31 May, 2024 by Explorers

Darling River Run

The outback rivers and creeks that gather the rain that falls west of the Great Dividing Range in central and southern Queensland join together to form the Darling River at the northern New South Wales town of Brewarrina. From here it tracks south through western New South Wales to join the Murray River at Wentworth which flows west and south to spill into the Great Australian Bight.
The Darling River Run is a tourist drive that follows the Darling River from Brewarrina to Wentworth (or vice versa).

We’ll be following the Darling River north starting in Wentworth.
But first we have to get there.

13th – 17th May, 2024
Mornington Peninsula to Wentworth

Leaving the Mornington Peninsula it was highway driving all the way until we stopped for brunch in Kyneton. There’s a lovely free camp here beside the Campaspe River and a hand pump to fill your bottle with pure mineral water pulled up through 37 metres of basalt.

Could there be a more beautiful place for a lunch break? The autumn colours are breathtaking.

We should have known when we saw the alternative name for these springs.

Steve pumping the yuckiest-tasting mineral spring water into our water bottles. Needless to say it didn’t stay there long!

Mount Alexander

Mount Alexander is our campsite for the next two nights. It’s not a particularly high mountain but, as all the countryside here is flat, it is significant.

Our campsite for the next two nights. Yes, we did look up to make sure no limbs could fall on us.

The large granite boulders reminded us of Girraween NP. The bushwalking trails here are all a natural surface, easy to walk on and through wooded areas with surrounding views. We walked the circuit track to Dog Rock. Lovely to strap on the walking boots again.

Does that look like the head of a dog to you? -the rock, the rock!!

Boort and Piccolo Sculpture Gardens

Many of the little towns in central north Victoria are fading away – shops closed, businesses for sale, unkempt gardens. It’s sad to see as they have such beautiful architecture in many of their homes and public buildings. Boort, where we’re camping tonight, is one such town.

Lake Boort – a fishing, swimming, canoeing, hiking and cycling attraction.

This morning we visited the Piccolo Sculpture Gardens 20 mins north of Boort. The sculptures are made entirely of old spanners by a very gifted artist.

This massive marlin was constructed from 3,000 – 4,000 spanners and took the artist, John Piccolo, 8 months to complete. He sculpts entirely from memory, never drawing up a plan. Unfortunately John has since died, but the beautiful park-like grounds of their home that display his amazing sculptures are being cared for by his son.

Even the seating is a sculpture – note the one I’m on and also what Steve is sitting on in the previous photo.

Lake Tyrrell

Continuing our northwesterly journey we finally arrived at Lake Tyrrell which is a salt lake that covers nearly 21,000 hectares. 100,000 tonnes of salt is extracted here yearly. During winter about 5cm of water percolates up to cover the lake giving it a perfect mirror finish.

However during our visit it is only startlingly white salt as far as the eye can see – maybe a little water towards the middle.

The salt extraction operation is at the top left just out of the photograph. The lake is surrounded by low-growing saltbush and samphire.

Tyrrell is derived from the indigenous word for sky. With minimal light pollution and unobstructed views of the sky it is a perfect place for viewing the night sky. The Boorong Aboriginal people of the area have many astronomical traditions and stories regarding the constellations. Alongside the boardwalk pictured above is the SkyLounge, a circle of reclined seating to facilitate stargazing.

The Darling River Run

The river is known as the Baaka by indigenous people, but in 1829 was renamed the Darling River after the governor of New South Wales by Captain Charles Sturt. The original indigenous name is being increasingly used these days.
The river became an important transport route in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s transporting supplies to the river towns while taking wool back downstream in barges and paddle steamers.
During times of drought or low rainfall the Darling/Baaka may become just a series of waterholes, though when it’s in flood it can be up to 80 kilometres wide. For the last few months outback Queensland has been receiving good rains so we’re expecting a good flow in the river.

18th – 21st May.
Wentworth to Menindee Lakes

In Wentworth we restocked food, water and fuel in preparation for the trip.

Where the Darling meets the Murray. Wentworth

Pooncarie is about 100km north. We travel past expansive vineyards, fields of harvested wheat and salt bush country running sheep. Feral goats are also numerous.
Pooncarie has a population of 65. This is the first of the port towns we’ll come to. The Darling/Baaka River is lined with the largest River Red Gums I’ve ever seen. Our campsite for tonight is a wonderful spot beside the river.

Sketch of how the port would have looked in its heyday.

As it is today. Those red gums are magnificent.

Sadly I didn’t get to see a game of ride-on mower polo!

Another 100km or so north will bring us to The Menindee Lakes system. The road is sealed and an easy drive. There was very little agriculture to be seen as we drove through mulga country and saltbush plains. Some sheep were grazing, kangaroos and emus were seen occasionally but feral goats were predominant. There’s been minimal traffic on this road so seeing a cyclist was a surprise. Soon after we passed him we stopped for a cuppa alongside the Darling/Baaka River and invited him to join us. He’s doing just what we’re doing – exploring the Darling River Run, but by bike rather than vehicle.

A cuppa and a biscuit shared with a fellow traveller.

Despite the recent rain the river was surprisingly very green and low.

The Darling/Baaka River at Karoola Reach. Those Red Gums – just love them!

For many years now there has been controversy surrounding the management of the Darling River. It came to a head in 2018 and again last year with massive fish kills in the Menindee region. Vision of kilometre after kilometre of dead fish floating in the river was a disturbing sight on the television screens of Aussies around the country. An inquiry laid the blame fair and square on poor decision making that allowed excessive water to be removed for agriculture and mines upstream, reducing the flow downstream and preventing the life-giving flooding of the plains surrounding the river. Despite this, legislation still hasn’t sorted out the problem adequately.

As it was drizzling and chilly when we arrived in Menindee we decided to find our camp now and explore tomorrow. Faced with way too many choices we finally settled on the shore of Lake Pamamaroo, one of the several lakes that make up the Menindee Lakes System.

The tourism association for the central Darling has produced an excellent app which covers each of the towns and has developed tourist drives to follow that took us to historical and current points of interest. I highly recommend this app when you do the “Run”.

The Menindee Lake System depends on upstream flood water from the Darling/Baaka. Weirs, dams, levees and regulators were constructed to capture the overflow waters, retaining it in the lakes for agricultural use. This prevents the return of that water to the river.

Menindee Lake Inlet Regulator. Water is flowing from Lake Pamamaroo into Lake Menindee. (Could this be a reason the water was so low and green at Karoola Reach?)
Note the huge flock of pelicans – top left of photo.

Art works on large banners by local indigenous artists line the streets of Menindee.

A mural on a commercial building in Menindee which depicts the history of the area.

One of the properties that depended on the River and Lakes was Kinchega Station Homestead. A large vegetable garden, fruit trees, meat and milk allowed the Hughes family and their staff of up to 70 to be self-sufficient from 1871 until it was abandoned in 1956 following flood inundation, though running sheep and shearing continued until 1967. A lovely short walk took us around the Homestead remains, alongside the river and past the station cemetery.

In 1880 the property was running 160,000 sheep. It’s thought that 6 million sheep were sheared in this shearing shed between 1875 and 1967 at which time the National Parks took over management of the property.

A lovely quiet campsite on the banks of the Darling/Baaka River finished a very interesting day.

22nd – 26th May
Broken Hill to Mutawintji National Park, via Silverton

The road along the river between Menindee and Wilcannia (the next town on the Run) is closed, but we’re happy to detour via Broken Hill, a city we’ve not visited before.
In 1885 a boundary rider discovered a rich ore lode which turned out to be 7km long and 220 metres wide – and Broken Hill was born. The mining of silver, lead and zinc continues still in what is known as The Silver City.

Over-sized seat, perhaps reflecting the over-sized mining operation.

The city view from our elevated seat at the Line of Lode memorial. It’s flat country out this way!

The Line of Lode miners memorial sits high over the city on the edge of the tailings and pays respect to the young lives lost – more than 800. Thankfully mining accidents are few these days.

Each flower represents a life lost while mining. Line of Lode Memorial.

We enjoyed a wander around Broken Hill. The beautiful architecture of the public buildings on Argent St and the many workers’ cottages make it an attractive mining city – not a description I would use for many mining cities in Australia. Some of the residential cottages are in their original state but a lot have been renovated and are very pretty.

Pro Hart was a famous Australian artist who lived in Broken Hill all his life. His gallery is open to the public. A talented man. He had a passion for Rolls Royces and painted one of them.

Pro Hart also loved drawing ants. Take a close look at the wheel trims and around the windscreen.

Silverton and its surrounds, only 24 km up the road, has been the location for many movies and commercials – more than 140!

Some of these include Last Cab to Darwin, A Town Like Alice, the TV series Dirtwater Dynasty, and of course the well-known The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Mad Max 2. The rustic and historic charm of Silverton as well as many months of clear blue skies is a desirable feature for filming.

The Mad Max ‘museum’ draws many tourists.

The stunning desert landscape, the historical buildings and the John Dyson art gallery all made the trip one we were pleased to have done.

Back in Broken Hill we lunched at The Palace Hotel, made famous in the movie Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

The Palace Hotel. A beautiful old pub with the walls and ceiling of the 2-storey building covered in murals.

The Living Desert

To the north of Broken Hill is an area known as The Living Desert. In 1993 twelve artists from around the world worked for 6 weeks on huge sandstone blocks placed on top of a hill. These sculptures each tell a different story and all are striking in their position in this desert landscape.

Alongside the sculptures is a walk through a desert flora and fauna reserve leading into an indigenous cultural walk. The information and exhibits along this trail amazed us.

A group of these shelters, constructed from mulga branches and leafy eremophila bushes provided shelter from the intense heat for the local indigenous people. The structures are self-supporting and strong enough to survive harsh storms.

Even in May this was a hot walk. We were delighted to come across this shelter with water.

