Boatharbour

Karen has an ex-colleague who runs a set of cottages for hire in Boatharbour, as well as managing some other properties nearby, so we called him up to see if he had anything available.

As luck would have it, he did and we chose a beach house down at the nearby Sisters Beach as our home for the next week.

As you can see, the weather has brightened and the place is gorgeous. Gotta love Tassie – at least when the sun shines!

Our time at Sisters Beach has been pretty goo all round, with excellent weather.

Until Wednesday that it.  That morning we had a friend around for breakfast and I was happily munching on toast when all of a sudden I broke a tooth.

Yeah – good news eh?  Worse news was that local dentists were booked out and we ended up calling dentists further and further away until we found one in Ulverstone (the other side of Burnie) who had a vacancy for tomorrow.

We’ll have to wait and see what happens there.

However, we haven’t been just sitting around while we have been here and we have been out and about checking out things.

We took a walk through the Rocky Cape Nat Park, arriving at Anniversary Bay before taking the coast walk back. The walk took us about three hours to complete, but as this park is a beauty and we didn’t see another person while we were there – fantastic – we loved it.

Pics are in the post above where I duplicated this story.  Gah

Montagu (20km NW of Smithton)

Hoping to escape the cold and the wind that blasts the west coast we drove up close to the north west corner of Tassie, to a place called Montagu. We found a great little camp there that was sheltered, opened up onto the north coast and we could even buy some firewood. Well, we could if it hadn’t all gone until the next day!

We ended up not buying any at all, but that wasn’t any great loss as the rain returned and a fire wouldn’t have survived anyway. Still, the first night there was a treat and the next day we went walking again. This time we went into the top of the Tarkine and walked the forests there.

We stopped for a coffee (from a flask – there are no coffee shops out here) and found this view of the Blackwater River. I wish I had some actual ability with a camera because this little snap doesn’t pass on the feel of the enormity of the forest and how alone you are in there.

We took the walk down to Lake Chisholm – this is a sinkhole that has flooded and is one of the wonders of the Tarkine. Neither Karen nor I were vert impressed to be honest, but the walk there past some true forest giants was pretty good.

Apart from the bit where I put my foot on a wet tree root and ended up on my backside.  L

That evening I was cooking our fresh flathead on the external kitchen (to keep the smells outside) under the awning when it started raining heavily. Nothing new in that, so when I finished cooking I put a plate on top of the fish to keep the rain off as I dashed round to the van door. It wasn’t until the lumps of ice were bouncing off the plate in front of me that I realised that it was hail and not rain. Damn! Tassie can be really cold at times.

However, there was no getting away from the fact that it was damp and dismal (part of the top of the Tarkine is known as “Dismal Swamp” and I think I know why) so we decided to head off to some relative civilisation and to find ourselves a cabin again.

Arthur River

The drive to Arthur River uses a dirt road that travels along the hill and ridge tops giving you some great views. Unfortunately, as it was raining, most of those views had a grey curtain of rain across them. The road also gave Karen a few moments of concern as we often seemed to be almost dropping off the (unfenced) side of a hill or hitting some near vertical incline or descent. At one point I thought I might have to put the mighty Troll into low range in order to get up one particular slope – yes, it was that steep.

We planned on taking the Balfour track across from the “Western Explorer” to the coast and crawling along a lesser track up towards Arthur River. We reached the Balfour Track turnoff (and it was still raining) and stopped to assess the track and see if it would be safe to drag the van along it. The first thing we noticed was a long and deep flooded section with no way around it. Then we noticed a warning sign sticking up out of the flooded section that said that a snorkel and a winch were required to attempt the track and that differential locks and travelling in convoy was highly recommended.

I chickened out and stuck to the main dirt road.

We had hoped that Arthur River was going to be a warmer and drier place and we were partly right – the rain eased off to nothing, but the forecast was for gale force winds of between 30 to 50 knots and it remained cold.

However, we remained undaunted in our quest to walk the soles off our boots and we drove out to a short coastal walk and a lookout known as “The Edge of the World”.

The lookout shows nothing but the ocean and as you can see from the last pic, it can have a fair amount of force behind it. Those trees are (were?) pretty big and they have been piled up by the waves like matches.

Of course, we couldn’t pass the opportunity by to have a photo of the local lighthouse.  J

What to do then? Well, our early training came to the fore and we drove over to Marrawah where we first bought some fresh Tasmanian produce (love those fresh veggies) and then we repaired to the pub before we went back for an early evening.

