7 March, 2024 by Cruisers

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 walks 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 walking track.

Day 1: Port Arthur – Denman Cove (boat) – Surveyors Hut (~4km walk)

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 walk slowly and mindfully. To further support this the huts and beds are pre-assigned for the whole walk – 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 walk 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 walk which everyone enjoyed.
Initially we walked 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 walk, 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-walk 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 walking despite starting with a couple of ascents. After about an hour and a half of walking 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 walked 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 walk 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 walks with our fellow walkers 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 Cruisers

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.

18 February, 2024 by Cruisers

Overland Track: Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair NP

The Overland is a 65km track (+side tracks) through the alpine highlands of Tasmania and is considered to be amongst the Worlds best multi-day hikes.

We’re going to walk this track over the next 6 days with the Tasmanian Walking Company. We’ve chosen to do it with this well-respected company as the Track is notorious for having unpredictable weather at any time of year (a young adult died in a February blizzard some years ago) and we’re not familiar with walking in such conditions. Also our hut accommodation and food is provided allowing us to reduce our pack weights, still carrying 10kg. There are no shortcuts to the distance walked though!

Tuesday 13th February

Day 1: Hadspen to Cradle Mountain (vehicle transfer)
Waldheim Chalet to Barn Bluff Hut (7 hours walking)

Guide Sam doing the briefing before we left Hadspen.

At 7am we met the other 9 hikers and 2 guides who make up our group. Before leaving Hadspen Guide Sam and Guide Milo checked our gear, ensuring we had everything we needed for whatever weather we might encounter, and gave us a briefing on the walk ahead of us – not a word of which I recall! Too nervous!

To break the drive to Cradle Mountain we stopped at Sheffield, the town of murals, and parked beside the Gustav Weindorfer mural. Gustav was instrumental in getting Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair declared a National Park.

Gustav Weindorfer at Waldheim Chalet – mural.

The mural depicts Gustav in winter at Waldheim Chalet, accommodation he built for his guests. He’d light a fire to warm the room then open the door and sit quietly writing up his journal. The animals would slowly come inside for the warmth.
The bus dropped us at Waldheim Chalet for a brief look around before commencing the hike.

This became a favourite quote on our hike!

With no more delays we began our first day of hiking at 11am. Today is the longest and hardest day of the hike and will take us about 7 hours before we arrive at Barn Bluff Hut.

The track is initially an easy, though narrow boardwalk through buttongrass plains. A gradual ascent brought us to temperate rainforest, which I didn’t expect to find here. A lovely waterfall cascades into Cradle Lake – a glacial cirque. We walked alongside this beautiful lake until it was time to start climbing. Along with dolerite peaks, glacial cirques are a feature of the walk, the largest and deepest being Lake St Clair.
11.30am

Beautiful Crater Lake Waterfall cascading between us.

Cradle Lake and the boat shed Weindorfer used for his chalet guests.

For the next two kilometers we’ll continue to climb culminating in the steep ascent to Marions Lookout at 1,250m high. The path is now irregular stone steps.

Looking back on our track past Cradle Lake as we climbed higher

12.30pm
The final ascent of Marions Lookout is brutal. The stone ‘steps’ are very irregular, some being more than knee height above the last. A loose chain ‘handrail’ is a godsend to help pull yourself upward as well as preventing a fall backwards.

Marions Lookout ascent. Note the step I’m climbing and how much higher the person just ahead of me is.

Thankfully we all arrived at the top unscathed to be met with fantastic views in every direction, not the least being Cradle Mountain.
I had been particularly anxious about this section of the hike and was greatly relieved to have done it without a problem and have it behind me now.
1pm

How’s that for a fabulous view! Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake

2pm
Our hungry group rested at Kitchen Hut for lunch. Kitchen Hut is one of the older historical huts along the Track, and like the other huts is not to be used as an overnight hut except in an emergency.

Kitchen Hut. Steve’s just finished his lunch. Note the spade and the upper level door! The snow can get pretty deep in these parts.

Sam (guide) is a wealth of information about the geology and plants of this region.

Creeping strawberry pine. (Yes, it’s a ground cover pine!) The fruit is delicious.

Eucalypts growing on rich Dolerite soils on the other side of the Fury Gorge fault line while low growing heaths growing in poorer soil are seen on this side of the Gorge.

Manuka (Leptospermum scoparium). Bees make the healing Manuka honey from these flowers.

After a fair amount of walking I asked Guide Milo how much further, “Not far – just there at the base of Barn Bluff”.

3pm

Yeah, see – not far to Barn Bluff where our hut is!!

4pm

Chocolate break – hey, a lovely surprise on our first day that was repeated every afternoon about an hour before reaching the hut. (Note the rocky path)

Referred to by the guides as the ‘Brussel sprout’ you’d really need to be desperate to spend time in this emergency shelter. This section of the hike is quite exposed, hence the need for emergency shelters.

There were so many times on this hike that I found the scenery to be awe-inspiring.

This type of duckboard is more like a sobriety test. At times narrow boards like this would be 1/4 metre above the ground.

4.20pm

Perfect cushion plant. Stunning country! Barn Bluff is getting closer.

This is what Guide Milo called “Tassie Flat” – ie any ascent or descent that wasn’t a mountain (my interpretation). Nice duckboards here.

5.30pm

First sight of the hut was a thrill, which just got better. Guide Milo had gone on ahead and made afternoon tea for us, soon to be followed by wine and cheese while dinner was fresh grilled salmon and salad. Can’t remember dessert, but it was delicious too. Each of the five huts we would stay in had six 2-bed rooms, toilets and hot showers in the hut, a drying room for wet clothes, big lounges in a lovely community room, yoga mats, a library with the same books in each hut so you could pick up where you left off, and outside was the helipad – always with an amazing view. This was the spot to take the yoga mats each afternoon for stretching, yoga and wine drinking.
Day 1 was exciting, daunting, awe-inspiring, surprising and exhausting. Guide Sam commented on how much he loved the Overland because every 20 minutes it changed – so true. It’s been a great start to our Overland Track adventure and there’s still 5 days to go.

Wednesday 14th February

Day 2: Barn Bluff Hut to Pine Forest Moor Hut (6 hours walking)

Great excitement this morning over breakfast – it’s snowing! WOW it was lovely to view through the plate glass windows of our lovely warm hut. Realisation soon struck that we’d have to start walking soon. Fortunately it was only light and soon melted, though light rain and wind hung around most of the morning.

8.30am

The crew all ready to leave! Rain jackets, rain pants, gaiters, waterproof boots, beanies and gloves and pack covers. (And yes, that is me – the only one not looking at camera)

It’s not far from our hut to the turnoff to Lake Will. The path through alpine heathlands is duckboard and made for easy walking.

10am

Note the warning sign about protecting your pack. At each of the side trips there’s somewhere you can leave your big pack and take only a light pack in with you. However – the currawongs (a bird) have learnt how to open zips and will make quite a mess of your pack searching for food. The solution is to put the pack rain cover on covering all the zips, then mound the packs up together all facing inward.

Joseph Will in 1890 mined a seam of coal that runs near to our path to the lake. Apparently there is still evidence of his mines, but I didn’t go looking for it. The lake is quite beautiful with its sandy quartzite beach lined with pencil pines and Barn Bluff as a magnificent backdrop. Today there’s snow to be seen on the Bluff.

10.15am

First glimpses of Lake Will. Barn Bluff not yet showing us her snow.

11am

The Lake Will track. The colours and textures of the alpine heath are so restorative.

11.30am

Leaving Barn Bluff crossing alpine heathlands on a rocky path.

12.15 pm

Walking alongside Lake Windermere. This is a popular spot for Overlanders to swim, but not today even though the skies are clearing and the rain gear has been stowed.

2.15pm

Steve on boardwalk through buttongrass plains, admiring the emerging mountain range.

Descending into a gully with Mt Oakleigh in background.

2.30 pm

3.15pm

Out of the forest and admiring the views once again. Notice the stark white tree trucks. These trees probably died as a result of a bushfire 50 or so years ago. Because there are no termites in Tasmania they persist. They’re known as ‘stags’.

3.30pm

Pine Forest Moor. More rocks and roots and mud.

4.10pm

Oh dear. Look at that path. Waterproof boots for the win. Also note the pandanus.

Once more one of our wonderful guides had skipped on ahead to bake scones for our afternoon tea and get dinner underway.

4.30pm

Freshly baked lemon myrtle scones with jam and cream and a coffee. What a reward! Pine Forest Moor Hut

5.30pm

A cheeky Tasmanian red out on the helipad.

Enjoying a glass of wine with Mt Oakleigh as the backdrop. Pine Forest Moor Hut

Looking across Pine Forest Moor to Mt Oakleigh

Thursday 15th February

Day 3: Pine Forest Moor Hut to Pelion Hut (5 hours walking)

Breakfast every day has been freshly baked bread made the afternoon before and left to rise overnight, hot porridge, cereals, local jams, etc. Large containers at each hut contain all sorts of nuts and dried fruits for us to make up our own scroggin packs for walking, and the guides fill our lunch boxes while we eat breakfast. We carry our own snacks and lunch.

We left the hut about 9am. Today’s track begins by descending through myrtle beech rainforest to skirt around the base of Mt Pelion West. While forest walking is my favourite bushwalking the muddy track made this one a challenge.