Tonight’s accommodation is at the Starview Primitive Campground. Starview, yes – with no light pollution it’s a perfect spot for stargazing. But ‘primitive’, no! – hot showers, flushing toilets and a spacious flat camping area were appreciated.

Mutawintji National Park

Mutawintji NP is located in the semi-arid lands north-east of Broken Hill. The bushwalking at Mutawintji came highly recommended by our pals Trish and Bryan, so that’s today’s destination.

Mutawintji is a very remote outback park.

An impressive Rangers’ Station, which was unfortunately closed. However all the information we needed was available. Another excellent campsite too.

Mid afternoon we set off on the Mutawintji Gorge walk. A pleasant 6km walk into the gorge then rock-hopping up the gorge past rock pools to reach the end. We saw a couple of kangaroos, but dozens of feral goats!

Next morning we headed off on the 7.5km, Grade 5 hike (ie high rate of difficulty) to do the Bynguano Loop hike. The grading was accurate as we scrambled up steep hills covered in loose rocks, rock-hopped along the creek, squeezed through clefts in the rock, and descended one section with the aid of a knotted rope. But, on the other hand, the gorge was beautiful, the rock pools and creek reflected the gums in all their majesty, the aboriginal rock art under the overhangs caused us to pause to think of the people who lived here for so many centuries, climbing steeply up the Bynguano Range we admired the maze of valleys and even more stunning gorges as we rested, and the sense of achievement on completion worth all that effort.

27th – 31st May
Wilcannia – Brewarrina

We left Mutawintji via the unsealed backroad shortcut to rejoin “The Run”. This route took us through farm properties. At every paddock boundary which crossed the road a gate needed to be opened then subsequently closed, and there were a lot!

Returning to the Darling River at Wilcannia we followed it out of town to a fabulous campsite amongst the trees alongside the river. The facilities here are so new that the beautiful brand new gas barbecues haven’t even been connected to the gas yet. Oh well. Another magic night under the stars and red gums beside the Darling – can’t complain. Sealed roads are a thing of the past now and total focus required to avoid the many washouts.

The road north. Lovely and green due to the recent rains, but don’t let the idyllic vista fool you!

Trilby Homestead and Station

More dirt, more dust, more (many more) washouts brought us to Trilby Station, a 320,000 acre working sheep and goat station situated on the banks of the Darling River at Louth. Camped alongside the lagoon which fills from the Darling River after rain we’re looking forward to exploring the Station over the next two days.

Enjoying a beverage as the sun sets. Trilby Station Lagoon

After a peaceful night we set out early with the “mud map” to explore this huge Station. There’s over 90km of tracks to explore on the property using the mud maps. The information booklet that goes with it explains what we’re seeing and why it’s that way.

The Station is flat – no hills. All the roads we followed on the mud map were unsealed but in good condition. Flocks of red-tailed black cockatoos and numerous other birds accompanied our drive.

Fencing contractors who worked on the property from time to time brought their own accommodation (the bus). Their work vehicle can be seen in the background. I guess they’ve retired now.

There are several homesteads on the property occupied by various family members. When a couple leaves a house they leave it completely set-up for the next family to move in. This homestead has been unoccupied for some years now, and I suspect the next incumbent will need to do a bit to it before they can live here.

Water management on a property this size in an area that can go from floods to many years of drought is a science of its own. Here you can see some of the embankments built to retain flood waters, allowing it to soak into the ground over a long period.

The main homestead is built on a slight rise. When the Darling River floods the floodwaters spread out over this flat country for many kilometers, however the Homestead stays just above the flood waters. Liz (the owner) explains they can be cut off from the rest of the property and all road access for a few days up to months at a time. During those times Gary and sons Tom and Will go by boat several kilometers inland where they have a hangar, a Cessna and a runway. Moving the sheep to sections that remain dry is critical.

Back to our idyllic campsite alongside the lagoon at Trilby.

While clouds make for a magnificent sunset they also herald changing weather conditions. Tomorrow it is forecast to rain. We were planning to leave anyway, but Liz suggested we leave earlier rather than later because once the rain starts the roads will be closed.

Grassland colours alongside the Darling River/Baaka.

We completed the last of the unsealed roads today as we headed to Bourke. Bourke is another port town on the Darling but, unlike the other small towns we’ve passed through Bourke is a thriving metropolis of about 2,400 people. We’ve visited Bourke previously so, maintaining our “River Run”, after some grocery shopping we only stopped to see the old wharf. The Darling/Baaka here is much bigger than downstream, though still just as muddy.

Moving on we camped the night in Brewarrina on the banks of the Barwon River where the Darling River Run officially ends. Brewarrina was a great spot to end this leg of our adventure. Its claim to fame is the site of the oldest man-made structure in the World still in existence.

An early photograph of the fish traps.
The rocks are arranged such that as the fish swim upstream they are channeled into a large pen. When enough fish are captured rocks are placed across the entrance to prevent their escape. They are then herded further on to smaller rock-formed holding pens to be either caught by hand or speared as required. Rock placement allows the smaller fish to escape. Early reports talk of thousands of aboriginals from several tribes gathered here at times for corroborees. European settlement in the area destroyed much of the integrity of the traps over many years. In recent times, the local indigenous people have been repairing them as much as possible, but hundreds of meters of fish traps has been lost.

The Brewarrina Fish Traps today. Only indigenous Australians are permitted to fish here.

And so concludes our journey north along the Darling River Run.

2 May, 2024 by Explorers

Central Tassie and farewell

Friday 26th April

With cold, cloudy weather persisting we ditched the idea to do longer walks at Mt Field NP opting just to go up to see the ‘turning of the fagus’ at Lake Fenton. (Previous visits we’ve done the hikes)

I’m admiring the lake surrounded by the stunning yellow foliage of the fagus. Not one of my favourite walking tracks, as you can see.

“Fagus is Tasmania’s only winter deciduous species, and one of only a handful of deciduous species in Australia. Fagus is a paleoendemic species (formerly widespread but now restricted to a smaller area), of a Gondwanan group which has similar species in New Zealand and South America. Fagus only occurs in areas that have remained long unburnt.
The annual ‘turning of the fagus’ in mid-autumn produces a riot of colour in Tasmania’s high country. The crinkle-cut leaves turn from brilliant gold to rust red and orange creating a majestic tapestry in the alpine landscape. The colours reach a peak around Anzac Day (April 25) and typically will continue to stay vibrant for around a month.” (From national parks website)

The red fagus is less common, and very popular with those wielding cameras. I was lucky when one of the Rangers showed me where this little patch was.

Views across Mt Field NP on our walk up to Lake Fenton.

Sat 27th April

Tasmania is getting ready for winter. Derwent River at New Norfolk.

Several friends recommended The Agrarian Kitchen in New Norfolk to us, so I booked us in for a garden tour.

The Agrarian Kitchen is a true ‘paddock to plate’ experience. All vegetables served in their restaurant and kiosk, and used in their cooking classes are sourced from their own garden. There are 3 full-time gardeners who have a passion for sustainability by composting or creating biochar from all the kitchen waste, which is then returned to these thriving gardens. The garden is set within an acre of land behind the restaurant. The site had a long and disreputable history as a mental asylum until it was closed in 2000. However the buildings and grounds are truly beautiful.

Suffice it to say that following the garden tour we both have a renewed enthusiasm for our own garden at home.

An iconic entrance to the park. Kempton.

Kempton tonight. A wander around this small old coaching town looking at the beautiful old homes, stores and churches built in the late 1800’s was enjoyable and rewarded us with some free apples – apple season!

There are so many varieties of apple in Tassie. This one is tiny, but very tasty.

I think yellow-tailed black cockatoos are also partial to apples.

Sunday 28th April

Our journey is taking us north through the centre of Tasmania. From Kempton through Bothwell we then climbed up onto the Central Plateau and through the Great Lakes Conservation Area. It’s cold and stark up here with the wind blowing unabated across the lake and the knee-high vegetation.

Windswept plains alongside The Great Lake

A wombat hole. Wombat nice and warm inside on a day like today.

As we climbed further skirting the Western Tiers we were driving in the clouds for a while. This landscape seems so foreign to the rest of Tasmania. This could become very dangerous if we don’t get off the plateau soon.

Down the other side and it’s a whole new world as we become immersed in rich sheep country.

Deloraine tonight. Mark, one of the publicans in town (there are four pubs) volunteers to do platypus tours of the Meander River which runs through town. We were lucky enough to spot one and watched him playing and feeding for about twenty minutes.

OK this is a sculpture of a platypus on the banks of the river – live ones are really hard to capture!

Dinner tonight at Marks pub. It’s onion season – my entree was braised onion! Absolutely delicious.

Monday 29th April

Not far away are the Alum Cliffs near Mole Creek. After a short, steep hike the views over the Mersey River some 200m below us are spectacular and unexpected. Closer to the water is an ochre quarry, a sacred place where the local indigenous women gathered the ochre for ceremonies.

There are a few sculptures up here – not sure about the significance of this one that Steve is standing on.

In Launceston we caught up with Ken and Wendy, our previous travelling mates (see Great Central Way). What a great night – we were lucky enough to be there on ‘family dinner’ night and got to meet two of their children. Ken and two of their sons are preparing a yacht to compete in the next Sydney-Hobart race followed by the Melbourne to Osaka race. Exciting days for them and we’ll look forward to following the races.

Tuesday, Wednesday 30th April, 1st May

Explorer travellers are beginning to finish up their Tassie Adventures, as are we. We caught up with a few of them outside Sheffield where fun, laughter, a few drinks, shared experiences and some great campfires filled two days. Mount Roland is behind our campsite. Here’s three photos (untouched) taken as the sun was setting.

Some of our fellow Explorer travellers. Goodbye Tassie.

Thursday 2nd May

Tonight we’re on the Spirit of Tasmania for the overnight sailing back to Geelong.
We’re both very satisfied with our wonderful time in Tasmania – so much to see and do, and we pretty much did see and do everything. My only regret was missing the tulips and poppies in bloom, and cherry season. Maybe we’ll be back to do that too.

