This blog is a little bit different to the
ordinary…all the 3 weeks entries are coming at once, as we have already been
(in 2014). So look on it as a reflective piece on the travels to this
far-more-than-apple-island, and hopefully an inspiration and possible aid to
those of you planning your own journey sometime. Our Trakkadu is an All Wheel Drive VW turbo diesel
campervan…a step above the Kombi of old. On the coldest and windiest days and
when camping areas were full (not common) we opted for a cabin. This journey does not include Cradle Mountain and Strahan and Franklin River as we have been there before. Allow 4 weeks instead of three if you wish to roughly emulate what we have together with a couple of the iconic wild places. Enjoy!
Most writing by Bronlyn Schoer
Sunday 30th November
We arrived at Devonport at 6.30am after a
smooth crossing of Bass Strait despite our cabin being hot and stuffy.
A good brekkie was enjoyed at Wendy’s – the first café
off the boat which set us up for the day. We bought some veggies from the
growers’ market stall at Latrobe. I had sworn to two border quarantine
inspectors on disembarking that I had no fruit or veggies on
board, only to discover the next day a full bowl of mangos and tomatoes
sitting snugly in their usual spot – the sink. If they had been discovered, a
BIG fine would have ensued – a lucky, innocent escape. We ate them quickly to
negate the risk of exotic escapees!
The Cherry Factory was closed but the
Anvers Chocolate Factory tempted us to purchase some illicit goods. The drive
along the length of the Mersey Estuary was very pretty and we headed to the
little town of Penguin which does silly things to promote its name – a giant
penguin of course plus "penguin" in many stores names, town garbage bins penguin look-a-likes etc. Gary
of course, delighted in these eccentricities.
The Makers’ Centre at Burnie was a good
local initiative to promote quality hand crafters. A stylish centre overlooking
the harbour was home to a milliner, kangaroo poo paper maker, glass blower
and a cheese company.
Large acreages of opium poppies were just
starting to bloom with pithy warnings on fences regarding illegal entry to
paddocks. Swathes of white daisies were ready to be harvested for their pyrethrum oils and hay balers were busy wrapping the
early summer pasture into large plastic covered wheels of fodder. The pastures
of northern Tasmania must be nutritious because we passed some huge herds of
diary cows and many head of ‘Cape Grimm’ cattle – they looked like Angus to us.
A stroll down Crayfish Creek
Our campsite for two nights was on the
banks of Crayfish Creek about 14km east of Stanley. It looked a bit run down,
but the toilet block was clean and each campsite snuggled into an individual
spot enclosed by natural vegetation. It was lovely to have blue wrens and other
birds hopping around our site with its bushy divide, giving each campsite
considerable privacy.
Even the old fashioned coin operated showers were a
challenge – each with a different combination of coins and timings – a lady
patiently waited for me in particular, because she could not understand the
coin/timer combination in the other cubicle!
Monday 1st
December
The Cherry Factory was closed but the
Anvers Chocolate Factory tempted us to purchase some illicit goods. The drive
along the length of the Mersey Estuary was very pretty and we headed to the
little town of Penguin which does silly things to promote its name – a giant
penguin of course plus "penguin" in many stores names, town garbage bins penguin look-a-likes etc. Gary
of course, delighted in these eccentricities. |
| A stroll down Crayfish Creek |
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| Couta Rocks for Morning tea stop |
A scenic circuit to explore the northwest
Tarkine Forest Drive filled in a pleasant day. The weather was a second day of low grey cloud and
drizzly rain.
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| Sumac Lookout over Tarkine wilderness |
Despite notations on maps of ‘unsealed major track’ the road was sealed and an easy drive. Grazing and timber felling seemed to be the main landuse with crayfish boats working out of Stanley.
The area had an air of old fashioned
farming – homes were unpretentious and some verged on an obvious ‘struggle
street’ appearance. The well kept cottage gardens along the coast gave way to
windbreaks and discarded farm equipment lying around.
We drove along the edge of the huge Tarkine rainforest area – tall eucalypts and Huon Pine with a magnificent understory of
bronze-tipped Antarctic Beech and masses of tree ferns, mosses, orchids and fungi.
On our return to Stanley we succumbed to
the purchase of a SMALL freshly cooked southern crayfish for $60.00 – selling
at $110.00/kg.