9.30am

The track as we descend towards Pelion Creek

The trick is to use the walking poles to find not-so-deep, firmer spots in the mud. This lesson was learnt the hard way by some.

10am

Avoiding a muddy path by walking around it is frowned upon as it continues to widen and destroy the path.
Gaiters + waterproof boots = walk straight through. No chance of me doing anything else with Guide Milo standing beside me.

Yes, that is the path! Great care taken on roots as they can be slippery when they’re wet and a trip hazard all the time.
The forest canopy doesn’t allow much light in, so there’s very little understory growth, but lichens and fungi thrive.

11.20am

We’re now at the lowest point on the Overland, though at 740metres it isn’t that low. The Forth River is where several of our party saw a platypus.

We now begin the climb Overlanders have dubbed ‘Heartbreak Hill’, from 740m to 840m, emerging out of the forest into buttongrass plains – and duck boards.

12.30pm

1pm

Old Pelion Hut is a place of significance for Guide Sam – his grandmother walked the Track in the 1950’s and stayed here one night, signing the log book.

A page from the log book. This entry is dated 1951.

Lunch at Old Pelion Hut. Note Guide Milo standing at the hut has the stove out having just boiled the water for us for coffee, tea or hot chocolate.

Steve, enjoying his hot coffee and lunch break at Old Pelion Hut.

2.15pm

Guide Milo with the huge pack follows Steve as they skirt around the buttongrass plains.

One of hundreds of fossils found in and around the creek.

Posing on the bridge crossing Douglas Creek

Crossing the swing bridge over Douglas Creek

Signage on the Track is very good. This one looks like it’s been here a long time. The Arm River Track joins the Overland here.

Mt Oakleigh across the river, over the buttongrass plains and through the forest.

5pm

6.45pm

Guide Milo looking sheepish because Sam didn’t make him an apple crumble, so we all donated a spoonful of ours to him. Can’t complain though, Sam had made us the most delicious wattle seed muffins for afternoon tea.

Sam and Milo briefing us on tomorrow’s walk, with the aid of a mud map.

Friday 16th February

Day 4: Pelion Hut to Kia Ora Hut (5 hours walking)

Today there are options of two side trips – one to Mt Doris and the Japanese Gardens and the other to the highest peak in Tasmania, Mt Ossa at 1617m. But first we have about 100 meters of climbing through rainforest over 4km to reach Pelion Gap. Starting a hike with a climb is not my favourite!

7.45am

Gaiters and poles hanging up in the mud room.

Steve getting the boots on ready to leave.

8.15am

What do you mean that isn’t a path? Of course it is!!

Striding on through the rainforest – tangles of roots won’t stop me.

8.30am

Douglas Cascades. We followed Douglas Creek for a while. This is where it meets the Forth River.

Morning sunshine through the rainforest.

9am

These duck boards have seen many pairs of boots.

And from the other end. It’s been a relentless climb to this point.

Pelion Gap is where you choose whether to climb Mt Ossa or not. If it’s clouded over there’s not much point. As you can see today is magnificent weather. However Steve and I and several others decided not to climb it – we’ll climb Mt Doris to the Japanese Gardens instead.

10.15am

Note the dropped packs while their owners carry only day packs on the side trips.

The track is pretty good. Though some sections are very steep.

10.40am

On the left is Mt Pelion East (referred to as ‘the nipple’) and Mt Ossa on the right. You’ll note we’re only carrying day packs now having dropped our big packs at Pelion Gap – except for Guide Milo, I think his pack has grown onto his back.

11am

Opportunistic plants – filling a crack in the rock

Japanese Gardens. Mt Pelion East in background.

Japanese Gardens with Mt Ossa in background.

Midday

Winding our way back down. The Nipple (aka Mt Pelion East) front and centre.

12.40pm

Leaving Pelion Gap it’s a gentle descent across Pinestone Valley with only one small range before we reach Cathedral Hut.

Heading towards our hut at the base of Cathedral Mtn (on left). DuCane Range on right.

1.15pm

Guide Milo filling water bottles at the spring. “Best water I’ve ever had” said Steve

2pm

Wow! Look at that! Our hut with Cathedral Mtn right behind it.

View out of the big glass windows. These windows are what the Guides call the Cathedral Television.

3.15pm

Guide Milo making the bread for tomorrow’s breakfast. He’ll leave it to rise overnight.

None of the huts so far have had refrigeration. This is a very effective way to chill the wine.

4.45pm

6.30pm

Mushroom and pea risotto for dinner tonight.

Saturday 17th February

Day 5: Kia Ora Hut to Windy Ridge Hut (4 hours walking)

8.15am

Sunrise over Cathedral Mountain. Note the helipad amongst the buttongrass.

9am

9.30am

10am

Du Cane Hut was built around 1910 by Paddy Hartnett. During winter he snared Bennett’s wallabies and possums for their skins which his wife Lucy and their children dried out in the hut. Today this is another ‘emergency use only’ hut.

Guide Sam giving us the good guff on this hut.

Guide Milo, contemplating the next 3 hours.

Flowering leatherwood near Du Cane Hut. Just waiting for some bees to make the honey unique to Tasmania.

10.30am
From here the Guides sent us off one at a time to enjoy the solitude and peace of walking alone through the oldest forest of the National Park, with King Billy pines up to 2000 years old. This was a favourite time for me.

And so begins a beautiful, solitary walk through the forest.

11.30am

We regrouped here to enjoy some waterfalls on the Mersey River.

Albert Fergusson, the first Ranger in the southern section of the park honoured by bushwalkers. He was also the first ferryman on Lake St Claire with his boat Lady Velocity.

12.30pm

Swimming spot at Hartnett Falls on the Mersey River.

2.30pm

3pm

A steep climb, the last one on the Overland, took us to Du Cane Gap sitting atop a layer of dolerite.

Rest time after the final climb of the Overland at Du Cane Gap

3.45pm

Sunday 18th February

Day 6: Windy Ridge Hut to Lake St Clair (3 hours walking)

We began our last day of walking with mixed feelings – it’s been such an amazing trail that has tested our physical capacities (and, during Guide Sam’s trivia competition, our mental capacity!) but fed our souls through many days of pure nature. Today we’ll be heading for Narcissus Hut then a little further on to Lake St Clair, Australia’s deepest natural lake, shaped by glacial action millions of years ago. Here we’ll catch the ferry back to the Lake St Clair Visitor Centre.

7.30am

Breakfast was a community occasion as we refuelled ready for the day ahead.

Banksias. Still walking through forest for a while – dry sclerophyll.

And Jack Jumpers!
“Jack Jumper Ants do not bite. Rather, they grasp the victim in their jaws, then bend and sting them. Their sting is in the tail. They are aggressive, typically walk with a hopping motion, and can sometimes jump from surrounding vegetation. The stings of Jack Jumper Ants can be very painful and local swellings are common. Large local swellings can also occur, which may last a few days at a time.” (taken from allergy.com). Our guides did warn us about these little critters and both carry epipens, an anaphylactic reaction being a possibility. Fortunately, despite seeing many of them on the track no one was stung.

10.20am

The end is in sight.
Not wanting it to end the temptation was to turn around and walk back again – but that feeling only lasted a second or two!!

11.15am

The last day of walking was easy – either a good path through the forest or good duckboards through the buttongrass plains.

11.20am

Crossing the Narcissus River on the swing bridge.

12.15pm

Enjoying our last ‘on track’ lunch beside Lake St Clair.

A swim in Lake St Claire is the Overlanders rite of passage for completing such an epic hike. Yes that’s me about to join several others of our party who took the plunge in the freezing cold waters.

Our ferry that will take us the 17km length of the lake to the Information Centre.

The whole crew at the end.
With thanks to Tasmanian Walking Company for this opportunity, the other 9 hikers whose friendship and positivity made the hike so enjoyable and special mention to Guides Sam and Milo whose knowledge, patience, care, support and great cooking made this the best hike ever.

Track profile with exceptions – those aren’t the positions of our huts and we did several side tracks not noted for a total walk of 72km.

And so ended one of the most wonderful adventures we’ve have. Our goals for this hike, other than to finish it with no injuries, were to be challenged (Steve) and to be awestruck (Denise). Without doubt both goals were achieved time and time again.

(With thanks to my walking friends who so generously shared their photos.)

12 February, 2024 by Cruisers

North West Tasmania

2nd – 12th February

Friday 2nd

The weather was very average, with lots of wind. The first 3 hours on the Spirit of Tasmania crossing Port Phillip Bay were blissfully calm, but … Bass Strait was choppy! Our booked recliner chairs were at the stern of the ship which I’m led to believe is the best spot in rough seas. Once we were in the Strait I only got up once to go to lunch and very nearly wished I hadn’t.

Recliner chairs on the Spirit. Could that be a green tinge to my face?

Anyway one book nearly finished and 11 hours later we disembarked in Devonport, Tasmania! So exciting!
Tonight we’re staying at the Ulverstone Golf Club camping area.

Saturday 3rd

A slow start to the day as we planned the next couple of weeks, replenished the fridge and settled in for the night at a quiet, pretty campsite on the banks of the Leven River.

