Triumph Sports Owners Association Victoria
TSOAvictoria
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SURREY TASMANIA 1997
At the April meeting, there was a report on 'Surrey Tassie'. with the words "We drove, we ate, we drank and we ate, we drank and drove and drove and drove for eight days". Very true indeed, I would describe it as, 'Gastronomical, phenomenal, and alcoholical'. It was all of these things and more! Excellent company, top accomodation and we drove our Triumphs.
For us, this was our first 'Surrey,' and we would recommend it to any member who may be thinking about 1999. What a way to get to know your fellow TSOA members from Melbourne and Interstate. The ladies overdosed on shopping and inspecting craft goods and antiques, as well as taking a turn at the wheel and with the fellas drove on our own Targa Tassie. 'Hellyer Gorge'. What a way to go!
Enough of the raving, and a little of the itinerary. From midday Good Friday a group of Triumphs from Victoria, NSW and Qld began assembling at Kerferd Rd, Albert Park. Many old friendships were renewed and new friends welcomed. A briefing session was held with the distribution of ferry tickets. The group then travelled in convoy to Station Pier at Port Melbourne for embarkation on the Spirit of Tasmania. Loading of the vehicles took over an hour.
Boarding the Spirit of Tasmania
We departed Melbourne at 1800. It was a reasonably smooth trip, although certain members were a little white (or green) about the gills, and we arrived at 0800 hrs in Devonport. After a slight delay in disembarking, owing to one errant Semi-trailer driver who held up the entire shipload of cars, (the ramps could not be lowered to allow the next deck of cars off until he had moved). After much maneuvering we were able to finally drive onto the quay to be met by the Tasmanian contingent for a photographic extravaganza. I must say 28 Triumphs make a very impressive sight snaking along the highways and through the towns, and envy must be in the thoughts of many a spectator, "look at those lucky so and so's, the world's their oyster". A lunch stop at 'Andy's Diner' in Westbury where we all enjoyed the home made pies, pasties, cakes etc, then on to Launceston and the Novotel to live it up. Some free time before dinner to wander around the City, take the chair lift up the spectacular Cataract Gorge or just admire the magnificent gardens, then back for dinner at the Novotel. Yum!!
Sunday dawned very cold but sunny, so it was tops down (on the cars, that is) to head across to the East Coast. A stop to re-group at Campbelltown and to discuss the speed camera hidden in the grass along the way near Simmonds Plains Raceway. By this time the sun had disappeared and it was tops up and winter woollies on. Heading on to the Freycinet Peninsula for lunch at the Lodge. As this is a National Park, entry fees are payable. Knowing this before-hand we had all purchased our passes on board the Spirit, so as to have easy entry and not hold up the line of cars. On arrival at the gate a certain TR 6 driver and his wife had their luggage out of the boot searching for their missing pass, which to this day hasn't been found along with his missing camera. The Park Ranger said "likely story"! when told the sad story even though 25 other cars all had their passes at the ready, so another entry fee was handed over. After lunch some adventurous types did the walk up to the lookout for the spectacular views over Wineglass Bay, others drove up to the Lighthouse and others just did their own thing, before heading off for the 1-1/2 hour? run (which was really 3 hrs) to our next accomodation at the Fox and Hounds at Port Arthur. By this time the rain had set in and it continued on and off for the rest of our stay.
Monday sightseeing at Port Arthur. A very beautiful scenic place but with a sense of melancholia surrounding it, not only for the past treatment of Convicts, but for the tragic events so recently in everybodys' minds. The Old Timber Mill with its narrow gauge railway and working models, Eaglehawk Neck, the Blowhole, Tasman's Arch, the Tesselated Pavements and Doo Town. Time to meet at the old Officers' Mess to re-group for convoy to Hobart and the Midcity Motel for three nights, crossing the Tasman Bridge late afternoon creating our own peak hour rush.