24 April, 2024 by Explorers

Hike to Australia’s most southerly point

23rd – 24th April

Farewelling Ged and Karina we headed to Cockle Creek to camp at the most southerly campsite in Australia – “End of the road”.

We’d been warned about the last 19km of corrugated and pot-holed road and prepared the cupboards accordingly. The Hilux took it in her stride – no problems!

Our campsite is perfect – no neighbours in sight and the beach and bay just over the sand dune right beside us. Wow!

For thousands of years Aboriginal people hunted and fished here for their food during the summer months. Many large middens have been found in the area. The French explorer D’Entrecasteaux visited in 1792 and 1793 and named the bay after one of his ships, Recherche Bay. White settlers soon moved in lured first by whaling, until they decimated the whale population, then timber-getting until all the good huon and stringy-bark trees were taken, then coal mining until that too ran out.
Today the area is a National Park, Southwest NP, which is part of the World Heritage Area.

Tuesday 24th

Our poor backpacks and boots will get another workout today – they’re holding up remarkably well considering what we’ve asked of them this trip. Today we walk the 18km return track to South Cape Bay, the most southerly point on the Australian Mainland. We nearly have the full set now – most northerly, mostly easterly, most southerly, highest point, lowest point, geographical centre – just missing Steep Point in the west.

The beginning of the hike. Boot-washing stations help prevent the spread of diseases – chytrid, a fungus deadly to frog populations in this case.

The first third of the track passes through melaleuca and eucalypt forest.

Its lovely to see so many birds – the dusky thornbill, fairy wrens, New Holland honeyeater, two female lyrebirds and lots more we heard but didn’t see.

We followed the pretty little babbling brook that is Cockle Creek for a while.

A few sections of the track had duckboards, but they were old and many boards broken or nails coming out, or wire mesh rusted away leaving them slippery.

The track was challenging – up and down, rocky, roots and mud.

Passing through the forest into button grass plains and reasonably good duckboards the walking got easier.

After a bit more forest, short ascents and descents, more mud, more rocks, we came out onto the cliffs above South Cape Bay with the most southerly point of Australia just there!

It was quite thrilling to have achieved this landmark.

We sat on the tiered rocks watching the might of the Southern Ocean as it rolled in, waves crashing on the already crumbling cliffs. The black rocks were unexpected but very striking. Lion Rock is the headland across the first bay.

Todays weather was pleasant with hardly any wind – I can only imagine what the ocean is like in bad weather.

As it’s an out and back track we knew what to expect, but good to see the sights from the other direction and in the fading light we met a few pademelons on the way.

The flora was just as interesting as the fauna on this hike.

Hot shower, hot dinner and warm bed listening to the rain and being thankful our walk was so perfect.

21 April, 2024 by Explorers

Tahune Adventure

19th – 21st April

Our good friends Karina and Ged in their TRAKKA Jabiru, met with us at the Summer Kitchen Bakery at Ranelagh. After consuming the best pies ever they took us south to share some of their favourite haunts.

The Airwalk at Tahune Adventure is a must-visit experience. This 1.6km walk through the forest then onto the Airwalk gave us a birds-eye view amongst the trees from 20 metres above the forest floor. The steel viewing platform, cantilevered some 50 metres over the river, was the crowning glory suspending us above the Huon River with views up and down the river to the confluence of the Picton and Huon rivers.

Ged, Karina, Steve and Denise on the Airwalk

The joining of the Picton and Huon Rivers

The cantilevered viewing platform over the Huon River.

Bonus – We camped in their carpark that evening and chatted around the campfire eating our dinner until the wood ran out and cold drove us back to our respective vans. The campfire is our brand new, never been used, suspension mesh campfire – a successful purchase!

As we were getting up next morning the staff were getting the kayaks ready. We voted that white water rafting would be more fun than doing the other walks here so we joined the group.

It was great fun! The guides were surprised by how much water was in the rivers today – “highest it’s been all summer”. We launched upstream on the Picton River and immediately encountered the first of many rapids.

A beautiful river for kayaking / white water rafting

We were supplied with all the gear – wet suits, life jackets and helmets.

The river flow was quite fast with calm sections where we could relax absorbing the beauty of the forest and river, before total focus required on upcoming rapids. I was grateful we didn’t fall in – the water was freezing!

Continuing a very pretty drive south along the coast through the little fishing town of Dover we’ve pulled up for the night at Southport.

Following our friends as we leave the Tahune

Having visited the most northerly pub in Australia on Thursday Island, it seemed only fitting to include the most southerly pub in our travels.

Leaving the tall forests around the Tahune we returned north via the forestry roads. These were all gravel roads, but not difficult driving. On the whole it was a beautiful drive through thick forests, but we passed several areas that had been clear-felled and logs were trimmed, stacked and waiting for the truck to collect them. It’s quite devastating what clear-felling does to the country. And yes I know timber from plantations is a renewable source of a product that we all need.
We were grateful today is Sunday so no chance of meeting a logging truck on those narrow roads.

Back to Dover and we crossed over the highway to take the coastal route. Lots of ‘shacks’ (Tasmanian’s holiday homes – and most definitely not a shack) alongside the beaches and headlands. Then back to the apple, cherry and stone fruit orchards before spending our last evening with Ged and Karina in a virtually empty campsite at Geeveston.

17 April, 2024 by Explorers

Hike Maria Island, Schouten Island, Freycinet Peninsula

14th -17th April

The much anticipated day of our third Tasmanian multi-day hike, the second with the Tasmanian Walking Company, dawned bright and clear with gentle winds – an important consideration! In Hobart we met our guide Bill and the other three couples we’d be walking and cohabiting with for the next 4 days. This hike, however has a major difference – we’ll be sailing between trailheads. A bus took us to Orford on the east coast where Lady Eugenie was anchored offshore.

The Lady Eugenie, a magnificent 75ft ketch-rigged yacht.

Lady Eugenie is beautiful – all polished and moulded timber and stainless steel. Each couple has their own cabin and ensuite. There’s heaps of room in the lounge below deck, which didn’t get much use due to the weather being so perfect, and the cockpit above where many deep, and not so deep discussions were had while we enjoyed our meals, a few wines and the incredible panorama. Hugo is the Skipper and Sam is first mate.

A short sail today across to Maria Island where the Lady Eugenie anchored off Hopground Beach. Hugo took us ashore in the dinghy, ready to start hiking. Here we joined the Frenches Farm Coastal Trail exploring the Painted Cliffs.

The vivid colours of the Painted Cliffs were formed when iron-enriched ground water soaked through the already formed sandstone layers – the iron interacting with the minerals in the sandstone forming swirls and waves and colours that range from rusty reds to oranges and even purples. It’s very beautiful, the cliffs extending for quite a distance.

Maria Island, like much of Tasmania, has convict labour to thank for the buildings on the island. Maria Island was declared a National Park in 1971. In recent years disease-free Tasmanian devils have been released on the island for the protection of the species.

Lunch today was at the Oast House. It’s one of the oldest oast houses in the country. In its heyday it was producing 3 tonnes of hops. Before you start imagining us at a lovely restaurant with a rustic menu I’ll mention that the Oast House is a ruin and our lunch was a pre-prepared salad we each carried in our backpacks.

It was built on two levels. The ventilation bricks can still be seen separating the two levels.

Darlington became the centre of activity during convict and early colonial days. Due to my sore knee I spent some time here exploring the old buildings and reading their history while the group continued their hike along the coast to the fossil cliffs.

‘Turbo chook’ is the affectionate name given to the Tasmanian Native Hen. However, they have no relationship to domestic chickens but belong to a group of waterfowl known as rails. Tasmanian Native Hens get their nickname from being a very fast runner, reaching speeds of 50 kph.

Dinner tonight in the cockpit, as it was every meal. Tonight we drifted to sleep gently rocked in our cosy bunks after a big day.

Mon 15th April

What a magic morning! After a lovely breakfast together sitting in the cockpit we had a magnificent sail for about 4 hours to get to Schouten Island. Rounding Maria Island the fossil cliffs plunging into the ocean were stunning.

I’d like to think the Skipper found my assistance invaluable.

A little later we passed nearby to Iles de Phoques. A large colony of New Zealand fur seals call this tiny rocky island home.

Surprisingly there were seals high up on the rocky hill. These seals, unlike many other seal species, have jointed hips they can swivel which allows them to climb. It’s a noisy colony and the call of a seal is not melodious.

Anchored off Moreys Beach on the northern side of Schouten Is. Lunch before starting the hike. Cathy, Sam (first mate and chef), Steve and Dee.

Once onshore on Schouten Island we checked out a few historical huts before beginning the hike.

The hike up Bear Hill starts at the end of Moreys Beach.

Bear Hill is so named due to a rock formation that looks remarkably like a bear climbing the hill.

I elected not to do this climb feeling my knee was not quite up to this kind of a hike. The others reported the views from the top were wonderful, but questioned whether the difficult, rocky climb was really worth it – I was pleased I didn’t do it!

Yay! A successful, if very strenuous climb of Bear Hill. Bill, Steve in front, Kate, Dee, Cathy and Carl with Rick at the back.

Back onboard Lady Eugenie Dee and I jumped in off the yacht for a swim.

The cold water really takes your breath away, but so refreshing. A warm shower later and afternoon tea turned out to be champagne and fresh oysters. I was in heaven!

Tuesday 16th April

Todays sail took us to Bryans Beach at the southern tip of Freycinet Peninsula. The southern section of this spectacular peninsula is only accessible to hikers and boaties.

Arriving at Bryans Beach. Anticipating the hike to come.

Bryans Beach with Lady Eugenie disappearing in the background. She’ll meet us again at Wineglass Bay.