Sunday 4th

Ahhh Tasmania! It really is relaxing with its rolling hills, green pastures, chubby cattle and sheep and, at the moment, clear blue skies. A drive south climbing through majestic eucalypts brought us to Preston Falls. A well-constructed 200m track with a few stairs led to a viewing platform on the cliff edge above a pretty waterfall dropping about 25m.

Back on the road southward Leven Canyon was our goal. The Leven River has carved the deepest canyon in Tasmania, some 275 metres below the lookouts. A large parking and picnic area was nearly full when we arrived. It’s also a free camp.

There are two lookouts over the canyon which can be accessed separately by short out-and-back walks, or a circuit which joins both lookouts together by “the steps”. Purposefully choosing to ascend “the steps”, we set off clockwise. A well-constructed path led downward through tall, mossy-trunked gums which sheltered a glade of giant man ferns (the term Tasmanians use for tree ferns).

At The Edge Lookout a viewing platform is suspended above the cascading rapids of the Leven River. After enjoying the view we headed back a little way to where the track branched to go up the steps.

Just a very few of the 697 steps on Leven Canyon walk.

697 steps, to be precise! Bench seats along the way were engraved with the number of stairs you’d already done, the number to go, and how many stairs before the next bench seat. My walking poles were a godsend!

A bench seat (one of many) on the Leven Canyon walk, indicating how many steps to go and how many you’ve already done. And how many steps since the last bench seat and how many before the next one.

Back at the car we descended the range coming out in mixed farming country again. Tasmania supplies 75% of the World’s legal poppies for making codeine and morphine. Sadly we’ve missed the flowering stage, however the poppy heads are still on the plants, drying out before harvesting.

Our campsite tonight is a free camp on the coast near Penguin ignominiously called Sulphur Creek. No it didn’t smell of sulphur!

Breakfast at Sulphur Creek. Just west of Penguin.

But first we picked up a few groceries in Penguin, wandered the streets a little and had a beer at the Penguin Brewing company – delicious it was too!

A couple of craft ales from the Penguin Brewing Co. Mine is the ‘Little Penguin’ and Steve’s the ‘Emperor Penguin’. Both excellent.

What a delightful street library at Penguin.

At the campsite we spent a pleasant Happy Hour with Explorer owners Margie from Melbourne and Kev and Denise from Buderim. Explorer motorhome owners are well-connected through a Facebook group, and it just so happened that quite a few of us happen to have chosen Tasmania to visit this year.

Monday 5th

Continuing westward we found a walk to do at Rocky Cape National Park – the 11km Broadview Circuit Track. It starts with a steep climb (does any hike not start with a steep climb!!) before entering the National Park. A well-defined sandy path through heathlands gives great views back to Sisters Beach, our starting point, before coming to the junction to summit Broadview Hill. The hilltop provides sweeping views of the coastline, and our path yet to tread.

Back on the good path we headed to Anniversary Point. A steep descent brought us down onto the beach where we were fortunate to have arrived at low tide – good, firm sand to walk on. This interesting little bay has offshore rocks known as The Five Sentries.

Anniversary Bay. Broadview. Hiking track includes full length of beach. Note the Five Sentries just offshore.

About a kilometre along the beach it becomes quite rocky with a wide wave-cut platform making for fun rock-hopping.

The climb back off the beach again is, once-more, very steep. The flora is now predominantly a banksia grove, with the largest banksias I’ve ever seen – some trunks being so big you couldn’t get your arms around them to hug.

Banksias on the Broadview Circuit Track.

Lee Archer Cave at the bottom of a steep descent back down to the beach contains a midden and artefacts deposited over thousands of years, and are still used by the Aboriginal community for shelter and ceremony. Respectfully being asked not to enter the cave meant there wasn’t a lot to see from the mouth of this wide, deep cave.

Lee Archer Cave – on the Broadview Circuit Track.

Climbing back to the path again we continued on to Wet Cave – a narrow opening leads downwards into a wide, deep cave with a pool at the end. Soon after leaving the cave the track leads back onto the beach for a short walk to the boat ramp and back to Harvey, our motorhome. And so ended another enjoyable hike with an array of flora and lots of birdlife and lizards.

A drive to Stanley and an early night after a well-deserved shower was in order.

Tuesday 6th – Wednesday 7th

Stanley is a pretty little town with its many beautifully preserved historic buildings from its heyday as the centre of the Van Diemen Land Company and also the birthplace of Joseph Lyons, Australian Prime Minister (1932 – 39). Consequently Stanley became the perfect choice to film the movie The Light Between Oceans, a post World War I drama.

But the most striking landmark in Stanley is The Nut! In 1798 Matthew Flinders described it as “a cliffy round lump that resembles a Christmas cake”. This stump of an old volcano rises some 150 metres above sea level.

The Nut or is it a Christmas Cake, Stanley.

We climbed the very steep path to the top and wandered the 2.5km circuit path that follows the cliff line. A pretty and varied walk with unobstructed views all around.

Stanley from the chairlift. Looking west.

Enjoying a night out with friends. Stanley Hotel

Thursday 8th Feb

Not far out of Stanley is Highfield House, the now restored 1830’s home of Edward Curr, the Chief Agent of the Van Diemens Land Company. The history of this first settlement in north-west Tasmania is a sordid one with maltreatment of the convicts assigned to the Company and a massacre of the local aboriginals.

Highfield House from The Nut. Looking north

Popping into many of the little beachside communities along the northern coastline as we returned eastward rewarded us with unspoilt white beaches with the bluest ocean lapping at the shores.

Of interest is the 1.8km long jetty at Port Latta. Iron ore, mined at Savage River, is made into a slurry and transferred to the Port via an 85km long pipeline. Here it is converted into pellets and exported, mostly to Japan.

Rolling hills with grazing sheep and cattle, fields of onions, potatoes, poppies and tulips brought us to another volcanic plug known as Table Cape. Tulips have been grown on these rich basalt soils since 1984, the bulbs now being exported to Holland.

Table Cape. Imagine those bare fields covered in poppy and tulip flowers.

A lighthouse built in 1888 still warns shipping of the perils of this rocky coastline.

Steve just finishing an arduous shift saving ships from certain disaster, Table Cape Lighthouse.

Friday 9th Feb

Today we mixed it with the locals. Don and Jan from Burnie, RVing friends from way back, met up with their traveling crew of about 5 other motorhomes at Hagley and invited us to join them. Tales of travels done and yet to do provided great entertainment.

Saturday 10th – Monday 12th Feb

No trip to Launceston would be complete without a visit to Cataract Gorge. This beautiful gorge formed by the South Esk River has a cafe, large grassed picnic area, a swimming pool, a chair lift and lots of walking tracks. We headed off on the 6km return walk along the cliff edges of the gorge to the Duck Reach power station. This station, one of the earliest hydro-electric power stations in the world, operated from 1895 to 1955.

The walking track to Duck Reach power station.

Crossing the river to the power station.

Saturday night we camped at Old Mac’s Farm ($20) after spending the afternoon reminiscing as we wandered the Lonnie CBD.

Sunday night was at Honeysuckle Banks free camp near Evandale where preparations were in full swing for next weekend’s penny farthing races.

It wouldn’t be the first time Steve has ridden a penny farthing.

Our backpacks were emptied and repacked and weighed several times before we were finally satisfied. But generally we (particularly me) just tried to keep the nerves in check. Sunday night we camped in the carpark of the Red Feather Inn at Hadspen, the meeting point for the hike. This 6-day, 64+km hike in the Tasmanian Highlands is going to be a challenge.

1 February, 2024 by Cruisers

Southern Explorer 2024

We sold Priscilla, our 4×4 Mercedes Sprinter at the end of 2022 and ordered Harvey another 4×4, this time an Explorer motorhome built on a Toyota Hilux base, taking delivery in August 2023. This is to be our first ‘big’ trip since 2022 -we’ve missed that wonderful feeling of freedom that a long trip with not much planned gives us.

Home to the Spirit

13th January – 1st February 2024

Weighing Harvey fully loaded as we leave for Tasmania.

Our first stop was the public weigh-bridge at Caboolture. Our total weight came in with a bit to spare – that was a big relief! Tasmania, here we come.

Night 1 was spent with our friends Bryan and Trish in Boonah. Next morning we all breakfasted at our ‘regular’ in Boonah before we farewelled Bryan and Trish, then dropped in on my aunt in Warwick. About 2.30pm we arrived at Girraween National Park.

On went the packs and the boots for the hike to Castle Rock. The huge granite rocks of this area are amazing.

Trail to Castle Rock. Huge granite rocks everywhere.

Monday 15th Jan

We’re heading off today but not before doing another bush walk. We went the opposite direction to yesterday’s hike following Bald Rock Creek to its junction with Ramsay Creek where their waters will flow on to eventually join the Murray Darling system.

Pretty waterfall cascading over the granite slabs.

It was easy, flat walking with lots of delightful little waterfalls and beautiful spots to stop for a dip in the crystal clear waters. Lazy goannas soaking up the sunshine, little lizards scurrying away on their back legs with head raised, several red-necked wallabies and some Eastern Greys and countless birds and flowers made for an enjoyable hike. About 6km round trip.

Leaving Queensland a productive morning was spent solving the world’s problems in Tenterfield with our friends and previous travel companions Pammy and Milton before continuing the journey to camp in the rain at Mother of Ducks Lagoon outside Guyra, with about 20 caravans!

