Tasmania III - West Coast

Then it was on to Cradle Mountain.
They no longer allow overnighting in motorhomes at the edge of the National park but there is a caravan park on the outskirts of the park that has won tourism awards. These awards were presumably in the most expensive 'wilderness experience' category! Powered sites were $47 and unpowered $33, we considered this rather excessive as the sites were very small (we barely fitted) and the amenities block was down a wet gravel path, was cold, open to the elements and did not shout 'clean'. We arrived early afternoon, with the intention of spending 2 nights but changed that to just the one night and took the bus up to Dove Lake, at the base of Cradle Mountain that afternoon. A wise move as it turned out, we overheard a guide telling one group that 60% of visitors to Cradle Mountain do not get to see the top of the mountain as it's up among the clouds - we had beautiful weather, and great views.

We went on a short walk, along the shores of Dove Lake and were lucky enough to spot an echidna.

Then it was back to 'camp' and we enjoyed one advantage of that 'bush camp' - a little pademelon visited.

We had obviously made the right decision to go up to the Lake when we did because in the evening the rain started and didn't let up all night. The next morning was very misty and you could barely see across the road let alone the top of the mountain.

So we left the Mountain and headed south through the mist and rain, stopping in Tullah for fuel.

I asked the man in the petrol station if it was going to clear and be a nice day - he didn't answer,

 then he finally said, " Well, I can't lie to you, no it isn't!"

We carried on in the rain to Rosebery, a town which exists because there's a mine right in the middle of the town. In town we walked up to Stitt Falls, which could have been really pretty but was in fact rather dismal because the water was 'tainted' by the mine's runoff.

This is looking to the left of the falls.

And now looking to the right:

We pressed on south, to Zeehan, hoping for better - and we found it.

The sun came out and Zeehan was a lovely little town with wide, clean streets, a few shops, a cafe, a (moderately priced) IGA, a large pioneer museum and a nice clean caravan park ($25 with power).

We had 2 nights here, one to rest after the drive down and then a day to see the museum.

What a fantastic museum, entry includes the mineral and pioneer museum, a masonic museum, the old police station and courthouse and the restored Gaiety Theatre, and because we were staying at the caravan park we got a 25% discount!

We had never seen so many beautiful minerals before, and they were displayed so well, even a little darkened area for the fluorescent ones. 

Apparently each state has a mineral emblem as well as the usual floral and fauna etc. Tasmania's mineral emblem is CROCOITE - and is local to Zeehan. It is really rather splendid.

But my personal favourite was this opal from Queensland

We were glad we'd decided on 2 nights in Zeehan because it took more than half a day to see everything.

Gaiety Theatre 2011

On the Spirit of Tasmania ferry over from Melbourne we had prepaid for two tourist trips, one on a train, one on a boat, both leaving from Strahan, our next stop, so we phoned up and booked in.

 These were our Christmas presents to each other. 

The first trip was on the West Coast Wilderness Railway, this was Michael's present.

 The railway is the only Australian example of the 'abt' system (rack & pinion), and it runs through rugged wilderness along the King River from Strahan to Queenstown. 

The journey is nice and slow and the guide was very good, if a little loud, we learnt a lot about the forest, the history and the technology. We had a morning tea stop, a chance to sample and buy some Tasmanian honey (shame couldn't bring any back to WA). A lunch stop  (lunch was provided - a roll, cheese and biscuits, chocolate truffles and an apple) and time for a short bush walk at each stop.

Obviously the reason for the railway was economic - to get the minerals mined to port. The damage to the area around Queenstown is legendary and the damage to the King River is startling!

The end of the line was Queenstown and we had a 30minute rest before a luxury coach drove us back to Strahan. (We had been considering a stop in Queenstown but this 30minute stop was enough time for us to 'do' Queenstown, we're glad we decided on Strahan as our base).

The next day we were up early because my present, a cruise on the Lady Jane Franklin II left harbour at 8.30am.

We had beautiful window, recliner seats and it was an amazing absolutely world class cruise.

