Exploring around the Hobart area.

We treated ourselves to a lovely cooked breakfast at Teez Café then left Tarraleah with the sun shining and almost no breeze at all, for what proved to be a beautiful relaxing drive down and out of the mountains on the Lyell Highway towards New Norfolk and the upper Derwent River area north of Hobart. We were heading for Cambridge to the east of Hobart for our next camping spot, which would be our base for general touring around Hobart as well as north to Richmond and south to Port Arthur.

After a short while our route followed what appeared to be a large lake, so always on the lookout for scenic locations to photograph, we took the first turn off that that went toward the lake. Fortunately we chose well as within minutes we arrived at an off-road parking and boat ramp area at what the sign said is Meadowbank Lake.

Two fishermen were already there with their motor home, un-hitching and launching a motor boat for a couple of days fishing. Apparently this lake provides good bag limits of trout and these blokes regularly get good catches there. We were quite happy just to take in the peace and serenity of the place for a few minutes.

Serenely still waters of Meadowbank Lake near New Norfolk, Tasmania. © R Neal

Before long we were at New Norfolk, a really beautiful town on the banks of Derwent River but as it was too early for lunch and we weren’t sure how long it would take us to get to Cambridge we kept moving on, along the eastern route though Bridgewater.

View of upper Derwent valley. © R Neal

There were many amazing views of the upper Derwent valley through here with lots of quality homes located to take full advantage of the views. So many of the homes we saw use coloured corrugated iron as exterior wall cladding. It’s almost like a new architectural style that we had not seen before.

Almost without warning we found ourselves enclosed by suburbia so decided to get to Barilla Holiday Park at Cambridge and set up camp in time for lunch. A quick drive into Rosny Park shopping centre to stock up on supplies was not a great idea as on returning to our car, some senseless lout had ‘keyed’ the entire passenger side. Fortunately, the gouging was not deep and I was able to remove it after we got home again. Not a nice experience though.

Barilla Holiday Park is a very nice, clean and well set up park, with on-site licensed restaurant, ice cream shop, and gourmet pizza shop. Plus, mini golf course and spa pool (open to the public). Amenities blocks are many and well located throughout the park.

On-site cabins at Barilla Holiday Park, © R Neal

The next day we drove down to Port Arthur intending to tour this historical site. For the first time on our journey we were met with non-stop pouring rain. We were soaking wet just getting from the car park to the reception centre. After a half hour of hot drinks and a snack and perusing the souvenir shop the rain showed no sign of letting up so we reluctantly chose to leave this visit to some time in the future and headed north back to our camp.

Tasman Peninsula is home to many rugged coastal views and seaside villages. We made the detour on the eastern coast near Eaglehawk Neck to check out Tasman Arch and the Devils Kitchen. Millions of years of wave action has created these cliff side formations. Fortunately the cliff edges are fenced in, as you would not want to fall over here.

Looking south along the Tasman Peninsula. © R Neal

Waking to a mild, sunny day we decided to do a bit of sight seeing and drove to top of Rosny Hill lookout. 270 degrees views are possible from up here, from the Derwent estuary to the south, Hobart city to the West and the Tasman Bridge and Derwent River to the north.

Tasman Bridge across Derwent River, Hobart. © D Neal

Castle on Derwent River, Hobart. © D Neal

Derwent estuary from Rosny Hill lookout. © R Neal

On returning to camp neither of us felt like preparing lunch so I went to investigate the park’s pizza shop. Fortunately Nate, the resident professional chef, was preparing supplies for both the licensed restaurant and gourmet pizza so I was able to discuss which gluten-free foods he could provide. He offered to make a gluten-free pizza especially for us if we were happy to wait a little while – and he would personally deliver it to our tent! An offer we couldn’t refuse. True to his word a delicious steaming hot, gluten- free pizza was delivered to our tent less than an hour later. It was the best pizza we had enjoyed for weeks so we recommend anyone in the area or in the park drop by Nate’s Gourmet Pizza or restaurant for an enjoyable meal at lunch or dinner time.

