Weddings and Birthdays

Friday, 13 June 2014

First day of our journey north, but only just over 200 kms today to Hadspen for three nights and my niece’s wedding tomorrow.  The weather in Hobart was cool but clear when we left home but fog had developed by the time we reached Bridgewater and didn’t clear until nearly Campbell Town.

We are staying at the Big4 Discovery Park at Hadspen, a few kilometres from the centre of Launceston.  This is a nice, smallish park and we have a large grassed site.  A bonus: three nights for the price of two!

 

Saturday, 14 June 2014

 

A very foggy and cold start to the day as we spent the morning making ourselves beautiful for Laura’s wedding at 1.00 pm.  Well actually, most of the morning was spent reading in front of the heater as we really didn’t need a lot of time to look beautiful.

 By 1.00 pm, the fog had lifted and the sun was shining as the large bridal party arrived at the church.  The mother of the bride, all the bridesmaids (especially Emma – completely unbiased grandmother speaking here), the bride and groom all looked lovely and very spiffy.  With a chill wind blowing and the temperature dropping, we crossed the road to Princes Square for some family photos and then beat a hasty retreat to the warmth of a restaurant for the remainder of the afternoon.  The reception at the Tailrace Centre went of well, with finger food served to the 188 guests throughout the evening.  The “Trail Mix” stall, with its large supply of M & Ms and nut,s proved very popular – and not only with the junior guests!  Jack declared it was the best party ever.

 

Sunday, 15 June 2014

 

Another very cold night and heavy frost also meant a beautiful clear, sunny day, just what was ordered for a picnic in City Park to celebrate Aidan’s birthday next weekend.  After agreeing to meet at the park at 11.00 am, we were nearly into the centre of Launceston when we realised Aidan’s present was still in the caravan (He should have remembered it!!!), so it was a quick u-turn and back to Hadspen.  Of course, when one is running late, everything seems to transpire to make one later.  We discovered, too late, that the Launceston 10 running race was being held this morning and their route corresponded with our route.  We were the ones that had to find an alternative in the very heavy Sunday morning traffic (don’t know where it all came from) and then became stuck behind a learner driver who was very hesitant about undertaking a right hand turn.

We eventually arrived at the park in time to see Aidan, Jack and David climbing onto the little train for a trip around the park – just the best thing as far as Aidan was concerned.  Kathryn had joined our family for a birthday picnic and we also exchanged birthday presents – Kathryn’s yesterday and mine in July.  Aidan managed to blow out his candles with the aid of Jack and was happy to share his cake with us all before opening his presents.  Michael, who is still on crutches, and Jack had a lovely time playing soccer with a pine cone, while Aidan was happy to wave to the train every time it went past and to watch the macaque monkeys in their enclosure.  The sun was glorious but none of us made any effort to remove our coats!

After saying our goodbyes to the two families returning to the south, we decided to take advantage of the weather and have a little tour around the Tamar River.  We travelled north along the eastern side, crossed the Batman Bridge and than drove through Deviot, past many, many vineyards, through Gravelly Beach and eventually arrived at Brady’s Lookout.  This outcrop of rocks, which overlooks Windermere, is where Matthew Brady holed up before attacking Richard Dry’s property in Launceston and my ancestor, Joseph Barrett, escaped to warn the authorities, which resulted in the capture of said Matthew Brady.

 Tomorrow we head to Devonport and the Spirit of Tasmania – Cat has already checked the Bass Strait forecast numerous times and has seasickness remedies on hand, just in case.