0013 Heading back to the Mainland

0013 Heading back to the Mainland
17th January 2020
Sightseeing in Tasmania

Evie & Olie inspecting Troopie !

We left Benn & Sarah & the girls in Hobart on the 14th January after a wonderful month with them.  Lots of fun exploring the area, getting to know the girls, reading lots of stories and having lots of adventures, and also learning a lot about Benn & Sarah's Fox Friday brewery, which I am most impressed with.  Impressed with their vision for the future, and also impressed with their beer !!  After saying farewell, we headed NW out of Hobart, on the road to Queenstown and Strahan.  We had 3 days to get to Devonport to catch our ferry, so we were just planning a wander up through the NW corner of the State.

The dry countryside

The first part of the drive was through very brown, dry countryside - They may not be having quite as
severe a drought as country Victoria or NSW, but they really need some rain down here.  Luckily they know they will get some before too long !  Soon we were heading into hillier and more wooded countryside, and before long we came to Tarraleah. We were in the heart of the Hydro Electricity area of Tasmania, where there are several power stations. Tarraleah is a small township that originally housed the construction workers who built the pipelines in the 1930's and 1940's.   After construction was

Tarraleah hydro pipes

completed, it fell into decline until it was briefly resurrected in 2002 as a BDSM resort - Yes really !!!  But this didn't last long and in 2006 is was sold to a developer and completely refurbished as a Country Resort, with some 15 original workers cottages as well as a central Lodge, a chuch, and much more.  Exploring the pipelines we could see down to the power station down in the valley, and as we left the resort, we saw these two enormous Surge Towers.   These are in the pipeline and act as giant shock absorbers whenever the pipes are closed down at the power station, cushioning the water pressure and ensuring the pipes do not break.  So simple, yet so effective !

We then drove down to the bottom of the valley and looked back up the

Tungatina Hydro

pipeline - Only to find yet another set of pipes and another power station on the other side of the hill - With one called Tungatina.  There really are Hydro power stations all over the place round here !!  We then climbed back out of the valley and explored the lakes which supply the water - Excellent gravel roads around the lakes and across the dams, and finding that some of the lakes are even interconnected by canals - Quite a major engineering feat which in today's power hungry world has paid for itself many times over, and with the high rainfall of

Lunch stop

Tasmania is a great renewable resource. We found a great camping site where we had lunch, but sadly it was too early to stop, so we had to move on towards Queenstown.

Surveyor's monument

We passed a monument beside the road which, on closer
inspection, we found had been erected by the Institute of Surveyors of Australia (Tasmanian Branch !), to commemorate the early surveyors who had originally mapped the State.  Interestingly, the monument is very close to the geographical centre of Tasmania.  A couple of hours later, we found an almost deserted free camp site on the shore of Lake

Lake Burbury

Traveller's G&T

Burbury, and after setting up and having an explore, we settled down beside the lake and had a beer before cooking supper and turning in. We have also found premixed G&T, both Bombay and
Tanqueray, which are great for traveling, as we don't have room for whole bottles of Gin and Tonic.  They are slightly sweet, but for the occasional drop while travelling in the Australian Bush are just perfect !!

A misty morning

Horsetail Falls - Not !

The next morning was a bit gloomy and overcast - It never stays fine for long in Tasmania !! We wound our way on towards Queenstown, but stopped for a walk up to "Horsetail Falls" that
were signposted.  After a 15 minute walk up a pathway built along the side of a hill,

Cradle Mtn Lookout - Not !

we came to the Falls - Unfortunately not a drop of water due to the recent lack of rain, so not very spectactular, and we hiked back down the path to the car.  A little while later we saw signs to "Cradle Mountain Lookout", so we parked the car and set off up the trail - And you guessed it, low cloud meant that we couldn't see a thing !   Ho hum !!  But we did see several echidnas

Echidna hiding from us

wandering along the edge of the road, a couple of which we stopped for in order to get a closer inspection.  But, like porcupines in N America, they are shy little creatures that scuttle away with amazing speed once you get too close.  They also tend to hide their heads in long grass, with their bodies in full view, and then stay very still, presumably thinking that if they can see us, we can't see them !   Cute little animals, nevertheless, and good to see so many out and about.

