Tuesday 16th February.
We departed
Adventure Bay around 10:00 am and drove directly to the Ferry on the north
Island, a distance of around 35 km. The ferry takes 20 minutes to make the
crossing to Kettering. We joined the Southern Outlet freeway at Kingston which
made for a much quicker trip into Hobart.
A brief stop at the Showgrounds to refill water tanks, use the
dump point for our grey and black water as well as depositing our accumulated
rubbish in a bin. Note that there is no garbage collection on Bruny Island. An
hotel employee at Alonnah had previously told us that they have to pay per bag
to have their garbage picked up by a contractor and transported by ferry across
to Kettering.
Our departure from Hobart was via the Bowen bridge at Glenorchy
then via Risdon Vale, to Richmond where we stopped for lunch. Continuing on via
Campania we joined Highway 1, the Midland Highway to Oatlands.
After parking the motor-home in the free camping area we walked
around the small town of Oatlands. A combined Bakery, Café and Hotel lured us
in for a coffee.
This establishment is quite unique in that it has a theme of old
Errol Flynn and Marilyn Munro movies throughout. Every room (including the
ladies and gent’s toilets) within the building is lined with memorabilia
relating to all the films that these two Hollywood actors ever made.
Errol Flynn was born in Tasmania at Queen Alexandra Hospital in
Hobart, the very same hospital as our own Rodney James was born. Flynn made a
total of 53 movies in his acting career.
It is still quite windy and cold so we made a hasty retreat to the
comfort of the motorhome.
Wednesday 17th February.
Prior to
departure from our overnight camp I went for a walk to the adjoining flour mill
complex and information centre. The very large windmill was and still is there
for the sole purpose of providing the motive force to grind grain into flour
production. The Callington Flour Mill was built in 1837 and today forms part of
a cottage industry providing speciality flour to bakeries in Hobart and
Launceston.
They also package by hand small quantities in 1 kg brown paper
bags for retail sales through the adjoining information centre.
The lake where we were camped beside known as Lake Dulverton
extends for about 1.75 km’s to the east and is largely covered by weeds.
Interesting to note that over 100 years ago a local farmer devised a “Hydro
glider” with a two blade propeller and armed with cutting blades enabled him to
cut the masses of “weeds” in the lake.
The prevailing winds then deposited them on his property to the
east, where they were used as fodder for fattening cattle. It is claimed they
resulted in a 50% increase in milk supply.
We then moved on along the Midland highway to Ross where we walked
around the town. Ross founded as a garrison in 1812, is a picturesque Georgian
village with a wealth of convict associations and a rich pastoral and military
history. The unique convict built Ross Bridge with its intriguing carvings is a
must visit feature for photos.
A further 12 km to the north is the town of Campbell Town where we
are staying in the free camping area beside a quaint little creek and dam.
Tasmania are certainly catering for the self-contained touring
vehicles by providing a great number of RV friendly towns and locations.
Due to our relatively early arrival in Campbell Town we took the
opportunity to set up our clothes line and catch up with some washing.
Blackberry bushes line the creek so we picked a large bowl full
which Gail then stewed. For dinner we simply had a big bowl of these delicious
blackberries combined with stewed apples (which we had picked a day or so back
in the parking area in Richmond) and Greek yoghurt. There is nothing as
enjoyable as fruit which has been hand-picked from beside the roadway, then
cooked and eaten fresh, which was certainly the case here.
The last few days it has been quite windy, consequently our
washing dried very quickly.
Thursday 18th February.
Today we
travelled from Campbell Town to Launceston via the Symmons Plains car racing
circuit which is where the V8 Supercars race in Tasmania.
The total distance from Campbell Town to Launceston is only 66
km’s. We are continually amazed how small Tasmania really is compared to
travelling in say Queensland. Because of these relatively short travel days we
find we arrive at our destination by mid-afternoon or earlier even taking time
to do sight-seeing excursions along the way.
Upon reaching Launceston we first located our overnight camp area,
“Old Mac’s Farm” in the suburb of Norwood. Although quite close to the CBD it
is far enough away to have to drive the motor-home into the city. “Old Mac’s
Farm” is an interesting location with fresh water lakes surrounding the camping
areas and plenty of level grassed sites available. We discovered at least 100
other caravans and motor-homes upon our arrival. We selected a site which gave us easy access in and out as we plan to now drive to Aurora Stadium. The couple
parked next to us advised that the caretaker generally came around each
afternoon to collect the camping fee of $10.
This couple, Bob & Denise we found in conversation are very
good friends of Don & Jan from the Shores. It certainly is a small world.