The next day we had heard of a walk that went between Couta Rocks and Sarah Jane Rocks. Imagine my joy to find that it was a medium difficult 4WD track. Check out the track below.

Along this track I also took a few photos of the ocean doing its thing.

Impressive isn’t it? Also impressive in its own way is the vegetation. How does it survive out there?

Corinna and the Tarkine

Cradle Mountain turned out to be everything wed have wanted it to be – spectacular and beautiful and with some challenging (to these legs anyway) walks. But it was cold and wet for three days and the evenings remained chilly so it was with some relief that we made use of the sunny weather and headed closer to the coast and the glories of a small settlement called Corinna.

Most people will not have heard of this place, but it is a jewel. In all honesty, there is nothing much there apart from a pub that runs all the cabins, camping spots and the cruises up and down the Pieman River. The pub is the Tarkine Hotel and it, and its whole operation, is an oasis. That is not to say that the environment is lacking in any way – the Tarkine (as the wild part of Western Tassie is known) is nothing short of magnificent.

As you can see, the river is a beauty, but it is the forest that is the real star. We have seen a number of forests around Tassie now, but this one stands out as special.

Our first day saw us paddling a double kayak up the river to take a look around and the peace and solitude you feel while paddling up this magnificent river and looking at the thickly forested slopes either side just has to be experienced.

If there is one place in Tassie I would go back to then it is this one.

The pleasure was compounded by our decision to eat dinner at the hotel and this turned out to be an unexpectedly excellent meal in a lovely restaurant. The main staff there are a couple from Patagonia and they made the place feel very welcome and comfortable.

Our second day there had us walking a track to a place on the Savage River where a ship sank. The walk was pretty tough actually, but that just added to the feeling of accomplishment and the joy of being in the forest and not seeing anyone else out there at all.

Sadly, on the third day the rain returned and we packed up and headed north.

Cradle Mountain

Our last morning at Strahan was a wet one and the weather looked to be set in and miserable, so we decided to delay visiting Corinna and taking the dirt road to Arthur River and headed to Cradle Mountain instead.

The weather was just as lousy there and neither of us were very keen on huddling up in a tiny van in cold, wet and miserable weather. So we decided to book a cabin instead.

It is a nice and comfortable place (yes, it has a heater and an ensuite!) and we have been happy to pay the price. We haven't been so happy with the weather, but we didn't let it stop us walking and on our first day we walked around Dove Lake and got soaked in the freezing rain.

The picture below shows our view of Cradle Mountain itself - yes, it is in the clouds somewhere.

This is us on top of Glacier Rock with Cradle Mountain somewhere in the background.

As we got close to the mountain we were able to look up and get a glimpse of the mountain itself.

Yeah, it isn't too impressive looking in the mist.

The next day we took on a different walk that saw us getting into Waldheim's - the original tourist spot in the park.

This pic shows one of the views.

This is a replica of the original tourist accommodation at Waldheim's. Primitive, but atmospheric.

On the third day we found the place bathed in sunshine - Yay!

The park averages 5 sunny days a year so we were lucky to be here for one, and we decided to do the walk past Crater Lake and on up to Marion's Lookout.

The climb up was pretty steep, but where the climb was almost vertical (no, I am not kidding) they had put chains in to allow you to pull yourself up.

Anyway - pics below . . . .

This is Crater Lake and that side of the lake has the gentler slopes.

On the way up - pictures of lakes.

Karen taking a rest.

When we got to the top we found it almost crowded, but we found a spot to eat our sandwiches and take a look around.

I tried to get a picture of the mountain in all its glory, but all I could manage was one of the mountain with some Spanish photographer constantly in the way.

Still, it is impressive and, as you can see, it was indeed a blue, blue sky.

We wondered why Dove Lake was so named, but from this lookout it is obvious - the lake is shaped like a bird.

The Spanish photographer's wife did us the favour of taking our picture.

Climbing back down - I reached a point where I could find a spot to stand so I tok a photo of Karen coming down.

Love those chains!

Tomorrow we head off to the coast again and check out Corinna.

Strahan

We decided we had had enough of Lake St Clair. The privately run campsite (and the only one available) was too focused upon making a profit for us. Nothing wrong with that, but we prefer the more laid back approach that a true Nat Park run place displays.

