Travels 2013

Being retired allows time to consider travelling to different parts of our home State of Tasmania, which we often do. The small State of Tasmania located south of Mainland Australia is experiencing beautiful summer weather at the moment. Even though we have wonderful beach views from our house located in the Bay of Fires the urge to hop in the motorhome and travel our wonderful State is strong within us.


Ferry to Mainland Australia	Cargo into Devonport	Plovers enjoying Surf

We are some months away from heading north for winter so we decided to hop in the motorhome and travel to the North West, West Coast and Central Highlands of Tasmania for a few weeks. We arrived in Devonport late in the afternoon and were lucky enough to see the Spirit of Tasmania ferry depart for Melbourne and a cargo ship arriving from the mainland. It was a warm pleasant day as we parked for the night by the water, there were the plovers just outside our camp enjoying the good weather. After a good nights sleep we visited friends in Devonport and then headed off to Wynyard.


River Walk Wynyard	"The Nut" Stanley


Crayfish/Lobster Stanley	Large and small Crayfish/Lobster

We drove through Burnie and arrived at Wynyard late in the day. Set up camp at the showgrounds and then we walked along the beautiful River Walk into the town

precinct for coffee and to check out shops and second hand shops. Later in the day we were to sit out with a stubbie of beer or two watching the local cricket team in training before going off to bed to read our books. Next morning we had a leisurely drive through to Stanley and its famous stand out "Nut". A fishing port, we were lucky to watch the unloading of Crayfish/Lobster a total of 1780 of all sizes. The largest was 7 kilo and the small one beside it in the photo actually is two kilo and at $72.50 a kilo at the moment they had a good pay day. We were to watch the locals fishing off the wharf and they were catching Mackerel, leatherjacket's and Squid and plenty of them. Then off to Smithton and lunch of fish and chips before wandering around the town looking at the various shops and then down to the waterside to view the maritime happenings. Then off to Irishtown to visit our friends and after setting up we had a good old chinwag to catch up with the happenings in the area. Then back into Smithton to go to the Smithton Club for a few cold glasses and meet other friends.
Next day we had a drive around the Irishtown area which is predominately farm land and took in the of the various crops and diary farms in action.


Tides out Smithton	Beach and Mountains	Park and Wharf Smithton


Farmland around Irishtown		Garry harvesting the Vegetables

We said our farewell and headed off to the West Coast of Tasmania and our next overnight stop at Marrawah. We were to pass through more farms; both cropping and diary with some timber plantations as well. We set up and then went for a walk along the beach watching both the plentiful birdlife and with a good swell running there were plenty of surfers taking advantage of the warm and windless conditions. In the distance we could see the many wind powered electric generators which looked quite picturesque on the headland by the sea. We had happy hour with a few other happy campers that had set up and enjoying the conditions. It was well after 9pm before we even thought of going inside the motorhome the evening was so pleasant.


Rocky shore and beach at Marrawah


Woolnough and wind driven electric turbine generators viewed from our camp at Marrawah


Bridge across Arthur River	Barway at Arthur River	Our camp area at Nelson Bay


Most unusual rock formations caused by erosion at Nelson Bay		Fishing boat moored at Nelson Bay

We were now bound for Arthur River after a good nights sleep and awakening to a sunny morning. We arrived at Arthur River and pulled up for a cup of tea and then crossed the bridge into the wilderness area of the West Coast. Our first stop was to be at Nelson Bay where we set up for the night, we then walked the beach which was very small with plenty of rocky outcrops. These outcrops have been shaped by wind and weather for which the West Coast is renowned. The patterns in the rocks and strange outcrops were indeed very pretty. We noted the fishing boat that was moored amongst the shoals and reefs along with the very large trailer on the beach to bring the boat ashore in rough conditions. There are only around seven shacks with few inhabited full time, one shack is on the market for nearly $700,000. Not to our liking especially when considering during the winter months of howling gales and rain that you are stuck inside all day and cut off during this period. We awoke again to another nice day with low clouds early then good sunny conditions, we had breakfast and then headed off down the West Coast Explorer Road which is also known as the "Road to Nowhere"


Leaving Arthur River area and entering West Coast along the Western Explorer Road (The Road to Nowhere) through rainforest and button grass plains and mountains