We left Strahan and crossed Macquarie harbour heading out through Hell's Gate to the Great Southern Ocean. Halfway across we were joined by a small pod of about 18 dolphins.

Then we went out through Hell's Gate into the Great Southern Ocean - it was a very calm day, swell around 1.5metres and absolutely freezing standing up at the front of the boat (time to go back inside).

The captain talked about swells around 10metres and how that did make the entry into the harbour difficult.

As it was still relatively early in the day the mountains were still shrouded in mist - very pretty.

Then we cruised back across the harbour to enter the Gordon River.

 It was so totally quiet.

 Absolutely stunning.

We pulled alongside a little landing and went for a 400m wilderness walk and a guide explained a little about the wilderness forest - breath deeply, this is the cleanest air in Australia.

Then it was back on board for a scumptious buffet lunch, which even included smoked salmon.

As we left the Gordon River we stopped for a tour of the notorious Sarah Island and horror tales of its' penal past. The guide was very entertaining (can 'street theatre' be entertaining?).

Then it was back on board, a quick nap in those really comfy seats and all too soon we were back in Strahan.

That evening the town had its Christmas parade and the floats drove by the caravan park, there was some throwing of water bombs, but they all missed us!

The next day it was time for us to drive the twisting road to Queenstown and head towards Hobart. Being Christmas Eve it was a nice quiet trip.

 Leaving Queenstown the views and the road were very dramatic.

We stopped for lunch at Lake Burbury, 

a lovely quiet spot where we could have stayed for only $5 a night but it was too early in the day and we wanted to be closer to Hobart, so we pressed on.

As we approached Derwent Bridge the rain settled in and stayed with us all the way to New Norfolk.

Maybe if the weather had been better we would have stopped earlier but we settled on New Norfolk for our Christmas break.

New Norfolk is only about 50kms from the centre of Hobart.

The caravan park was really busy but very quiet and clean. It was down on the esplanade by the river and a very nice spot indeed to spend Christmas. 

Tasmania II - North west coast

So we continued along the North West coast and paid a quick visit to the town of Wynyard, to visit the 'Wonders of Wynyard' Veteran Car Display at the information centre.
 Now this town has 2 hour parking restrictions but NO meters (and no wardens), at the information centre it has free parking and extra long bays for caravans and motorhomes, what a nice welcoming feeling.
The motor collection is Australias largest collection of locally restored veteran Ford vehicles, and has the equal oldest Ford in the world. It is all the work of one local man, Francis Ransley and he can be very proud of the collection, it may be small but all vehicles are in excellent condition and well displayed.

This is the equal oldest Ford still in existence today.  

1903 Model A.

In 2003 (Ford's centenary year) the owners drove it to 58 locations around Australia covering 28,000km.

Then we carried on hugging the coast up to Table Cape. 

We were surrounded by poppy fields,

 but this was serious business - these poppies were for the 'pharmaceutical' industry.

We are constantly told that these are grown in 'secret' locations, but here they were along the main road and next to the tourist strips.

Then we continued along the coast going into Rocky Cape National Park (better make use of the pass we'd bought). This area wasn't as stunning as Table Cape (which was farm land). There was no great lookout and the dunes were occupied by beach shacks (and hoons). It was relatively quiet when we visited but imagine it will be crowded (and awful) once the school hols start.

We continued along to Stanley and decided on a couple of days in the caravan park. The park was right on the beach at the base of 'The Nut'.

The Nut rises 152 metres from Bass Strait and there is a 2km walk around the top.  

You can walk up to the top or take the chair lift - we took the chair lift.

 and walked around the top. Fantastic views out over the ocean and the town.

There was some wildlife up there too

We got down from the Nut just as the town's Christmas parade was starting, we had a good view from the cafe at the bottom of the chairlift.

We really liked Stanley, it reminded us of a little coastal town in Ireland, its quaint cottages and up and down streets.