Tuesday 16th Jan

Still drizzling and cold this morning we were happy to get back on the road early heading straight to Tamworth to our favourite cafe, Rubys, for brunch. Once off the New England Tableland the temperatures once again rose to the low 30s despite the cloud cover and we had an easy drive to The Black Stump Rest Area for a peaceful night as its only residents.

On Wednesday when we stopped at Molong for lunch the rain started and got heavier and heavier, particularly during the 15 minutes Steve had to stand outside filling the water tank. On the rain radar it showed a break coming up so we continued on to Bendick Murrell Rest Area south of Cowra for the night – another peaceful night on our own.

Thursday 18th Jan

The rain cleared this morning to a beautiful day. The drive through Young for a coffee at the cafe, Tarcutta for brunch and Holbrook before arriving at Gadds Bend for the night is one of the prettiest drives we’ve done. The rolling hills, getting higher the further south we travelled were all a deep emerald green, while the black Angus cattle and the white sheep contrasted so beautifully against the background.

Perfect reflections in the Murray River as seen from Mt Alfred.

Gadds Bend, on the Murray River just over the border into Victoria, must be one the the best free camps we’ve stayed in. We first stayed here in 2017 and it hasn’t changed at all. It’s a very big, grassed area along about 200 meters of the river which is lined with big River Red Gums reflecting perfectly in the swiftly flowing waters.
Another perfect, peaceful night.

At the picnic area, Mt Alfred. Note the object in the wedge-tailed eagle’s claw.

Friday 19th Jan

Today we head to Kosciuszko National Park for some walking. Wow that road up the mountain sure is steep and winding. As the passenger I had wonderful views of the mountains, gullies and trees. It was interesting watching as the flora changed from thick rain forest-type vegetation to alpine vegetation as we drove higher. The line markings on the road changed from white to yellow and tall guide posts with reflectors at the top signaled the beginning of the snow line – as well as pull-over bays for drivers to fit chains to their tyres. No snow today, but the temperature was dropping.

First stop the Information Centre at Jindabyne where we recall an excellent cafe from our previous visit. We also bought a 2-day Park Pass for $34 then headed out to Sawpit Creek to do the 6+km walk to the waterfall. A pleasant walk with a stunning waterfall.

Then off to Island Bend campground – our favourite from our last visit 7 years ago. Surprise, surprise it’s changed! Back then we had a lovely camp on the grass right beside the river, and we were the only ones there. Now they have campsites starting from right up on the main road all the way down the hill, and they were nearly all full (OK it is Friday night during the school holidays). To get to our previous camp it’s noted to be 4-wheel-drive only. We walked it – very big holes and washouts! And the grass camping is only for tents. We did find a spot up the hill a bit and had a good night, but it was very disappointing.

Saturday 20th Jan

Today we walked the Main Range Circuit track to Mt Kosciuszko and the Summit Track to complete the circuit- 23km! It really is a stunning walk through alpine country. It starts at Charlotte Pass and immediately heads downhill fairly steeply for about a kilometre to the Snowy River which, due to recent rains, is flowing swiftly and is relatively wide. This has to be crossed on stones of various sizes and width and stability. With our big packs weighing about 10kg I found it a very daunting crossing, which I’m grateful to say I crossed without incident. From there the track just went up, and up and up.

Yes Steve that is our path. Keep going. Mt Kosciuszko in the too far distance to see just yet!

Steve on the Main Range hike to Mt Kosciuszko.

Lunch break overlooking Lake Alpina. Main Range hike to Mt Kosciuszko.

It took about 4.5 hours to finally reach the summit of Mt Kosciuszko, Australia’s highest mountain. The Main Range section is stunningly beautiful. The surrounding ranges fade off into the distance as we walked along mountain-sides overlooking pristine crater lakes.

The downside was the track construction. Some of the Main Range track was natural surface, excellent to walk on, large sections were granite paving stones of different sizes and surfaces which was not only very hard underfoot but dangerous to not be watching every footfall for fear of tripping. There was one section about 3km long of raised steel boardwalk – bliss. The Summit Track, to complete the circuit back to Charlotte Pass, was predominantly large stony gravel, very difficult to walk on.

Finishing the walk about 6pm, both exhausted, we decided not to go back to Island Bend but stayed at a picnic area beside Sawpit Creek. An early night tonight.

Sunday 21st, Monday 22nd, Tuesday 23rd

After a slow start to Sunday the drive to Corryong where we camped at the recreation grounds alongside the golf course, was short.

Horrie the Wog Dog was befriended in the Middle East during WWII where he reputably had extraordinary hearing, alerting the troops to enemy aircraft. He was smuggled back into Australia and lived out his remaining years in Corryong. Note he’s wearing his Corporals uniform.

Monday, with a little more energy, we walked around town where the “tourist drawcard” is the local lad Jack Riley who is thought to be the drover referred to in the Banjo Paterson poem The Man From Snowy River. The 6km walk included summiting Playse Lookout.

Next morning, on the way to Tallangatta, we popped in to see the 77m double storied ‘trestle bridge’ over Boggy Creek, a part of the old railway line which had carried supplies for the Snowy Mountain Scheme since 1887, closing down in 1978. Discovering this was part of the Victorian High Country Rail Trail we decided to walk 10km of it. Sleep wasn’t a problem tonight – we’re both exhausted!

Wednesday 24th, Thursday 25th

Before leaving Tallangatta, a drive to the lookout above gave us a magnificent view of this pretty little town nestled along the Hume Dam. It’s known as ‘the town that moved’ – in 1956 all timber homes moved 8km west, while the brick homes, churches, etc were flooded when Lake Hume was dammed.

A beautifully scenic drive through the Kinglake Valley to Tolmie was rewarded with cool temperatures at last, though rain was threatened. The Tolmie Recreation ground surrounded by tall eucalypts made a quiet, restful camp for two nights. It rained all day Thursday and into the night.

Friday 26th, Saturday 27th, Sunday 28th

Australia Day, we followed the unsealed Murrindindi Road through State Forest tall trees looking for a good hike to do that wasn’t busy with long-weekend campers. Myrtle Gully Trail was the chosen one though it turned out to be in disrepair with many fallen trees across the track. Still it was just the hike we needed – 11km through the most glorious tall tree forest (lots of Myrtles and Soft Fern Trees), and what better activity to do on Australia Day than being out enjoying the beautiful Aussie bush.

I’m pleased we weren’t on the track when this came down!

Onward to Toolangi Recreation Reserve for two nights.

Leaving Toolangi and the beautiful tall tree forests behind we descended into bushland, then cattle country then vineyards as far as the eye could see. Lunch was at Lilydale – thought it was a village but it may as well be a suburb of Melbourne. We skirted around Melbourne to stay the night at the Lang Lang Showgrounds. Grassy, quiet, lots of birds – that’s about it.

Monday 29th, Tuesday 30th, Wednesday 31st

Long lunches, cocktails, a walk, and lots of chatter made for a very pleasant and relaxing time with Maree and Carl in Balnarring, Mornington Peninsula.

Thursday 1st February

The drive down the western side of Mornington Peninsula to Sorrento reminded us what a pretty area this is with so many things to do and places to explore. From Sorrento the car ferry took us to Queenscliff then it was a short drive on to Corio Bay in Geelong, the departure point for the Spirit of Tasmania. A drive down to see where we’d have to come first thing tomorrow morning to board the Spirit proved to be a good move! This evening’s Spirit was in dock getting ready to sail, so we stayed to watch it go, then spoke with some other RVers who told us they were staying (camping) in the queue overnight, all ready to go tomorrow morning. So, that’s what we did too! No stress for us tomorrow morning.

6.30am and ready to board the Spirit of Tasmania

21 May, 2021 by Cruisers

A Castle, Beaches, a Waterfall and Home

12th – 21st May

Just a few kilometres down the road is Mamu Tropical Skywalk. On arrival we downloaded the app then set off on the kilometre or so walk through the rainforest with the audio (from the app) telling us the story of the area, the plants, the cyclones and other interesting info.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 05_12_mamu-1024x768.jpg — At Mamu Skywalk

A 350m section of elevated walkway leads to a cantilever 15m above ground right in the rainforest. The view of the rainforest beneath us and to the sides was fascinating, just looking at the different trees and epiphytes.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 05_12_mamu-walkway-768x1024.jpg — Mamu walkway. Excellent infrastructure designed to showcase the area at its best without damaging any of the flora.

But also straight ahead was the Johnson R Gorge. This is such beautiful country. Further on is ‘the tower’. This 37m tower, with many, many steps to reach the top, looks out over the tops of the trees and across gorges. Fantastic!

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 05_12_mamu-walk-1024x768.jpg — The view down the valley from the Mamu boardwalk.

Paronella Park is the main destination for today, with camping onsite. For years people have been telling us about this place. It’s one man’s dream of having a European Castle in Australia. José Paronella nearly single-handed built his home and his castle over a 6-year period. A grand staircase leads from the beautiful grounds and tennis courts past the fountains to a ballroom, which used to hold dances and show movies, with refreshments provided from the refreshment rooms.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 05_12_paronella-1024x768.jpg — Rustic Paronella Park

Mena Creek enters the property via a waterfall into a large swimming pool. The hydroelectric power plant José established here provided electricity to the property fully 30 years before the local townsfolk had power. In its heyday Paronella Park was an exotic playground for the locals as well as many servicemen during WWII.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 05_12_paronella3-1024x768.jpg — The falls on Mena Creek – a part of Paronella Park. A hydroelectricity unit was built here to power the park and is still functional today.

