I thought I might regale you with some of the adventures we had in Tasmania during the ‘Mokin’ Down Under’ event.
Now if you’ve never been to Tassie you are missing heaps! Not only is it the apple isle of Australia, it has the most magnificent scenery and roads and food and - oh well you should have been there! The best thing about Tasmania, if at no other time (well - between 27 February and 9 March this year 2015) was that there were scores of extra Mokes there!
There were easily 13 Mokes on the ship on the Friday 27th and we all got together on deck to toast the upcoming adventure. We had people from Western Australia, New South Wales, South Australia and of course Victoria. Many were ‘Moke Owners of Victoria’ members.
We disembarked from the sail at Devonport where we were met by Rod and Faye Owers, the driving force behind ‘Moking Down Under’. They took us to a chocolate restaurant for brekky then Ant led us to the main meeting place just out of Devonport where 42 Mokes gathered in preparation for the ‘West Coast Wander’. Some of those Mokes were not travelling with us but would join us in Hobart.
And so it began ... We headed west, along the coast and made a few stops to eat, look around, take pictures and allow joe public to take pics too! We got our first accommodation in the town of Stanley. Spectacular views, striking architecture and superb company! And here we took a photo of a Moke line up which made it into the local paper! It was on the beach in front of the famous Stanley Nut which is a huge and ancient volcanic plug.
On the next day we headed to the ‘Edge of the World’ at Arthur River. WOW! Our lastnight in Stanley was action packed for most, with many hours spent chatting, or getting canopies stitched or tinkering.
In the morning we packed up and headed to Straham on the west coast. Some took the dirt option - others the bitumen. Another fantastic beach was found and more pictures were taken. After two nights of great company and excellent seafood the intrepid ‘West Coast Wonderers’ drove of Mokes headed off to Hobart. We went through Queenstownand to Derwent Bridge where we found Greg Duncan’s ‘The Wall’ - 300 sq m of wood carving that has so far taken 10 years to do.It depicts, in amazing detail, the history of the Tassie highlands in the form of a sculpted wall not finished yet but just trust me on this - you must get there!
We convoyed (well - kind of) into Hobart on the 4th after seeing many impressive sights along the way and settled into our accommodation. The weather had followed us from the west and the caravan park was hit by some heavy wind. Most survived the night and we all headed off to have ‘Captain Cook’ through Hobart town in our own way. I was with a small group that went to visit a Moke owner at the Casino (really) and we enjoyed a chat and a hot cuppa (really!) Then Lauren and I got deliberately lost in the old part of town to check out the architecture, then the subantarctic station.Thursday night some went to Joe’s Garage with the local Mini Club! What a hoot! Friday was spent at Port Arthur. Again - trust - me go! I was last there back in the late 70's and wow - what a difference!
The next day was the big display on the gardens of Parliament House right next to the famous Salamanca markets. There were 50 Mokes in the display and a lot of interest from the public. The day cumulated in a drive up to the top of Mt. Wellington where we took over the car park. TwoMokes per parking bay in some places. A magnificent view - so was the landscape! Simply stunning.
Sunday was Geeveston and Huonville. Another great day was topped off with the final official event of ‘Moking Down Under’ -a spit roast and presentation dinner at a local cricket club. A great night! And it appears that our own Andy Preston took the mother lode of awards.
Our thanks and appreciation go to Faye & Rod, Mel & James, Ant and Tim for all their work in organising what was a fantastic holiday in Tasmania. My thanks go to everyone who came for making it the best holiday EVER with some of the best people EVER!!!