Most are earmarked for the growing Chinese market. It was fresh, delicious and sweet – a real treat back at our camp.
Tuesday 2nd December
Crayfish Creek – Wynyard – Waratah –
Savage River Mine - Corinna
Yet another low cloud, misty, drizzly day
as we retraced our steps to Wynyard and then headed south to the village of
Waratah skirting the eastern edge of the Tarkine Forest. The thickly forested
topography grew increasingly rugged with deep valleys and swift running streams
cutting their way to the west coast.
We have delighted in a display of
‘sprummer’ wild flowers along the road – much pink and white bushes of heath,
yellow cassia, white flag lilies, pink swamp heath, button grass, white ti-tree
and two delightful finds of a large Tasmanian Waratah and some Christmas Bells.
Not quite WA in spring, but it certainly made the drive enjoyable.
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| White flags on ridge of Savage River |
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| Nice compact dirt roads in region |
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| Tasmanian Waratah |
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| Tasmanian Waratah Stand |
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| Tasmanian Christmas bells |
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Cassia sp |
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| Macro shot of Cassia |
We cut through tall forest, at times
overhanging the winding steep road, along with logging roads branching off
every few hundred metres with clear felled coups and regrowth trees at various
stages of regeneration stretching for kms.
The isolated little town of Waratah was obviously a timber town
celebrating its plant namesake with street plantings along the main road.
The narrow sealed road wound its way across
the Tarkine Wilderness to the Savage River iron ore mine - an uninviting
settlement of dongas and motel style accommodations for the workers. There was
neither a picnic seat nor a diesel fuel supply point to encourage the passing
grey nomads to pause a-while. The ore is pelletised and transported in a slurry
over 160km by pipeline from Savage River to the north coast near Stanley for
shipment overseas.
A good unsealed road twisted and turned
through beautiful, river-dissected forest country to the little gold mining settlement,
now eco-resort, of Corinna nestled in the valley of the Pieman River about 20km
from the west coast. It has proven to be a bit of surprise! We thought a camp
site by the river would be an easy find, but no such luck. The eco-resort has
full control of the little village and surrounding valley – the 10 camp sites
were already booked, small miners’ cabins were full and we had to take a larger
one, or find a difficult campsite by the roadside. The trusty Visa card was
produced and we found ourselves unexpectedly in a cosy pseudo miners cabin with
running tank water and a warm gas fire for two nights, ready for a boat trip
along the Pieman River tomorrow.
We were as warm as toast in our unexpected lodgings. The little fat bush wallabies foraged among the mossy forest floor at our back balcony as we sipped a nice red wine.
Wednesday 3rd December
In Corinna to Pieman River Entrance
The mist still hangs low over the tall forest and we set off on a river cruise down the Pieman River to its entrance about 23km downstream. The little wooden boat, Arcadia II, chugged at a gentle speed so we could easily see the Tarkine Forest on either side – a mix of wet sclerophyll and cool temperate rainforest.This area was originally opened up by the timber getters in the early 1900’s – Celery-top pine and Huon pine being the sought after prize.
The huge logs were snigged by hand out of the forest to the river, marked with the logger’s insignia and then floated downstream to the mouth where they were caught in barriers.
A flood was often needed to shift the logs. It was a hard, brutal existence for the men. Both durable timbers were sought by ship builders and later for mine construction.
Prospectors for gold and tin followed hard on the heels of the timber getters. Settlements such as Corinna increased to 900+ people with several pubs and rough cabins. The blazed foot tracks gradually became rough trails for horse and carts. Numerous coastal steamers plied their trade on the west coast, but many were lost on this storm-ravaged coastline.The local Aboriginal people lived in semi-permanent dwellings in villages along the west coast. Their huts were circular dwellings with stone walls and brush/timber roofs. They not only used the rain forest for their sustenance, but also the abundant coastal food supply and used canoes constructed of bundled small timbers from which to fish and travel to close-by islands.
The mist still hangs low over the tall forest and we set off on a river cruise down the Pieman River to its entrance about 23km downstream. The little wooden boat, Arcadia II, chugged at a gentle speed so we could easily see the Tarkine Forest on either side – a mix of wet sclerophyll and cool temperate rainforest.This area was originally opened up by the timber getters in the early 1900’s – Celery-top pine and Huon pine being the sought after prize.
