What Do People Want to Read on a Blog?

Just visited a great website for a market stall at the Mindi market in Darwin. Emma sounds like a lovely woman with a big heart. She visits India with her family each year an has clothing made in selected factories. Fair trade and  no exploitation of children are her priorities in helping locals by buying local prouct and selling it back home in Australia in Darwin at the local markets including the Mindi market.

Emma works hard getting up early to prepare for the market. She had heard that it is the most simple things that people want to read so she stated from there on her blog. I think I will take that on board in my  own blog.

Garden tour with Trisha Dixon

Just met up with a dear friend who has just returned from a wonderful tour of Tasmania with TRISHA DIXON. Thought I would find out a bit about it from her blog. Surfing the net I chanced upon Paul Bangay's site and clicked on his blog. http://paulbangay.com/blog/ He too had been on the tour with Trisha. look forward to reading his blog and finding out more about it.

BETTER FOR COUPLES

At WAVESTATION we now have king-size beds in both bedrooms. Perfect for couples and both beds are extremely comfortable. The two bedrooms share a large sunny bathroom and are separated from the living area by a small hallway. Perfect for sleeping and quietly relaxing. The second bedroom has access to the front veranda. Lovely to open the door and head for a stroll along the beach or an early morning run.
The bed in the second bedroom can be separated into single beds. Just shoot us an email when you BOOK and we will arrange this for you.

Hobart chosen by the Lonely Planet

Lonely Planet has selected Hobart as one of the ten best cities in the world to visit. Mona the contoversial museum has put Hobart on the map but its wonderful restaurants and fresh local produce is an important element in its selection.

A HAPPY GUEST

Dear Wendy & Phil,

Just a quick note to thank you both and to let you know what a wonderful time we had in Middleton.

The property is brilliant, we are already missing the view and eating breakfast on the deck. We managed to see quite a bit of Bruny Island, including a charter boat tour of the sea cliffs, seals etc. We managed to kayak all the way to Simpsons Point from the house.   

We visited the Tahune Forrest, Hastings caves, and drove some distance to see Wineglass Bay in the Freycinet National Park.

We also spent time at the Taste festival in Hobart and got along to the Salamanca Market which was all good fun.

I have attached a few pictures of the house and wineglass bay.

Thanks again,

All the best.

Luke. 

David Walsh

Should David Walsh pay taxes on his gambling
earnings?
Just testing


http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2012/s3551796.htm

DO THE LOOP

   

Do the circuit - Middleton to Woodbridge (or Kettering) to Cygnet and back along the coast road through Deep Bay Garden Island. Have a look at this map

DO THE LOOP

Photos to come

SODA BREAD

You have arrived and stoked the fire and poured the glass of wine. It's been a busy day visiting Mona and the women's prison in Hobart and you're thinking of what your plan will be tomorrow. Should you pack up the car early and head for Kettering to catch the ferry to Bruny Island, or will you just relax and do what people in farm houses do. Bake some bread. You've brought a few ingredients with you such as the chia seeds and you look in the pantry. There's a packet of flour and salt. You can imagine the smell the bread cooking in the oven. It's soda bread which takes your fancy. Look here for the recipe as well. You could follow this up with a self saucing pudding.

BRUNI D'ENTRECASTEAUX

BRUNI D'ENTRECASTEAUX
I think everyone interested in Tasmania has heard about him by now. Bruni D'Entrecasteaux was the first European captain to sail  through the channel between what is known now as Bruni Island and the mainland of Tasmania. Leaving France in 1792 Bruni sailed in along the Derwent River, past Bruni Island and and into Port Cygnet, Port Esperance and the Huon River. Napolean and his wife Josephine were particularly interested in Australia and in their home outside Paris, Malmaison they collected many drawrings of aborigines, flora and fauna brought back by the French explorers before and at the time of Napolean's reign.

Hobart was settled in 1804. There is an exhibition winging its way to Melbourne to tell the untold story of the emporer's fascination with the world Down Under.
Napolean: Revolution to Empire which will be on at the the National Gallery of Victoria, St Kilda Road, from June 2 until October 7. You can see a gallery of images on The Age ipad app.

SUPERMOON

I am not the only person who is talking about the SUPERMOON. Last night I was away from Tassie in Apollo Bay and I took some photos. I posted them on my facebook page and then began to realize that lots of people out there were interested. What is this SUPERMOON? All around the state of Tasmania the photographers were out with their cameras.Who could get the best photo?

