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description=A 4,500km trip around Tasmania in search of the Platypus and other Australian oddballs, November to December 2016;

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names of counties cities towns and villages from across the length and breadth of the uk over the past four weeks we ve passed through or close to kettering sheffield swansea st helen s derby devonport brighton bridgewater perth margate melton mowbray somerset strathblane and southport to name but a few in so many ways whether it be the place names the landscape or even the climate tasmania conjures up misty eyed memories of the old country tassie is i tell myself like the uk with added wombats and is therefore a good thing we continue to pass the time of day filling station man asks where we are heading and when we say to the north of the island he says to watch out for the remains of the air raid defences that s difficult to believe i say this place is in the middle of nowhere it s true he replies in 1942 after the fall of singapore australia was thought to be vulnerable the theory was that the japanese might capture flinders and use it as a base from which to launch air raids on melbourne and hobart so the government put up a string of defences to protect us from attack really i ask the doubt obvious in my voice i know it for a fact he replies because my father helped build them we shake our heads thoughtfully looking around us the story seems so improbable yet it s plainly true i can see it in filling station man s eyes which shine brightly at the thought that once long long ago his family here on flinders had a walk on part in a conflict that turned the world upside down hydro man a couple of hours later we are in the north of flinders parked up by the beach like so many stretches of shoreline in tasmania it is both completely deserted and stunningly beautiful and we wander off to explore a few minutes later i glance behind me and in the distance see a guy standing by our car immediately my 21 st century urban paranoia kicks in someone s standing next to my car why doesn t he stand somewhere else he must be planning to break in and nick it or maybe he wants the radio or the wheels i m going to keep my eyes on him the thieving bastard i scurry back masking my anxiety with phoney nonchalance g day he says as i approach he smiles warmly drawing deeply on his cigarette er oh hi i stutter thrown off balance by his friendly charm where the hell s his crowbar i wonder to myself grand day he says we re due some good weather after the last few months yes we ve heard it s been rough i reply sheepish now it s evident that this guy has no agenda beyond a leisurely fag break where are you from he asks it s a familiar question almost without exception the aussies we ve met have been friendly and have asked about home how long are we staying do we like it here and so on when we say we re from the uk he says he s never been though he s visiting donegal next year to meet up with an old friend my son s been to the uk though had his camera stolen when he fell asleep on a train from edinburgh to london i feel suitably ashamed for having doubted this guy s intentions when the welcome we have received in oz has been so warm while his son was treated so badly back home we chat amiably in the hot sun he s 68 and is doing contract work as a lineman for the hydro he earns 76 an hour but has to pay his taxes and insurances out of that it seems generous no wonder everything s so expensive if a lineman for the hydro earns that much but good luck to him i think to myself it must be tough to earn a living here on flinders also hydro man adds i run sheep and cattle on my property and we ve got some holidays lets too and three months a year i go off shearing sheep there s a pattern emerging here which we ve already seen in rob and various other people we ve met on flinders people don t just have a job they have multiple jobs they do a bit of this and that here and there and if they re flexible and hardworking there s a decent living to be made have you got a garden he asks suddenly apropos of nothing in particular yes i say about 75 square metres out the back what about you yep we ve got a small garden hydro man replies about two and a half acres it s a different world you know out here on flinders island 7 december author platypus man posted on january 2 2017 august 23 2018 categories flinders history people leave a comment on chewing the fat on flinders rob the builder today we leave mainland tasmania taking a short flight from launceston airport to flinders island over the past 30 days we ve driven 4 269km and it seems like we ve explored every corner of tassie it s surpassed our expectations and we are sorry to leave flinders however is off the beaten track even by tasmanian standards and offers us a chance to chill before the mayhem of melbourne and the horrors of the flight back to the uk we know we re in for an experience when the guy at check in tells us our hand luggage is too heavy