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| Arcadia II on a misty morning |
Prospectors for gold and tin followed hard on the heels of the timber getters. Settlements such as Corinna increased to 900+ people with several pubs and rough cabins. The blazed foot tracks gradually became rough trails for horse and carts. Numerous coastal steamers plied their trade on the west coast, but many were lost on this storm-ravaged coastline.The local Aboriginal people lived in semi-permanent dwellings in villages along the west coast. Their huts were circular dwellings with stone walls and brush/timber roofs. They not only used the rain forest for their sustenance, but also the abundant coastal food supply and used canoes constructed of bundled small timbers from which to fish and travel to close-by islands.
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| Life here is already very slow |
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| Another rustic Pieman Heads cottage |
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| Pieman River-mouth landscape |
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| A White-faced heron poses on the river's edge |
Corinna – Zeehan
- Lake St Clair
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| New barge |
Still misty, cool and wet with heavy rain
overnight. The small river barge enabled
us to cross the Pieman River for $20.
The good road twisted and turned for the 150+km to Lake St Clair. It required
concentrated driving, trying to anticipate what might be coming around each
tight corner.
The roadside vegetation varied from perched
button grass swamps, cool rainforest to open eucalypt woodland. Distant vistas
were backed by the mountain ranges of western Tassie.
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| Typical Button-grass swamp on way to Zeehan |
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| Tasmanian Dog-rose |
The museum of early settlement in Zeehan was really well set out, telling the story of the early pioneers of this region. The quest for mineral riches dominated the motivation for exploration of this wild part of Australia.
The forests were dense and often impenetrable, the land steep and thickly vegetated. It rained constantly and was cold for most of the year. Mining leases rarely made money for the prospectors and the ephemeral camp townships quickly disappeared leaving little evidence of their existence.
Savage River and Queenstown are the major remaining mining centres but the Mount Lyell copper mine has recently closed and the Savage River iron ore is currently a marginal operation with plunging iron ore prices This difficult environment really has created its own protection, especially since the successful Franklin River campaign of the early 1980’s which put a stop to the constant damming of free rivers for hydro- electricity production.
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| Zeehan Theatre restored to former boom-time glory |
The forests were dense and often impenetrable, the land steep and thickly vegetated. It rained constantly and was cold for most of the year. Mining leases rarely made money for the prospectors and the ephemeral camp townships quickly disappeared leaving little evidence of their existence.
Savage River and Queenstown are the major remaining mining centres but the Mount Lyell copper mine has recently closed and the Savage River iron ore is currently a marginal operation with plunging iron ore prices This difficult environment really has created its own protection, especially since the successful Franklin River campaign of the early 1980’s which put a stop to the constant damming of free rivers for hydro- electricity production.
It was a delight to drive though the
Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park today on our way to Lake St Clair
National Park. White flag lilies and blooming heath shrubs of white and pink
created a lovely forest understory, and a few bright red flowering Tasmanian Waratahs
were a particular highlight in our flower spotting.
The national park camp ground at Lake St Clair is set into the forest. Sites are a bit squeezy, and the trek to the ‘loo is a bit too far in the cold, for my liking. However, it’s great to experience the beauty of the Tasmanian World Heritage Wilderness (from the VW at least) – one of the few substantial wilderness regions left in the world – a precious national resource.
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| Waratah/eucalypt forest |
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| Blogging in comfort |
Friday 5th December
Lake St Claire – Hobart
Just a gentle driving day from the Central Highlands to Hobart. The forests gave way to more open grazing country. Along the Derwent Valley, orchards and poppy fields were common, and the odd wildflower tempted us to stop for a closer look. And a prickly animal was tempting fate as it crossed the road.
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| Bush pea |
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| Wildlife along the road |
We stopped at an old pub at Hamilton –
parts of it dating back to 1836. The publican was chatty and trying to train
his new cook to not put gravy over every nice homemade pie with chips and peas
served up!
From Bridgewater there was a 4 lane highway
into the centre of Hobart – a bit like driving into Newcastle. Our apartment is
right on the harbour right beside Salamanca Place.
Saturday 6th
December
Salamanca
Market, Hobart
The market is a great mix of over 300 stalls
selling Tasmanian wood craft, foodie stalls loaded with jams, chutneys and
vinegars, toys, clothing, second hand books and food stalls. We wandered
through the crowd, bought some Xmas presents and lunch items. And we even left camera at our apartment as we knew we would load up with goodies.