Today will be our longest hike – 15.5km from Bryans Beach across the headland to Cooks Beach, over another headland to hike the full length of Hazards Beach before crossing the Peninsula on the Isthmus Track to the northern end of Wineglass Bay where we’ll hike the length of it to meet Lady Eugenie at the southern end.

This cottage, which is on the southern end of Cooks Beach was built by graziers in 1859. It was in serious disrepair before being restored in 2007 by volunteers using many of the original bricks. Today it is only to be used as an emergency shelter.

Bill boiling the water for our morning tea. The water tank is greatly appreciated by multi-day hikers.

Morning tea (coffee, tea, hot chocolate and a bikkie) at Cooks Cottage. Carl, Dee, Michael (walking away), Cathy, Steve, Rick, Kate and Bill.

Lunch on the rocks! We’ve walked the length of Cooks Beach, crossed over another headland and arrived at Hazards Beach.

Looking back down Hazards Beach – still more than half of it to go.

At the end of this beach we crossed over to the eastern side. Up until now the hike has been quite beautiful with the Hazards Range overlooking our every step, the bushland, some flowers, the birdlife and the crystal clear blue of the ocean lapping white beaches. Though it wasn’t long, the next section crossing the Peninsula was unattractive with dried up marshes and scant bushland.

Wow what a joy to come out at Wineglass Bay. So beautiful.

The beach hiking here though was really difficult, being high tide we were forced to hike in soft sand. Some found it a lot easier to take the boots off and walk on the wave line or even in the water.

Lady Eugenie in Wineglass Bay with the pink granite peaks of the Hazards Range watching over her.

Another refreshing swim off the yacht and a glass of wine before dinner ended another magical day of hiking.

Wed 17th April

The Lady Eugenie remained anchored in the protected southern part of Wineglass Bay overnight. This morning it was just a tender transfer back onto the beach for today’s hike.

A beautiful time of day to start our hike on Wineglass Bay

We farewelled Hugo and Sam, then headed off to hike the length of the beach before we joined the track.

There’s 1000 stairs to climb to reach the Wineglass Bay Lookout. That’s not to be sneezed at! The views of this perfect bay were stunning – the tight-curve of the white sand beach forming a compact bay with deep blue ocean and a cloudless sky – perfection. The surrounding forested and bare pink granite mountains contrasted so starkly. It was a very powerful land- and sea-scape.

You can use your imagination as to why it’s called Wineglass Bay, but you’d probably be wrong. This was a whaling area and whales were dragged into this bay before being slaughtered. The waters of this magnificent bay ran red with their blood, making it look like a glass of red wine.

At the Wineglass Bay Lookout with the beautiful pink granite rocks around us.

Down the other side and we’re, sadly, back to civilisation with so many tourists and cars. We paused for a rest and enjoyed watching the tourists setting off to the Lookout. One man was overheard reassuring his reluctant wife that it was “only 3km” – he didn’t realise that was 1.5km of climbing and 1.5km of descent to get back.

This map shows the two hikes we did on the Freycinet Peninsula. Find Cooks Beach on the top right, then follow the path away to the unnamed beach, that’s Bryans Beach where we started yesterday. From Cooks Beach follow it to Hazards Beach then to the Isthmus Track then down to the far end of Wineglass Bay (where the tent symbol is). Today we hiked back along Wineglass Bay to the Wineglass Bay Track (and the 1000steps) to the Lookout then down the other side to where it says “You are here”. We then followed the yellow dotted trail hiking to Honeymoon Bay (off the map).

The hike to Honeymoon Bay was easy with the trail more-or-less following alongside the road. Despite most of it being through forest the rocky ranges of Mt Amos and Mt Dove towered above us. Honeymoon Bay was a delight – small, no one here and lovely warm granite rocks to sit on to eat our lunch while we watched several of our party swimming.

And so ended our wonderful sail/hike with these people who will remain friends.

After about an hour of delightful relaxation here the bus arrived to take us back to Hobart – but not before a lovely cheese platter and wine tasting at Darlington Vineyard just outside Orford. For those worried about my knee it was fine for the last two hikes and has continued to improve ever since.

We met up with Kate and Ric, and Dee and Carl at the Blue Eye restaurant at Salamanca Place where we enjoyed a seafood dinner before farewelling them and heading back to our cosy motorhome for a restful sleep in our own bed. A great time of sailing and hiking.

13 April, 2024 by Explorers

Bruny Island

6th – 14th April 2026

With a very good rap about this island and having enjoyed camping here many years ago we were looking forward to Bruny Island. On the whole we were disappointed. Perhaps our final assessment was coloured by our need for a rapid departure. Read on …

On the car ferry, with the ‘other’ ferry going the opposite direction.

Bruny Island is just off the south east coast. We caught the car ferry from the pretty little village of Kettering for the 20 minute transfer to be landed at north Bruny. Most of the action happens in south Bruny. North and south sections are joined by a very narrow isthmus.

The isthmus, called ‘The Neck’ and south Bruny from the lookout.

All around The Neck is conservation land, reserved to protect the Little Penguins’ and the Shearwaters’ nests. Of an evening in the warmer months you can watch hundreds of them returning from a day fishing.

There’s a memorial here to Truganini, one of the last full-blood lutruwita people. Her life and that of her people at the hands of the white settlers is horrific and shameful.

Everyone should take a moment to reflect here.

What a beautiful day for sailing. Sykes Cove, Bruny Island.

Camping spots are few on Bruny. We headed over to the western side to camp beside the Bruny Hotel.

A stunning sunset from the beer garden of the Bruny Hotel. The amazing colour attributed to the smoke from a fire on the mainland.

We were lucky enough to see the very cute albino wallaby. The snow white wallaby is a genetic mutation and is found nowhere else in the world – only Bruny Island. There are at least 200 of them on the island.

I found it interesting that this albino mother has a normal coloured Joey.

Next day a drive around north Bruny proved underwhelming. It was raining so a stop at the cheese and beer tourist drawcard filled in a little while. Tomorrow we want to walk the Fluted Cape track but the closest campsite we could find to the trailhead is at The Neck. Camping here is amongst the bush, no views.

Tassie has an excellent initiative with their “60 Great Short Walks” book.

It started with an easy walk alongside the coastline.

But the peak of this sea cliff is where we’re headed. It wasn’t long before the climb became quite steep on a very uneven track.

The descent was inland a little on a very steep and poorly maintained track. This photo is where it’s pretty good.

Anyway safely down we returned to our campsite at The Neck. That night my right knee started getting painful. By morning I was unable to walk on it. Not a big deal if I could rest it, but we’re booked onto another multi-day walk at the end of the week. Panic stations ensued! An appointment with a sports physio in Hobart was made for that afternoon, so we packed up and headed to the ferry.

But not before dropping in here. (Just another retail outlet – nothing to see).

And here – a little-known cure for sore knees.

The lovely physio examined my knee and diagnosed a ‘grumbling medial meniscus’, strapped it and strongly advised me not to do the multi-day hike. Sorry physio – I’m not missing this hike for anything.

Having cut our Bruny Island trip short (though I don’t think we missed much) we camped beside the Huon River at Franklin. What a gem that is!

There we are just beside the smallest tree. Isn’t it a pretty town!

But we didn’t spend all our time in the van. Coffee and a treat was partaken every day at Cinnamon and Cherry, a middle-eastern cafe. A short walk along the river kept ‘the knee’ mobile.

The Huon being the centre of Apple growing on this island which has been known as The Apple Isle of course we had to visit an Apple orchard and cidery.

We celebrated our 49th wedding anniversary at this excellent Italian restaurant just a very short walk from our campsite.

All that remains now is to drive into Hobart where we’ll meet our next multi-day hiking tour. This one though has a difference …

6 April, 2024 by Explorers

Down the A1 to Hobart

24th – 29th March (Happy birthday Evan)

We’re heading south again now getting ready to welcome a very special person to Hobart for Easter.
But first – a trip down the A1.

Yes, the ice cream was absolutely delicious.

Maree and Carl met us for coffee in Latrobe on their short break from the Mornington Peninsula. Outside Latrobe is House of Anvers chocolates which deserved a look in – hot chocolate for morning tea!

Really good chocolate, particularly the truffles.

Ashgrove dairy. Just a retail outlet and cafe.

Our campsite beside the Elizabeth River, Campbell Town. With potential for a duck á la orange for dinner.

The RV park is just a short stroll from the Red Bridge.

Using convict labour this pretty bridge was finished in 1838 and has been in constant use since then. It’s one of the oldest surviving bridges in Australia and is the oldest brick bridge.

Walking into town we noticed a continuous row of red bricks on both sides of the road. There are more than 160,000 bricks.

Each brick has the name of a person transported here as a convict, their age, the ship they came on, the misdemeanour and their sentence. So many of the crimes were so minor. It’s quite disturbing.

The statue of Eliza and the ram was interesting. In 1830 Eliza Forlong, a Scotswoman, carefully selected breeding stock from around German farms to be shipped to Hobart, pioneering the super-fine merino wool industry with her husband and sons.

The town of Ross also has a beautiful convict-built bridge completed in MDCCCXXXVI.

Daniel Herbert was the stonemason/sculptor who was given a life sentence and transportation to Van Diemens Land for highway robbery.

On arrival in Hobart he was employed as a convict stonemason and amongst other notable structures worked on the Ross bridge.

He sculpted the 186 keystones of motifs, people and other designs for the bridge.

Oatlands, however, was our favourite town.

With 138 sandstone buildings, 87 in the Main Street, this town has the greatest display of Georgian houses in Australia.

Additionally the Callington Mill, a fully functional wind-driven flour mill has been painstakingly restored along with several other sandstone buildings associated with the mill.

Until 2020 and COVID restrictions the mill had been producing specialty flours for artisan bakers. Unfortunately it hasn’t been restarted since then.

The Callington Mill Whiskey Distillery makes a very tasty drop which we discovered on a ‘tasting’.

Steve needed a little rest after the tasting. He was feeling kind of small.