These days, the gardens and fountains are still beautiful, but following floods, cyclones and a fire it’s just the shell of the castle that remains. We stayed in the caravan park on the grounds and did the daytime tour as well as a night tour where the castle is lit beautifully and accompanied by an original music score. Altogether a very enjoyable stay.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 05_12_paronella4-1024x768.jpg — The light and music show at Paronella Park is quite special.

13th May. Bingil Bay

Bingle Bay has a reputation of being a highly desirable camping spot, with only 8 sites and no reservations taken, ie first in, first served. This meant an early departure for the drive to the coast.

We arrived just as the couple who had the best site (that is site 6) were packing up to leave! Walking on the beach, a quick swim (crocs and stingers uppermost in my mind) and lots of sitting back reading was the order of the day.

Steve spent a relaxing hour or so fishing. Bingil Bay

14th May. Wallaman Falls

The last of the waterfalls for us on this trip also happens to be the highest permanent waterfall in Australia.

We camped in the NP campground and, after admiring the falls from the lookout, did the 3.5km return walk to the base of the falls – a very steep descent, followed, unsurprisingly, by a very steep ascent to return. We were both pretty chuffed at how well we managed it – all those Devonshire teas haven’t wreaked too much damage. Once more, a spectacular geographical, or should that be geological, feature.

The walk to and from the base of the falls is quite a trek, but well worth it.

15 – 16th May.

Heading south now quite quickly. We stopped for brunch at the TYTO Wetlands RV camp (looks good for future reference), and a cuppa at Saunders Beach (nice beach, but camp site in carpark) before pulling up for the night at the free camp at Giru.
Next night we headed for Lake Proserpine (also currently a free camp) where we’re meeting up with our old travelling buddies Ken and Wendy. Lake Proserpine is a huge campsite alongside the dam. A pleasant camp, particularly our time with our friends.

Back with a great travelling mates, Ken and Wendy, for the last time. 🙁 They’re selling their Trakka. At Lake Proserpine

17th – 19th May

A night at Waverley Creek Rest Area – a good roadside rest area OK for one night. Then on to Wreck Rock camping ground in the Deepwater NP. The road to it from Agnes Water heading south is in very poor condition, so we came up from the southern side on a good dirt road. We spent two days here, mostly relaxing and going for lovely long walks on the beach. A pleasant stay.

Wreck Rock campsite. Another lovely campsite beside the beach south of Agnes Water.

20th – 21st May

We spent our last night before arriving home with good friends Ric and Gill on the Sunshine Coast. Needless to stay a good night was had by all.
But there’s no place like home, and it was lovely to arrive back home.

Summary
Duration: 54 days
Distance driven: 7,471 km
Fuel cost: $1410
Campsites: 18 nights in 9 National Parks
Free camps – 15
Cost of camping – $766 (+$459 at hotel Cairns)
Activities: $791

Brunch at Whitsunday Gold coffee roastery with mates Ken and Wendy.

12 May, 2021 by Cruisers

Chillagoe and lots of Waterfalls

8th-12th May

Originally we’d planned to visit Chillagoe when we left Karumba via the Burketown Development road but it was closed due to flooding, hence the zigzagging across the Tablelands. Surprisingly, as we left the Tableland, we passed through rich agricultural lands with avocado, mango, banana, citrus, grapes and sugarcane, and other crops we didn’t recognise, stretching for many kilometres. Before long though we were back in cattle country.

Pawpaws – or red papayas. Absolutely delicious eating. Outside Babinda

The Wheelbarrow Way, one of many tourist trails that highlight our history. Chillagoe

Chillagoe has a population of a bit more than 200. It struck us as a tough little town, its residents having weathered many ups and downs as most mining towns have. Over the years huge deposits of silver, lead, zinc, gold, limestone and marble have been mined here. The lime stone and marble mines are still working, with a few small silver, lead and zinc operations continuing. Chillagoe lime has the sugarcane industry more or less cornered but unfortunately, while beautiful marble is mined here, most of it is sent overseas for treatment. Most of the marble in Parliament House came from Chillagoe.

Marble blocks awaiting orders before shipping to their destination.

But we’re here for the caves. Back around 400 million years ago the limestone laid down under shallow oceans was lifted, towering above the surrounding countryside where weathering and erosion and fluctuating groundwater levels slowly dissolved some of the limestone, creating caverns and passages, now rich with stalactites, stalagmites and flowstones. We visited three caves today with the ranger – Donna, Trezkinn and Royal Arch. All were outstanding, as was the infrastructure allowing us to view them without causing damage.

Between cave tours we walked out to the Balancing Rock. I’ve seen many Balancing Rocks, but this is a pretty good one, and the bush walk, after yesterday’s marathon effort, was good to keep the muscles moving.

Dinner at the Cockatoo Pub tonight, behind which we’re camped for 2 nights.

Before leaving Chillagoe this morning we drove out to the Archway caves, which are self-guided.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 05_10_chillagoe-768x1024.jpg — The approach to the very sinister-looking Royal Arch caves.

Other than the extraordinary, gothic-like appearance of the limestone karsts in which the caves form, we weren’t impressed with this section, nor game enough to go crawling into little spaces by ourselves with just a head torch.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 05-09_Chillagoe08-768x1024.jpg — Exploring the caves at Chillagoe

Back through the savanna and the rich agricultural farms and orchards to the Tableland. On the way we dropped in to the Mount Uncle Distillery. A tasting board of spirits was set before us – a pleasant time was spent tasting them all, buying a couple of bottles, and then wandering their beautiful grounds, lush with tropical plants and vegetable gardens and lots of peacocks!

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 05_10_distillery-1024x576.jpg — A delightful time taste-testing at Mt Uncle Distillery.

By the time we’d done that and made ourselves a cuppa we were sober enough to continue our journey to Malanda where we booked in to the caravan park. The Malanda Falls are beside the CP, but we weren’t that impressed, looking more like a weir than anything. A quiet night, other than for the curlews which seem to be at every campsite!

Still chasing waterfalls today we’re following the Waterfall Way to the southern Tablelands. First stop was Millaa Millaa Lookout, which promised amazing views out to Mt Bartle Frere and Bellenden Ker. However, this section is known as the “misty mountains’, hence no mountains seen, but the rolling countryside and magnificent valleys filled with rainforest was absolutely beautiful.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 05_11_millaa-lookout-1024x768.jpg — The view from Millaa Millaa Lookout. On a clear day you can see Mt Bartle Frere and Bellenden Ker – not today. But beautiful nevertheless.

Next stop, Millaa Millaa Falls, the most-photographed falls in Australia. They are “perfect” falls, coming out of thick rainforest in one reasonably wide band of water and falling to a large pool below. Despite the cooler weather I had a swim here, swimming over to and behind the falls. A wonderful experience.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 05_11_millaa_falls-1024x768.jpg — The very beautiful Millaa Millaa Falls.

Next stop, Zillie Falls then on to Elinjaa Falls where there’s a steep path of about 500m to get to the base. It’s possible to swim here too.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 05_11_elinjaa_falls-768x1024.jpg — Elinjaa Falls

By now it was lunchtime and the cafe at the biodynamic dairy at Mungalli was calling to us. A very filling cheese platter, followed by the best ice cream I’ve ever had (Espresso flavour) replenished our energy levels. The countryside is so pretty – hills, gullies, rainforest and the lushest grass you can imagine. It’s no wonder the dairy cows give such beautiful milk.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 05_11_mungalli-lunch-768x1024.jpg — The most delicious lunch at the Mungalli Biodynamic dairy farm.

Continuing our meandering drive through the tiny town of Mungalli, which also has a waterfall, though more like steep rapids, we descended and descended until reaching Henrietta Campsite in Wooroonooran National Park. We’ve stayed at lots of National Parks over the years – they’re a credit to our country. This one has a large open area to kick a ball, an electric BBQ, covered tables, toilets and a shower (cold). The campsites are all nestled into the rainforest all around and beside Henrietta Creek. Most have bush walks or other activities. Here we decide to do the walk to Nandroya Falls, a return walk of about 7km. A couple of rock-hopping water crossings and a narrow path ascending and descending alongside the river gave us a bit of a workout. First we came to Silver Falls and finally Nandroya. These are a favourite of Steve’s as they fall spectacularly from a narrow gap in the sheer cliff face to the pool below, then from that they tumble down again over a wide cliff to the next level.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 05_11_nadroya-falls-768x1024.jpg — Nandroya Falls – such interesting falls.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 05_11_silver-falls-1024x768.jpg — The lovely Silver Falls, seen along the walk to Nandroya Falls.

Back at camp we took our chairs down the steep little path to sit by the river contemplating life, the universe and everything, and hoping to spot a platypus. Alas no platypus, but we did get up close and personal with a few too many leeches! A quiet night anticipated with just us and one caravan.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 05_11_henrietta-campsite-1024x768.jpg — Relaxing at our campsite at Henrietta NP campground.