We returned to the apartment for a picnic
lunch of pate, Bruny Is camembert and sour dough bread. A few fresh berries
finished off lunch. Gaz took to his pillow for an afternoon siesta before
returning to an afternoon explore through some bookshops – he has an uncanny
ability to sniff them out. Including a first edition of Scott’s Journals ("for
sale in India only") and Frank Hurley’s diaries.
We visited a tapas bar to watch the early night life of Salamanca Place. Chubby girls wore skirts that came up to
their backsides with gangly, unsightly platform sandals. Others were determined to
wear their sleeveless tops because December has begun, even though the maximum
was 15oC with drizzly rain and there being no day
>16oC for days. A good case of determined wishful behaviour in
the face of every bit of weather evidence to rug up!
Sunday 7th December
Hobart Museums
Mist and drizzly rain accompanied us to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery well as the reconstructed facsimile of Mawson’s Commonwealth Bay Hut – we of course visited the authentic one in January 2006 during our ill-fated voyage to the Ross Sea. I was timing Gary to see how quickly he would share the stories of his Antarctic adventures to unsuspecting strangers – I have to say he was very restrained.
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| Glover Tasmanian Landscape |
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| Tanleboveyer |
Our journey of exploration was to actually
find the front door of the museum! There was an excellent Antarctic display as
well as a comprehensive account of Aboriginal history and lifestyles prior to
European settlement. Indigenous Tasmanians built semi-permanent villages of
stone huts and were able to travel by flimsy canoes to close-by islands,
especially in the mutton birding season.
Of particular interest to us was a good
collection of early colonial art especially some by Glover, painted about 1840
– he placed Aboriginal people in the landscape – even at a time when they were
being actively hunted and killed by the early settlers.
On the recommendation of an Australian
food writer, we tried “Fish Frenzy” for lunch on the harbor. It was better than
the average fish’n’chips, but was still battered fish with chips… The Mawson
Hut called.
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| Hobart Harbour...perfect setting for fish and chips |
The Mawson museum is staffed by
enthusiastic volunteers who REALLY were interested in our story of 2006 – I
don’t think we fully understand the great privilege we enjoyed by being able to
visit Commonwealth Bay.
The hut was a perfect replica of the original, even
down to the Baltic Pine weatherboards being milled in the same Norwegian timber
mill that processed the original timber 100 years ago.
All proceeds from the
museum are re-invested in the ongoing maintenance of the real site in
Antarctica.
Monday 8th December
To MONA –
Museum of Old and New Art
This wonderful cultural treasure sets a new
gold standard for a fresh approach to the presentation of art to the public.
David Walsh, a Tasmanian philanthropist, who earned his fortune through gambling has endowed Hobart with a new national cultural icon. His humour,
entrepreneurship, and intelligence shines through in all aspects of the
enterprise. From the fun ferry ride with deck bound sheep to the original
architecture of the gallery building visitors are taken on a challenging
journey and encouraged to suspend prejudice and preconceptions as to what “is
art”.
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| Mona Roma 1...the ferry to wonder |
The car park had a convenient space
reserved for ‘God’ and one beside it for ‘God’s Mistress’ and the elderly and
infirm visitors could avoid the 99 step entrance, sneek around to another
entrance from the ferry and catch a golf buggy to the museum door – it was
embarrassing, but very welcome.
The building has been cut into the
sandstone of a headland on the Derwent estuary. The collection is displayed on
three levels – basements 1 –3 and you are divorced from all natural light or an
outlook over the river. This reinforces your separation from a sense of scale
or ‘normal’ life as you are challenged by a variety of modern installations,
sculptures and paintings. The levels are seemingly juxtaposed to each other
within this huge rock walled space and you feel the steel internal stairs are
suspended in space – a very eery sensation.
There are no wall-mounted labels, but rather each visitor is issued with an
iphone type device where you can choose a summary
about each art work or indulge in an 'art
wank’ (a full and esoteric
description of the piece) or tap into ‘Gonzo’
- Walsh’s personal thoughts around some
pieces.
The exhibition is constantly changing but the ‘Rainbow Serpent’ by Sidney Nolan – a huge modernist piece made up of thousands of small, tonal paintings is a fixed piece of the collection having influenced the shape of the museum building to enable it to be hung. Nolan’s huge piece was a masterful use of his deep understanding and skill in manipulating colour and tone.