 There was only one fly in the Stanley ointment, the local supermarket (IGA) was incredibly expensive - now we know people in business have to make money but charging double for basic items (Cola and potato chips) is going too far! So IF you are going to Stanley make sure you stock up on groceries.

Before heading out to the far West at Arthur River we called into Smithton to replenish stocks (couldn't afford to do it in Stanley). As we were leaving Smithton we noticed the 'Saturday Market' hall, always interested in markets so we checked it out. At the back there was a book shop - oops! A few years ago a friend in New Jersey sent us a book by Janet Evanovich about a New Jersey female bounty hunter (Stephanie Plum). It was a good read, really funny even if you didn't know Jersey. We've started buying more of these as we drive across the country and this shop had 8 of them!

We came to an agreement with the owner and bought all 8!!

Then it was out to Arthur River. The camping out there was a choice between a very basic "parks dept" site with cold showers or a caravan park with no better site but a hot shower - we had a quick look at the river and drove back to Smithton. We spent the night next to a lovely little park, on the town esplanade.

Then it was time to head back inland, heading south to Cradle Mountain.

The road was Tasmania's usual winding mountainous road - we stopped for lunch at Hellyer Gorge and took a walk through the forest along the river. It was very pretty but when we got to the traffic bridge we saw this piece of graffiti which made us smile and with which anyone travelling on Tasmanian roads would have to agree.

(tune out now if bad language offends!)

Hello Tasmania

Before we left Melbourne Rhonda and Gary drove us along the route to the port, on a 'dummy run', so that we knew where to go and where we could park up and wait if the terminal wasn't open. Michael thought this trip rather a waste, he spent the trip thinking, " what are we doing, I know where we're going, I know how to drive," but once we left the house on Monday afternoon he was very grateful for their help, especially when we got stuck behind a tram.

There wasn't a queue at the terminal, we drove straight up to security and joined the long, long queues through there and on to check in. The organisation of the whole affair was to say the least, and to be kind, amateurish!  The ship was well run and the cabin very comfortable. 

We took advantage of the on board Tasmanian tourist office and bought a National Parks pass as well as pre purchasing a couple of tours. (we just have to phone a couple of days in advance to confirm a seat).

As expected the crossing got a bit rough after a couple of hours as we crossed through the Rip out into Bass Strait.

Tuesday morning it was "Hello Tasmania", there was a delay before we could get off the ship while the people in the van in front of us wandered around all the decks before finding their vehicle!

Then more queues, 2 lanes off the ship spanned out into 6 lanes across a carpark and then back into 2 lanes to go through quarantine! The little doggy jumped inside the van for a quick sniff and then we were free to go. 

We had a quick stop in Devonport for breakfast in the van in the information centre's carpark. Armed with a load of maps and leaflets we then hit the road, following the coast through Ulverston to our first  stop, Penguin.

The coastal approach road runs parallel to the railway and it's like driving through a garden, flowers, lawns and beautifully trimmed hedges.

Our overnight stop was the Lions Park in Penguin, and this too was next to the railway line, the sound of an approaching train had us scurrying for the camera.

See what we mean about the gardens?!

The town of Penguin itself, is really sweet and has lots of very large penguins around town.

The bakery does a really good rye bread too, when we left we bought a couple of loaves for the freezer.

After our hectic schedule in Melbourne we were taking it easy for a while so the next day it was a short drive to Burnie.

Burnie is the main administrative hub for the North West and apparently all those public servants used to clog the city by parking there all day. The council's solution has been to install parking meters! This means that there is no welcoming feel to the town, we had a quick walk down the main street, found out where the information centre was - where we had to get a camping permit. We drove to the information centre, on the edge of the town centre and got the permit (free, but necessary for the ranger). There is free parking for 2 hours at the centre but it is a little hike into town. We had lunch there and then bought 3 ovals of local camembert for $1.80 each.

The permit allowed us to camp just west of town, at Cooee Point. There were quite a few other vans there when we arrived but we were lucky in that the Jayco Conquest was just leaving and we took their spot right on the seafront.

We tried not to look over to the left too often - the abbatoir was there.