30 April, 2021 by Cruisers

Atherton and Cairns

28th April – 7th May

We leave ‘the West’ now for the Atherton Tableland, but not before a dip in the hot mineral waters of Innot Springs. The water leaves the ground here at around 75°C. At the park there are 6 pools each with a controlled temperature ranging from cool to so hot just a few minutes in it is long enough! We moved between two medium temperature pools having a lovely rejuvenating soak.

With wrinkly skin we left the pools to view Millstream Falls about 30km up the road. These falls are the widest single-drop falls in Australia, flowing over the end of a basalt lava flow. A walk from the car park winds down to a viewing platform where, due to the big wet season the area has experienced, the falls are spectacular.

We pass through Ravenshoe, the highest town on the Tableland to stay the night at a caravan park in Herberton. Herberton has a truly wonderful Historic Village where we spent several hours the next day. I’m not a great fan of these historic displays, but this one is not to be missed!

Herberton Historical Village. School room. Don’t know that I’d do particularly well on this test.

The countryside has changed so much within the space of a day’s drive. From the eucalypt woodland savanna we’re now in full tropical rainforests, lush rolling hills with grass so high the cattle are nearly hidden and the most beautiful tropical plants – and it’s a lot cooler. Lake Barrine is one of two crater lakes, on the Tableland, Lake Eacham being the other. These two lakes were formed around 10 – 17,000 years ago when the earth’s magma contacted the ground water creating steam which blew the top off forming a crater which subsequently filled with water.
We’d planned to kayak around Barrine, but the weather is still a bit rainy at times and lovely and cool now, so instead we walked around them both, and may have had a coffee and something sticky to eat at the Tea House on Lake Barrine.

If it weren’t so windy we’d have kayaked around. Steve, on the walk around Lake Barrine.

We spent two nights at the Lakeside Caravan Park on Lake Tinnaroo and took the time to drive around visiting local attractions such as Nerada Tea Plantation, Gallo Dairy and Chocolate shop and the delightful town of Yungaburra.

Enjoying the perfect cuppa at the Nerada Tea plantation.

However being the beginning of a long weekend and Lake Tinnaroo being a favourite for the local water skiers, jet ski owners and just generally noisy boats, we were pleased to leave.

Our campsite on the banks of Lake Tinnaroo. Temporarily quiet, until tomorrow!

1st May: We descended to the coast via the Gillies Highway, a Highway famous for its 263 corners and 800m elevation change in just 19km. It was built in 1925 and I’m rather proud to say my grandfather was one of the surveyors for this road. The scenery was absolutely spectacular, unfortunately the lookouts were all on the ascending side of the road making it a bit dangerous for us to pull over to take our time enjoying it.

Babinda Boulders is our destination today, but first the highly rated Josephine Falls near Mt Bartle Frere. In ‘usual’ conditions these falls provide an ideal natural waterslide – way too much water at the moment though.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 05_01_Babinda_boulders-1024x768.jpg — Enjoying the spectacular Josephine Falls

The Babinda Creek is a fast-flowing creek that winds its way through huge boulders forming large pools ideal for swimming. Still a bit overcast and cool for swimming but I did wade in and enjoy the refreshing waters here.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 05_01_Babinda_boulders2-768x1024.jpg — Very beautiful, but very dangerous for swimming, at Babinda Boulders

There’s a nice-looking free camp here, but we decide to go back to Babinda where there’s a large free camp beside the river. Most memorable about this campsite is the rooster that crowed the wake-up alarm right outside my window from 4.45am for at least half an hour. I dare say I’m not the only camper who had visions of roast chicken!

2nd – 4th May: We’re now having a holiday in the middle of our trip – three nights at the Doubletree Hilton in Cairns! The hotel is fabulous, particularly the beautiful atrium with a pond with barramundi that swim through lush tropical plants. We are both impressed with Cairns – the Council has done a marvellous job with tropical plants everywhere, an excellent walkway/cycle way the length of the foreshore with sculptures, parks, impressive playgrounds and exercise stations and a beautiful swimming lagoon.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 05_02_cairns_esplanade-1024x768.jpg — The beautiful pool area on the Cairns Esplanade

On our last day we rode our bikes to the Botanic Gardens where the local and exotic tropical plants stunned us with their lushness and colours and variety. It’s such a large Gardens we’re pleased we rode our bikes, covering several kilometres within the gardens to visit all the areas.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 05_04_gardens1-1024x768.jpg — The amazing plants at the Cairns Botanic Gardens

We also had dinner with Philippa and Andrew, new friends we first met at Boodjamulla, then again in Karumba. And when we weren’t doing all these activities we swam in the hotel pool and spa, lazed poolside reading, or had a few drinks at the outdoor bar and restaurant.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 05-04_CairnsHilton01-768x1024.jpg — Enjoying sundowners at the cafe at Doubletree Hilton

5-7th May

We return to Atherton Tableland this time via the Kuranda Highway. On previous visits we’ve come up to Kuranda on the cable car and the train – both highly recommended, but this is the first time we’ve driven. Not quite as spectacular, but still a fabulous drive.

Barron Falls – a spectacular waterfall near Kuranda

Kuranda … disappointing .. lots of shops closed and the feel was mass-produced tourist trinkets. After wandering around for a while, trying to give the place a chance, we drove out to Barron Falls Lookout. Wow those falls are amazing. A kilometre-long walkway took us to a couple of lookouts over the falls and down the range to the coast. Interestingly the river above the falls was dammed for hydroelectricity for a while in the early 20th century.

A view down the valley, taken on our Barron Falls walk

Moving on from here our campsite tonight turned out to be one of the best we’ve ever stayed in! Upper Davies Creek campsite in Dinden NP, site#2. We seemed to climb a long way on an unsealed road before reaching the campsite, but 4×4 only needed at the very end to get into the campsite. The next nearest camp was a long way away (and no one there anyway). The creek came down a small waterfall then over rapids before forming a large pool right beside where we were camped, leaving the pool via more rapids. It was stunningly beautiful.

I swear this has to be the best campsite ever. Upper Davies Creek

A thoughtful previous camper left wood beside the fire pit where we cooked our dinner. Swimming was chilly and did involve a lot of resolve to fully submerge. Unfortunately we’d only booked one night here, but we stayed until quite late in the afternoon making the most of it before leaving.

Enjoying a swim at Upper Davies Creek – our own private slice of heaven

Speewah campsite in Barron Gorge NP was also lovely – only 3 campsites, each on a well-formed pad with large grassy areas and a patch of natural bush between each site. On our first full day we set off to do some walking. Phew … that was more than we’d bargained for. The walk was through thick rainforest which was magnificent and a treat to be immersed in.

Beautiful rainforest walking at Speewah NP

However it has rained a lot here recently and in quite a few places the track was in very poor repair, with many fallen trees and their multiple branches to scramble through. In one section a wide fire trail we were following was so badly washed out and eroded it’d be impossible to drive on it. There were 5 water crossings, two where we needed to wade through, rather than rock-hop over.

And yet another water crossing on the Speewah walk

But of greatest difficulty were the many steep ascents and descents, not short ones either! Along the way Steve managed to pick up a few leeches and get caught in lawyer vine enough to draw blood, and I came face-to-face with many golden orb spiders whose massive sticky webs were built right across the track. These spiders from toe to toe would have been as big as my hand.

One of many giant Golden Orb spiders that formed their webs right across the track.

Our GPS told us we walked for 5.5 hours over 18km – I don’t know it was that far, but it was a tough walk however far it was. A chilly shower on return restored feeling to weary bodies!

27 April, 2021 by Cruisers

Gorges and Tubes and the Gulf

13th – 27th April

For many, many years people have raved to us about how wonderful Lawn Hill Gorge is (Boodjamulla National Park), and finally, finally we’re going to see it for ourselves. From Mt Isa we headed north on the Camooweal Rd, another really bad road, to Miyumba camp, the southern-most camp in the National Park. The road was rocky, and when not rocky, it was corrugations, plus a few water crossings thrown in for good measure. We drove ‘according to conditions’ and arrived intact.

Poor condition of road on the way north to Riversleigh

The final water crossing, just 100m short of our camp was over the Gregory River. It was flowing quite swiftly, about shin deep – no drama for Priscilla. Once camped (only ones there) we walked back to the river and had a lovely, cool, spa bath right there beside the road.

Having a ‘spa’ on the side of the road in the swiftly flowing Gregory River

The night was magic – no lights, no moon and millions of stars from horizon to horizon. These are the nights we especially love.

14th – 17th April Boodjamulla NP

Next morning, continuing north, we stopped at the Riversleigh World Heritage site renown as a dinosaur fossil site. It’s very well presented and interesting with large fossils evident in the rocks along an 800m path.

The signage and displays at Riversleigh were very good.

The gorge part of Boodjamulla is 55km north. A large commercial campsite at Adels Grove, just outside the NP, provides accommodation for the on-road vehicles and caravans and those who didn’t book early enough to get into the NP. The National Park campsite is 10 km down the road at the Gorge. The road was improved significantly.

Over the next 4 days we did a twilight walk up to Duwadarri Lookout completing the circuit via Indarri Falls, a walk to the Cascades, then back to walk to the Upper Gorge. These walks were lovely in places, stunning in others and difficult in parts, but well worthwhile. Another day we took the kayak up the river, marvelling at the stunning cliffs through which we paddled.