We just didn’t understand some of the
stuff, especially the film story board of an American avant garde opera/film
maker; however a scientific mechanical food digestive system was great – being
fed twice a day and doing a poo on cue daily at 2.00pm!
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| From feeding at left to pooing at right...an artistic working model of digestive system. |
The bright red fat Porsche was a commission by Walsh – the duco was immaculate and the car a statement on the acquisitive nature of our modern obese society. Ouch!
We decided against a short trip in the POSH
bar on the ferry – a $50.00 return trip per person - to be separated from the
proletariat and just long enough to quaff a glass of champagne. There were some
suckers who took advantage of the opportunity!
Gaz went off shopping for a new woollen
shirt which is proving elusive to find and I limped back to our harbour-side
abode. The retail hunter returned triumphant – a very unusual occasion.
Tuesday 9th December
Hobart – Huon Valley – Frankston –
along the edge of the d’Entrecasteaux Channell - Gordon
A cheapie campsite by the water overlooking
Bruny Island but it was still misty and freezing – 140C, not counting
the wind chill factor off the water. Far too cold for us to sit outside for too long to
enjoy the long evening twilight.
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| Rugged up for Tassie weather |
We had an easy drive south from Hobart
along the Huon Valley. Lots of orchards of ripening cherries and fields of a
variety of berries.
We stopped to purchase the local fare to either sample with
cream for dinner or to eat along the way, leaving our trail of pips and stems
behind us. The tantalising blackberries are only at the flower stage – a great disappointment. The apple crop won’t start to be harvested until the new year
but we did try some apple ciders – the pear and cherry was tasty and we bought
a couple to add to Keean’s Xmas hamper.
Frankston is a centre of timber boat
construction. Our guide explained the way that every part of the boat was
distinguished by three numbers…distance from the front, centre and bottom to
top. Like the x, y and z axes of a mathematics problem. Huon pine was the choice of timbers as it is
light, strong and marine worm- resistant, but importantly relatively easy to
work with.
Regrettably the trees take 1000 years to grow a meter wide trunk, and we have ripped most of them
out so the futures plan is not very well catered for. This means that timbers
such as celery pine and blackwood are used for non-feature parts of the boat.
The small boat building workshop is
actually a training institution and one can enroll in anything from a three day
course to make wooden oars to a 7 week course to make a simple dingy, with big
money paid for tuition and a “sponsor” buying the materials ($10 000 for a nice
Huon dinghy) and getting to keep the boat built by the training team.
Tetsuya (famous Sydney Chef) has been a notable sponsor of a bigger craft in the past. One could sense the
comraderie of the oar and boat builders there today…including a female team making
their lovely oars with old-fashioned tools. We even saw some old "sea salts" boiling
water to send steam up a pipe within which timbers were softened to bend the
ribs of the boat they were constructing…a practice that is not much different
to how the Vikings did it to make their longboats.
Wednesday
10th December
Gordon –
Bruny Island
We took the 11.15am ferry across to the
Island - $30.00 return. There are a few specialist food producers on the island
and of course, we intended to try them all during our stay. We stopped at the
whiskey distillery and smoke house first. Passed on the whisky but enjoyed the
smoked pork sausage and varied pates and pickles.
We drove up to the northern area of the
island – the general landscape is reminiscent of Kangaroo Island but only
larger, more hilly and further south – therefore COLDER, even in summer! It was
obvious that the island is a retreat for mainlanders – 1950’s style weekenders
mixed with smart ‘retreats’ with an architect's obvious touch, many of which,
have lovely views over the isolated inlets.
The next foodie stop was Bruny Island
Cheese. They have a lovely café and cheese tasting room. The maturing cheddars
can be seen through large observation windows – like babies lined up and asleep
on shelves.
The making of wood fired sour dough bread is also in full view –
quite interesting to watch. But, it was the lovingly set out native gardens
around the café that really added to the ambience of the place. It was obvious
that passion and effort has been invested into this venture and the resulting
cheeses were delicious – the camembert, being the closest to an earthy French
soft cheese that I have tasted in Australia for a long time.
The oyster farm was marked by a great sense
of humour. – “Get Shucked – Fuel for Love”. They grow Pacific oysters and the
ones we tried were delicious.
