on the
Spirit of Tasmania ferry. After
our outgoing sailing we both dutifully took the “travel calm” pills as soon as
we were on board and prepared for the washing machine effect. It was a much smoother crossing and we even had lunch
on board.
Tullamarine
The brand new Quest, Melbourne Airport is good but not yet in any of the three GPS devices on which we relied, nor are the surrounding streets. A littel disconcerting. We had a very nice dinner nearby at Dicaprio, a very large, really good value Italian Restaurant, we are glad it isn't near home, we'd end up enormous.Wagga Wagga
Lorna
We decided again to split the drive home to Sydney, with a stop in Wagga Wagga at the Houston as we had on
our way down. We have raved about the
Houston and how good it was and compared a lot of our Tasmanian accommodation
unfavorably to the standard they set.
This time they just got it wrong and as the room we had previously
occupied was unavailable they put us in
a “suite”. It was beautiful but impractical
and when you spend your time moving furniture in a hotel room to make it
possible to move around comfortably, and need a step ladder to get into the
bath to shower then the interior designer was more worried about the aesthetics
than the practicalities.
Wagga PS
Roger
We had another awesome Italian meal in another large value driven restaurant, Giuseppes Restaurant & Bar, which started in that most Italian of Riverina towns, Griffith.
The next morning the Houston's owner dealt really well with my feedback, gave us a discount on the room price and will get us there again next time we pass through. Great customer relationship management and turned us back into Houston fans.
Gundagai
Lorna
Despite saying last time we were there that we would in future skip Gundagai we decided to drive up the main street to see if it had changed and were delighted to say there is a serious effort underway to make it worth another visit.
We were pleased with our visit to Hope's Place for morning coffee and tea. Roger was delighted to get a pot of proper loose leaf tea. Across the road, in the old Gundagai Theatre, we found an
antique/vintage/bric a brac shop that was wonderful. Packed full of clothes, furniture and
interesting stuff. We left with a cast
iron cockerel door stop. The vintage hat
section alone took me straight back to my childhood and Sunday best. Next time I need a dress up box, I am heading
to Gundagai.
Take a llok at the efforts the Gundagai community are making, well worth a quick stop next time you pass. Gundagai Visitor's centre.
Lunch at our usual stop at Goulburn workers club – a value
proposition.
Home always looks good after a long holiday and thanks to
sons and neighbours, it was still there and looking good.