Tuesday a free morning. Some of the group went out to Historic Richmond, while others took the time to explore the City, Salamanca Place, The Gasworks Village, Constitution Dock, on foot, before meeting up at the Cascade Brewery for a photo session with a photographer from the Hobart Mercury, then an informative tour of the Brewery and a sampling of their various products. A certain two N.S.W. members were seen to taste the entire range of samples, consuming the leftovers making sure that nothing went to waste! Back to the Motel to re-group for the short walk to the 'Drunken Admiral Restaurant' for dinner.
Wednesday was a fine morning and breakfast was enjoyed gazing at Mt. Wellington, which was clear of cloud for the first time since we had arrived in Hobart, so off we went, ascending the Summit for a bird's eye view of the City and surrounding districts and across to Bruny Island. The wind chill factor on the lookout felt like minus one, but inside the observation centre it was very comfortable and informative, pointing out the various parts of interest and giving a brief outline of the Naval History and settlement of Hobart. Taking a back road down from the mountain we headed off to 'Land's End of Australia' via Kingston and Huonville with a stop at the Apple Museum and finishing up at Southport. Lots of Apple orchards in this area. Late afternoon it had started to rain AGAIN so it was straight back to Hobart and the Midcity for dinner and our final night in Hobart.
Thursday, we made the peak hour rush and said good-bye to Hobart and headed for Queenstown, in the west. Travelling via the Lyell Highway through the towns of New Norfork and Ouse. Several of us stopped at Hamilton for morning tea and to view the Warder's Residence which was very interesting, as this village was once a very large town in the 'old days'. Following the Derwent River, past the Hydro Power Stations of Liapootah and Tarraleah and on to Derwent Bridge and Lake St.Clair for lunch. A Strange thing happened in the car park at Lake St. Clair. A couple of people from Queensland came up to us and started talking with us about Triumphs (what else!). Seems that they were on the 'wallaby', we mentioned about a couple of members from Queensland whose Stag had broken down at Coonabarabran, Chap asked who it was and when we told him, it turned out that he had worked with our Triumph member 10 years ago and hadn't seen him since. Coincidence? or 'Spooky'! Down the 99 bends and into Queenstown for the night at the Silver Hills Motel. By this time the windscreen wipers were working full pelt. Time for a walk before dinner. If you haven't been to Queenstown before, it's like no other place on Earth. The hills are definitely not silver, they have been denuded by the pollution and the need for timber to run the Mt. Lyell Copper mines.
Friday, still raining heavily, we departed Queenstown heading into Strahan for a quick look, then Zeehan, over the Reece Dam Wall and into Cradle Mountain for lunch. At times the rain was coming at us horizontally with some wind gusts feeling like Force 7 in the TR 7. Hellyer Gorge (the Targa Tasmania closed section) was on this run and plenty of opposite lock was observed in this section. On to the Murchison Motor Lodge at Somerset on the North coast for our final Surrey dinner and Presentation evening. Many stories were told and lots of laughs.
Saturday, a run out to Stanley, a bit too cold and windy to try out the chairlift on the 'Nut' then a leisurely drive back to the Lactos factory in Burnie, for a B.B.Q. lunch kindly provided by Lactos. Time to sample their products and to buy anything that took your fancy, then it was time to drive back to Devonport to board the Spirit and say farewell to our Tassie friends and hope for a smoother crossing back home.
Sunday, arrived back at Port Melbourne after a good crossing and re-grouped at Kerferd Road for a final good-bye, before heading to the A.O.M.C. British and European Motoring Show at Flemington for some of us, and home for the rest of them. Why does the ground still seem to be rocking?
Special thanks must go to our Melbourne and Tasmanian organisers and all the other members involved in organizing 'Surrey'. I think we can speak for all participants that it was a very enjoyable and sociable event.
Fay and John Seeley. Melbourne, Victoria (Apr. 1997)
OTHER REPORTS