We placed our “Site Occupied” sign in the middle of our campsite
and proceeded to Aurora Stadium which is adjacent to the CBD.
Why are we going to Aurora Stadium you may well ask?
Well, tonight Carlton are playing Hawthorn in the first round of
the NAB Cup, so this visit was a definite must as far as we were concerned.
After parking early afternoon in the Aurora Stadium parking area
we walked the short distance to the Launceston Showgrounds first so we have our
bearings for the Ulysses AGM which is being held there from February 29th.
We then walked into town, located the Esk (Boag’s) Brewery which
we plan to visit for the factory tour in a week or so while we are at the
Ulysses AGM.
Then back to the Stadium, purchased our reserved seating ticks
($25 each) and entered the stadium 2 hours before start of play. Considering
that Carlton finished at the bottom of the table last footy season and Hawthorn
were Premiers, Carlton acquitted themselves very well in a low scoring game.
The final margin was only 23 points in Hawthorn’s favour. Gail thoroughly
enjoyed the night game.
Another coincidence; the couple sitting next to us from Victoria
are very close friends of Claire’s sister Marg’s daughter Pauline who live in
Koondarook.
At the conclusion of the game we returned to the motor-home in the
carpark and waited patiently for the bulk of the traffic to disperse before we
drove back to “Old Mac’s Farm” for the night.
Friday 19th February.
As we now have 8
days before we need to be back in Launceston for the Ulysses AGM we decided to
drive direct from Launceston to Stanley on the far north west coast, and from
there slowly work our way the 220 km’s back to Launceston, camping along the
way at interesting locations.
A bit of shopping at Woolworths, top up with diesel and we were on
our way.
Upon arrival at Stanley (and The Nut) we discovered that the
camping area on the recreational ground was temporarily closed to the public
and fully occupied with tents for the fire fighters who are still battling with
the fires in the north west of Tasmania.
Stanley is really a satellite of nearby Smithton and therefore
devoid of shops apart from a small general store. We saw a few caravans and a motor-home parked towards the end the Esplanade right on the rocky shoreline so
figured it would be alright for us to also prop there for the night.
Being Friday, we had our own Happy Hour of Mersey cheese,
biscuits, red wine and a beer or two.
Saturday 20th February.
This morning we
drove the 26 or so kilometres into Smithton, which we found to be a very much
larger township than Stanley. After a long walk around the town we got back
onto the Bass highway heading east. The distances along the north coast between
towns are quite small so it was not very long before we reached Wynyard, then
Somerset. I had wanted to investigate Somerset a little further and try to
locate the house where Bill my cousin and I stayed a few days with his father’s
relations when we were both about 15 and brought our pushbikes to Tasmania.
Their modest house was a railways cottage beside the railway line
which runs adjacent to the highway so it was not difficult to find the old
place. Surprisingly it is still there, although the need to have a gatekeeper
open and close the level crossing gates no longer exists. There is only the
occasional freight train still using the line and automatic lights are now
installed. A short distance further on we reached Cooee where we are staying
overnight right beside the ocean. Our view from the comfort of the motor-home
is really quite magnificent.
Sunday 21st February.
Upon departure
from Cooee we left the Bass highway and travelled via the old coastal road
through Burnie, on to Sulphur Creek and Penguin. The scenery along this winding
and hilly scenic road looking out at Bass Strait would equal even The Great
Ocean Road in our opinion. Every hill crested and turn taken resulted in a
totally different jaw-dropping vista. Gail & I agreed that had we not chosen
Hallidays Point to live then this section of Tasmanian coastline between
Sulphur Creek and Penguin would steal anyone’s heart. Mind you, the prices of
properties would probably be beyond the average person’s pocket.
It was at this point that we decided to back-track a little to
Burnie from where we could head inland to Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake. The
roads although single lane are very good quality, even as we head towards
wilderness areas.
A short detour to visit the falls at Waratah, then onwards to
Cradle Mountain.
Boy, has this changed since we last visited 45 plus years ago.
Most vehicles are now left in the huge car park area at the visitor information
centre from where a shuttle bus transports you to Dove Lake and a full view of
Cradle Mountain as a backdrop. Our National Parks pass which we purchased on
the Spirit of Tasmania on the way over included the cost of this shuttle
service. The service is excellent, there are six shuttle buses in total,
departing from the info centre every 10 minutes for the 20-minute trip.
As it was now mid-afternoon we only did a short walk from lake
Dove to the Old Boat Shed. This structure has existed since the first
inhabitant who established the Waldheim Lodge and in fact looked no different
from when we last visited.
Tonight we are staying at a roadside rest area at Iris River, about
15 minutes out from Cradle Mountain. Tomorrow we plan to head towards Queenstown.
