Adventures before the Ferry Ride

Ellen was sitting in the seat across and aft from me guiding Footloose to a marker unseen across the horizon. The wind was out of the East Southeast so we were beating up out the Derwent river from the Bellerive Yacht Club towards the ocean. Damon, the boats owner, was standing on the windward side next to me working the main sheet and giving directions to Ellen. I was sitting forward working the jib sheet. There was a moderate breeze coming over the port bow and a blue sky with high puffy clouds. Suddenly Ben the bowman called out that he'd spotted the marker just to windward of us. That was why all the other boats had started in a spot where there was less wind closer to shore; they'd given up speed for a position upwind to round the marker on the first or second tack. We chucked in a tack to get in position to round the marker. The Footloose is money on a close reach so we overtook two boats that were moving slower up wind. Damon was expertly teaching Ellen how to steer the boat while Ben and I were just generally relaxing and talking about the East Coast of Tasmania. In true Crowder sailing fashion (Sandy you'll relate to this) we had timed our tack so that we would just round the marker. We believe in living on the edge to get an edge when it comes to sailing.

An array of orders from Damon and the boat came up into the wind then fell off the as the sails came out on a run for the next marker. We had been coming into the mark a little low so instead of losing valuable seconds playing it safe and tacking for the mark we let fly all the sheets and used our momentum to round the marker. Sailing with Damon is like that. He's an aggressive sailor full of tricks and maneuvers. That coupled with having a lot of natural skill and you have a man after my own heart.

Rounding the marker and headed down wind meant that we were going wing to wing so I grabbed the pole and handed it to Ben on the bow. He rigged it to the mast and soon we looked like a square rigger with our jib flying out to port and our main flying to starboard. Ellen held us on toward the next marker just off Battery Point in Hobart. The light wind meant that we were able to hold our position in relation to the other boats on the downwind leg. We came in on the second marker hot on the heels of the boat in front of us with another light sloop just off our stern. Damon said to bring in the pole and just like that we rounded the second marker back to a close reach on the starboard tack. At that point the Sundance took a lower line as we stuck high. Coming up the wind toward the gate we had an unfortunate turn of the wind. It backed into the South and the Sundance shot ahead. The Footloose being so small we jumped away from the remaining three boats that were on course behind us but the Sundance slipped away. As the light faded we came through the mark at the club and brought the sails down. Everybody congratulated each other and especially Ellen that being her first time ever steering a sailboat.

I would like to take a brief interlude to say that I really appreciate the entire McCarter family. If you're a McCarter and you're reading this blog you are entitled to a shout (I'll buy you a beer) next time we're hanging out. [/touchyfeelymushystuff]

After dinner at the yacht club we were off to Stuart's house. Stuart is a member of the Tasmanian Jet Sport Boating Club. We met this crazy band at the Lake Pedder Chalet as they were skiing lake Pedder. We moved down to Cygnet after Lake Pedder to get our bearings. While we were there two other members of the TJSBC, Kylie and Pricey, very kindly shouted us tea (dinner). They had mentioned to us that they were going to circumnavigate Maria Island the next weekend and we should come along for the weekend. We figured that was a pretty good idea so we were at Stuart's house after sailing to prepare for the coming weekend of camping and fun. Stuart asked us what we had been doing since we left Lake Pedder so recounted the following story:

Our Canadian friend Amanda was really keen to climb Mt. Ossa, the highest peak in Tasmania. Ellen and I, having nothing else specifically in mind, agreed to take her up there in the rav and hike it with her. We started at the Arm River carpark on Tuesday and went up to a high plateau on the Arm River track. The Arm River track is an in feeder to the Overland Track, Tasmania's main hiking track. As we climbed up we found some simply stunning landscapes. There were temperate forests and high tussock grass plains with thin, yet deep, creeks running through them. The mountain landscape was simply stunning.

Ellen on the Arm River Track. 

After about three hours we came up on the New Pelion Hut. It was more like a house than a hut but people do pay $200 to walk the Overland Track so you can see why it's posh. I can see why they do, the Overland is simply stunning. After leaving our packs at the hut we walked the rest of the way up the Overland Track to the turnoff to the Mt. Ossa massif. Amanda was powering up it while Ellen and I came up at a slow burn as we usually do. About 300 meters from the summit the whole thing got socked in by fog so Ellen just sat and looked at the view while I ran up to the top to tell Amanda that we were headed back down. Ellen doesn't really care so much for peak bagging and the view was stunning where she turned around. I got up there and ate an apple in the fog.