Chef Nate in his kitchen, Barilla Holiday Park, near Hobart. © R Neal

Just 15 minutes drive north is Richmond – reputed to be the best-preserved Georgian village in Australia. Set in the heart of Coal River Valley and once a key military post and convict station the town commands views of hillside vineyards and sandstone cottages. Perhaps Richmond’s most recognised icon is its historic sandstone bridge built in 1823 using convict labor.

The historical 1823 sandstone bridge at Richmond. © D Neal

Built in more recent times a must see attraction here is Old Hobart Town, historical model village. This historically accurate model village was more than 4 years in the making, working from plans and drawings researched from archived records. It’s an amazing visual look at the early days of Hobart.

Our five minutes of fame happened while we were there. A Japanese film company was making a tourism documentary during our visit and we were asked to ‘play the tourist’ while their camera’s rolled.

Intricate detail of part of Old Hobart Town historical model village, Richmond. © D Neal

Back to normality, we returned to camp to relax and prepare for the next phase of our journey. The east coast, Bicheno and Freycinet Peninsula are our next destinations.

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Traveling from Strahan to Tarraleah

Leaving Strahan we head off for three nights at Tarraleah up in the central highlands. The first section of this highway is called The West Coast Wilderness Way and it definitely is wilderness. A twisting, climbing, narrow road running between what feels like endless kilometers of rain forest. The scenery is beautiful, but there’s almost nowhere to stop for photographs.
After about half an hour, rain forest gives way to a denuded plateau where all the vegetation looks like it has recently suffered a bush fire. Paddocks are black and almost totally treeless. A road sign with arrow pointing right, says “Queenstown Airport” but we can’t see any airstrip, just black paddocks. Then the highway starts to dip and we find ourselves on the down hill approach to Queenstown.

Empire Hotel and Vietnam War Memorial at heart of Queenstown. © R Neal

For us this town feels like a town in limbo. Perhaps this is because it’s a dull overcast day when we arrive? Anyway, Queenstown was once the world’s richest mining town. Mt Lyell Copper Mine began operations in 1896 and operated continuously for 100 years. The original Mt Lyell railway carried rich copper ore to Strahan for shipping to all parts of the world. Today, the restored railway operates as the West Coast Wilderness Railway running on the Abt rack and pinion section down to Dubbil Barril, then on regular railway tracks down to Strahan.

West Coast Wilderness Railway train station at Queenstown. © R Neal

The most striking view at Queenstown is of the surrounding hills, almost totally devoid of vegetation due to 100 years of toxic fumes that drifted up from mine operations and covered the hillsides.

View of denuded hills around Queenstown, shot from the highway. © R Neal

Driving into or out of Queenstown on the eastern (Hobart) side is not for the faint hearted, especially if you’re towing a caravan! Approximately 7kms of very steep, very tight twists and turns, with a 600 feet drop on one side and granite rock face on the other.  But, the views from the occasional look out spots are terrific.

Once ‘over the top’, driving becomes more normal again and it’s possible to relax a little to enjoy some of the awesome scenery.

Example of views seen on highway from Queenstown to Tarraleah. © R Neal

Derwent Bridge is not just a bridge, it’s a little village situated right at the southern end of Lake St Clair. Its most impressive claim to fame is the Interpretation Centre located almost on the lake’s edge. This is the spot where trekkers doing the Overland Track through Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair National Park either begin or finish their hike. The comfort and facilities at the Centre must be a hugely welcome site for those who have completed the journey from north to south.

Panorama view of southern end of Lake St Clair. © R Neal ♥

By mid-afternoon we arrived at the Highland Caravan Park in Tarraleah and set up our tent. Tarraleah came into existence in the 1930’s when Tasmania’s Hydro Electric Commission was building hydroelectric power stations across the state.

Our campsite at Tarraleah. © R Neal

At its peek it had over 100 cottages, 3 pubs, 2 churches, school, sports oval, police station, supermarket and the luxurious Lodge. However, in 1996 the town was formerly closed and the majority of housing sold off. These days the Lodge, a hotel and some cottages and other buildings have been restored to form a resort environment. While we were there several groups on bus tours were enjoying a stay at the lodge.