Monday 22 February.
Light rain
throughout most of the night, but no effect on us at all. Very cloudy and
overcast as we left Iris River however as we progressed towards Zeehan the
weather improved quite dramatically with blue skies starting to break through.
A drive through was all that we felt was required in Zeehan so we
then pressed on to Rosebery.
Rosebery is still producing tin, mined locally and processed in
the town, even if output is only a fraction of its heyday output. There is a
small Heritage Centre in the main street which recalls the tin mining history
in photographs and film.
Moving on we proceeded towards Strahan, but took the 3 km detour
to visit Ocean Beach where we took a walk along the remote beach facing the
Southern Ocean.
Then into Strahan where we parked a little way around the
Macquarie Harbour from the main shopping area and overlooking the harbour it
was now time for lunch.
An added bonus was the blackberries growing right beside our lunch
room which we picked for another delicious meal at a later date.
Driving back into the township we were lucky enough to get a
parking spot right outside the information centre and the Huon Pine sawmill and
woodwork shop.
While Gail was in the information centre obtaining local
information, I wandered into the woodwork place and discovered a demonstration
about to take place of Huon Pine being sawn into large slabs ready for use in a
variety of ways in the sawmill.
Now time to move on to Queenstown and locate the gravel surfaced
AFL football ground where we are permitted to camp overnight. Our intention was
to find a suitable overnight camp before bothering to go into town which we
will do tomorrow morning. Half a dozen or so other caravans and motor-homes in
situ when we arrived however we located a nice level spot overlooking the
“footy oval”.
Time to cook our blackberries for desert with dinner.
Today’s travel of around 180 km’s has been spectacular with
constantly twisty and hilly roads combined with the most incredible views.
Tuesday 23rd February.
I bit of a drama
this morning when I was unable to find my wallet. The both of us searched
through my jeans and shorts pockets, every drawer and cupboard to no avail. I
even took a walk across the football ground to where I had sat briefly
yesterday in the late afternoon, to watch a guy flying a radio controlled
plane. All with no result. I was even about to go and fetch our bag of rubbish
from the bin, having convinced myself and Gail that it was gone when I put my
left hand into the deep front pocket of the shorts I had on. “Where did that
come from” it had been on me all that time even if in another pocket. Anyone
who has lost a wallet will appreciate the relief I felt, even if horribly
stupid. For this act of stupidity, I had to buy lunch.
Queenstown is definitely a town struggling to survive going by the
number of empty shops either for lease or sale.
Around mid-morning we moved on in a south easterly direction to
Derwent Bridge, a very small town consisting of a hotel, a café, lots of
accommodation and little else. The café was our lunch out spot, then we went
for the short detour to Lake St Clair.
This is a very popular tourist location and is well set up with a
Visitors Centre where there are a number of static displays and info relating
to the short walks. We chose to do a 25 minute walk each way to “Waters Meet”,
which we imagined was where the Derwent River met Lake StClair. Wrong, it
appeared to us to simply be where two small creeks met. The walk though was
very beautiful through the forest plus our return route along the lakes edge
was even prettier.
Back to Derwent Bridge for the sole purpose of filling up only to
find that they do not even stock diesel there. Fortunately, I feel we have enough
left to make it to the next town which is Hamilton, some 94 km’s on. About the only thing of interest to us in
Derwent Bridge was some wood carvings known as “The Wall” making up a large
diorama. This turned out to be on a property out of town with a hefty
admittance charge, so being us we gave that one a miss.
What I had not taken into account when forecasting we would have
enough diesel to get us to Hamilton was that we were still in mountainous
country with a higher than normal fuel consumption. When things were starting
to look shaky we passed a road sign pointing into the Wayatanah Power Station
which indicated there was fuel available there. What a relief to find diesel,
even if at 140.9 cents a litre. The old saying “beggars can’t be choosers”
certainly applied here. Although we only had about 30 km’s to go it would
possibly have been touch and go.
Lesson learned: assume nothing when calculating fuel usage.
Hamilton was another RV Friendly town, with provision for camping on the town
common where toilets and coin in the slot hot showers were provided by the
local council. Naturally there were quite a few caravans and motor-homes
already in situ but we were able to park in a nice level grassed spot. Fresh
water is also available here so we topped up any empty water containers and our
main water tank.
Wednesday 24th February.
Today was one of
our biggest travel days to date in Tasmania, 246 km.
From Hamilton we proceeded north-east to Bothwell, then south-east
to Melton Mowbray to meet up with the Midland Highway. Now heading north, we
stopped briefly at Oatlands where we had previously camped and made morning
tea.