The French

I was chatting to my brother-in-law about the position of Wavestation, which is on the edge of the D'Entrecasteaux Channel looking towards Bruny Island.This lead to talking about the French after whom many places are named in Southern Tasmania. They were here before the English who were looking for somewhere to colonize. The French had scientists and hortaculturalists on board and sought knowledge and science. http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2008/04/29/2230849.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baudin_expedition_to_Australia Baudin dying of tuberculosis in Mauritius on his way home.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruni_d'Entrecasteaux

RESTAURANTS IN HOBART and THE HOBART BOTANIC GARDENS

Garagists, Ethos and Stackings

Garagists and Ethos are some of the fine restaurants in Hobart. 
There are others and the number is growing. Hobart may become the eating capital of Australia.


My friend sent me a link to an article about the growing number of restaurants in Hobart. Try Me Wah Restaurant in Sandy Bay.


Take time to see the gardens in Hobart. You will be anazed at the magnificent sight of the leaves turning from green to yellow to brown and dropping in swathes on the ground. Take your time driving down to Wavestation and visit a few places on your way. Look out for the Hobart Botanic Gardens. Approaching Hobart from the airport and driving over the bridge the Gardens are on your right. There is an excellent display vegetable garden and a very special Japanese garden.


Out of Hobart and along the Channel Highway  Peppermint Bay Hotel in Woodbridge has an excellent restaurant called Stackings Woodbridge is forty minutes from Hobart and 15 minutes from Wavestation (at Middleton).Another wonderful place to visit is the handweaving studio, up the hill from the turnoff next to the Woodbridge store.

AUTUMN BREAK

A few days without committments in Melbourne allowed us to book a flight to Hobart to seek out the Autumn delights in Tasmania. Arriving in Hobart on a Sunday morning we immediately head for Constitution dock to check out the latest offerrings in the sailing boat market. There was a huon pine double ender made for a couple for long distance cruising. There was a long range fuel tank and a lot of water stored. We met a fellow called Mike Deck, a boat dweller with two young boys who they "home school". Not a simple task and a year long committment is required and a comprehensive curriculumn drawn up. The boat was Erik and his website http://www.decks-awash.com/ reports conditions on the waves and contained the sad news of the skipper who was washed overboard resetting the anchor. I am looking forward to reading Larissa's children's stories to be published soon.

We pulled out our copy of The Hon Peter Heerey AM QC, retired Federal Court judge "Guide to Hobart for innocent Mainlanders". He recommended "Me Hah" in Sandy Bay as a more humble but good value restaurant. So we head there to check it out. We think it's a little bit of Heerey humour as the place was booked out and looked a million dollars. We settled for a truely humble alternative on Sandy Bay Road, "Written on Tea". This was authentic Chinese food, simply prepared and a very modest establishment. One couple walked out but the others patrons seemed to be really enjoying themselves. Prossers on the waterfront was closed on the Sunday.

Having read the recent article by Holly Kerr Forsythe in "The Australian" the boys dropped me off at the old "Women's Prison" in South Hobart in Degraves Street, not far from Cascade Brewery and Gardens. There is a lovely perennial garden with a range of hostas. The museum has a well organized tour.

 Colonial houses in Hobart

 Women's prison South Hobart

 Modern wall

 Fall of leaves at Cascade Gardens

We bought our fish at the "Fish Man" on the wharf at Constitution Dock and enjoyed Steves' expert cooking. A simple batter of flour and egg for the King Fish and layered on baked potato for the salmon. Delicious!

ADVENTURE ON BRUNY ISLAND

Friends have just returned from the Bruny Island Adventure tour. You can meet up with the tour at Kettering with a bus which takes you over on the ferry to Bruny Island and over to the other side of the island where the water adventure starts. The bus leaves Kettering at 9 am.

http://www.brunycruises.com.au/tours/kettering-pickup.aspx

Before you go..............

WAVESTATION“Middleton Light”
House phone number (03) 6292 1400
Address: 180 Esplanade RdMiddleton TAS 7163
Before you go............................
It is a gorgeous spot and the house is lovely to live in. The beach is very close with children's play equipment.
There are plenty of fish also scallops and oysters. You could hire a small boat from Kettering or take a charter trip. There is a boat ramp on The Esplanade. Bruny Island is easily accessed from Kettering where there is an attractive boat harbour. The Huon trail is south and Cockle Creek further south again. Cockle Creek is the southern most point in Australia. It's a few hours but a very pleasant drive.
Pick up your copy of the Huontrail Free touring Map and Guide at the airport. It is very useful and available at the airport in the free brochure section. The Huon-Valley News map is taken from this Guide.


At Hobart airport head for the centre of Hobart. You will pass over the bridge and along Davey Street. Continue along the A5 until you get to the Kingston turnoff. Do not go into Kingston, keep in the right lane and head towards Margate/Huonville. Follow the Channel Highway. Further on there is a roundabout, go straight ahead towards Margate and look out for a sign on the left to the Woolworths supermarket and shopping centre (just past Kingston). It is a good idea to provision the house here. Look out for wildlife on the highway.