Think I'm joking?

The weather was good though, we both got sunburnt - sitting reading for too long.

After 2 days we decided to move on and do some sightseeing, continuing along the coast.

Tomorrow more of the north coast.

Melbourne

Melbourne City delighted us, it is not the large impersonal place we expected. Melburnians are rightly proud of their city and it is deserves to be the winner of the most livable city comp.
We were spoilt by Rhonda and Gary who took us out to enjoy the surrounding area.
In no particular order here is a snapshot of those places:
  The Dandenongs. In the little 'village' of Sassafras there is an absolute gem of a place, "Miss Marple's Tea Rooms". Not only is the building wonderful, the staff are delightful, the decor is splendid (the Miss Marple depicted is the iconic Margaret Rutherford) and the food is to die for!!
If you really want to pig out eat a dessert yourself, otherwise share with a friend.

Miss Marple's doesn't advertise, her reputation and word of mouth are all she needs. To get a seat without waiting for a table we suggest you get there before 11.30am

Next door is a Tea shop - which is just that - a shop that sells tea and it has the largest range of teas and the biggest range of teapots that I've seen.

The town of Belgrave is home of The Puffing Billy Railway.

We were dropped off by Rhonda and she kindly collected us at the end of the run, at Lakeside.

Custom has it that the children all sit on the window ledges and dangle their legs over the side of the carriage. We obliged, but only for the photo, it was too uncomfortable.

The 2 carriages next to us were full of Japanese school children and they rode all the way on the windowsill (they very sensibly removed their shoes!).

The scenery was stunning. I'd say that it was up there with the White Horse and Yukon Railroad in Alaska. The wooden trestle bridges and winding track made for great photos, and the amazing Dandenongs provided a beautiful background.

In this photo the person in red, with the blue car is Rhonda, waiting to wave at her tourist group!

It was over all too soon and it was time to get in to see more of this truly beautiful place.

St Kilda:                                                                                                            

 St Kilda is a beach side suburb at the end of the no 16 tram. We had a lovely long tram ride and then walked along the the street, resisting the magnificent cakes on offer and then had a burger for dinner, which we took down to the beach to eat sitting on the wall of the esplanade. 

Point Cook. RAAF Museum. (Anyone not interested in planes can scroll through this).

We discovered that Gary loves planes, and so it wasn't hard to persuade him to take us out to Point Cook, west of Melbourne. This is where the first Australian flying school started in 1912.

It was a brilliant day out, the museum consisted of a very, very good museum building, then we were able to view the work being done in the restoration hangar and then there were 2 hangars with more planes, some of these were the ones that they fly on their 'flight days' (Tue. Thurs. and Sun.)

This is the Walrus which came back from Antarctica

And here is the Jindivik.

Yarra Valley and Hills:

 This area was the scene of those devastating fires a few years ago, now the towns in the area have rebuilt and are asking people to visit their communities. There was a time to stay away and let the people recover but now it's time to help them by visiting. We were chauffered up to the town of Marysville, where we all found a book we wanted in the op shop. There was another 'tea' shop and a nice little antiques and collectables shop.

 Lunch was at the local bakery (more splendid cakes to tempt us).

It is chilling to see the burnt trees covering the hillside, but life is returning, there is a lot of regrowth on the forest floor. 

The Acheron Way is a fantastic winding road from Marysville to Warburton, we had the road to ourselves and enjoyed the amazing stunning scenery. The trees must be at least 30 metres tall.

Just outside Warburton we stopped to explore 'The Rainforest Gallery', in the Mt Donna Buang National Park.

The tree top walk may not be in the same league as those in Walpole or the Otways but the peaceful small platform at 15metres above the ground and the forest floor walkway made us both decide that the answer to our question at Kennett River ("can it get any better?") would have to be YES!

We then ended the afternoon with tea, scones, jam and cream by the banks of the Yarra River in Warburton, followed by an icecream!!

All good things come to an end, and it's time to say 'a bientot' to Melbourne and sail to Tasmania, but that will be another story.