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So, it’s pretty clear that Tassie doesn’t do things by halves. We have had our three best attendances of the whole trip while in this state (104 in Westbury, 101 in Richmond and 102 in Smithton), as well as our worst attendance, with just one person showing up at our Rosebery Hoedown on Monday. Amelia, thank you for letting us be able to say the event wasn’t a total flop!
We left Rachael Treasure’s place at Sorell on Monday, packed up with sandwiches, slice, and cute notes each (just the best Tassie mum) and hit the road for Rosebery, for said hoedown starring Amelia and only Amelia. On Tuesday, we headed north to Stanley, and had a go on the chairlift up to the Nut on Wednesday morning. Kate invested in a pair of kombi earrings in Stanley, which have received many compliments since… we’re thinking of naming them the ego boosting earrings.
Wednesday night was our Smithton event. We walked into the Irishtown Community Centre to a beautiful array of balloons on the ceiling and the tables decorated. Thank you so much to the Smithton Community Bank for your practical and financial support to put the event on, what a night.
We made the call to get two separate cabins while staying in Smithton to bunker down in for the rain. Both cabins were lovely, but one had a river view and was therefore more desirable. Like all big life decisions, we decided a paper scissors rock battle was the best way to work out who was staying where… Kate won best of three and scored the river view. Riveting stuff.
After a rainy admin day on Thursday, we hit the road from east to west for our St Helens hoedown. Driving past flooded paddocks and sheds, we really do feel for all those affected by the torrential rain which has hit Tassie and the mainland in the past week. Pretty hard stuff to see, and no doubt harder if it’s your own property. We’re thinking of you all and sending love and hugs from our home on wheels.
Our St Helens Hoedown on Friday and Oatlands Hoedown on Sunday were both well attended (about 35 people each), and we even did the Wobble dance at Oatlands due to unwavering enthusiasm from the crowd. That’s the fourth time all trip we’ve done the Wobble – go Oatlands!
Undoubtedly the biggest part of our week was being on the road with the Backroads crew. This wonderful crew of four were with us for five days, filming us and our events and being all round good company. To sum up each crew member, Aaron doesn’t wear jumpers even when everyone else is in multiple layers, JP is happy to be passenger and be driven wherever, Heather has officially mastered the Walk of Life dance by Dire Straits and Damian loves Pringles, and the phrase ‘can we do that just one more time’. We were genuinely sad to bid farewell to this amazing crew, who put so much effort and time in with us. Thank you – we can’t wait to see how it all turns out (and we’ll let you all know when the episode is going to air).
We’ve got one final event in Tassie, at Triabunna on Tuesday, then we’re heading back to the mainland later in the week. We are in the process of locking in NSW events, so keep your eyes peeled as we upload them to Facebook and our website as they become finalised.
Yours in bootscootin,
Kate and Claire.