we re pack shifting stuff into suitcases until the weight meets the airline s rules but we needn t have bothered when we try to take it on the plane the captain says it s too big and will have to go in the hold anyway as we clamber on board we take his point it s a 19 seater and we re packed in like sardines i never thought i d be dreaming wistfully of the creature comforts in a british airways economy class cabin but plainly we re playing by different rules here in outback oz in flinders we are staying in a self contained cabin on a farm with great views of franklin sound beyond the trees free range guinea pigs and partridges roam the farmyard kept in line by jess an eager and friendly sheep dog this seems like our sort of place our genial hosts rob and lorraine are in the habit of treating new arrivals to a barbecue in an outbuilding that rob has built himself from salvaged materials as well as running cattle and sheep on his smallholding rob is a builder by trade plainly a skilled and versatile one he points to various bits of the building explaining proudly where they ve been sourced as the barbecue gets going some bats are flushed out of the roof space circling madly for a few seconds before exiting via a convenient gap in the eaves rob puts a vinyl record of abba s greatest hits on to an ancient turntable and we re ready to rumble we talk about the death of andrew sachs a few days ago we say we are amazed that it was mentioned on australian radio news and lorraine explains that fawlty towers is massively popular over here she and rob both enjoy british tv comedy and can t get the hang of us sitcoms we share their sentiments the tricky subject of mutton birds raises its head driving us back from the airport lorraine had told us about the menu for the barbecue including mutton birds these are better known as short tailed shearwaters they are common birds in tasmania and are regarded around these parts as a culinary delicacy i politely declined explaining that we are birders and came to tassie to watch the local wildlife rather than to eat it no offence was intended but we appear to have scored an own goal rob makes the case for eating mutton birds and he too scores an own goal they re very common he says and we ll probably like them as they taste like minke whale we are truly sorry if we have offended two decent people who are giving up their evening to cook us a barbecue we are not criticising their customs or way of life but we have principles and must stick to them if we are to be true to ourselves an awkward silence descends across the proceedings by unspoken agreement everyone quickly moves on determined to make the most of an evening without mutton birds lorraine cooks well and we tuck in eagerly to her home made sausages and pesto washed down with rob s excellent home brew julie doesn t much care for lamb but lorraine serves some which is sourced from the dorper sheep rob has raised on the farm and she is won over soon we are swapping travellers tales rob and lorraine prove to be the best travelled aussies we ve met and are frequent visitors to europe they know orkney and shetland well as do we though they prefer the latter while we could easily spend the rest of our lives on the former they even know holt in norfolk which julie and i visit most years how many brits let alone tasmanians can claim to know holt the evening draws to an amiable close the guinea pigs are safely tucked up in bed for the night and we need to follow their example flinders is surprisingly large more than twice the size of the isle of man and we have just two days to explore it so tomorrow we ll need to make an early start 6 december author platypus man posted on january 1 2017 august 24 2018 categories birds flinders people touring leave a comment on rob the builder the voyage of captain quirk 2 selfie captain quirk is always looking for unusual angles for variations on a theme for new ways to render old truths this image is the captain s unusual slant on a selfie taken next to a parking lot in cradle mountain national park for a reason that i can no longer remember there was on this stretch of road one of those convex mirrors that are designed give drivers a wider view of their surroundings captain quirk decided that photographing it would give a unique view of her good self of her immediate surroundings and of the distant mountains see what you think 5 december author platypus man posted on december 27 2016 august 24 2018 categories quirky leave a comment on the voyage of captain quirk 2 selfie the voyage of captain quirk 1 mailbox magic tomorrow we leave mainland tasmania for flinders island it s high time therefore to look back over the voyage of captain quirk mrs p or captain quirk as she s now known to platypus pandemonium loves taking quirky photos her favourite subject in the usa is the humble mailbox outside big urban centres mail is delivered to a mailbox on the curb side rather than being posted through a letterbox cut into the front door most us mailboxes are boringly utilitarian rectangular