Entrance to Highland Caravan Park at Tarraleah. © R Neal

Our campsite was very pleasant near the pond, with a clean, well-equipped amenities block a few yards behind us. Wild animals here are not afraid of humans. On the way to the amenities in the dark of night we needed a torch to make sure we didn’t bump into wallabies or kangaroos or step in something unpleasant!

The Pond at Tarraleah. © R Neal ♥

Yes, nights up here in the mountains were cold but at least we didn’t get any snow, which we were told can happen at any time.

And we didn’t have any rain during our three days here either.

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♥ Lake St Clair panorama – click here 
♥ Pond at Tarraleah – click here

The Strahan Experience

“If you decide to do a boat cruise when in Strahan, go on the red boat”. This was the advice given to us by a fellow traveler whilst we were in Stanley. So, three days later here we are aboard MV Eagle heading across Macquarie Harbour to experience everything this cruise has to offer.

MV “Eagle”, the red cruise boat, on Macquarie Harbour. © D Neal

Today’s calm waters combine with mainly overcast skies and a brilliant non-stop commentary to place us in state of total comfort and relaxation throughout the cruise. Thankfully, the southern ocean is unusually smooth today, enabling the captain to take us out further than usual, through the entrance to Macquarie Harbour known as Hells Gate, enabling us to enjoy views of the lighthouse and surrounding sea and landscapes from the ocean.

Hells Gate lighthouse sits at entrance to Macquarie Harbour. © R Neal ♥

We jostle for space on the open deck to snap away at the lighthouse, mainland, seas and sky. Everywhere we turn we’re presented with another awesome image.

The seas are not always this calm. We’re told of a terrible tragedy which took place at this lighthouse sitting on Entrance Island. Over a hundred years ago, the assistant lighthouse keeper’s entire family, returning from a holiday was washed away attempting to land on the island, never to be seen again.

Looking across Macquarie Harbour to western Tasmania’s mountain ranges. © R Neal. ♥

Our cruise makes its way south past the salmon farming pens where we observe daily feeding operations. Fish bred in this healthy, disease free environment are in fish markets or restaurants all over Australia within 24 hours of being harvested and packed on site.

Salmon fish farming pens. © R Neal

Dramatic tales of hardship are served up during our stop over at the old Sarah Island Penal Colony. After disembarking onto the island passengers are split into groups of about 30 people and allocated a tour guide. The knowledge each guide has of the entire history of this site, and the humour they inject into their telling of it, is absolutely first class.

Sarah Island beach. © D Neal

View across Macquarie Harbour from Sarah Island. © D Neal

This place was definitely hell on earth. Convicts worked from dawn to dark, mostly up to their waists in icy waters to fell and haul huon pines for the shipbuilding activities. Conditions were so brutal some confessed to murders they didn’t commit so they could hang, just to escape the depravity. In its day it was the largest shipyard in Australia – but what a terrible price to pay in human suffering.

Remains of solitary confinement cells on Sarah Island. © R Neal

Back aboard, to take our mind off such events, the most incredible buffet style lunch of hot and cold foods is served whilst our boat glides serenely along the mighty Gordon River between river banks crowded with pristine rain forests. Lunch features a selection of local smoked salmon, pastas, casseroles, cheeses, several salads, fresh fruits and tea or coffee. Excellent local wines are also available to help add the finishing touch to a delicious meal.

Appetites satiated we are offered the chance to take a 20 minute walk through a section of the rain forest at the Heritage Landing Nature Walk. Another guided tour, we learn more than we can possibly remember about the extensive range and diversity of plant life in this area.

As if all this was not enough, on return to port, most passengers take the opportunity to disembark at the dockside saw mill to witness the milling of huge huon pines and the wood turning skills of local craftsmen. And, of course, to purchase a souvenir reminder of a great day cruising Macquarie Harbour.

Two days later we traveled on the West Coast Wilderness Railway – originally the Mt Lyell Mining and Railway Co Ltd railway, built in 1896 to get copper concentrates from Queenstown to export markets.

