8th Week - Thursday - Dover

Still drizzling this morning but by the time we had breakfast and made lunch the sun was peaking out so off we set.  We headed for Ida Bay where there is a steam engine train ride.  Seeing as we had only just done the train trip in Queenstown elected not to do this one.  The only town further south is Cockle Bay.  We have no idea if there is anything there or just fishing shacks we so decided not to drive down the muddy dirt road.  We could have gone to Hasting Caves and did a tour of the caves but again chose not to do that one.  Next stop was Southport which boasts the southern most pub of Australia.  The pub and a caravan park is about all there is apart from the fishing shacks lining the coast.  Still the Bay was very pretty with its white sandy beach.  There wasn't much else to see so back to the van for a quiet afternoon.  If the weather stays fine we may go and drop a line in off a jetty.

Southport

Southport

8th Week - Wednesday - Dover

Set off this morning heading for Dover in the Huontrail area .  We had to pass through Hobart and came to within 3 km of the CBD.  Traffic, no idea where you are going and 2.5 tonne behind you made an interesting drive but we made it through and replaced the traffic with the winding road climbing up and down the hills.  Set up in Dover and after lunch went out for a scenic drive.  We had seen a sign pointing to Police Point so decided to see what was there.  Well apart from the coastline of an inlet there was nothing not even a sign.  No matter it was a pretty drive along the coast.  We also saw the fish farms for Huon Salmon.  Back to the van where it poured all night.

Police Point

Salmon farms

8th Week - Tuesday - New Norfolk

 Packed lunch and set off this morning to go back into the wilderness area.  We are going to chain ourselves to a tree (be it a number of years late).  We are heading for the Gordon Dam.  Drove along the Derwent River which just looked spectacular with the trees and autumn leaves on display.  Back into the pines and ferns with the first stop being the village of Strathgordon.  There is a cafe and a wilderness lodge there.  Nothing of interest for us.  Drove further on to a lookout taking in Lake Gordon which is huge.  It was a fantastic view with the mountains in the background.  Could have sat there for ages just soaking it up.  Drove up to Gordon Dam next.  It is so empty, would look so different full.  The dam wall is high and there is a company that does parasailing down it.  Definitely not for me.  I was hanging onto the railing of the fence just looking at it!   Back in the car and to a walk we noticed on the way up.  The Creepy Crawly Walk - 20 minutes.  Better not be any snakes in here.  It was a boardwalk and it went through trees and ferns and was very dark and narrow path (creepy).  You also nearly had to go on hands and knees to pass some of the tree branches (crawly).  Not a bad walk.   Back in the car and we see a sign for Junee Caves so off we go.  Park the car and follow the sign pointing up a path.  No distance or time was mentioned so we didn't know if it was 10 minutes or 10 days.  Probably ended up being 20 minutes.  You could only look in the cave as it was fenced. The Junee River runs through the cave.  Further on to our Next stop at Russell Falls.  There are actually 3 walks that start from this point but we did Russell Falls.  It was a nice walk but the falls had nowhere near the amount of water falling over them as the picture on the brochure.  With tired feet we finished our day and headed back to the van.

Lake Gordon

Gordon Dam

Creepy Crawly walk

Junee Cave

Russell Falls

8th Week - Monday - New Norfolk

Moving day - about 100 km down the road.  Drive out of the ferns and trees of the wilderness area to farming land.  It was quite a contrast as it appears very dry here.  No lush green paddocks to be seen, looks more like central Vic.  Arrive at New Norfolk our home for the next couple of nights.  The trees here are still loosing their leaves so are yellow, gold and red, very pretty.  Set the van up and after lunch we were going to take advantage of the glorious sunshine and having the Derwent River next to us to set off for a paddle in the kayak, but on closer inspection there were too many speed boats.  Instead we did the grocery shopping and then went for a stroll along the side if the river.  