A large lake at the edge of town has a cycleway/walking path alongside it joining Oatlands to the nearest town some 7km away. A walk along this stretched out the legs and took us past some historical points of interest.

One of which is the night cart (dunny) pans that were discarded at this location when septic systems were installed in Oatlands during the 1950s. When constructing the path the decision was made to leave them as found, in recognition of their past role. Rumour has it that the best potatoes are grown where these used to be emptied.

Leaving Oatlands we drove down off the plateau through very dry and often over-grazed sheep country and into wine, berry and stone fruit orchard country. A stop at the popular historic tourist town of Richmond to see the bridge, was a must.

When it was gazetted as a place of National Heritage importance it was described thus, “Richmond Bridge, built by convict labour in 1823 to 1825, is the oldest, surviving, large, stone arch bridge in Australia with a high degree of integrity.”

Old Hobart Town in Richmond accurately replicates in miniature (scale 1:16) the life and history of Hobart as it was in 1820.

It covers an area equivalent to 2 tennis courts and includes present day photographs to compare the changes, and similarities. This is well worth your time to visit.

Just over the road is the Pooseum, its tag line being “An education in defaecation – in all its scatological splendour”. Unfortunately closed today, it being Good Friday. Pity, with grandchildren who delight in all things scatalogical I could have done with some good facts at my fingertips.

Tonight we’re camped across from the Longley International Hotel just a short drive to Hobart. This ‘out of the way’ hotel in the country boasts some music royalty in their line-up!

It’s also the home of the Big Axe. Not sure whether to be reassured or worried about camping here.

30th Mar – 6th April

Yay, we’re in Hobart and our daughter, Laura, is going to join us. We’ve booked an AirBnB in Battery Point for the week.

And then our favourite daughter arrives. ❤️

“Chocolate and Whisky” turned out to be a great place to chill.

We caught the Mona Roma ferry up the Derwent R to enjoy an afternoon of live music on the lawn at Mona.

The Cascade Brewery was on Steve’s bucket list for not only their tasting paddle but also the rivulet that runs beside the brewery. Apparently heaps of platypus live there. After a little tipple we went in search of them, unsuccessfully.

Summiting Mt Wellington is a must for every tourist in Hobart.

The walking on Mt Wellington is beautiful.

As well as these activities we filled our week with a few too many visits to the best bakery ever, Jackman and Ross, a very enjoyable evening of Gypsy jazz, a day shopping in the CBD, a mother/daughter spa morning and lots of time together just chilling.

22 March, 2024 by Explorers

East & North East Coast

8th – 22nd March

8th, 9th March

A long and deep recovery sleep was had by all before we left the Tasman Peninsula. A few aches and pains and stiffness was soon walked off – yes, walked off!! – by dropping in to see ‘the blowhole’ (not blowing today, low tide, calm conditions), the Devils Kitchen which is a 60m deep cleft into the cliffs where the water foams furiously with the ocean swell. Also…

Tasman Arch, an impressive natural bridge

The tessellated pavement – a unique geological feature created as the siltstone cracked when the earth moved some 300 million years ago.

The lookout down the coastline all the way to Cape Hauy.

Sorry, only the remains of our lunch from Blue Lagoon Oysters.

The camping area at Triabunna was packed, however a cafe just up the road offers camping out the back for $10/night and there was only two of us there – perfect. A short walk took us to the waterfront, the supermarket, the pub, the laundromat and of course a cafe. Great place to recover!

10th March

Today was overcast with light rain on and off all day as we continued up the coast stopping in at an old salt works, an old bridge and a vineyard.

Not much remaining – Lisdillon Salt Works

Three Arch Bridge built by convicts in 1845. It spans Old Man Creek, and blow me down if that’s not the Old Man himself!

Enjoying being out of the rain at Mayfield Estate Vineyard while we waited for our pizzas.

The Mayfield coastal campsite was full. However as we sat enjoying our pizzas at the vineyard we noticed a car drive down to the shore. Hmm investigation revealed it as a dirt track down to a disused boat ramp. Perfect – camping by the water tonight.

We’re camped just near the old boat ramp.

11th, 12th March

A little further north is Swansea. On the way we passed Spiky Bridge

Another convict-built bridge. There’s conjecture over the reason for the spikes. Perhaps to stop the cows falling off …

A walk on Spiky Beach. (No spikes on the beach!)

A pleasant walk at Swansea, even if we couldn’t pronounce it.

13th March

Freycinet Peninsula is one of the gems of Tasmania. Its most striking features are the huge granite mountains forming Mount Freycinet and the Hazards in the south which is joined to the northern section by a thin isthmus with Wineglass Bay the crowning glory. All of the southern section of the peninsula is National Park, with much of the northern section also under their care. In the north a sealed road runs down the western side of the Peninsula to the township of Coles Bay and as far as Cape Tourville. Other unsealed roads cross over to beautiful beaches, camping spots and little hamlets on the eastern coast.
To explore the southern part of the Peninsula it’s a case of strap on the hiking boots and get the backpack out as there are no roads. We’re returning next month to walk the southern peninsula so today we spent our time exploring the beautiful bays, beaches and hamlets of the northern peninsula.

On the boardwalk to the Cape Tourville Lighthouse.

The four-wheel drive track across the island.

The Fisheries. Beautiful little bay for swimming.

Thurs 14th Mar

Bicheno. Lots of yummy things to do here!

We started at a cafe renown for its pastry.

Bicheno has a pretty impressive blowhole too which entertained us for a while.

Then on to Waubs Harbour Distillery for a personal tour of the distillery and explanation of the process before a whiskey tasting. I learnt a lot this morning, though after the tasting I may not recall it all.

Next was the Lobster Shack for a garlic butter half lobster for me and a lobster roll for Steve.

We voted Bicheno a great little town.

Tonight we’re camping at the trailhead of the Apsley River Waterhole and Gorge hike, ready for an early start tomorrow.

Friday 15th Mar

It’s an easy walk down to the waterhole which looks very inviting for swimming, until feeling its temperature.

To cross the trickling river here requires picking a way through and over mounds of river rocks. The path, now mostly loose stones or rocks, climbs for perhaps 2 kilometres before descending very sharply into the Gorge.

The return is on the same track. Did you gather this isn’t one of my favourite walks?

Trout River camp, despite it being a fair distance on an unsealed road, looked inviting.

We set up right beside the beautiful river and …

… took our chairs and a drink over to the jetty to enjoy the setting sun over the mountains.

Saturday, Sunday Monday 16th, 17th 18th Mar

Back to the coast again St Helen’s proved to be a great spot to reprovision the larder, and also the cellar when we dropped in to The Priory vineyard for a tasting.

Fellow Explorer friends Des and Tina are camped at Cosy Corner at the southern end of the Bay of Fires, another Tasmanian highlight. How could we not stay at a camp called Cosy Corner!

Our location was idyllic right beside the ocean high up on the dunes.

Looking south from our beach to Binalong Bay and the very popular Swimcart Beach.

Many think the bay was given its name from the lichen covered orange/red rocks. However it was named in 1773 by a sea captain who observed the many camp fires of the hundreds of aboriginal folk who lived there.

Our time was spent chatting with our friends and walking the magnificent white sands to the rocks coloured red by lichen. Such a great spot to reset. Monday afternoon we headed inland to Pyengana.

Tues 19th Mar

Pyengana has a beautiful free camp beside the famous Pub in the Paddock, and nearby to some points of interest.

The pub is also the home of the beer-drinking pig.

Once the rain stopped (it rained most of the night) we headed over to the Pyengana Dairy to watch the robotic milking machines milk the cows. We bought some of their cheese.

The cows were so relaxed, cruising up for milking whenever they felt like it, then sauntering just as casually back to the paddock.

The truly beautiful St Colomba Falls, at 90 metres high, is amongst the tallest in Tasmania. And as a bonus is just a short walk from the parking area.

The power of the falling water sees mist floating in the air leaving a light dew on your face.

An information board at the trailhead describes a flood in 1929 which tore large slabs of granite from the cliff face of the falls dramatically changing the course of the falls.

Some years ago Derby was a dying country town as the mine closed. Some very forward-thinking locals decided to put in some mountain bike trails in their surrounding mountains. Today it is a thriving industry with bike sales, repairs, rentals, accommodation, cafes, and restaurants all catering to the growing national and international cyclists, their entourage and the tourists like us who just come for a look.

Some kilometers north is Little Blue Lake. This man-made lake bounded by high, crumbling cliffs has quite stunning blue water. The water is highly mineralised, particularly with aluminium and is unsafe to contact.

Petal Point camping area. A remote spot on the far north-eastern coast.

Our campsite is once again a very short walk from the ocean, but instead of pounding waves we’ve got strong winds and rain tonight as a front sweeps through. We’re well protected behind thick coastal heath growing to about 2 meters.
As we drove towards our campsite for the night we saw our first snake on the road. There are only 3 snakes native to Tasmania, unfortunately all of them are venomous. That does make it easy for the Emergency Departments – they only have one antivenene that covers all three.

Wed 20th Mar

A little more wind, a little more rain before the skies cleared, though not the wind. There’s a reason this campsite is surrounded by wind turbines! Time to head west.

Most of the communities along the northern coastline are a jumble of cheap holiday shacks until Bridport. This small town boasts all the facilities as well as the port for shipping to Flinders Island.

Bridport – such a pretty beach. The remains of the old pier are just visible off the end of the far point.

Steve at the blue-striped lead light guiding shipping into the mouth of the river at Bridport.

We lunched at the mouth of the river into the port before exploring the very pretty Mermaid Beach.

Just north of George Town the Low Head Lighthouse warns ships of the perils of the Hebe Rocks at the mouth of the Tamar River. It’s been functioning since 1833.

More than a dozen ships foundered on the rocks in the hundred years since 1808. Stately homes line the road between George Town and Low Head. The year each was built is on the gable in Roman numerals. Without googling can you decipher MDCCCLXI?