So we packed up and headed off to the coast and the town of Strahan, hoping to leave the cold and the miseries of the Lake St Clair campsite behind us.

It isn't a long journey so we broke it up by stopping at as many points of interest as we could.

Our first stop was at Franklin River where we found a beautiful walk alongside the river to allow us to stretch our legs. As you can see, it is a lovely place.

In among the trees we found one that was growing out of a fallen log. Moss covered roots trailing down to the soil, it was a strange sight.

The next stop was at Donaghy's Hill. Donaghy must have been a tough old bastard as the climb up there was pretty tough. Pics are below, showing the valley with the buttongrass meadow at the bottom.

One thing that has surprised me is just how much buttongrass resembles spinifex. They MUST be related, but as one grows in hot sand and the other in cold and boggy peat it is quite startling.

Other points of the compass are below:

Our last stop was at Nelson Falls. An easy boardwalk to the falls and a beautiful falls they were too.

We bypassed Queenstown - the place was a polluted desert and a real eyesore. If you ever get down here, avoid the town like the plague!

Strahan - what a cool little town. Old buildings in good repair and just lovely. We took a look at the golf course (the in-town alternative to the caravan park which we wanted to avoid) and then drove out to Macquarie Heads where there is a campsite that offers a bush experience. Long drop loos included.

We found it to be a great little place, we had a small paddock to ourselves and the ability to have a fire at night and we loved the tranquility of the place. It is well known that the west coast has over 300 days of rain each year, but we were lucky enough to find it dry and sunny for the whole of our stay.

For the 4WDers among you, I managed to lock the hubs in and do some beach driving.

As you can see, the beach is hard packed sand so it was easy driving and the 4WD was only required to get back off the beach. The Maxtrax stayed strapped to the roof.

The pic below is our campsite with the fire in the foreground.

We took advantage of the campfire to cook a beef roast in the camp oven - pic below. The meal turned out pretty well and we continue to eat well!  :)

Macquarie Heads is 10km out of town, right up at the infamous entrance to the harbour known as Hell's Gate. The drive back to town was around the harbour and as you can see, it was very pretty with the different ranges in the background.

We took a really touristy cruise around the harbour (the second biggest in Australia after Melbourne's Port Phillip Bay) and were educated as we went.

The pic below shows the "Training Wall" which is a submerged wall of rock that was built to "train" the flow out of the harbour to keep a channel free. 300 men for 3 years to build it.

We seem to have visited lighthouses around this state so this stop wouldn't have been complete without a pic of the lighthouse at the southern side of Hell's Gate.

And this is Hell's Gate - a 40 metre wide gap between the headland and the rocky outcrop from the other headland. Even on a calm day it looks daunting.

After Hell's Gate we took a trundle across to Sarah Island, a vicous convict settlement, and then we cruised up the Gordon River to look at where the dam builders got their collective butts kicked.

Pretty eh?

We like Strahan!

Pissums

Last night was a disturbed night - the cause? Possums.

First of all it was a huge possum on the roof, wandering around and tapping claws. I was sent out to scare it away but it didn't want to come down. Eventually it moved off after banging on the ceiling and clicking open and shut the roof vent.

Later (after we had been tucked up in bed again, Karen had a go at scaring a second possum off our roof. It was quite funny listening to her walking around the van, waving the torch and swearing at the possum, but I eventually had to join her and the beast was sent on its way with a very non-parks and wildlife crack across its back with a stick.

Then, a third possum dragged me from my bed to scare it away. We use a simple BBQ plate on top of a two burner stove - very simple and effective. When not in use I close the lid on top of the plate but of course it doesn't close all the way down. The possum was on top of the lid and trying to get its head in the narrow crack to (presumably) lick the BBQ plate. Like all possums found here, it just froze when the light went on it so I belted it with the torch (I was getting peeved by then) and then packed up the BBQ.

Like most people, once you get vertical after being in bed for a while, nature called. Being a bloke I simply walked over to the trees and  performed the function there.

Remember I said that possums freeze when you walk up to them? Well the unfreeze and make a "Skkrrkt" noise when you pee on them. I was just in that "ahh" moment so all of a sudden having a relatively large piece of wildlife explode into action at your feet and streak up the tree trunk in front, while you have you best friend in your hand, causes a certain amount of anxiety. Remember, possums are climbers and my best friend was in the line of fire! In all truth I nearly crapped myself, but the possum went the other way and I went back to bed.