The road was rough in places though the motorhome handled it all very easy. We were to cross button grass plains and mountains and then into rain forest all in a very short distance. We pulled up at Donaldson River and had a cuppa and enjoyed the scenery off the bridge which gave a good example of the rain forest that dominates the landscape. We were now ascending mountain ranges and the road in patches was bitumen to assist with the climb though we came across many road washouts. The scenery was splendid for as far as you could see and being very little traffic the going was easy. At times you could see the road in the distance winding its way over hills and mountains, which were large with many splendid differing colours of green. We were to cross the Savage River and again it had rain forest down to the waters edge, then we were on our way to Corrina.


Road to Corrina	Barge to cross Pieman River	Pieman River from Barge

Through more rain forest and narrow roads then we finally arrived at Corinna. Corrina had a rather large township in the 1800's when gold was found in the area, when the gold petered out the town died and today there is a only a tourist resort along with a river boat cruise down to the Pieman Heads with rain forest on either side of the river. Many of the buildings are old with the later additions being replica's of the old township housing. This is where you have a choice either travel across the river on the barge known as "The Fatman" and travelling 12 kilometres to meet up with the highway to Zeehan or travel by road up through Savage River and Waratah townships to arrive at the same spot in the highway which is some 130 kilometres. We elected to pay the $25 to cross on the barge. Most of the 12 kilometres is now bitumen to the highway.


Departing Pieman River Barge	Reece Dam & Power Station	Reece Dam

On reaching the highway rather than go into Zeehan today we elected to drive the 7 kilometres back in the opposite direction to the Reece Dam and make our camp for the night. We elected to camp at the lookout high above the dam and not the camp grounds which are close to the water.
We made the right decision for happy hour was pleasant looking out over the dam and listening to the water going through the power station generators. We were able to watch the traffic driving over the dam and others going into the campgrounds. We cooked our evening meal and sat outside eating, still taking in the views. It was around 8.30 pm before we came inside for the night. When awoke next morning and went outside we were surprised to see the valley and dam shrouded in fog though the rising sun was dissipating it quickly. There were some wonderful sights with the power transmission towers lifting their head above the fog line. No doubt those in the camp grounds would have been experiencing heavy fog. We left our camp around 10 am to allow any fog along the highway to lift as we headed towards Zeehan.


Reece Dam shrouded in early morning fog		Road to Zeehan Township

We arrived at Zeehan and stayed only long enough to have a short walk along the main street and to buy the newspaper, then we were on our way to Strahan. We had good bitumen roads now and it was pleasure to drive; though the rain forests were disappearing and being replaced by gum trees as far as the eye could see over the mountains. We were to drive alongside the Henty Dunes which some reason are now closed off to the travelling public. There used to be lovely camp ground which allowed you to climb the sand dunes and take in the coastline down to Macquarie Heads.


Early buildings in Zeehan	On the road to Strahan	Macquarie Harbour Strahan

When we arrived on the outskirts of Strahan we elected to drive out to Ocean Beach rather than go into the village. The road was gravel again and rough in places. The weather was great with sunny skies and still no wind. We walked along the platforms that are used to view the Penguins when they come ashore at night and also the Shearwaters (Mutton Birds). We then returned to the bitumen and then turned off to have a look at the Heads at the entrance to Macquarie Harbour. The road was very rough gravel though we were determined to press on for we had not been here before due to rough weather etc. We were to pass many Pine Plantations some being harvested so we had the pleasure of sharing the narrow road with log trucks.
When we arrived we passed a camp area run by Parks & Wildlife and campers were squashed in like sardines which did nothing for us. We drove another two kilometers on and came across a nice grassy stretch of ground where we set up for the night with our nearest neighbor some 100 metres away. I set up the satellite dish and then we went for a walk.