At Indarri Falls we ‘portered’ the kayak along the path to bypass it, then continued right up to the Upper Gorge where we found a fabulous landing spot at rapids where we stopped for lunch, a swim and a massage under the rapids. We were lucky to have the place to ourselves for more than an hour. On our last day we kayaked up to Indarri Falls then spent quite a few hours there, swimming, getting massaged by the falls, chatting to other kayakers, relaxing and staying cool.

We both enjoyed Boodjamulla, and while a longer stay wasn’t necessary, I wouldn’t mind coming back another time. The only thing that spoilt our visit was the weather – it’s very hot, 35/36° for the first 3 days, cool breeze on the last.

19th – 22nd April

We saw the Gulf of Carpentaria from the west in our Arnhem Land trip in 2019 and now, heading to Karumba I’m planning to get my feet wet in the eastern Gulf. But first the drive from Boodjamulla was pleasant on good unsealed roads, just a few small washouts and corrugations as we traversed the grass lands stopping for a coffee and a highly-touted muffin at Murray’s Place in Gregory. From here we headed north (on sealed roads) to Burke for a look around town, sitting in a park having lunch at the same time the ABC News that night informed us it was the hottest town in Queensland! Back south again to stay the night at Leichhardt Falls.

Leichhardt Falls, on the Leichhardt River is not much more than a puddle during the dry season, but at the moment the water is roaring over the falls. A croc was spotted just down from the base of the falls – no swimming! Watching the road trains navigate the long, single-lane bridge that crossed the river gave me an even greater respect for those drivers.

Not a long drive today. The road to Karumba is unsealed, but mostly pretty good. At Camp 119 we viewed the blazed trees and read the story of Burke and Wills most northerly campsite. They tried to walk further on to the coast, but as it was the wet season (crazy!!) it was too swampy to reach.

The most northerly campsite of Burke and Wills in 1861

Another rest stop at Normanton proved interesting for not only the story of Krys, the largest crocodile ever, but also the Information Centre told the story of the beef industry here and the important role of the native stockmen.

Krys, the largest crocodile ever seen in Australia. This magnificent creature was dozing on a riverbank when a crocodile hunter shot it dead. So sad.

A cruise on into Karumba was easy driving before we found our campsite at Ronnies and settled in. First point of call was to buy prawns for our lunch.

Karumba exists to service the commercial prawning trawlers, the commercial barramundi fishers, to a lesser extent the export of zinc from Century mine and, of course, tourism. The prawning industry started in the early 1960’s when a wealthy businessman managed to talk the CSIRO into jointly funding an exploration in the Gulf and the highly sought-after banana prawns were found in abundance.

The purpose of the Barramundi Discovery Centre is to maintain the stocks of barramundi by breeding them to fingerling size then releasing back into the wild. It was begun some years ago by the local commercial fishermen who saw the need to protect the barramundi from over-fishing. Smart move! The Centre was recommended to us by other travellers and I must say it is really interesting and not to be missed, though the tour at $50 each, was overpriced.

Karumba has been recognised for their efforts to maintain a sustainable seafood industry. Well done Karumba.

While here we did a sunset cruise (so so) and enjoyed meals at the End Of the Road restaurant one night and the Sunset Tavern another – seafood meals, of course, while sipping cocktails and watching magnificent sunsets.

Sunset over the Gulf of Carpentaria. Karumba

Road closure due to flooding changed our route of departure to the sealed section of the Savannah Way – traversing rich grasslands once more.

22nd – 23rd April

The highlight of a night at Gilbert River West (free camp, no facilities) was seeing the foaming waters of the river in flood, not far beneath the long one-lane bridge.

Viewing the flooding Gilbert River – not over the road, fortunately!

Next morning we moseyed on into Georgetown to stay at the CP, the power giving our batteries a boost. A walk around town left us with the impression of a small town with plenty of pride.

24th – 25th April

On towards Cobbold Gorge over unsealed roads in pretty good condition with just a few shallow water crossings. On the way a cuppa stop at Forsayth and a wander around town found this town to be as impressive as Georgetown with its beautiful, restored buildings and well-tended parks.

I was very excited to get to Cobbold Gorge – the photos I’d seen of the gorge were stunning and it didn’t disappoint. The beauty of the narrow gorge (only about 2 meters wide in some places) was only discovered a few years ago by the current owners of Robin Hood Station, the cattle station it is in.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 04_25_cobbold03-1024x768.jpg — Cobbold Gorge

A LOT of private/public funding has gone into developing the tourist facility here which includes a large reception area with souvenirs, a small grocery stocking basics, a large open-air restaurant beside the pool which has a swim-up bar, a function hall as well as very well laid-out RV and camping areas.

Apart from the Gorge itself there’s a large dam with free kayaks, several bush walks and mountain bike trails (BYO bike) and some four-wheel drive tracks to points of interest and the gem fields (agate mostly).

On our first afternoon, after settling in, we did an 8km walk up to a lookout, then back for a swim and cocktail at the swim-up bar.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 04_24_cobbold-1024x768.jpg — Chilling at the swim-up bar at Cobbold Gorge

The Gorge is several kilometres away from the resort and only accessible on tours in an effort to maintain its pristine condition. We did the boat tour next morning. The guide was particularly good sharing historical, geological and botanical knowledge with us. The boat, an open punt, has a silent electric motor.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 04_25_cobbold02-768x1024.jpg — The amazing narrow gorge of Cobbold Gorge

It was a stunning experience with the walls of the gorge towering up beside us, close enough in places to touch both sides at the same time, while we glided silently along. Back at the start we then walked up onto the huge sandstone rock that encloses the gorge, crossing over the gorge on a glass bridge.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 04_25_cobbold04-768x1024.jpg — On the glass bridge over Cobbold Gorge

That afternoon we’d signed up for the SUP tour. If this morning’s tour was stunning, the SUP induced awe. This morning’s boat held 14 people, plus the guide and while everyone was quiet, just soaking it all in, the guide, naturally talked a fair bit. With the SUP there were only 7 of us and we all headed off separately, so Steve and I were able to enjoy the gorge more or less alone. It was every bit as wonderful as I’d hoped – and I didn’t fall in!

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 04_25_cobbold06-1024x768.jpg — Denise, just finishing the return trip of Cobbold Gorge on the SUP

26th – 27th April

Leaving Cobbold Gorge we did one of their 4-wheel drive trips up to the Quartz Blow – a hill of beautiful white quartz which gave us views across to the horizon all around.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 04_25_cobbold09-1024x768.jpg — Steve, contemplating geological wonders from atop the Quartz Blow, Cobbold Gorge

We’d asked around about the road through to Einasleigh and been rewarded with a shrug and “it’s OK”, so off we went, and it was “OK” – some bitumen, some corrugations, some washouts – OK. What we failed to ask about was the road from Einasleigh to the Gregory Developmental Rd! The Einasleigh River was over the causeway and flowing pretty fast.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 04_26_einasleigh01-1024x768.jpg — The Einasleigh River in flood. And we need to cross it.

As all good 4x4ers who don’t want to walk a river crossing do, we parked to the side and made ourselves some lunch and a cuppa. Sure enough 3 vehicles came down and we watched them cross, noted where it was washed out, noted their track and safely followed on.

Kalkani Crater, a very typical cone-shaped hill with a perfectly round rim that drops away into the middle was a great little walk on our way to the Undara Experience, the resort set up at the Lava Tubes.

Undara Experience, the accommodation associated with the lava tubes, was moderately busy as a music festival had just finished yesterday. It’s quite a resort here with lots of units, and heaps of powered and unpowered camping, a large open air cafe / restaurant, pool … you get the idea.

“The lava tubes and caves were formed when rivers of lava confined to a valley crusted over and formed a roof. Insulated in its casing of solidified lava, the lava flow carried on for tens of kilometres before draining out, leaving an empty tube of lava. Weaker sections of the roof of the tubes later collapsed to form caves and depressions. More than 70 caves have been found in the park.” (Text from NP literature) The lava flowed more than 90km to the north and 160km to the north-west at a rate of 1,000m3 per second!

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 04_26_undara01-1024x768.jpg — How the Undara Lava Tubes were formed.

Access to the caves is restricted to approved scientists, speleologists and guided tours. The area has received 3 times its usual annual rainfall in the last few months and the caves have been full of water, a rare event. We had the amazing experience of walking through the caves on the walkways with crystal clear, chilly water up to our shins.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 04_27_undara06-1024x768.jpg — Undara lava tube.

There are several bush walks starting from the camping ground, the longest being the Rosella Trail at about 14km. This trail took us to several lookouts from which we could trace the track of collapsed tubes by the bright green vegetation that grows in the protected stream bed.

13 April, 2021 by Cruisers

Home to Mt Isa

March 29th – April 13th

Well that wasn’t my most favourite departure. We’d not intended to leave for another week, however with the possibility of a COVID lockdown looming we decided to leave early, and not as well prepared as we’d hoped to be. It’s easy to self-isolate in a motorhome and to continue to follow the isolation rules. Got away about 2pm, travelling only about 90km, up to the free camp at Kilcoy. Tuesday 30th we stopped for lunch in Kingaroy and a brisk walk along the rail trail before lodging for the night at Cerotodus, a lovely free camp near Monto where the old railway building and switching points provide an insight into travel as it was done. This is also the home of several free-range roosters who take their morning alarm duties seriously.