I think they have the wrong name now, I won't be calling them "possums" any more.

From now on they are "PISSUMS" instead!

No pictures with this post - be grateful!

Lake St Clair

We moved a little further west to get away from the crowds leaving Hobart for the long weekend and headed for Derwent Bridge and the big drawcard of Lake St Clair.

First impressions are "WTF?" as the whole attitude is different to Mt Field. Given that these are bth national parks you'd expect that things would be similar, but not to be. Mt Field had caring and courteous staff and a great atmosphere and only charged $20 a night while Lake St Clair seems to want to turn a big profit out of everyone, charging $35 a night to camp there, plus a dollar for a shower, plus, plus, plus . . . . .  And then when you get to the site assigned to you you find that it is not much bigger than a supermarket parking spot and you are wedged in with dozens of others.

Rarely have I felt so much like I have been bent over a desk and violated as I have with this place.

The park itself is the saving grace as it is typically Tasmanian and beautiful.

On the way there we passed a place called "The Wall". Nothing to do with Pink Floyd (I was disappointed), but instead it is the work of a sculptor who is carving the history of Tasmania on Huon Pine panels and his work is truly remarkable. This is highly recommended.

We were not allowed to take photos inside, but this is an example of his work (although this time in steel) outside.

So while we have been here we have done some of the walks and I am currently stiffening up after completing an 11km walk through some pretty dense bush. Images below:

So, after three nights here we will be moving on to Strahan tomorrow.

Mt Field Nat Park

We are currently camped in Mt Field Nat Park and it is cool.  In both senses of the word!

There is only the one place to camp up, a Nat Parks place that charges $20 a night for a powered site or $16 for an unpowered, Comes with clean flushing toilets, hot showers and the campers kitchen etc.

On top of all that, it is in a beautiful place. Definitely a gem!

On the way there we called in at the Salmon Ponds, the place responsible for the original introduction of a pest piscatorial species called the trout.

They have lots of fish in ponds and Karen particularly loved the salmon as they simly flew whenever any food was thrown.

This pic is of the albino rainbow trout.  You have to ask "Why?" though.

One of the joys f the parks here are the walks available and for the past couple of days we have been walking our legs off. Here are a few images . . .

Russell Falls - a beaut walk to get there and falls like liquid lace.

Here's Karen all dressed up for the cool weather at the falls.

All the paths are beautifully cared for with an eye to keeping a minimal impact on the environment. They make it easy to get around and one path took us to the top of the falls.

The camp site is infested with wildlife like this little padmelon. I also spotted a possum that made me look twice. The cold climate means that bigger bodied beasts have an advantage, but I have never seen a possum the size of a German Shepherd before!

Running right behind our camp is a stream that should be stuffed with trout.

They are a bit too clever for me though!

We took a drive up to the alpine area too and spent hours walking around up there. Damned cold it was too, but the scenery was spectacular.

This is Lake Dobson

These are a string of tarns (small lakes left from glacial activity) in a valley. Yes, we walked up past those lakes and on up to the height from which we took the photo and then further on again.

Can you see the ski lift going up the slope to the saddle?

Karen bought herself a beanie despite the threat of hat hair - I told you it was cold!

This is Lake Seal. Somehow I dubt they ever found a seal up there, but you never know.

Wow - Tassie just continues to impress.

Having been healthy and walked for half the day we decided to simply drive somewhere the next day and the destination we chose was Lake Pedder and the town of Strathgordon.

On the way there we drove past one of the greeny camps who are there to protect the forests from logging. As we drove back in the afternoon we saw some of them walking up the road and they were the biggest caricatures of hippies you could ever wish to see. All tie died clothing, playing guitars and recorders and dancing up the road.

Weird.

Anyway, more of the trip there.

We had a beautiful day and glorious surrounds. The icture below is of Karen on a beach at Lake Pedder.

I couldn't resist taking one of the Patrol (now with nice, shiny new brake discs) and the hills beyond.

When we got to Strathgordon we indulged in a ce coffee and cake while we revelled in the view across the lake. Glorious isn't it?

And the dam (and the hydro electric plants) are tucked away but are just as beautiful in their own right.

A great day made even better by calling in at the pub on the way home.  :)