Janet checking out echidna

We then drove through Queenstown, which is in the middle of a desolute landscape that has been denuded and abused by mining over the last 130 years, and really is an eyesore.  Originally gold, and then copper, both are still mined today, albeit a little more responsibly. But the town has a long history of boom and bust, with its Paragon Theatre (cinema) opening in the 1930's, and having been recently rescued from oblivion and renovated.  It was then on to the small town of Strahan on the coast, where we stopped for a coffee at the local bakery, before heading on north.  From there we continued north through Zeehan and Rosebery, taking detours on the dirt trails around picturesque lakes and forests.  We then set off east to go in to Cradle Mountain, which we last visited when on tour with the Lotus Club in 2005, and were then able to drive in to the National Park and park right at the lake.  However times have changed, and now you have to park several kilometres away and pay for a shuttle bus to take you in to the area.  Since the weather was somewhat overcast (ie Cradle Mountain probably not visible), and there were big crowds there, we elected not to go in, but to remember it as we once knew it, pristine and quiet.   We then did a U Turn and drove back out to the main road, and continued our way north.

Hellyer Gorge campsite

Targa Tasmania is an international tarmac rally held annually in Tasmania. and one of the more
famous stages is that of Hellyer Gorge.  At some 21 kms long, it is one of the more testing of the special stages on the rally - And

Beside the Hellyer river

yet in the middle of it is a big rest and free camping area !   We reached there early enough to get a good position on some grass, and enjoyed a pleasant evening chatting with some of the other campers.  After an excellent nights sleep, we packed up camp before going for a delightful walk through the forest and along the side of the Hellyer river before continuing aur route north towards Burnie.

Lobster shop in Stanley

We had never visited the NW corner of Tasmania, and we had until 6 pm to get to Devonport where
we would catch the ferry to Melbourne, so we drove west along the coast road, eventually reaching Stanley, which sticks out on an isthmus of land, with a big lump of rock at the end, called "The

View from The Nut

Nut".  Stanley is an interesting little place, with seafood seemingly being a major source of income, as well the "The Nut" which it is kind of obligatory to visit, especially if the weather is good, like it now was.  We decided that the chair lift to the top was the best option, and had a very pleasant 5 minute ride, looking down at all the walkers struggling up the very steep path

Coming down in chairlift

below !  Once at the top, the circular trail is about 2 kms long and provides some spectacular views in every direction, eventually overlooking Stanley before we cought the chairlift back down to the car.  Certainly an interesting spot.   And being lunch time by the time we got down, we drove around to a beach that looked back at The Nut and had a very pleasant sandwich while we admired an old couple in their immaculate Morris Minor, and also got harassed by seagulls who decided they wanted to share our sandwiches ! 

Picnic below The Nut

From Stanley we drove the rest of the way over to Marrawah on the west coast, before taking a dirt trail back around the coast to Burnie and on to Devonport, where we had plenty of time to sit and enjoy a G&T and some nibbles in a nearby park before we eventually boarded the (very late arriving) ferry to take us back to the mainland.  Because we were so late boarding (after 10 pm), we went straight to bed in our cabin and slept until we arrived in

Drinks before boarding ferry

Melbourne !  Note to self - Next time save money and get an inside cabin because it is always dark on a night crossing so there is absolutely no reason to pay for a window !!   We arrived in Melbourne on 18th January, (which was International Winnie the Pooh day), and we then drove up into the hills to Janet's brother Peter's place where Celia his wife had put on a (late) breakfast for us all, and we were joined by sister Sally and Mike, and also Robbie Austin, an old family friend from Mt Eliza.  A very pleasant gathering, after which we headed off down to the Mornington Peninsula to spend a couple of says with Sally and Mike.

Rest of the pics are here :-  https://photos.app.goo.gl/LihaFPkeTxmeqdf29