With a State election happening next weekend a long-held controversy about the name of the impressive Batman Bridge that crosses the Tamar River has been highlighted. John Batman after whom it was named led massacres of aboriginals in the Black Wars. I hope they do change the name!

We continued our travels westward along the northern coastline. Narawntapu National Park was a highlight of our travels here in the 1990s, particularly for the dozens of wombats seen grazing. So it was with great disappointment that I’ve learnt that mange killed them all by 2017. On the bright side we met up with Pat and Dick again (from our west coast travels) and had an enjoyable evening with them.

Thurs 21st March

As rural industries fade away or are taken over by large corporations rural towns tend to fade away. It takes lateral thinking and lots of community support to reinvent themselves. We recently saw this happen in Derby and today we saw two more towns that have tried to make this transition. Railton is known as the town of topiaries. In 1999 one man decided to start this project and the community got behind him. The topiaries were wonderful to see. Unfortunately most of them are now gone or neglected. The Council is looking after the spiral trees on the street. I hope they’ll soon get their impetus back.

Always good to meet interesting characters in your travels. This chap brings his pet alpaca into Sheffield to meet people on most days.

Much more successful is Sheffield which chose a less maintenance-intensive project and refers to itself as the Town of Murals. It too just needed one local champion in the mid 80’s to enthuse everyone about the project. Today there are over 140 murals around town and it plays host to the International Mural Fest every April with the winner’s entry being added to the towns collections. Initially the murals told the history of the town or highlighted certain people. There are also art spaces around town open to the public where you can go to watch artists at work.

Huge murals adorn every wall in Sheffield.

Driving through this lush country that supports dairy and small crops is a pleasure, particularly with the imposing Mt Roland with its bare rock cliffs as the backdrop. The quartz-rich conglomerates that form the mountain are very hard and resist weathering.

Continuing west-ward our road took us around the edges of Cradle Mountain NP as we steadily climbed the range, weaving around tight hairpin bends until we were once more in the highlands amongst the forests and button grass plains. The higher we climbed the lower the temperature dropped and we soon found ourselves amongst the clouds.

Met up with Marlies on the walk up Black Bluff Range to the Cradle Mountain lookout. We look cold because we were.

Buttongrass Plains as we descended. Look at the rain coming in faster than we can run!

Tonight we’re staying at the Waratah Caravan Park on a lovely unpowered grassy site beside the river with no neighbours, unlike the powered sites that are full, close together and on gravel. Go figure!

Fri 22nd Mar

Travelling via the secondary roads we made our way back towards the north coast. Firstly though up and over the range with lots of hairpin bends to get to Hellyer Gorge for brunch. A short walk to the gorge and along the river refreshed us.

Once off the range the State Forestry seemed to own everything – no more magnificent old growth forests, just pine and eucalypt monocultures as far as the eye could see.

We’ll be travelling back south again to meet someone special in Hobart. But first – Highway 1 from north to south.

7 March, 2024 by Explorers

Hike Three Capes Track

Monday 4th March – Thursday 7th March 2024

This multi-million dollar track on Tasmania’s south east coastline is one of the best hikes you’ll ever do. Over four days we followed the amazing Three Capes Track for 48km around the Tasman Peninsula. It’s rated an easy to moderate trail, but considering the pack weight of any multi-day hike and the amount of ascending and descending to be done each day (after the first), a good degree of fitness (or youth!) is required. The trail starts and ends at the Port Arthur Historic Site, a two-year pass to the site is included in your track fee.
We booked to do it as a self-guided hike staying in the public huts – it’s a very popular walk with only 48 hikers permitted to leave each day. We both carried packs weighing around 13 – 14kg, which thankfully didn’t have to include tents or sleeping mats. All our own food, plates and cutlery, sleeping bags, pillows and clothing to deal with cold and wet conditions made up the weight.

The white dotted line is the hiking track.

Day 1: Port Arthur -> Denmans Cove (boat) -> Surveyors Hut (~4km hike)

We’re booked on the 11.30am boat and arrived in plenty of time to drop off our packs and park Harvey in the long-term parking bay in the sun to keep the batteries charged and the fridge cold. Registering for the hike we were given our access cards and an excellent book called Encounters on the Edge filled with cultural, geographic and just plain fun facts – like how to recognise whose poo belongs to who.

This tag has my name and the dates I’m walking the track and must be attached to my backpack.

An excellent guide and souvenir of the track

The book and the Park Rangers at each hut encourage us to hike slowly and mindfully. To further support this the huts and beds are pre-assigned for the whole hike – no dashing in to get the best bed.

You’ll notice in the map above that it all starts with a cruise from Port Arthur to Denmans Cove. Our cruise was cut short due to rough seas and strong winds. At Denmans Cove the boat isn’t able to get into the shore so we zipped off the bottoms of our pants, wore our boots dangling around our necks and hoped like crazy we wouldn’t fall in with full packs as we negotiated the knee deep water and wave surges.

At the trailhead – boots and long pants to put on.

Today’s hike is short – 4 km along a well-defined natural path. With half the day still in front of us we took in the sights and sounds as we wandered, resetting ourselves to once more enjoy the pleasure of just walking through a beautiful landscape. Along the way are story seats designed by UTAS furniture design students. Each of these seats is linked to a story in the Encounters on the Edge book. These were a highlight of the hike which everyone enjoyed.
Initially we hiked through coastal heath and eucalypt forest until reaching Surveyors Cove. This little cobblestone beach was a great place to pause, rest, eat our lunch and continue that recalibrating that is so hard to do in a busy world.

From here it was a surprisingly steep little climb up to our hut for the night. Surveyors Hut is situated in the middle of a buttongrass plain and has amazing views over the ocean to Cape Raoul and the setting sun.

The huts are all environmentally designed. Two large kitchens with gas stoves, pots, pans, cooking utensils (but not cutlery), power points and USB charging stations, a pellet heater and a comfortable community sitting area created a warm and friendly atmosphere at each of the huts. Big covered and open decks surrounded the huts and all were linked by covered walkways. We were assigned a room with two double bunks which we shared with a couple from North Queensland. The beds have a triple layer memory foam mattress. With our sleeping bags and blow-up pillows we were both very comfortable. The ablutions block was about 50 metres away – no showers, just composting toilets and sinks on the deck. Lighting is only in the common rooms – a head torch to use in our own rooms and walking around after dark was essential.

Surveyors Hut was unique in that it had several big BBQs which we’d been told about and came prepared with sausages and my spicy bean chilli for a hearty meal tonight.
Each evening the resident Park Ranger shares information about the hut and tells us what to expect for the next day’s walk. They also spent some time talking about the history, geology and fauna and flora of the track. Excellent talks we looked forward to.

Day 2: Surveyors Hut to Munro Hut (11km)

Being the first time we’ve done this kind of hike, ie staying in shared huts, I slept badly, woke early and, due to no lighting in the huts, went over to the kitchen/common room. Another newbie to the experience was there and we got the pellet heater cranking, but neither of us had tea bags or coffee with us. Lesson learnt!
As everyone started waking and Steve was up we gathered our food bag and enjoyed our overnight oats and a coffee as we chatted with others. Backpacks repacked, boots back on we left the hut about 8.30am.

The first of many Story Seats for today “From Punishment to Playground” wasn’t far down the track and afforded views across to Point Puer and Port Arthur. Point Puer was the children’s prison where our guidebook tells us ‘despicable acts’ took place. Today it’s a golf course.

Moving along, the dry eucalypt woodland with low shrubs and grasses is wombat territory. The Story Seat here is quite fun – it looks like wombat poo. The guide book describes the scat of animals we may see as we walk, Tasmanian devils, brush tail possums, wallabies and pademelons, quolls and currawongs.

Wombat poo: cube-shaped and typically deposited in high places to mark their territory. Wombats hold their poo in longer than any other mammal, up to 16 days, so it’s pretty dry when it comes out and may account for its shape.

The sharp climb up Arthur’s Peak followed – some switch-backs, some steps, some just straight up. Once at the top though the views were worth every step.

Steve making sure we’re not lost. Crescent Bay across to Brown Mountain and Cape Raoul from Arthur’s Peak.

From Arthur’s Peak to the south and some of the highest sea cliffs in Australia.

With no reason to rush we relaxed here watching the seabirds searching for their lunch and appreciating the calm ocean after the last couple of days of wild weather.
Despite our next climb up Crescent Mountain being even higher than Arthur’s Peak it was a gentler climb interspersed with points of interest, such as Jurassic Crack. All the rock we see on the track, and covering 1/3 of Tasmania is a Jurassic age igneous rock called dolerite. Dolerite is a very strong rock but cracks in huge columns. See the rock in the photos above and particularly the ones to come.

We saw several echidnas alongside our path today. This little fellow is pretending he isn’t there, hoping we won’t notice him.

Emerging from the forest onto a ridge of very evenly low shrubs we see why it’s known as Tornado Ridge. The first European bushwalkers here described it as if a tornado had ripped through levelling the forest. Nothing as dramatic as that, but it is as a consequence of the wind. Ellarwey Valley is also named by these bushwalkers, though the name comes from them saying “where the ‘ell are we”. True story.

Story seat on Tornado Ridge to read the entertaining story of ‘Where the ‘ell are we’ in our guide book.

Flowering heath. This shrub grows to about a metre.

At a crossroad we turned south for the hour-long hike through thick forest once more to Munro Hut. This has to be the best hut on the hike. For a start there are showers – open air, in a 2/3 corrugated water tank. First get a bucket of hot water, fill the shower bucket with it and hoist into the air. It may be primitive but it felt like pure luxury.
Next was the viewing deck, with binoculars, cantilevered over the forest for views along the coast to Cape Hauy. Of no less stunning a location is the helipad.
The downside – the toilet block is 200 – 300 meters away from the huts on a good path through the forest. Not designed well for the quick dash at 2am!