Hells Gates Macquarie Harbour	Strahan Harbour and Township

We walked along the beach towards "Hells Gates" the name given to the entrance to Macquarie Harbour. Along the way there were many fishing with lures and it appeared that only those with local knowledge were catching fish to any degree. It was a wonderful walk and so much to see with lighthouse's and small islands and then the entrance to the harbour. There were a lot of pleasure craft heading out to sea through the entrance plus a couple of fishing boats. Back at camp I rigged up a rod to go fishing, when I went to get the lures I had left them at home. I found one lure in the tackle box which I knew was nothing like the ones the locals were using. I spent a few pleasant hours casting though to no avail so it looks like meat for our evening meal. Again it was such a pleasant night we ate outside until the march fly's drove us in. Next morning we went for another walk along the beach and then packed up and drove back into Strahan.


Carriages and interior of Western Wilderness Steam Train		Departing bound for Queenstown

Strahan was packed with tourists so we drove around the bottom of the harbour to Regatta Point where once the ore trains from Queenstown discharged their loads into ships for export. The ore trains no longer run and in its place is the Wilderness Railway which takes passengers from Strahan to Queenstown. Original steam trains haul the carriages most of the way utilising the abt system to haul over mountains etc. The passenger carriages look very splendid and are from a time well past. We drove around to the township and enjoyed the architecture of the old buildings and then moved onto Queenstown.


Denuded hills of Mt Lyall due to past mining practices with the mining practices altered the environment is now self regenerating

The road from Strahan to Queenstown is very narrow bitumen with little chance for traffic to pass, we were in and out of rainforest again and then we were to see the hills around Mt Lyall where the vegetation is growing back after being completely denuded by sulphuric acid from the original copper mines in the district in the 1800's.


Queenstown	Queenstown down in the gully on departure with winding road alongside Mt Lyall

We drove into the town and then parked up and bought a few groceries to replenish our stocks and then had a Cappuccino before going to the football ground to set up for the night. When we set up we noticed that the football ground was gravel and sand, they must be pretty tough footballers in this district. There was a motorised roller going over the surface rolling it down. We then walked up to the town and had a look around and back to the van. Happy hour arrived and then after that we elected to go down to the hotel and meet the locals in all we visited two out of the three hotels. In the second one we were to meet some old timers that were born and bred in Queenstown and were only to happy to depart their knowledge of the area, one was 81 years old and had not travelled outside of Queenie, as the locals affectionately call it. It was nearly 10 pm when we went back to camp and and had a coffee and biscuits for it was to late to cook our evening meal.


Ore coloured formation Gormy	Lake Rowallen with tailings in the distance at Mt Lyall

We refueled the motorhome with diesel at $1.60 a litre and then we were on our way to Brady's Lake in the Central Highlands of Tasmania. It is a long winding narrow road out of Queenstown and half way up we stopped and took a few photo's. We were still driving in rain forest at times and when we reached Gormanston (Gormy to the locals) we went up to the lookout to take photo's, we noted the rocky outcrops stained with various colours from the ore in them mainly copper. Then we wound our way down through Linda once a bustling mining town. Our next stop was to be at Lake Rowallen, a man made lake supplying water to the many hydro power stations, with no wind the waters were clear and placid and you could see some of the tailings back at Mt Lyall in the distance. Then the long haul up Mount Arrowsmith and once we reached the top the whole scenery changed as we were now on the Central Highlands of Tasmania. We pulled up at Derwent Bridge for lunch and then on our way, there were still some button grass plains though now mostly leatherwood and gums growing. We were to see hundreds of Bee Hives making honey off the flowers of the leatherwood trees.


Button grass Central Highlands	Brady's Lake	Wonder who he supports?

We arrived at Brady's Lake and stayed at the shack of our friends from Irishtown for the night, we chewed the fat for some time before we went off to bed. The weather has been absolutely great and today was no different as we prepared to travel back into Launceston where we will stop a few days before returning home. We turned off onto the road to Great Lakes and faced 38 kilometers of gravel road. The trip was uneventful and we never experienced much traffic. We passed Lake Crescent where they were fly fishing for trout and then alongside the Great Lake and then down the very steep road down to Poatina. We were to stop at the lookout half way down and take in the view over the many miles of farm land to the mountains in the distance, it was a magnificent view.
Then the trip into Launceston where we intend to stay for four days visiting friends and our children and then off home to Binalong Bay having enjoyed a most wonderful trip in the past two and half weeks. When we arrive home we will prepare for our five months on Mainland Australia traveling.


Central Highlands	Lake Crescent	View from Poatina lookout

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