A day planned in the area covered Devonport city then into the countryside filled with fruit producers, dairies and wineries. Visited Anvers Chocolate factory - some samples acquired- then Ashgrove Cheese and Dairy facility to sample and purchase some special cheese. Visited Deloraine for coffee and a baguette at the Deli.
Off to Sheffield - the town of murals, almost all flat surfaces and walls have paintings depicting local scenes. Nearby Railton was the town of topiary - the art of clipping shrubs or trees into ornamental shapes, in Railton mainly animals, quite clever really.
Then we were off to spend the night with Mat and Megan ex Hervey Bay folk. Mat worked with me at State Development up until 2 years ago. He made a life change and bought a 20 hectare olive grove in Merseylea with 1000 olive trees of varying age. They produce some olive oil, Megan produces an olive oil based cosmetic skin care range. The kids, Adelaide (4) and Clarence (18mths) are great with Adelaide ever asking questions and talking. Main interest at the moment is dragons particularly the flying kind. Mat has a job with a salmon smoking company to supplement his income. The house cows provide milk and other dairy. An entertaining night of talking shit after the great home cooked meal ensued. I really miss Mat as he was great to work with as he had similar constructive imagination and entrepreneurship. Asked if he would return to a corporate / government life he responded "no way". Same response from Megan.