Thursday, January 20, 2011

Two-Oh-Two Followers and Terrible Tassie: Day 2.

I thought I should mention I have 202 followers. I think the big jump to 200 happened while I was away in Tasmania. Over two hundred people following my blog, all I can say is wow!
Thank you guys, you are amazing!

Well my WIP is still being dominated by Valentina. That woman won’t let me pay attention to anyone else.
If I stay at all close to my original outline (and it isn’t looking likely) her part in my story is close to wrapping up. I kind of don’t think she’s going to sit back quietly and let me sideline her.

Speaking of sidelined, I haven’t posted anything more of my Tassie trip and I have so many piccies that I would love to share. It is impossible to do them justice in a single post so I thought I would post a few maybe once a week for a while.

That way none of us will get too bored and I won’t seem too much like Uncle Harry.

Day two in Tassie was all about coast.
We drove north from Launceston along the east bank of the Tamar River.
I took dozens of piccies here are just a few (as usual click on any of the photos to enlarge).
A sandy bay in the estuaryThis looks across the river, the straight stone line in the fore ground looks to be a fish trap. They are scattered around the Australian coast, the idea is the fish swim in at high tide and get trapped as the tide goes out. On the mainland they are often very old and were usually built by Aboriginal people. But I can say with absolute certainty that if this is a fish trap it is not Aboriginal. Why?
I know because Tasmanian Aboriginals had a taboo on eating fish for thousands of years before European settlement. They ate shellfish, and other marine resources but considered scaly fish unfit to eat. If anyone knows why their descendants are not saying.
Near the river mouth is the 1835 Pilot Station. The Tamar in general and Launceston in particular was an important port.

We stopped a while for a poke around and unsurprisingly I took photos.
Of nooks and crannies.Of a Tassie local, Hakea flowersand the old pilot’s jettyPart of the Pilot Station is still in use as the Tamar is still a harbour.This was the view from the cafĂ© table where we had lunch.
A short run to low head where I took a few piccies of the Low Head LighthouseWe headed east along the North Coast to Bridport, there you can find the remains of the Granite Point Jetty which burnt down in 1938.Finally in the evening we hit the East Coast at St HelensOne last piccie, Deb contemplates the view at the seafood restaurant where we ate dinner.

16 comments:

Ellen Brickley said...

Gorgeous pictures Al, looks like a beautiful place. I especially like the lighthouse.

Congratulations on the followers, very impressive!

A character took over my WIP once, she ended up being the main character and changing the whole book. It worked out well for me, hope whatever Valentina does ends up being for the good of the book.

Theresa Milstein said...

Congratulations on reaching 202 followers!

I love the pictures. It makes me miss the warmer weather. I remember your winter pictures when we were in the middle of summer here.

Vicki Rocho said...

Lovely photos! I think the burned jetty is my favorite, but not sure why.

Old Kitty said...

Yay for your followers!!!!

Tasmania is absolutely lovely!! There doesn't seem to be anyone around!!! :-)

It's never been a place I'd thought of but it's so gorgeous that maybe one day - cat willing! LOL! - I'd be able to visit there!! It's lovely! Besides I hope those beautiful Tasmanian Devils will still be around then!!! Poor things!!

Valentina is certainly a potent character! She must be heard!!!

Take care
x

Sarah Ahiers said...

congrats on the followers!
And i LOVE the Pilot's Jetty photo. That's my favorite one

Sage Ravenwood said...

Beautiful imagery! Yes, characters can be quite demanding AND loud. (Hugs)Indigo

Golden Eagle said...

Congratulations on the followers! :)

I love the pictures--it looks so beautiful!

Hart Johnson said...

I'm giggling at your character who won't behave... I think you should let her have her way with you. Congrats on the 202 followers! And I love the pics--looks so idyllic!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on the 202 followers, Al.

I realise how out of touch I have become with your blog and need to read back a few posts. I'm saying to myself, who is Valentina?

Tasmania looks gorgeous. I particularly appreciate the pic of the Hakea flowers. I begin to get hungry for colour at this point in our winter.

TK Richardson said...

Congratulations on gaining so many followers! And I just love the pictures.(They're a nice break from the fog in my neck of the woods.) :)

Al said...

Hi Ellen,
I loved that light house it is so cheery.
As to Valentina I am along for the ride for the moment, we’ll just havew to see where it goes.

Hi Theresa,
Thank you!
I am enjoying this summer that is for sure.

Hi Vicki,
I loved that piccie too. I am not sure quite why but it certainly works.

Hi Jennifer,
Yay indeed!
A lot of Oz is like that gorgeous with no one around. And that is their peak tourist season you are looking at!
A lot of work is going into the devils so here is hoping.
Valentina certainly is refusing to take no for an answer.

Hi Sarah,
Thank you.
I love that piccie too, but then I love most of them.

Hi Indigo,
Thank you. Loud is the word!

Hi Eagle,
Thank you on both scores!

Hi Hart,
My characters are often like that, but I must say Valentina is about the most feisty!
Ha ha, let her have her way with me, Deb already calls my female characters my floosies!

Hi Christine,
Thank you!
You have been having a rough time lately, it is good to see ‘you out and about’ again . Valentina is a very obstreperous character.
Tassie is amazing, I can’t recall liking anywhere more. The Hakeas are certainly riotously colourful!

Hi TK,
Thank you.
I am pleased the summer pics are warming you up a bit!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Al .. just been past the Launceston here and over the Tamar 4 times in the last 2 weeks ..so I guess the people who landed and named the area were Cornish ... and the fish traps may well have been influenced by the landings in South Africa on their way .. the sandlopers ate a lot of fish ..

Love the pictures - clear, clear days you had .. gorgeous - Tasmania will be a port of call for me when I get down under sometime .. cheers Hilary

Al said...

Hi Hilary,
The Tamar in Tassie was named by the great Navigator Matthew Flinders. Who came from Lincolnshire.
I guess the Tassie Launceston was named in memory of the Cornish one because of the name of the river it sat on.
We were really lucky with the weather we had in Tassie. It was beautiful almost every day!

Kyna said...

Such beautiful photos, I love that lighthouse! We have a few lighthouses along the North Carolina coast, but Chuck and I have never been to any of them. We're planning a trip one of these days :D

Lisa said...

Tasmania is lovely and your piccies are great, as usual!

Al said...

Hi Kyna,
get up there and have a look you know you'll have fun!

Hi Lisa,
Tassie is a little slice of heaven.
Thank you!