Since leaving Hamilton it has been raining quite steadily with no
apparent letup in sight so we decided we may as well continue travelling. We
continued on the Midland, past Ross and Campbell Town to a locality known as
Powranna where we left Highway One and drove via Cressy, Longford and Carrick
to Hagley where we pulled into a small picnic area to have lunch. It was then a
short run via Exton to Deloraine.
Our reason for choosing this route over staying on the Midland and
then the Bass highways was simply that it provides a much nicer look at the
surrounding country-side. The number of beautiful old stone houses that we are
seeing in this area, which is predominately sheep farming indicates to us that
this was once (and maybe still is) a quite wealthy farming and grazing area. We
arrived in Deloraine in very heavy rain, so proceeded straight to the camping
area behind the Police station and over the railway line. Parking spaces here amongst
the early arrivals were at a premium however we again managed a suitable site.
We watched a movie during the afternoon while listening to the rain outside.
Thursday 25th February.
Thankfully the
rain stopped overnight and we awoke to a quite pleasant morning. The free
camping area here is quite full. As it
had been heavy rain most of yesterday we presumed that there were a number of
travellers like us who just wanted somewhere to pull up for the afternoon/night
and hibernate.
There was a dump point almost beside us, so we were able to empty
black water and also fill up with fresh water.
Deloraine township is built on a hill, consequently the main
street twists and turns which makes it an attractive small town. After parking
behind the main street we walked up and down, Gail bought a lovely top in a
shop where we chatted to the lady for quite a while about her display of her
work from relaxation colouring books.
Gel pens seem to be the way to go so we intend to source some of
these for Gail’s book from the likes of The Reject Shop.
One of our Tasmanian “Bucket List” places is Beaconfield some 50
km’s north of Launceston, the scene of the dramatic gold mine collapse and rescue
back in 2006.
So, from Deloraine we headed east to Launceston, stopped for lunch
at the Country Club / Casino then onwards north-west to Beaconsfield. The rain
started again as we left the Launceston area so we once again decided to head
straight for our chosen overnight freebie at the recreation grounds in
Beaconsfield. We had anticipated there would be lots of others already here
based on our experience at Deloraine, but we were just the third van to pull in
with plenty of level solid ground parking available.
We are constantly amazed at the RV friendly towns scattered
throughout Tasmania where good “no-cost” facilities are provided by the local
councils for travellers such as us. Our observations are that it certainly
brings extra money into the communities by way of these people spending either
on food, fuel or general merchandise.
Friday 26th February.
Due to the recent rain we have accumulated quite a bit of laundry
so after investigating the opening hours of the Beaconfield Heritage Mine
Centre we looked for a laundry where we could do a large wash and dry. There
appeared to be no laundry in Beaconsfield so as we were well before the opening
time for the Mine Centre we decided to drive on to Beauty Point which is a
short distance further north on the Tamar River. As we approached the small
town of Beauty Point we saw a laundry where we stopped and spent a few dollars
on washing and drying. It was now a very pleasant morning with a clear sky and
reasonable temperatures.
We returned to Beaconsfield and the Heritage Mine Centre where we
spent the next three hours or so walking through the various displays and
reading almost every sign. There is quite an eerie feeling here when the
realisation of just what those two trapped miners, Todd Russel and Brant Webb
endured during the 14 days they were entombed 925 metres below ground in such a
small cramped place. It took 8 days before they were even discovered, then
another 6 days of non-stop work by rescuers to tunnel a one-metre-wide tunnel
to the partially collapsed cage they were imprisoned in.
Fortunately, the rescuers were able to bore a 90 mm hole through
to them on the ninth day and pass them food and water as well as a light and
other small comforting items. Probably the most important thing that this very
small pipe gave them was the ability to be able to have conversations with heir
rescuers.
Throughout the centre there were a great many hands-on displays,
but the most memorable and also the most eerie was the re-creation of the area
they were trapped in. To access this area, you have to crawl into a one metre
diameter concrete pipe which is embedded in a huge pile of rock then stand up
in a one metre hole cut into the top of the pipe when then has you looking into
the area they were entrapped in. A few minutes in this cramped position is more
than most people could endure, let alone 14 days.
Our next stop was Gravelly Beach, south of Beaconfield where there
is another lovely overnight camp spot right beside the Tamar River overlooking
a few moored yachts and boats.
Saturday 27th February.
We decided to pay
a second visit to Georgetown which involved crossing the Batman Bridge again.
This decision was brought about as we were quite impressed with Georgetown on
our previous visit and as we have time to spare before we venture back to
Launceston to check-in for the Ulysses Event and AGM.
