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| Bridestowe Lavender Farm |
| Erin's Tasmania Journals 12-15-02 This morning Glenn woke me up early so we could both be showered and ready before the family was all up (so as not to disrupt showering order!). We didn't beat Diane and Charles though, as they were off to cricket bright and early. We had breakfast with John, then were joined by Diane as she returned, and in turn by James and Elizabeth who were summoned to see us off. Diane and John had generously offered that we could stay in their beach house out in St. Helens, as that was our next destination, and we again gladly agreed. Armed with directions to that and also to Charles' cricket game, we took photos before heading off into the beautiful morning to watch some cricket. The boys had been explaining the game to us the night before, but only Glenn was really listening and he wanted to see it in action. We sought out Charles at the field, and watched him for about an hour before hitting the road. The route to St. Helens took us over some mountain ranges, which our car didn't like at all. But it made it in due time, with a quick stopover at a lavender farm in the middle. Bridestowe is a major supplier of lavender oils and products for many companies in Europe, as well as locally in Australia. Their contoured plantings surrounded by mountains looked very pretty in the sunny afternoon, so we did the tour and stopped for photos before continuing to the coast. We arrived in St. Helens at almost dark, hoping to get to the cabin before pitch darkness so we could find the electrical box etc. But when we stopped at the market first, who should we see but Marcel and Eveline! They were just getting ready to head to a dinner reservation for what was supposedly the best seafood in town, and we invited ourselves along. We brought along some sparkling wine, as real wine wasn't available in the store and we weren't aware that a bottle shop was on the way to the restaurant. Oh well. But the food was good, and the company much better. We chatted over the meal for about 2 hours, then went to their holiday park to see where they were staying before attempting to find the Lord's beach house in the now pitch black night. We did find it, and managed to turn on the lights, but had to open every window in the place as soon as we arrived, as the whole house had recently been painted and it was overwhelming. Still, once the air started clearing, it was a very nice place to spend a night. We stayed up a little bit to read, but were both really tired by now and called it an early night around 11pm. |