We’re getting to know many of our fellow hikers as we share story seats, kitchens and even food – freeze-dried ice cream isn’t that great! Tonight we were challenged to a game of Oh Hell (a 500 spin-off) with several other hikers. Lots of raucous fun and cries of ‘oh hell’!

Day 3: Munro Hut to Cape Pillar to Retakunna Hut (19km)

The longest day today as we leave through the silver gums to see Cape Pillar, the highest sea cliffs in the Southern Hemisphere.
We were both awake before dawn, packed up quietly and after a delicious hot coffee headed off, but not before a sunrise photo from the viewing deck.

Looks like a beautiful day for hiking. Sunrise from Munro Hut.

As it’s out and back to Cape Pillar we left our big packs in a storage shed, taking only day packs with water, food, first aid and wet weather gear (you never know in Tassie). Today’s track is either gravel or boardwalk and easy hiking despite starting with a couple of ascents. After about an hour and a half of hiking we came across carefully placed stones representing the tail of a snake which led onto a boardwalk. This is one of the art installations made in conjunction with the local indigenous people. It represents the rainbow serpent. 2.8km later, when the boardwalk ends, is the snake’s head.

We’ve crossed to the southern side and are getting views across a forest of old-growth trees, eucalypts regenerated after fire, shrubs, sedges, etc.

Looking back along the boardwalk. With a couple of hours walking done this was the perfect spot to enjoy our delicious breakfast peacefully.

The flora here is all banksias and sheoaks, a dramatic change from the tall eucalypts we’d been walking through. The guide book describes how nature’s gardening tools, wind and fire, have shaped it. The fierce winds prune the vegetation to an even height and fire creates an even-aged stand. Banksias and sheoaks need fire to regenerate.

This stunning Story Seat is titled ‘Sex on the Cape’. It’s all covered in the guide book – the birds, the bees and … the antechinus. All female antechinus come on heat at the same time. The males go into a frenzy of copulation over the next two to three weeks, then … they die … all of them …at the same time … at the same age.

We’re nearly at Cape Pillar now. Tasman Island with its lighthouse and fascinating stories from the days of lighthouse keepers is coming into view as are the incredible dolerite cliffs.

Dolerite cliffs. Note the columnar shape.

Tasman Island from Seal Spa. Australian fur seals gather in the waters at the base of these cliffs.

Tasman Island. Note the lighthouse. Can you see the Zigzag Track. It leaves from near where the yacht is anchored and zigzags up to the top.

The (in)famous Blade. A challenge to every hiker. Yes I took up the challenge and stood at the top point. Scary and tricky!

The view from Cape Pillar in one direction. You can also see out to Cape Raoul to the west and Cape Hauy to the east.

After awhile of resting and taking in the extraordinary views we retraced our footsteps to Munro Hut, repacked our big backpacks and hiked the hour or so further on to Retakunna Hut. Another beautifully designed hut, similar to the others, nestled at the base of Mt Fortescue amongst eucalypts and moorlands with wallabies grazing.
Another pleasant evening chatting, stretching on the yoga mats, then dinner, another hotly contested game of cards and off to bed to sleep soundly.

Day 4: Retakunna to Cape Hauy to Fortescue Bay (14km)

Today isn’t the longest day, but it is the toughest. Today we climb a mountain, wander through a rainforest, be stunned by the views and the number of steps to be negotiated to see them, before finishing at a pristine beach to complete this wonderful experience.

Up before the sun. Beautiful watching the sunrise over the forest.

We’ve got more company for our early morning coffee today. There are two buses to take us back to Port Arthur from the end of the track. One leaves at 2.30pm, the second at 4.30pm. The early-bus hikers need to leave early to get there in time. We’re on the late bus, but will leave early and have our breakfast on the track again – it was so lovely yesterday.

Last night the Ranger warned us we’d be climbing 482m to summit Mount Fortescue first thing this morning. Surprisingly the climb up Mt Fortescue is one of the highlights of the trip. This coastal temperate rainforest has beautiful tall stringy barks with their dark green leaves, fallen logs and rocks covered in lichens and mosses, tree ferns that tower over your head and the earthy aroma of damp humus-rich soil. It’s also very peaceful – darker, quieter and cooler. The perfect place to meditate on the Story Seats.

Enjoying the moment at the summit of Mt Fortescue

And down the other side. Aren’t those tree ferns amazing?

Just one of the many Story Seats. To this point we’ve already learned about the creepy crawlies of the forest, the critters that live in and on the soil, the travellers that pass through here, ie humpback and southern right whales and the shearwaters, and the fauna that links us to the other countries that formed Gondwana. Taking time to read these stories at each seat elevates this hike to one of the best.

Once more we walk along the amazing coastline.

Big backpacks dropped at the turnoff to Cape Hauy we begin the descent, ascent, descent, ascent, descent and final ascent to the point of the Cape. All of this is on steps. Over 2000 of them apparently – one way! Repeat on the way back.

Keep going – yes that track of more steps ahead has yet to be climbed!

Look over the edge and you’ll see the Totem Pole. It rises from the ocean and rock climbers love this challenge! In the photo it’s the single column closer in.

With the highlight of Cape Hauy committed to memory we headed back up and down those steps! The final ascent to the corner to pick up our backpacks was brutal! Worse still was putting our heavy backpacks back on – it’s been a tough day and we still have an hour to hike to Fortescue Beach and the end of the trail.

The beach and waters of Fortescue Bay are pristine and very inviting, but no swimming this time. We chilled and chatted and reminisced on one of the great hikes with our fellow hikers as they wandered in. Granted it’s among the more expensive hikes, but the design and maintenance of the track, the fabulous Story Seats, the hut amenities, the attention of the Rangers and the sheer beauty of this trail makes it worth every cent.
It’s so good I may even do it again one day.

3 March, 2024 by Explorers

Tassie West Coast

Monday 19th Feb:

Today is a day for washing and resting.

With all those clothes it’s no wonder our backpacks were so heavy.

Myalla Showground. The perfect camping spot for a peaceful rest.

Smithton and Woolnorth (visited March 22 and 23 – included here to complete the west coast)

The staff at Smithton Visitor Centre were excellent, as were the displays describing Indigenous life before colonisation and the early colonial days. From here we were able to book onto the Duck River Dairy tour to learn about their robotic dairy facility. What a transformation dairying is since I was a child in the country. I was fascinated to watch and learn about the stress-free cow autonomy and lack of human involvement that robotic dairies provide. Cows have such fun personalities when given the freedom. A wonderful innovation.

The live computer readout from one cow being milked. The computer recognises each individual cow. The milk from each teat is measured/weighed. A sample is taken from every milking and tested allowing the farmer to pick up an unwell cow immediately.

The farmer/owner is also a cheese maker, and the vet. We watched him at work checking and turning his latest cheeses made only from the milk of his own cows. He sells them under the brand La Cantara and I swear you can taste that the milk comes from happy cows. My favourite cheese of all time is his hard blue.

Over the road is an excellent free camp and a nearby Bistro Grill – dinner out tonight.

Next day we were booked on a tour of Woolnorth.

Woolnorth is a 41,000 hectare property in the far north west of Tasmania. Originally a grant given to the Van Diemen Land Company and used for sheep it was sold to a Chinese company that was running the largest dairy farm in Australia. Parcels of land have since been sold with only 700 hectares dedicated to dairy cattle and another 6000 hectares to beef cattle.

On the property are two large wind farms with 62 turbines harnessing the winds of the roaring forties. The carbon fibre blades have copper points and wire to draw lightning strike away from the control box. The integrity of each of the blades is assessed by drones with infrared sensors. Cool, hey!

A concern has been the risk to birds, particularly the raptors, from the wind turbines. Here they have two initiatives to address this – firstly exclude their food source from the immediate area, ie the pademelons, and secondly the turbine/s the eagle is close to automatically stop when a bird is nearby.
At Kennaook/Cape Grim a Premier Global Baseline station has been monitoring and studying global atmospheric composition for climate change purposes as a result of human activities and natural variability since 1976. With no land west of here until the southern tip of Argentina winds coming from the Antarctic and Indian Ocean are the cleanest on earth. This is one of only 3 such stations – another is at Mauna Loa in the Pacific and the third at Alert in the Canadian Arctic. And yes, at this point Australia does have the cleanest air in the World.

Cape Grim Premier Global Baseline Station. Image supplied.

Kennaook is the original name for Cape Grim. Though it could well be, the name is unrelated to the mass murder of aborigines that occurred here in 1828 under the direction of Edward Curr, Van Diemens Land Company director. Cape Grim was named by Matthew Flinders in 1798 because, from the sea, the cape looks like the head of a prehistoric man crying.

Phillip and Deb, fellow Explorer owners, with us at Kennaook/Cape Grim. The two islands on the left are the Doughboys.

Tuesday 20th – Thursday 22nd February:

For the next 10 days we’ll be sharing our travels with Pat and Dick, friends and fellow Explorer owners. The tiny township of Marrawah on the west coast will be our campsite tonight before beginning our journey on the Tarkine Drive.

Tarkine is an indigenous word meaning belonging to, or of, the Tarkiner. The Tarkiner people lived along this rugged coastline for 40,000 years prior to colonisation. The Tarkine is the second largest temperate rainforest in the world, with over 400,000 hectares of virgin wilderness, rugged coastline, rivers and buttongrass plains. The Tarkine Drive is a loop drive through sections of the wilderness. Despite most of it being under Parks and Wildlife management the State has made a provision that any of it can be used for logging at their discretion. This doesn’t bode well considering the might of the Logging Industry.

Wednesday: Today we’ll follow the Drive down the west coast.
At West Point we watched the surfers riding the waves. These waves can be enormous as the swell travels across the Indian Ocean unchecked. Today though, not so big as there was a strong easterly wind blowing.

