Reflections at Four Mile Creek, Tasmania

A sweet place and it's Four Miles Creek that we called into on the way to St. Helens.
Yeas ago our friends parents owned a 'shack' overlooking the Tasman Sea. Many weekends we would come with our friends to stay in the shack.  Often we would leave Launceston about midnight and arrived in the early hours of the morning, dodging the kangaroos and wild life along the way.  We would go for picnics up the bush, light a fire in the clearing and generally have a good time.

On the trip last week we came across a lady whom my husband recognized from school - so it turned out that we went to their house for a cup of tea and catching up on the years that had passed.

Not many people live at Four Mile Creek, nor are there many shacks or houses.  It's a great fishing area and for a swim close to shore.

The photos below are of the Creek where there are fish that sometimes jump partly out of the water.

This Bridge is fairly new, the one before was wooden and not at all safe.

St. Helens, Tasmania.

St. Helens is the largest town on the East Coast of Tasmania and it overlooks Georges Bay.
St. Helens was first used as a whaling base in the early 19th century. Tin was discovered in the surrounding area in 1870s.  St. Helens became the port for the mines.  At this time a coach service was introduced to the town, previous access was by sea.  The town was named after St. Helens, Isle of Wight.  Today the town is a popular resort for fishing, swimming and other aquatic activities.

Georges Bay Post Office opened on April 1, 1869 and was renamed St. Helen's in 1882.
The first European to explore the area was Captain T Furneaux who sailed up the coast in 1773.  He names the southern point of Georges Bay, St. Helens Point.

A typical Tasmanian Creek, this one is at St. Helens.

A couple of buildings in St. Helens, we spent one night in the caravan park here on our way home to Launceston.

.
A shop of which there are several spread out along the highway.  There are 2 supermarkets, Hotel, RSL, a couple of bakery's, a few restaurants, nothing lavish and varies other shops.

Part of St. Georges Bay.

In the photo there is 'the bar' which is notorious to get through for boats. Over the years several people have died either going out or coming in at the wrong time.

The Sunsets at the beach

We have been away down the East Coast of Tasmania for a week, arrived home today.  We stayed in the caravan in caravan parks at different towns along with way. The shower works well.
Had a baked dinner cooked in the gas oven, was delicious and turkey once again.

It's good that I could still read blogs and comment, however the previous posts were done in advance. The Google App for blogging isn't much good for uploading photos, it usually manages one photo, odd occasion 3 so it's best not used till it's improved, plus there is the data that ones uses whilst travelling, home has much more.
Took my crochet with me but never got any done.
The caravan is comfortable and the only thing that I have to do is use the washing machine to see if it works ok.

There is a map of Tasmania below and it shows where we have been this past week.

The above photo at sunset was taken looking towards St. Helens facing west.

Same place as above.  There was a boy about 10 years old who was watching the sunset beside me, he was very friendly, he lived across the road and would see this view from his parents house.

This photo was taken at another beach on the opposite side of the point, so the sun is setting behind me.

The above photo taken on the opposite side of the point as well, lots of sand dunes that go for miles/km to the right.  There are competitions or whatever they are called held there in the summer time.  It's not long till winter, only a matter of days now.

The black lines are where we went this past week.  If can be enlarged.

The Clock, Launceston, Tasmania

Whilst in the city during Jury duty I was able to take a few photos with my phone of the Town Clock, Macquarie House built 1830 in the Civic Square, plus a vehicle on the roof of a verandah in one of the main streets.

The Launceston City clock is over a hundred years old with the Post Office at the base of it.  It's always been well maintained and chimes throughout the night on the hour.  I remember when doing my training and living in the Nurses home I along with most of the Nurses would hear the clock chime during the night, and of course on our way on duty, it struck 6 times which gave us time to get to the hospital and be on time.

Recently there were complaints from mostly visitors who stay in the motels/hotels saying the clock was too noisy.  They didn't win, the clock still chimes and strikes.  It never woke me up.

Houses at Ross, Tasmania

The houses are old and are well kept, there are a few in the back streets, most in the main street.
We had a wonderful time walking up the street, and it's now I realize looking at the photos how pretty Ross is to me.

Ross was founded in 1812 and is about 87km from Launceston and further from Hobart the State Capitol down south.
In 1812 a garrison of soldiers was stationed at the ford of the Macquarie River to protect the development of the future town.  Buildings were soon established and in 1821 the settlement was proclaimed the town of Ross by Governor Macquarie.  Ross was the name of the parliamentary seat of his friend H M Buchanan of Loch Lomond, Scotland.

Ross was ideally situated in a central location and easily accessible from Northern and Southern Tasmania.  Good flat country for farming and the Macquarie River at it's feet.
The Government established a large farm in the district of 20,000 acres for agriculture and breeding purposes.  The land was broken up in 1830 and sold off to private landholders.
Horses and coaches were changed during the long journey to the north or the south.
Ross also had a strong military presence in the village/town and of course some lived there.

It's only in the past month that it was discovered that John Reece was working there for a time as a Military man being sent out from England to help as he was in the Army both in England and Tasmania.  His only daughter Margaret was my husbands 2nd great grandson.  Margaret was born in England in 1820.