The next day, after spending an uneventful evening in the Taj Ma-hut we walked down. Saying a temporary goodbye to Amanda we dropped her in Deloraine and beat feet down the Midland Highway to Hobart and Damon for the boat race on Wednesday evening.

Stuart gave us a bed for the evening and a nice conversation which we desperately needed after a few nights of sleeping on hard wooden beds and in our camper.

For the next few days we toured the East Coast and Port Arthur camping and getting our car set up the way we wanted it. We have a book called Camps Vol. 8 that has all the free and low cost campsites in it for Australia. That coupled with the widespread availability of rooftop campers over here makes it absurdly easy to camp. Also, on a sidetone, we now have one of these campers that we've dubbed the upside down mobile hooch and it's decidedly cooler than Philip Balister's.

On Saturday we got into Triabunna for a local festival called Seafest. The jetski club had come up to give rides for charity but due to an insurance snafu they weren't allowed to do so. We made the most of it by eating crayfish (lobster) and hanging out at the resort where we were staying. We spent the afternoon chatting with the Wheatleys about jetskiing and sports and ouzo, just generally enjoying ourselves.

Eating Crays with the TJSBC, Photo Courtesy of Kylie Price.

The next day we got up and donned our wetsuits to go around Maria Island. This would involve 90km of riding on jetskis around an island 15km out to sea. The views were stunning. On the way out Ellen had to switch out of the over heating jet boat to Stuart's ski (I still think he sabotaged it to get her on the back of his ski :). Our first stop was off a small island to the Northeast of Maria to get everyone caught up. I was riding on the back of Pricey's ski videoing. The cliffs on the island were stunning. The shoreline on the eastern side of the island was full of sea caves and canyons. The benefit of being on a jetski is that you can ride into caves and explore due to your short height and shallow draft. We did just that. I never imagined that my first Australian cave trip would be on the back of a jetski. The cave that we were able to go through all the way looked to have formations in it, it seemed that it had possibly formed above sea level and been cut into by the ocean. Ellen noted some flowstone on the walls, very cool.

Coming out of the cave region of the island we made our way down to a little bay. There was a white sand beach with some nice rollers coming into the surf off the ocean. A bunch of the skis were playing in the surf so Pricey and I took our turn wave jumping. After all, how hard could it be to jump a jetski with two full grown men on it? After a couple jumps we got caught on a sand bank and had to jump off. I noticed another ski that had run into the same problem so I ran over to lend a hand. In true Joker fashion I bit the dust in the surf on the way over to the stricken craft turning my Hasselhoff like rescue into more of a Spongebob affair.

After getting the ski righted and back into the ocean I learned I was on with Mark. His ski had a suspension system which made the back seat much more reasonable (not that I'm complaining about Reel Pricey, it's an awesome boat with a very cool paint job). Mark and I took off around the southern end of the island where we saw a pod of dolphins. Moving on down the south coast the club was able to bring it on wide open around the southern point of the island. It took me back to the days when we'd try to make formations with the Boy Scout jet skis.

We stopped into Chinamen's bay on the other side of the island for lunch. The weather was starting to close in as we made our way back across the strait for the mainland. At Chinamen's bay I got on a ski with a guy named Trevor. He had a ski with a supercharger in it which was cool since it meant we could move fast enough to just skip over the top of the waves instead of hitting them all full on.

http://youtu.be/jlOhmRwc9T0

 http://youtu.be/HEWkII4Tz3k

These are some videos of the trip around Maria Island

Getting back to the boat ramp we said our goodbyes to the club and promised we'd be back next year. We asked Stuart if it would be ok if we came back to his house to BBQ. He mentioned that we should certainly spend a couple days relaxing for which we are very grateful. On Thursday morning we are boarding the ferry for Melbourne. We're very happy to have started our trip in Tasmania and are certainly looking forward to coming back at the end of our trip for some R&R before the next step of our trip.

Now if you'll excuse me, it's my Mom's birthday in the states and we have a date with her on FaceTime so I'm going to sign off for now. Keep on truckin!

