Slept ok again which was nice.
Got up and ready and did GPS/photos/blogging. Decided on an itinerary for the day and out the door around 9:20.
Our first stop was Sheffield - the town of murals. Tony suggested this one and it was on the way to places so why not. We stopped in a cafe so the sweetie could get a coffee and we had some nice honeycomb cheesecake as well. After the pitstop we wandered the town looking at all the murals. They're pretty cool, and a great way to keep the town "alive" (to have people coming to it and not just passing through). We were probably there an hour and a half all up.
The Old Bakery mural
Cradle Mountain Beauty mural
Blackberries and Sorrel mural
Stillness and Warmth mural (first mural in the project)
Mural at the skate park
The Smith at Work mural
WWI canon
ANZAC mural
A Sense of Belonging mural
Ludo Mineur and his alpaca
Tiger's Last Hunt mural
Ploughing with Clydesdales mural
Colours of Life Mural 2017
Turangawaewae mural (2010 joint winner)
Fire and Life mural (2009 winner)
Planting Sees for the Spirit of Adventure mural
Ludo Mineur and his alpaca mural
Wireless Studio 1926 mural
The Sheffield Mount Roland Cable Car Company mural
While having our cheesecake I managed to get through to the Mole Creek Caves peeps and book us on a 12:30 tour of King Solomon's Cave. My Mum went there in 1968. We arrived at 12:20 and joined the group of other people waiting. While you could take backpacks in they wanted you to keep them in front of you to not bump into the cave walls but were happy to mind it in the office so I just took my camera bag in. King Solomon's Cave was quite a pretty cave but I couldn't find where Mum took her photo. It was also supposed to be about 9C but it didn't feel that cold because the air is quite still. Quite enjoyed it and even the sweetie did too.
Mount Roland
Mount Roland
View from Round Mountain Lookout
King Solomon's Cave entrance
King Solomon's Cave
King Solomon's Cave
King Solomon's Cave
King Solomon's Cave
King Solomon's Cave
King Solomon's Cave
King Solomon's Cave
Bones under a sinkhole in King Solomon's Cave
King Solomon's Cave
King Solomon's Cave
King Solomon's Cave
King Solomon's Cave
Sinkhole into King Solomon's Cave
At this point (13:35) we had a choice - go south for an extra couple of hours and see Devil's Gullet and/or Parson's Falls, or head back via Forth Falls. In the end we decided we needed an early night to regroup and do washing, so we headed back.
The Titanic, near Cethana Camp Ground
We got to the parking area for Forth Falls around 14:45 but when we got to the trail head it said two hours return. TWO. HOURS. WTF?? We were not mentally prepared for that (I suck at planning) so decided to abandon it. Fail. Sigh.
I was a bit depressed on the drive back to Devonport (although the drive north of Wilmot was very pretty, but missed stopping at the lookout which would have had a great view over Lake Barrington to Mount Roland). We'd only managed two things all day and missed out on three.
Got back to the flat and dumped our crap then had a nice walk up to the Spirit of the Sea (Poseidon) sculpture.
Platform near the Spirit of the Sea statue
Beach near Mersey Bluff
Spirit of the Sea statue
Spirit of the Sea statue
Devonport continues to be a fail of a town. Google says the Island State Brewery is open til 20:30 on Sundays but their website says they close at 18:00 so we didn't even bother trying them (it was like 17:20 at this point). Google says The Central is open til 22:00 on Sundays, their printed front door sign says til Late on Sundays, but they were closed and when we asked the said because covid, and it would be a half hour wait on a table in the restaurant even though they'd only just opened. And I was like seriously WTF is wrong with this town that we can't get a drink anywhere. So we wandered up and across a bit and then the sweetie spotted an Irish pub and it was open! Win! So had a beer there then went into the restaurant for dinner. We shared a seafood basket and a bowl of veggies which was nice enough although the service (to like even get a menu) was a bit meh.
Finally got back to the flat and first order of business was to do some washing. Gathered up all our stuff and got a load going. As I was leaving another couple came by with like six bags of washing. Eeep. At least that's what it looked like, it may just have been that they had regular bags for checking in, and just the one bag of laundry. Went back a little later to check on my stuff and their wash said 63 minutes. When I went by to swap from washer to dryer it still said 63 minutes. They'd forgotten to hit start! So I hit start for them. Hope that was ok. Drying (mostly) finished around 21:20 then collapsed into bed.
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