Continue along the Channel Highway to Middleton. Turn left at the Middleton store down Beach Road and turn right at The Esplanade. There is a boat ramp on the shore. Continue south along The Esplanade, past the playground and up the second driveway. You will recognize the house from the website. Have a look at the two maps sent by email.

Collect some provisions along the highway before you get to the house. You can shop in Hobart (maybe visit the Hill Street grocer, it is well worth a visit) or on the way down to Middleton. If you are arriving in Tasmania at night the Woolworths shopping centre complex at Kingston is excellent. It has a supermarket and other specialist shops. You will pass through other little towns with shops including Margate and Snug. Stop at the Margate Train where there is an antique shop and other rather quirky shops and a caravan is set up outside with fresh fish. You can buy very good fish and Cloudy Bay oysters here at the Seafood Caravan.

Our guests love stopping at The Olde Oyster Cove Store. It is on the right heading towards Middleton at Oyster Cove. It has fruit and vegetables, organic meat and yogurt and cheeses.

The Snug butcher has excellent meat and fish.


You can walk to the local shop at Middleton. It has a good selection of provisions. The Post Office is on the other side of Beach road on the Channel Highway.





Visit the marina at Kettering. It is a busy boating harbour with boat repairs carried out and boats coming and going on trips down the D’Entrecasteaux Channel, up to Hobart or around Bruny Island.

The ferry to Bruny Island leaves from Kettering and there are great boating charters out of this marina which take you to the wild outer side of Bruny Island.

The renovations at Kettering are almost complete. The old jetties were delightful but were in a bad state of repair so are being replaced with floating sections.


Alison Hookey lives nearby and will have made the house ready for you. Her number is 62921404. Alison can provide breakfast provisions from local produce as well as delicious evening meals. Give her a ring.
Local and emergency calls can be dialled. (Please deposit cost of call (30c) in the jar provided). For STD and other calls please purchase a phone card available at newsagents etc.

Wavestation is located on the water front off the Channel Highway at Middleton. You can now access it through The Esplanade turnoff as well as Beach Road. (A landslip blocked the road but modern roadworks engineering have stabilized the bank). The Esplanade turnoff is before Middleton and the Beach Road turnoff is at the centre of the village. The local shop and the post office are at this turn off.


Places to go.
Walk to the local shop
Peppermint Bay Hotel and Restaurant
Fleurtys cafe and garden
Home Hill Vineyard and Restaurant
Panorama Vineyard
Snug Falls
Huonville
Kettering Kayaking
Bruny Island
Salamanca Place in Hobart
Hill Street Grocer in North Hobart
Do the circuit - Middleton to Woodbridge (or Kettering) to Cygnet and back along the coast road through Deep Bay Garden Island

Creek Verona Sands Gordon and back to Middleton. See the apple and cherry orchards on the way.
Pelverata Falls near Cygnet.

For more information go to the website http://www.wavestation.com.au/ and click on BLOG to follow my blog.

Have a great time
Wendy Kennon 0402891339
Phil 0408997482

OUR LOCAL CAFE IN "THE AGE" WEEKEND APLUS FLEURTY'S

Look out for the article in today's WEEKEND PLUS. Holly Kerr Forsthy visited Fleurty's and interviewed Chris read who is growing native pepper at his property. The cafe is open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Chris Read grew up on the property which was an orchard and with his knowledge as a researcher in horticulture at the University of Tasmania he found the oils in the pepperberry leaf hcan be used in confectionery. It has a chilly like flavour and can be used to flavour curries, fish and meat dishes.
http://www.diemenpepper.com/

VOTED BEST ON THE CHANNEL HIGHWAY PEPPERMINT BAY HOTEL

Our reports from guests to Wavestation often mention the highlight of their trip. Almost every time it is the visit to Peppermint Bay Hotel. Meals are excellent at lunch and dinner and it is always possible to buy coffee and enjoy the ambience. Excellent marks for it being "childfriendly" with its wide sweeping lawns over looking the D'Entrecasteaux Channel. The ferry arriving from Hobart often loaded with guests for a wedding, the bride and groom photographed on the lawn.

www.peppermintbay.com.au/

NEW WEBSITE ON THE WEB

Look out for our new website on the web. Easier to browse with added features. It's convenient to check out the BOOKINGS on the site and enquire online. Send us an email on info@wavestation.com.au  and Wendy will reply.

Perfect day in Middleton today. Location is perfect as Bruny Island creates a buffer from strong winds off Tasmania's eastern coast.