Diesel locomotive hauls the West Coast Wilderness Railway between Strahan and Dubbil Barril. © R Neal

Unfortunately our journey was cut in half! Wild storms caused mud slides and fallen trees to cut the line between Queenstown and Dubbil Barril meaning we could only travel on the diesel powered section on the Strahan side, and not at all on the steam powered Abt rack and pinion section on the Queenstown side. Work to repair the line is expected to take two or three months.

Thinking the sites would still be worth seeing we boarded with about 100 other tourists at Regatta Point station in Strahan. As soon as the train left the station the rain started. Continuous, heavy rain that did not stop all day!

King River in the rain. © RNeal

Anyway we did get to view the historical features of the line with some amazing views of sections of the mighty King River. Shooting photos in the rain is quite an experience but fortunately some shots did come out looking quite good. At Dubbil Barril it was ‘all onto the station for lunch’ and to allow the engine to be relocated at the opposite end of the carriages for the return journey to Strahan.

King River near Dubbil Barril station. © R Neal ♥

After our cruise experience, this was a real let down. Lunch was a filled salad role, a chunk of local cheese and some crackers presented in a cardboard box, plus tea or coffee in a plastic cup. Perhaps that’s what’s meant by ‘luck of the draw’?

The rest of our time in Strahan was spent either relaxing with a good book or photographing scenic features around the town and harbour areas.

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Buy framed prints, posters or cards:
♥ “Hells Gate lighthouse” – click here
♥ “Mountains and Macquarie Harbour” – click here
♥ “Sunset across the beach…” – click here
♥ ”King River near Dubbil Barril” – click here

 

Sunset across the beach next to our camp ground at Strahan. © R Neal ♥

Touring Tasmania’s west – over the mountains to Strahan

Retracing our journey to Wynyard we head south across the mountains heading for Rosebery for a couple of nights to check out Tullah, Lake Macintosh and Lake Rosebery.

Covering about 180kms of twisting, winding, climbing and descending, narrow highway the journey takes us through isolated hamlets with strange names like Yolla and Oonah and through the Hellyer Gorge State Reserve. Rain forest surrounding this gorge is so high that ambient air remains icy into late morning.

This section of road also gave us our first experience of extreme road-kill. Dead native animals, mostly wallaby, at what seems like every 500 metres or so, are not something we expected. Sadly, this decimation proved to be common on country roads all over this island state.

Typical view of forests and mountains on western Tasmania highway. © R Neal

Being in need of lunch and a comfort stop we cruised past the lakes thinking that we would return to them later and continued onto Rosebery. Being a Sunday, the only eating spot open was the local take-away café, which proved to be a really pleasant surprise with great service and tasty food.

If only this applied to the camping ground too. Not one patch of grass anywhere! The entire area looked like nothing more than an old gravel pit. Not good conditions for a tent with poly floor. And the office was closed too. Feeling totally dejected we decided we should head onto Strahan to get there before nightfall to see what our camping options were.

Southern end of Lake St Clair shot from Derwent Bridge Interpretation Centre. © R Neal ♥

We had pre-booked a powered tent site for four nights at Strahan Discovery Park so headed there to see what they could do for us, arriving three days ahead of time. After much discussion of our options with reception we reluctantly agreed to take a cabin for three nights, followed by our tent site for two nights. Our first extra, unbudgeted expense!

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Buy framed prints, posters or cards:
♥ Lake St Clair – click here
♥ Morning at Strahan port – click here

Sunlit morning panoramic view of port area at Strahan on Macquarie Harbour. © R Neal ♥

Touring Tasmania’s north west – Stanley and the far north west coast.

The Nut can be seen from every location in or near Stanley. © R Neal

The most prominent thing about the historic fishing village of Stanley is the huge, dominating, monolith known as “The Nut”. It’s in your face, everywhere, even when you’re 20 or 30 kilometres away. Views from the top are said to be spectacular but we didn’t do the steep climb as we thought it would be too much for us.