Note the giant kelp washed up on the rocks. Mawson Bay

Continuing south Mawson Bay provided a dramatic coastline to explore and have a break. The headland at the end of the bay, Bluff Point is the most westerly point of Tasmania. A lighthouse here apparently has a colony of bees living in the wall near the entrance – an effective way to keep people away.

Crossing the mouth of the Arthur River at the aptly named township of Arthur River we headed to the even more intriguingly named “Edge of the World”. Huge driftwood logs and giant dried kelp is washed up along the beach.

Pat at Edge of the World. Note the driftwood.

Steve deep in contemplation at Couta Rocks

Couta Rocks proved a fun place to explore along the rocky bluffs before we backtracked to the shack community of Nelson Bay to settle in to a nice quiet grassy campsite by the beach. As the afternoon cooled down (temps have been in the high 20’s) we walked along the beach to Sundown Point State Reserve then followed a track to the mouth of Sundown Creek to find the petroglyphs. This area contains many artefacts from aboriginal days, such as shell middens, tools, depressions from huts and petroglyphs (rock carvings).

Dick admiring the petroglyphs. Steve and Pat chatting.

Thursday: Today we’ll venture inland to the forests of the Tarkine as we continue the tourist drive.

First stop Sumac Lookout which towers above the thick rainforest that borders the Arthur River.

Sumac Lookout. Hopefully the magnificent tree in which this sign was carved wasn’t felled for this purpose.

The Arthur River from Sumac Lookout as it cascades its way through thick rainforest wilderness.

Onward to Julius River to do the sinkhole walk through lush rainforest, coming across several sinkholes.

Further along the Drive a 30 minute walk through tall trees and ‘man ferns’ brought us to the large and very pretty flooded limestone sinkhole that is Lake Chisholm.

Dempster Plains provided a very different outlook with expansive views over buttongrass plains. An information board explained how for thousands of years the Tasmanian Aborigines created these plains by burning back forest. Wallaby, wombats, bandicoots, possums, lizards and emus would be flushed out by the flames where they could be easily hunted. As the button grass regrew the animals would be attracted back to the fresh flush of growth making the hunting grounds a continual and reliable food source for both people and animals. This process is called fire stick farming.

Another pretty sinkhole alongside the road was next on our tour before we reached the end of the Drive and the pièce de résistance – Trowutta Arch. A short walk brought us to the stone arch which remains after a cave collapse and the creation of two sinkholes, one on either side of it. One sinkhole is dry, the other with steep sides is 20 metres deep and water-filled. It’s a stunning and rare geological creation.

Looking under the Arch towards the flooded sinkhole

Looking under the arch towards the dry sinkhole.

Returning to our southerly drive down the west coast we joined the unsealed Western Explorer drive and found a place to pull up for the night just north of the Lindsay River bridge. A big day today – a quiet restful night anticipated.

Friday 23rd Feb:

Our route south is variously known as the C249, the Western Explorer Road or the “road to nowhere”. This remote, 120km, unsealed, white dirt road winds it’s way through beautiful thick forests, across button grass plains, around the edges of mountains or up and over those mountains as it crosses the Tarkine Wilderness – the last known home of the Tasmanian Tiger.

Driving The Western Explorer on a misty, rainy day. Can I see a Tassie tiger there?

Shallow mountain streams with their rapids and beautiful big rivers are crossed on this journey to Corinna. Corinna is an old mining and pining town – gold for the mining and Huon pine for the pining. Today there’s just a few houses remaining and an attractive pub that sells meals and tickets for the barge.

To continue south one must cross the Pieman River and the only way across is on the Fatman Barge. This barge is weight and length restricted – a car and caravan is too long. One Explorer at a time fits well!

On the Fatman Barge crossing the Pieman River

The beautiful thick forest continued – such a stunning drive. We passed quite a few stands of bee hives on both the Tarkine Drive and the Western Explorer. The honey made from these wilderness trees is usually manuka or leatherwood or a combination of blooming wilderness trees and shrubs.

Bee hives nestled into the Tarkine wilderness rainforest. Good idea not to stop near them – can you make out the thousands of bees buzzing around?

Tonight we’re staying at McIntosh Dam to camp in the muddy car park with no view of the dam – what a letdown after the last few days of superb travels and campsites.

Saturday 24th Feb:

Our major plan for the day involves walking to Montezuma Falls. These falls are Tasmania’s highest with a drop of 104 metres. To reach the falls is an 11km return walk along the old tramway through a beautiful rainforest of myrtle, sassafras and leatherwood trees and tree ferns (called man ferns in Tas).

Old sleepers from the tramway still forming part of the path.

The tramway was constructed on a 2 foot wide gauge in 1897 to carry passengers and ore from the mines to be smeltered in Zeehan. From here it went to Germany to be used in weapons production. This export ceased when war broke out in 1914 and the line was used infrequently until 1932 when it was finally abandoned.

An old wooden tramway bridge crossing a small creek.

Sunday 25th Feb:

Henty Dunes. These 30m high dunes run for 15km along the coastline and are whipped ever upwards by the winds crossing the Indian Ocean.

In Strahan and a wander along the waterfront revealed lovely old buildings, fishing boats at the dock and a cafe serving great coffee.

Steve, Dick and I enjoying Strahan waterfront.

The fragrance of Huon pine drew us into Morrison’s Mill and gift shop – such a beautiful timber. Huon pine is endemic to Tasmania and found mostly in the west and south-west of the State. It’s a very, very slow growing and long-lived tree – some trees have been dated to 3,000 years old. It’s a valuable timber not just for its rich buttery yellow colour and fragrance, but also because it is insect resistant and decays very slowly making it ideal for ship building and fine furniture-making. Due to logging, mining, inundation (dam building) and fires this tree is under threat. All living Huon pines are now protected and retrieval of fallen pines is carefully regulated.

Tonight we celebrated Steve’s and Dick’s birthdays at View 42° restaurant. (Any excuse!)

Monday 26th Feb

A quiet day catching up on admin and housework for Steve and I while Pat and Dick did the Gordon River cruise. This evening we all attended the play “The ship that never was”. It was based on true events, but was such fun. Two actors and lots of audience participation. Well worthwhile.

The play – two actors, and lots of audience participation.

Tuesday 27th Feb:

Distances between places in Tasmania are surprisingly short for we Queenslanders used to travelling a few hundred km between towns. Leaving Strahan it was only 42km to Queenstown. However what Tasmanians do very well is windy, steep, mountainous roads through rainforest.

We soon lost the rainforest as we entered the previously completely denuded mountains around Queenstown. Copper smelting polluting the air and the rivers, and logging to keep those smelters going created a desolate moonscape. On a previous visit here many years ago, we saw they were trying to re-establish the trees – those saplings are now trees and have covered some of the hills.

A pretty town surrounded by green hills today … but not in every direction.

Not so much forest here. Steve points out the cycle track he raced on back in 1971.

The Queen River in the centre of town. After 100 years of mine runoff this river is considered the most polluted in Australia.

Queenstown has some historical buildings of note and a very good miners memorial.

Miners Memorial. These stepping stones form a path up to a fountain which trickles water past them. It’s excellent and tells the story of mining in Queenstown.

Tasmania is setting itself up as a perfect destination for the mountain biking tourist. Just outside Queenstown are several of these death-defying trails cut into the mountainside.

This is the path back from Horsetail Falls, about 5km out of Queenstown. It appears I was more impressed with the walkway than the falls – no pics of falls.

Lake King William was tonight’s campsite! If Queenstown was the moon, this was Mars! The water levels were very low.

Wednesday 28th Feb:

We’re heading east now to The Wall in the Wilderness at Derwent Bridge, which is in Tasmania’s Central Highlands. This extraordinary sculptural masterpiece by Greg Duncan was begun in 2005. The Wall is 3 meters x 50 metres, double-sided Huon pine with panels that illustrate the history of the Central Highlands from indigenous times to the present. The life-like finish to all the pieces is extraordinary. No trip to Tasmania is complete if you miss The Wall.

The detail is extraordinary and seeing the whole 100m is awe-inspiring.
No photography allowed, therefore this is a stock photo from Discover Tasmania.

Tarraleah, our campsite tonight, owes its existence to the hydroelectric power company.

Huge pipes bringing water to the hydroelectric plant and lots of power lines taking the power away. Tarraleah

From the 1930’s to 2005 its residents were mostly hydro workers housed in company houses, as well as the mine executives luxurious lodge. About 20 years ago it was sold (yes, the whole town) and run as a camping and accommodation area, on a village scale. Last year it was bought back by hydro Tasmania who use the houses for their workers but maintain camping.

Some of the helicopters being used – and the ‘bucket’ used to scoop up water.

While we were there a bushfire was raging not too far away. There were 12 water-bombing helicopters working out of the oval nearby. The fire was brought under control and we found it quite interesting watching the process.

Thursday 29th Feb – Sunday 3rd March:

Today we farewell Pat and Dick as we start heading towards Port Arthur and they head north. Leaving Tarraleah we descended on windy roads for ages before finally reaching dairy and sheep country and the Derwent Valley to pull up for the night at New Norfolk. This historically charming town was founded by the settlers evacuated from Norfolk Island in the early 1800’s.

Friday we popped in to Hobart to buy some dehydrated meals for the upcoming hike.

Saturday we enjoyed our brunch overlooking Eaglehawk Neck and the bay, then wandered up to the coffee van for a delicious coffee with even better views.

The view through the back windows. Eaglehawk Neck

Coffees from the coffee van. The view is only marginally better than from Harvey.

Parker’s Beach campsite, was delightfully quiet last night – us and one other. The beach is lovely, with amazing sandstone cliffs being eroded quite sculpturally.

Today it’s been strong wind warnings and showers all day – gale force winds most of the time, with temps in the single digits and ‘feels like” values only just staying above the negative, until evening when it could hold up no longer.

Being confined to the motorhome we made good use of our time finalising our packs for the big walk tomorrow, and watching movies.

13th – 17th May, 2024Mornington Peninsula to Wentworth