Ulverstone and beyond.

Whist at Turners Beach we took a drive further to the west along the coast of Tasmania for me to take some photos.

Below is the Memorial Clock Tower at Ulverstone which is not far from Turners Beach.  The town has 2 supermarkets as in Coles and Woolworths, Newsagency, Bakeries, clothing, shoe and food shops plus of course the Post Office, a Pub and various other stores.  They are all mainly in the main street.

The clock looks lovely at night because it's all lit up and a round a about at the base of it.

These 2 rocks are part of 3 of which you can just see the 3rd one on the right, they are known as the 3 sisters.

Just the views from the side of the road along a small part of the North West Coast.

Turners Beach, Tasmania, Australia.

Last week we went to the beach for 4 days with the new caravan.
The weather wasn't the best as it rained a few of those days but I managed to get a photo towards sunset of the beach behind the caravan.
When the tide is out you can often see the horses and their riders galloping along the beach, not that they do it often.  

I cooked Turkey in the Gas oven, and had baked potatoes plus veggies cooked on the gas cooktop.
We used the shower and tried out most things in the van to see all worked, soon we will do it all again.Talking about gas oven, the potatoes took 3 hours to bake, next time I will pre-cook them as they were rather dense and are known to take a little longer than other varieties.

We came home on Mother's Day in the morning in time for eldest son his wife and little ones to take me out to lunch.

Monday I had to be present in the Supreme Court to see if I was to be chosen as a Juror.  Oh, yes, I was, so this past week I was on a case which is now finished.
I couldn't win a raffle, but I was the 8th person chosen and I thoroughly enjoyed.

Walking along the caravan park and came across the steps to the beach, it was a rough day at Turners Beach.

View to the East.

4th and 5th Grandchild....a bit blurred and taken with my phone.  I asked her to smile and she normally won't but this time she did.... Miss E just had her 3rd birthday, and the baby boy is 6 months old.

Inside the Caravan

Photo of inside the caravan.

The blinds are white and go up from the bottom, on the outside of caravan looking inwards the blinds are silver.  The fly screens come down from the top and clip onto the white blinds if necessary.

 The microwave at the top, the fridge, stove/oven Gas, the bathroom, dinning room with the table folded back.

 The bedroom and showing the fridge. There is more storage under the bed.

The dinning room. The table folds back, and the vases are wrapped in a cloth for travelling.

One of the big air vents, middle is the conditioning and reverse cycle heating, then the touch light, there are two of these.

The radio which has bluetooth, USB and CD player.

The TV which is also a DVD player and recorder, it works with solar power or electric.
The TV Antenna is on the ceiling which is a dial and little lights are shown as to the strength of the signal.

The bathroom, the door is locked in the position, then if unlocked it can slide closed.
The washing machine is under where the lid folds down.

A full oven which is Gas plus the sweet little shelves.

The shower is a full shower and is larger than we thought. 

The power mains.  Operates most things from here.  The Gas hot water, the electric hot water, also the Solar hot water.

The water tanks x 2, plus the inside temperature of the caravan and the levels of the water is shown on a very small panel just inside the door.....photo I forgot to take.

The garbage bin, and the contents of the yellow bag for recycling. 

The barbecue is on the outside of the caravan, you need a key to unlock it, then it slides out. The outside table also has a key, and that comes down when unlocked.

The 2 solar panels are on the roof as is the TV antenna.

Ross Bridge, Tasmania,

In 1836 the Ross Bridge was completed.  The bridge is made of Sandstone and is the 3rd oldest bridge still in use within Australia.

Years ago the water would rise well over the approach to the bridge on the southern side (Hobart side), and ramps were put in place so cars could continue up the ramp onto the bridge to drive forward.  With my parents I experienced this several times.  These days it never floods, plus the town is now bypassed.

The Female Factory, Ross, Tasmania

I posted where we travelled to Ross the other weekend and had lunch - more on Ross.

Some very serious History of Ross in Tasmania.

The paddock once contained yards, cells, thatched huts to house the Convict stonemasons who were building the Ross Bridge in 1833.  By the early 1840's a large punishment station had sprouted with sufficient space for some 300 chained road gang convicts and male probation prisons that followed them.

Between 1847 - 48 the building were adapted especially for use as the Ross Female Factory, which operated as a convict hiring depot, nursery, probation and punishment station.  Over the next 7 years hundreds of female felons served time behind the conspicuous high security fence until the establishment's closure in 1855.

Ross Female Factory accommodated between 60 - 120 women at any one time.  These women were typically unmarried and aged in their mid twenties.  Around 40 of their infant children were confined separately in the nursery wing.

Of the 74,000 convicts transported to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) between 1804 - 54 some 12,500 were women.

The prison walls and structures have all but disappeared, however, many layers of this site's history lie buried in government records and in the archaeology underfoot.

Male Bridge Gang 1833 - 36
Male Road & Punishment Station 1841 - 46
Male Probation Station 1846 - 47
Female Factory 1848 - 55
Police Station & Residence 1895 - 1938
Farm Residence 1938 - 80
Heritage Site 1980 - present

*Notes taken from the Signs at Ross.

Commandant's Cottage

Cottage at the back right