<3 Joker and Ellen

Striking Out in Tasmania

So due to differences in musical taste Ellen and I decided to leave our job in Strathgordon. The place was really cool but the work just wasn't what we were looking for. Seeing as this is a working HOLIDAY we are deciding to do just that. It occurs to me, however, that none of you good people know how I came to be sitting on this easy chair in the house of a stained glass maker in Cygnet Tasmania across from a Canadian named Amanda. I will now attempt to enlighten you.

Ellen and I were working at the hotel, minding our own business, when a Canadian and an American showed up with our boss. She had lost her shoes in the back of a ute (pickup truck) after being attacked by a giant spider and was desperately searching for them. There being only one road in and out of Strathgordon, my boss told me to take our ute and go search for them. After cruising around with the familiar sounding couple for five minutes I realized that I liked them quite a lot. Upon our return to the hotel, having not found the shoes, I quickly convinced my boss to hire the Canadian since the American was going home in one week. It was agreed that she would return in a weeks time and begin working with us. During this time it should be noted that the Tasmanian Jet Sport Club was having a weekend at the lake and was staying with us. I know it seems like a random useless piece of information now but think about the role of Meatloaf in Wayne's World and bear with me.

The Canadian (Amanda) and the American left the next day and I continued serving drinks to jet skiers and generally working odd hours.

Now it is more or less known, by those who have been there, that the Lake Pedder Chalet is not run on the most scrupulous of principals. During the week in which Amanda was absent Ellen and I decided that we would take our leave of the place. We went on working and contemplating our next move for a week after which Amanda came back. We were told to put her to work immediately by the boss but the bosses wife countermanded that order after she had put in a days work and told us that she wouldn't be paid. In a seemingly unrelated maneuver, Ellen and I put in our weeks notice. We had gleaned a healthy profit from the place and it was time for a move. We were told that Amanda would be paid once we left but sensing an unhealthy work environment she agreed to bolt with us and take her chances.

In another instance of deus ex machina some guests turned up at the hotel with whom I struck up the following conversation:

Dan: Yes we like the area that the hotel is in but we are leaving next week. We bought a roof top camper for our car and we were figuring on living in that.

Guest: Oh well I live in a house in Cygnet that doubles as my studio and if you pay me minimal rent and work on some projects I have you can stay with me.

Dan: Can I bring my wife and this Canadian?

Guest: Of course!

Dan: Sweet

So at the end of our tenure at Strathgordon we hugged our coworkers goodbye and struck out for Cygnet. On the way there we stopped by the transport hub and picked up our roof top camper, mounting it to the top of the Rav in the parking lot. After we got that done we went to see Craig and Jasmine to tell them about our most recent exploits and coo over Freya, their newborn daughter.

A large gumtree in Mt. Field National Park. 

Our business in town complete, we rolled to Cygnet our growler full and generally feeling content with ourselves.

Upon our arrival we immediately started looking for jobs in the apple fields. For the next few days we struck out in search of jobs and unilaterally... struck out. Oh well such is the life of a backpacker. After deciding that we had more or less sucked every last bit of money from Australia's island state we started looking around for another source of income. Amanda remembered, while riding in the car one day, that there is, in fact, another island to the north of here. It's generally bigger and has a more robust economy. For those of you who haven't had your coffee and weetbix (wheaties) yet today the island I am referring to is, of course, Australia. In a bold maneuver we booked the next available ferry ticket for me and the car and decided that the girls would follow either via plane or walk on the boat, whichever made more fiscal sense.

This left us two weeks on the island so we decided that we were going to see some sights before we headed to the mainland and certainly to high paying jobs with excellent bosses and rosters and other lovely things.

Now remember that jet ski club I mentioned earlier? You know, the one I so obscurely compared to Meatloaf? Well two of them live in Cygnet and they graciously offered to buy us dinner and have a yarn. They mentioned to us that next weekend there is a boating festival on the east coast and that we should certainly join them. They also mentioned that they were going to circumnavigate some island off the coast that we were obviously going to join them in that as well.

So I hope to be writing my next blog post while sea sick on a ferry headed to the mainland. If all goes according to plan I will be telling you of rooftop camping, mountain climbing, jet skiing, and harebrained adventure, but now, if you will excuse me, I must run to the tip shop (legalized form of dumpster-diving for profit, literally a shop where they grab stuff from the garbage and sell it in a store) and procure a used wet suit. Keep on truckin' Blacksburg.

<3 Joker & Ellen