7th Week - Saturday/Sunday - Tarraleah

Another short trip on Saturday and we are set up at Tarraleah.  Not sure if this town has made the mainland news but the whole town is up for sale for $11 mil.   Just a caravan park, holiday units, cafe, church, old school made into accommodation, pub, golf course and a few houses.  Not sure what you would do with it other than try to attract tourists.  You have to turn off the highway so it doesn't even get passing traffic.  We are here for 2 nights.  As we had 2 wet days then campsites without water there is a pile of washing so we are just going to sit here to catch up and hope it doesn't become crowded because of the long weekend and last weekend of school holidays.  Only thing we have done is go for a drive to look at Tungatinah Hydro Power Station and across the Nive River the Tarraleah Hydro Power Station.  We did a drive around town and found a lookout.  It is a balcony on the side of another building for Tarraleah Hydro Power Station and overlooks the pipes running down to the Station we had just driven from.  10 minutes and everything was covered, although this is a good place to stay if you are marking time or need to catch up on washing.  There were us and 2 other vans plus 3 tents here the first night.  (Probably 20 powered sites and 30 tent sites).  Sunday night there are us and 3 vans and 1 tent.   Extremely quiet.

Tarraleah Hydro Power Station

7th Week - Friday - Lake St Clair

Set off this morning for Derwent Bridge.  There is camping behind the pub here but because we need power for the fridge we won't be stopping there but will stop to look at the wall.  It is 75km to Derwent Bridge and the first 6km out of Queenstown is up, round a bend, still going up and another bend and another.  This I think is the worst section but it was windy and up and down the whole way.  One guy we met said he could read the number plate on his caravan while travelling round the bends.  Luckily there was little traffic the whole way.  We pulled up at "The Wall" which is made up of hand carved timber panels 3 metres high 1 metre wide.  When finished the wall will be 100 metres long.  The panels are mostly Huon Pine and are in various stages of completion.  This enables you to see how the carvings are formed from drawings to the finished product.  The work is amazing in each panel.  Unfortunately no cameras are allowed but I presume there are some pictures on the website.  (www.thewalltasmania.com).  I can't check as we currently have no internet.   Back in the car and we drive down to Lake St Clair which is in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park.  We discover they have powered sites so here we are (not where we intended to be tonight but we will head there tomorrow).  Set up camp and after lunch as we are in a National Park, what do you do,  go for a walk.   We did the 1.5 hour walk.  Leaving from the visitors centre we headed to Watersmeet which is the junction of the Cuvier and Hugel Rivers.  In the brochure it highlights what wildlife you can see, one being the tiger snake, hope not!  Crossing the river and onto the Platypus Bay Circuit with views of Lake St Clair (deepest fresh water lake in Australia) and the mouth of the Cuvier River.  The wreck of an old barge is on the beach of Platypus Bay and if lucky you may see platypuses, but we didn't.   Next we went on the Larmairremener tabelti Aboriginal cultural walk who are the indigenous people of the region.  We then doubled back to walk back to the visitors centre around the edge of the lake to Cynthia Bay instead of the direct route.  Looking out over the lake you could see Mounts Olympus, Rufus, Ida, Hugel and the Traveller Range in the background.  This is one end of the overlander track.  Walkers can start here or at Cradle Mountain and it is approximately 80 km and takes around 7 days to arrive at the other end.  You must carry everything you need and bring all rubbish back out with you.  While walking today Ian was keeping an eye out for the 2 ladies he was talking to at Cradle Mountain who were just setting off.  They should be arriving today or tomorrow, but we didn't see them.    A very enjoyable walk.  Only needed to stop in one uphill section, although huffing and puffing in a couple of other sections.  Back to the van to put the feet up for a well earned rest. 

Lake St Clair

Watersmeet

 

7th Week - Thursday - Queenstown

Up today and into town to catch the West Coast Wilderness Railway.  We had wanted to do the full day trip from Strahan but as it was booked out we chose the half day one from Queenstown.  The railway was built in the late 1800's  and transverses some of the steepest grades in the world using the rack and pinion system and was repaired and opened to tourist in 2000's.  They have 3 steam trains that rotate to pull the refurbished carriages.  The trip stops at Rinadeena Saddle where you get out and walk on the bridge over the track to look down on the train.  Next station is Dubbil Barril where you get off for a 15 minute rainforest walk.  Back on the train for the return trip to Queenstown.  On the return trip you stop at Lynchford Station where you get off and pan for gold.  Unfortunately we didn't find any.   The train passes through rainforests and runs beside the Queen River and then to King River Gorge.  An enjoyable trip although now glad we didn't do the full day as rattling around for half the day was enough.  After lunch we went to the train workshops and had a tour around where they do the engines and carriages up.   Grabbed a coffee and then some groceries before back to the van for the night.