Arrived at the Launceston AGM site around 2:45pm and initially
drove into the showgrounds only to find that the RV and general camping area
were located behind Aurora Stadium and much closer to Albert Hall and to K-Mart
& Coles.
We are able to check-in and set up our camp early as both Gail
& I have volunteered to work at Registration located in Albert Hall on both
Sunday and Monday.
After settling in we attended a volunteer induction session held
in Aurora Stadium where we were issued with temporary wrist bands which allows
us unrestricted entry to and from the various locations with the whole complex
of the AGM. The induction session primarily dealt with OH&S matters and
Duty Of Care as a volunteer.
The only other attendees allowed to set-up camp at this stage are
those like ourselves who are volunteers prior to the official commencement and/or
working at registration on the first day.
Sunday 28th February.
A leisurely
morning sorting ourselves in for the week long stay, then a short walk to
Albert Hall for a brief refresher on the computerised registration procedures
before we commenced our first shift from 1:00pm to 5:00pm. These procedures
have been streamlined to some extent compared to our previous experience at
both Alice Springs and Albury/Wodonga. Today we are simply registering the
other volunteers some who have been here for a week already.
Our shift tomorrow, another four-hour shift, will be extremely
busy as most attendees are expected to arrive during the first day.
Monday 29th February.
We caught up with
some old friends Gordon & Viv from the Alice Springs AGM who are camped directly
opposite us. We also discovered that another couple who we became quite
friendly with in Alice Springs, Grahame & Lenore were also camped within 2
sites of us. After lunch we did another four-hour stint of volunteer work at
the registration check-in at Albert Hall which is a very grand building located
a short walk from our RV campground. The vast majority of attendees registered
this morning before our shift at 2:00pm, in fact there were just over 1,000
check-ins between 7:00am and 2:00pm. During our four-hour shift an additional
600 odd attendees checked in. The total number of attendees registered to
attend this year’s AGM event is just over 2,100.
At the completion of our shift at 6:00pm we walked back to the
camp area where I went for a walk into the general camp area to locate Manning
Valley members who arrived early this afternoon. There are eight other Manning
Valley members attending this AGM who are camping onsite.
Tuesday 1st March.
Today Gail &
I decided to visit Cataract Gorge. Initially we walked to a bus stop on
Invermay road where we caught a bus to the central bus Interchange in the CBD.
The bus driver advised us it was only a 10-minute walk to Kings Bridge which is
the start of the walkway around the Gorge to the tearooms. So, we set out and
walked past the Penny Royal complex which appears to be currently under
extensive renovation. The walkway which was originally constructed over 100
years ago is a delightful walk around the gorge with plenty of great photo
opportunities.
Upon our return walk to the CBD area we passed the Boag’s Brewery
where we dropped in to enquire about the brewery tours. Our total walk today
was in excess of 14 km’s. There is an informal dinner tonight in the two huge
tents erected on the Aurora Stadium carpark, but Gail & I are not attending
this function. Instead we are getting together tomorrow night with the other
Manning Valley people for a BBQ or similar dinner.
Wednesday 2nd March.
This morning we
walked into town to check if we can source a replacement LPG gas lead for our
two burner portable camp gas stove which we believe to be the cause for our
camp stove not working. We were unable to find an identical lead at either
Anaconda, Ray’s Outdoors or Bunnings, although the fellow at Rays’ advised us
of a gas equipment and plumbing company which we can check.
As I am not convinced that it is the lead which is faulty we
intend to test it again on the stove before going any further.
The group from Manning Valley have organised dinner for tonight at
Richardson’s Harley Iron Horse Bar and Grill at Prospect, a suburb about 6 km
away.
They will provide a courtesy bus to collect us all from the
Ulysses campsite and also return transport. The Iron Horse is located within
Richardson’s Harley Davidson & Tasmanian Motorcycle Warehouse complex.
We had a great meal and an entertaining night with live music and
a good crowd of people.
Thursday 3rd March.
We walked into
the CBD to have a look at the Ulysses “Show & Shine” display only to find a
very disappointing collection of only seven bikes on display.
Back to camp where I pulled the camp stove to pieces, cleaned all
jets as much as possible and after reconnecting the lead found that all worked
up to expectations. It appears the lead may have not been fully attached to the
stove and the safety valve within the lead was unable to open at all. Moral of
this story: operator error.
Another visit to the Traders area at the AGM event and a visit to
the various motorcycle manufacturers stands took us through to mid-afternoon.
A pleasant Happy Hour with Ulysses friends then take-away Hot
Potato concoctions for dinner from a local store.