View across Stanley. The tourist park is located amongst the bushes, next to Tatlows Beach. © R Neal

Due to high winds on the day we were there we didn’t take the chair lift either. However, views from the chair lift car park are impressive, providing a lovely overview of the village and surrounding homes. The cabin and tourist park we stayed at is nestled immediately at the foot of “The Nut”,  just five minutes walk from Stanley’s main street.

Nineteenth century buildings are an attractive feature of Stanley’s main street. © R Neal

This street features many nineteenth century cottages converted to serve as shops, art galleries, craft studios, restaurants or guest houses. I particularly enjoyed viewing the superb photography, furniture and crafts on display at the Cow ‘n’ Calf Gallery.

If you enjoy fresh local seafood, take a stroll along Tatlows Beach to Stanley wharf, and pick up fresh cray, salmon, couta, mullet or squid from the fish and chip shop, or enjoy a seafood meal at one of the specialist restaurants near the wharf.

Fifteen minutes west is Smithton, once a major fishing village and more recently a centre for milk and beef production. It also serves as starting point for touring further west into wilderness areas including the Tarkine, Arthur River and the far west coast of Tasmania. Less than an hours drive gets you to Tarkine Forest Adventures, the settlement of Marrawah with its superb surf beaches and further south to the mouth of the Arthur River.

Marrawah beach is one of those splendidly beautiful out-of-the-way spots that you expect to have all to yourself. Not so. Surfers flock to this spot whenever they can to enjoy the superb breaks. Sometimes it’s too dangerous to venture in. Most times its simply too good to miss. Well, that’s what a local told me! There is a basic camp ground here with fresh water supply and a toilet block, but campers should plan on being self-sufficient.

Spray topped surf rushes onto the beach near Marrawah. © R Neal

Arthur River flows through the Tarkine Wilderness area but is most easily accessed on this west coast area.

Arthur River, deep in the Tarkine wilderness. © D Neal

Ten minutes drive south of Marrawah gets you to the river mouth where it finally flows into the Southern Ocean. The seas here can be very rough and stormy, littering the mouth with piles of driftwood.

If time permits, take a boat cruise up river from here into the temperate rain forest, to enjoy the included lunch and watch feeding of sea eagles from the bow of the boat.

Arthur River meets the Southern Ocean. © R Neal

We had made the journey to Smithton to buy a warm doona as we had left our fleecy blanket at home and were finding nights in the tent a little too cool. After a successful purchase we decided to look for some nice views to photograph.

Having noticed a street sign saying ‘to lookout’ we drove to the top of a rather steep hill where there was a nice parking area allowing big views eastward across Duck Bay. Whilst setting up my camera and tripod, a voice behind me said “Would you like to shoot from our verandah?” That’s the epitome of Tassie hospitality for you. Here was this gentleman on his verandah nursing a young baby inviting me, a stranger, onto his verandah just so that I could shoot a better image of the view. Of course I said ‘yes please’ and moved up there to shoot the views.

Duck Bay, viewed from the verandah of our friendly Tasmanian host. © R Neal

Duck Bay at dusk with the tide out is a beautiful sight. © R Neal ♥

His hospitality did not end there. After an hour or two of swapping stories of our lives he offered to take us to a couple of locations that most visitors to this area don’t see. We returned two days later and with him as our guide drove beyond Kanunnah Bridge over Arthur River deep into the wilderness. From a small car park he guided us along an amazing track through pristine rain forest until we came to Lake Chisholm. Not a big mass of water but certainly one of the prettiest we have ever seen.

Lake Chisholm. © R Neal ♥

The Nut is still visible, even more than 30kms away! © R Neal

Some ferns just beg to be photographed. © D Neal

He also has a friend who owns a farm east of Smithton with views across the paddocks all the way back to the Nut at Stanley, which he was able to take us to. It was a great day viewing and photographing amazing scenery. And, for the icing on the cake he made us a dinner of delightful “NZ” whitebate fritters – delicious! We will never forget his generous hospitality.

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Buy framed prints, posters or cards:
♥ “Duck Bay  at dusk” – click here
♥ “Lake Chisholm” – click here

Touring Tasmania’s north west – Devonport to Stanley.