A beautiful campsite at the old Cerotodus railway station, beside the Burnett River

Wednesday 31st begins our new adventure in earnest, or so I thought, as we camp at Munall Campground at Blackdown National Park. A beautiful flat road through rolling green hills with cattle, emus, brolgas and kangaroos doesn’t prepare you for the very steep, winding ascent of Blackdown Range.

Blackdown National Park looms in front of us.

The views for the passenger are spectacular looking down over the cliff edges, but the driver who dares not shift his gaze sees nothing but a narrow, steep, twisting gravel road in the best parts, a little bitumen added to the worst parts.

A narrow, winding road took us up the mountain to Blackdown NP

We paused at the top to take in the view from Yaddamen Dhina and do the 4km walk to the gorgeous waterfalls at Goodela.

Magnificent views down the valley from Yaddamen Dhina, Blackdown NP

Small falls tumble into a pretty pool that continues downward over smoothe rocks and then into oblivion.

The small pool was enticing for a swim, but it’s after 4 now and we’ve yet to cover the 8 unsealed kilometres to our campsite.

Thursday 1st – 4th April. Not an April Fools Day joke, unfortunately. Steve spent a sleepless night coughing, and woke with a sore throat. In view of having Covid-19 in our home area before we left we decided we should get tested, so down the mountain we drove. The small town of Blackwater was the nearest place offering this service, but not till 3pm. Blackwater is OK – it’s known as the Coal Capital of Queensland and has an apparently world class mining museum to see – not that we saw it, being responsible citizens we were self-isolating.

After the swabs were taken we drove on to the free camp in Emerald, between the railway line and the highway(!), but right beside their magnificent Botanical Gardens. Nothing to report now for 3 days as we continued to self-isolate until we finally got the all-clear on Easter Sunday afternoon! (No photos – we didn’t do anything!)

Free to travel at last we headed to the caravan park at Alpha. But first a break at Bogantungan. The name derives from the aboriginal words “bogan” meaning grass and “tungan” meaning tree.

In February 1960 Bogantungun was the site of the Medway Train Disaster, one of Queensland’s worst train accidents. As the train passed over the flooded Medway Creek just west of town the bridge collapsed. 4 passengers and 3 crew were killed, with 43 injured.

Alpha is known for its murals and its fossilised wood sculptures. And also a bull sculpture made out of barbed wire. All were very good.

The magnificent barbed wire bull at Alpha.

At Barcaldine we viewed the left-wing Tree of Knowledge (again), then the architecture of the right-wing Masonic Hall. Built in 1901 of timber and corrugated iron, they ‘did up’ the facade to replicate stone-work.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 4_05_MasonicHall50-768x1024.jpg — The iconic Masonic Hall at Barcaldine. Built in 1901 is iron-clad with an imitation-stone front wall. it was decorated to appear as if it were made of stone blocks, and adorned with columns, friezes, semi circular windows and a porch.

We also spent a little time reading about the Great Shearer’s Strike of 1891. There’s a very good display and sculptures explaining the reason for it and the outcome.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 4_05_shearers-strike50-1024x768.jpg — Barcaldine

5th – 7th April. Apparently it rained a lot at Lara Wetlands last night. Oblivious to this we drove in over 13km of flooded dirt roads. It was still water, so not dangerous. Two vans came in after us before they closed the road to entry.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 4_05-08_Lara-road50-768x1024.jpg — The road in to Lara Wetland – bit wet!

We’re here for 3 nights – by our last day we were the only campers. So peaceful for a normally very popular camp.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 04_08_lara-wetlands_01-1024x768.jpg — Our campsite at a very quiet Lara Wetland

Lara Wetland is a large shallow lake fed by a century-old artesian bore on a 15,000 acre working cattle station. The starkly white dead ghost gums in the lake provide homes and hunting vantage spots for the many, many birds that live here.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 4_05-08_kayak-sunset50-1024x768.jpg — Lara Wetland, from the kayak.

Kayaking, soaking in the hot artesian pool, walking, birdwatching and relaxing filled our days.

Steve soaking in the artesian pool at Lara Wetland.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 4_05-08_brolgas-chick50-1024x768.jpg — Brolgas at Lara Wetland – can you see the chicks?

8th – 9th April Leaving Lara Wetland today the road is now open, though there’s still water over the road and it’s been cut up quite a bit by the departing vehicles. We headed north to Aramac where the chap at the Council told us a section of the unsealed road on the 200km long Lake Dunn Sculpture Trail is closed. No problem, it’s a circuit so we went the opposite direction.

The Sculpture Trail sculptures, 40 of them with more being added, have all been created out of junk by a local artist, Milynda Rogers. We stopped at each sculpture, some very good, others OK.

This western section of the trail is a sealed road through rich grasslands where the cattle are chubby and we had to pause to allow emus and kangaroos to cross the road. Tonight we’re camped about half way around the sculpture circuit at Lake Dunn, a large lake where fishing, water skiing and birdwatching are the main activities. Not a favourite camp – too busy with camp spots alongside the road.

Rumour amongst the campers has the unsealed remaining sections of the road open now so we left very early to complete the sculpture trail. As well as the sculptures on the trail there’s a Healing Circle, apparently joined spiritually to only 5 other places around the world, and interesting history at Gray Stones where passengers from the Cobb and Co coaches running in the late 19th and early 20th centuries carved their names into the sandstone when they paused here for a rest.

Names scratched into the sandstone go back to the late 1800s from the Cobb and Co passengers. Lake Dunn Sculptures

At Alice Ck water covered a good 100m of the road, reaching to Steve’s knee height at its deepest. As the surface was firm we drove on through without a problem.

9th – 10th April: Porcupine Gorge, north of Hughenden, is our destination tonight. It was a very long drive through very flat, lush grasslands. One 25km section between Aramac and Torrens Creek was unsealed – a very rough, corrugated section!

The Porcupine River has formed a long, deep gorge through this flat country which is now protected by the national park. We’re camped at the Pyramid campground for two nights allowing us to do some walking in the gorge. It’s quite a steep track down roughly-made stone steps to the bottom of the Gorge, followed, of course, by the corresponding climb up the track in what is now very hot weather. Many of our fellow campers balked at going down. However with the promise of a swim in the cool refreshing waters of the river we headed down. The swim was delightful.

Enjoying a well-deserved swim in Porcupine Gorge.

Late afternoon, near sunset when the heat had gone out of the day, we walked along the ridge to see the length of the gorge from above.

11th April Julia Creek (Happy wedding anniversary Laura and Stu)

Pat and Dick gave us a ‘heads up’ to book ASAP for the sunset time slot for the ‘artesian baths’ at the Julia Creek CP – a difficult task as the CP wouldn’t answer their phone. Anyway we did score the last booking and had a lovely hour or so soaking in the baths, snacking on our grazing platter and sipping sparkling wine.

Enjoying the view, a soak and a wee drop or two. Julia Creek

12th April (our 46th wedding anniversary)

First stop today was Cloncurry where we had a cuppa at the painted water tower overlooking town, then stopped to view the Burke and Wills plaque showing where they passed through on their south to north exploration. A little further along a memorial to our First Australians was quite poignant – too poignant for some as it had been defaced.

Our campsite for tonight is the abandoned site of Mary Kathleen. Mary Kathleen was an architect-designed ‘model’ town with homes, a post office, cinema, sports ovals, a school, banks and a community store built in 1956 to service a uranium mine. When mining finally finished in 1982 the infrastructure of the town was completely removed and the mine site rehabilitated. Nothing remains here now except the cement slabs of the buildings, the mine tailings and a huge hole in the ground half-filled with water.

Our campsite at the ghost town of Mary Kathleen. We’re camped on the slab that used to be the Post Office.

Camping is free and was quite pleasant – a dry stream bed lined with beautiful ghost gums cast lots of shade as did the trees planted around the town, while contented cows wandered freely keeping the grass trimmed.

A beautiful, quiet evening at Mary Kathleen

We drove over a really terrible road up to look at the view from the hill above, but had had enough of dodging huge potholes and rocks to bother going on to see the mine site some 6km from town.

Still heading west we stopped at Mt Isa for fuel and to restock the larder before the next stage of our big adventure.

Cruisin' Chronicles

. . . do what you can while you're able

Three Capes Track

Monday 4th March – Thursday 7th March 2024

Day 1: Port Arthur – Denman Cove (boat) – Surveyors Hut (~4km walk)

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

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

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

Tassie West Coast

Monday 19th Feb:

Tuesday 20th – Thursday 22nd February:

Friday 23rd Feb:

Saturday 24th Feb:

Sunday 25th Feb:

Monday 26th Feb

Tuesday 27th Feb:

Wednesday 28th Feb:

Thursday 29th Feb – Sunday 3rd March:

Overland Track: Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair NP

Tuesday 13th February

Wednesday 14th February

Thursday 15th February

Friday 16th February

Saturday 17th February

Sunday 18th February

North West Tasmania

2nd – 12th February

Southern Explorer 2024

Home to the Spirit

A Castle, Beaches, a Waterfall and Home

Chillagoe and lots of Waterfalls

Atherton and Cairns

Gorges and Tubes and the Gulf

Home to Mt Isa