in shape with a simple domed roof just occasionally however on our american road trips we ve come across an act of rebellion a mailbox that doesn t conform to type but rather gives us an insight into its owner creator perhaps a trout shaped box outside the home of a fisherman or a maybe a horse shaped creation at the gates to a farm inevitably therefore when we spot one of these quirky american mailboxes i m required to screech to a halt to allow captain quirk to photograph it to our amazement and the captain s utter delight the tasmanians have got in on the act too it was only a couple days into our trip on bruny island that we spotted this dalek a truly brilliant creation that comprises amongst other things an egg whisk and a plunger for unblocking sinks after that we kept our eyes open and came across other mailbox magic sometimes we d drive three or four days without seeing one and then stumble across two in a single afternoon maybe it s something in the water whatever here are some of the best i m not quite sure what these mailboxes tell us about tasmanians but her keenness to record them tells us heaps about the good captain she was for example bowled over by this fellow who bears a striking resemblance to sean the sheep still loyally guarding an item of mail awaiting collection here s a smart skewbald horse and a lighthouse inevitably seen on a coastal road this dog looks full of personality though perhaps a bit goofy but sometimes a much loved dog isn t enough its owner wants to get in on the act too some tailor made mailboxes such as this almost qualify as works of public art it s not clear what the guy s occupation is note the enigmatic tank on his back but he s plainly of the aussie persuasion as there are corks dangling from his hat this knight in shining armour looks a little out of place on a rural tasmanian road though no more than a marauding dalek i suppose a splendid cockerel looks much more at home in tassie but as for this aviator i m lost for words the red baron s long lost cousin maybe reviewing these photos for platypus pandemonium i m reminded that at its best travel engages all the senses and emotions the trick is to be open to the possibilities inherent in day to day existence we didn t visit tasmania for the mailboxes but they brought us moments of sheer delight of hysterical laughter of shaking our heads in utter bemusement all credit to captain quirk for recognising that these mailboxes should be recorded for posterity as final and irrefutable evidence of the human ability when the mood takes us to be as delightfully daft as a brush 5 december author platypus man posted on december 27 2016 march 29 2020 categories quirky 2 comments on the voyage of captain quirk 1 mailbox magic it makes you sick we re staying at a luxurious eco lodge on the freycinet peninsula the view from the property is spectacular and we are at one with the wildlife living here including this lizard who calls our bedroom home the freycinet peninsula is another of tassie s coastal gems with breath taking views around nearly every corner such as here at honeymoon bay but there s no time to spare we re off on another cruise today the boat s much bigger than on our trip to maria island a catamaran in fact this is no bad thing as despite the brilliant sunshine and clear blue skies the sea s rockin and rollin we set off towards wineglass bay the catamaran is comfortable verging on the luxurious and we settle back to enjoy the scenic coastline of the freycinet peninsula however the sea begins to take its toll and pretty soon sickness is rampant amongst the assembled passengers the crew are attentive brilliant in fact circulating endlessly amongst the sufferers offering sympathy advice ginger tablets and when all that fails a discrete paper bag we sail on admiring dramatic cliffs painted in vibrant shades of orange and pink as with so much of our tassie experience the weather is everything on a grey wet windy day this trip would be a miserable mistake today with the sun beating down from a cloudless sky and the ocean molten cobalt it s magical the sea doesn t seem too bad to us and we prove immune to its sly mischief for us the experience is exhilarating the warmth of sun the wind tugging at our hair the choppy challenge of the waves around us however others are less resilient some of our fellow passengers are turning a whiter shade of pale others as green as the grass back home and in private corners embarrassed chunder monkeys are compelled to review the morning s breakfast we shrug it off and enjoy views of the majestic shy albatross wheeling above the waves at another point we pull close to the shoreline to inspect a white bellied sea eagle sitting atop its massive nest these birds mate for life and return to the same nest every year simply building an extension to previous years efforts the results are hugely spectacular finally we reach our destination wineglass bay where we drop anchor in its sheltered waters to eat lunch the food showcases 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