Spirit of Tasmania at Station Pier Melbourne, preparing for another overnight sailing to Devonport. © R Neal

It’s only 7.30am, we’re off the boat, filling the petrol tank and feeling a little bit lost in Devonport. How do we get onto the right road for Stanley? “Head back to the bridge you can just see over there, turn left and follow the signs, you can’t go wrong” said the servo attendant, and he proved to be right. Beautiful clear blue sky, bright blue water and the sun shimmering off an almost dead calm Bass Strait we head west toward Stanley – what a perfect start to our holiday.

Our overnight trip on the Spirit of Tasmania was smooth and uneventful and we’re now cruising along Bass Highway, past delightful water front towns with unexpected names like Turners Beach, Penguin and Sulphur Creek. We cruise into Burnie for breakfast, and to find a supermarket to stock up on fresh food supplies for our first week in Tasmania. Be warned, you are not allowed to take fresh fruit or vegetables into Tasmania. Try it and you’ll lose your food and may cop a heavy fine too.

After fresh fruit with frozen yogurt, tea and coffee at a local mall we’re ready for what ever comes our way. Shopping done and packed, we amble our way west past Somerset and Wynyard all the while trying not to be distracted by the beautiful views of Bass Strait on our right. We struggle to keep our eyes focused firmly on the road ahead. An accident now would be absolutely terrible. We’re thinking ‘what a beautiful area to live in, do people here commute to Burnie for work?’ Maybe some do, maybe some don’t.

A few kilometers past Wynyard the sign said ‘Historical Lighthouse, turn right 300m’. So, thinking it will only be a small detour and eager to photograph as many sights as possible, we turn right. After what seems like forever another sign says ‘Wynyard 5km’ so we must have missed the lighthouse. Turning back, we search and search but can’t see any sign of a lighthouse anywhere. Wow, that’s a great coastal view in front. Let’s pull over and shoot that instead, so we do.

View across tranquil Bass Strait waters to the village of Boat Harbour near Table Cape. © D Neal

We arrive at Stanley Cabin and Tourist Park around midday and set up camp for the first time. Well, first real time after a couple of practices on the back yard at home. We have a three metre square tent that ‘pops’ up and locks into place with a front awning that, with the addition of side and front panels zipped on, converts into an enclosed annex. Not what pensioners normally holiday in but it’s spacious and our comfortable queen size, off the ground bed fits into the main tent with room to spare. The annex area is for cooking and relaxing.

The rest of our gear includes tables, chairs, gas cookers, 40 litre car fridge, cooler bin to serve as pantry, and electric kettle. Yes, we book powered sites as we carry the correct power cords and power board necessary for running the fridge and kettle and recharging of our laptop and camera gear.

Our tent on site at Stanley Cabin and Tourist Park. © R Neal

When on the road the fridge is powered through connection into a cigarette lighter socket. This enables us to keep foods needed to satisfy dietary requirements safe and fresh all the time. Gluten free, carbohydrate free foods are virtually impossible to buy, or are prohibitively expensive at roadhouses or cafes away from mainstream towns or cities. We expect the fridge will have paid for itself within two or three years of road trips.

The park at Stanley is well laid out, running parallel and next to Tatlows Beach, which of course means it’s exposed to easterly winds. Fortunately our site was surrounded on three sides by high bushy trees with our rear protected from high winds by a solid brick amenities block. Winds of up to 106kms per hour were reported on the second night here but our tent proved to be very well engineered and constructed. Even though the walls and roof billowed and bucked like a yacht spinnaker everything held together in one piece.

Cars and caravans nestled onto sheltered sites at Stanley Cabin and Tourist Park, below The Nut. © R Neal

Amenities at the park are very clean and well maintained. The camp kitchen proved to be one of the best equipped of all the parks we stayed at. Laundry facilities next to the kitchen were equally as good too. We confidently recommend this park to everyone touring Tasmania.

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Camp kitchen at Stanley Cabin and Tourist Park. © R Neal