The Springs to the Pinnacle and back

My legs were already a bit sore from yesterday's Geeveston parkrun when I set out from the Springs halfway up kunanyi / Mt Wellington at 7.45am Sunday morning. The road to the Pinnacle was closed at first, so it was a lovely, quiet uphill road walk without the noise and fumes of passing cars. Until the final kilometre that is, by which time the road was open again and carloads of visitors streamed past. A few runners passed me on their way to the summit, I guess training for the Point-to-Pinnacle as well. I reached the Pinnacle just after 9am, about a 500 metre climb in 7km. At the top, I took a short break, long enough for a few quick photos and a snack before walking back down via the Zig Zag and Organ Pipes Tracks, arriving back at the car by 10.15am. I am feeling more confident that I can complete the walk within the allotted 4 hours.

Highland Coos

This local business is onto an absolute Instagram winner. Highland Getaway in Tasmania's beautiful Huon Valley has a 40-strong herd of extremely photogenic and fluffy highland cattle. Guests come to stay, take gorgeous photos and post them to Instagram, which is where I first learned about this local business.

This week I joined a networking evening with our local business enterprise centre and had a tour. Julie, with help from her parents who have relocated from Queensland, has created peaceful luxury accommodation surrounded by the rolling green hills of Ranelagh and Glen Huon. You can stay in the cinema suite or the spa suite, both beautifully appointed. Julie also runs farm tours and you can even brush the cows. You can get close to many of them and they are seriously cute! This would be a wonderful place to relax for a few days or spend a week as a base to explore the local area. And their future plans for the property will be worth keeping an eye on.

Oktoberfest in the shed

On the second last day of the actual Oktoberfest in Munich, David and I hosted our annual fest at home, celebrating with around 50 of our closest friends - at least they were by the end of the night! Bratwurst, weisswurst, pretzels, sauerkraut, Bavarian potato salad, cucumber salad, tomato salad, apricot streuselkuchen (with cream of course), gingerbread hearts and plenty of German beer. Our big shed was decorated with Bavarian flags, posters, long tables and banners. And it wasn't just us dressed up in a Dirndl (me) and Lederhosen (him). Quite a few others got into the spirit of things too.