Wabbits not Wombats

Our cosy spot right on the beach at Cowes

View from our kitchen sink

Cowes jetty from the Esplanade

Monday's lunch

Tuesday's Ice cream

Tuesday's fish and chips

 

Wednesday's lamb shanks

Text by Sally
Photos and captions by Ray

Wabbits abound in this campsite, set on the edge of a long beach just west of Cowes, looking north to the Victorian mainland.  No wombats, sadly, and we haven't yet been able to pat a wabbit, though I'm sure if Favourite Daughter were here, she would have caught one by now!  The owners of the Park spend a goodly amount of their time filling in wabbit holes, of which there are hundreds.  Fill them in and a hundred more appear overnight.

We've had 3 glorious sunshiny days in our week here, where we've been able to go biking to Ventnor and Rhyll, and have discovered that the walk from our campsite to Cowes via the beach is a lot faster than the uninteresting road trip.  It's about a 15 minute walk by road, a few minutes only by bike, but we're back to overcast skies and intermittent rain so the bikes remain on the back of the van, under cover.

The photos above should have included several more local restaurants, especially The Foreshore Restaurant at Rhyll, and Mad Cowes excellent coffee.  Sadly though, Harry's Crayfish Restaurant is off our list because there won't be any fresh crays until November.  Just another example of bad planning/timing!  However, Tassie is known for its crayfish so by the time we reach the centre of crayfishing at Stanley, we should be right in the season.

I wanted to show you a photo of the beach as it is today, to compare it with Photo No. 2, but the camera just didn't capture the overall grey-ness of the scene, with white caps rolling down the bay, spray shooting off the top of small waves, and all the trees around us bent double with the force of the wind.  We took down our outside awnings yesterday, luckily, as it rained hard all night and we are now rocking and rolling in almost gale force winds.  However, with four seasons in one day, we still expect to be able to walk to Cowes about lunchtime to further pursue our quest to eat in every one of the local establishments!

Victorians are a hardy bunch; there are several dozen families camped here in tents and caravans, all with at least 4 children and 40 bikes and not only do the children run and play outside in the wind and the rain, they even go swimming!  I haven't yet seen anyone in the water today but give it time!

We're due to leave here Saturday morning for the Spirit of Tasmania Saturday evening crossing to Devenport.  It's about a 3 hour trip to the ferry terminal, so we may first investigate the rest of the island which we haven't been able to see by bike, early Saturday morning.  We did stop off at the Chocolate Factory at Newhaven on our way here last week, but it didn't quite come up to the standard of the Anvers Chocolate House in Tassie, so we'll save our chocolate stomachs until we get there.  The chocolate factory is also on the list of "things to do" by the incoming buses full of tourists, so I didn't feel that they missed out on our dollars.  (Sorry Hannah, it wasn't there when you and I visited Phillip Island).

The Phillip Island circuit which hosts the motorcycle races every year (soon I think) is not far away, as the crow flies, so last weekend we heard faint noises of a Grand Prix motor race in the distance.  You'd have to be very careful buying a house on Phillip Island - heaven forbid that you could hear any of the motor racing.  Buying close to the Penguin Parade at Nobbies wouldn't be so bad, but the tourist buses which come from Melbourne every day have grown exponentially and the roads home at night must be a nightmare.

It's been an interesting and relaxing week here, but we won't be sorry to be on the road again on Saturday.  Keep your fingers, and toes as well, crossed for an easy crossing of the Tasman Saturday night.

Tasmania forbids importation of all fruit and vegetables, along with a long list of "others" so our first task Sunday morning will be to find a supermarket in Devenport so that we can eat again.  Heaven forbid that we should go without food for a few hours!!!

Sally and Ray xx