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| Typical pebbly Bruny Is shore |
Thursday
11th December
On Bruny
Island
We explored the inlets, forests and hilly country in the southern part of Bruny Island. There is a little bit of grazing and fodder cropping but the national park and forestry areas make up most of this part of the islands.
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| A furtive photographer |
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| A quickly taken photo inside the National Park |
The forestry roads took us through some
areas of cool rainforest with Myrtle Beech still dressed in their coppery-gold
new foliage while large areas seemed to have been logged.
We finished off the afternoon by visiting
the last foodie enterprise – the berry farm, to collect our evening ration of
fresh raspberries.
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| Pied Oyster-catchers on beach opposite cabin at Adventure Bay |
Friday 12th
December
On Bruny
Island
This has been a classic ‘down day’. It’s
cold outside (still…) so we are bunkered down catching up with the diary, doing
some washing, downloading photos and Gaz is composing a Xmas message to unwary
friends. The afternoon will be filled with a repack of the reconfigured van
layout and planning the itinerary for the next 10 days.
Saturday
13th December
Bruny
Island to Tasman Peninsula
We headed for the 8.30 ferry to enable us
to reach a Telstra shop to sort email issues out. We relied upon ‘Jane’ to get
us to the location and not my memory and instincts. ‘She’ was hopeless and so
email wasn't answered from my computer until we got back to Melbourne.
Cutting across Hobart was a doddle – it
really is a small town, with the trappings of a city, like freeways etc, but
little traffic – great! We headed for the ‘pick your own’ berries at the
Sorrell fruit farm. Gary now refuses to bend in the search for strawberries –
he’s probably right, because you are encouraged to pay your money to search,
but often there is no viable fruit to find – cherries were good, but those in
the local IGA were better!
The road wound around the waterside and
hills of Dunalley where a narrow isthmus leads you onto the Tasman Peninsula.
We had a delicious sampling of Pacific oysters grown in the clear, pristine waters of the bay we overlooked. Oyster farming is a huge industry in this part of Tassie.
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| The Oysters are in rows in aqua inshore waters |
We had a delicious sampling of Pacific oysters grown in the clear, pristine waters of the bay we overlooked. Oyster farming is a huge industry in this part of Tassie.
We made camp in the Tasman National Park at
Fortescue Bay overlooking the bay framed by lovely eucalypts. Unfortunately, we
were on a bit of a slope so everything gradually slid off the table and bench.
Yet again, the entry was $24.00 plus $17.00 camping fee –all rubbish taken out,
no water and just a long drop toilet – just a bit expensive me thinks. |
| Macropod visitor at campsite |
There were very strong afternoon
onshore winds which dropped the temperature even more – we were very glad we brought
our wooly slippers.
Sunday 14th December
To Port Arthur and onto Triabunna
This important historic site seems very
familiar. Since I visited here with the family as a kid in Dec 1959 and again
with Gary in 1982, millions have been spent on tasteful professional
restoration. Visitor interpretations and signage is very good, including a
short harbor cruise and guided walks.
The best bit was a lovely man driving his
electric car – he just appeared at key times and transported us across the
longest walking stretches which enabled me to explore most of the site. Gardens
were lovely, planted in authentic varieties and large swathes of green lawns
stretched down to the edge of the harbour.
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| Church skeleton |
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| Convict-made sandstone bricks |
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| Gaol in a gaol |
Instead of camping further around the
Peninsula, we headed for Triabunna further north. It is a small fishing
village supported by cray and abalone fishing. The small campground was mostly
full of the classic small fibro holiday shacks. Some seem to be permanently
occupied, but most are awaiting their summer holiday residents. We were
squeezed into a small space that could only be tolerated for one night – one
large winnebago was just door width from their neighbor –horrible!
Monday 15th
December
Triabunna
to St Helens via Swansea and Bicheno
We called into Kate’s Berry Farm for some
strawberries, but it has become really commercial and berry punnets were more
expensive than the old IGAs. I still have strawberry vinegar in the pantry
purchased here 6 years ago, so avoided all such items.
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| Kate's Berry Farm Shop |
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| Berry Farm looking to Freycinet peninsula |
We hunted down a second crayfish at Bicheno
– still $100/kg., but it was a final indulgence – fresh and sweet. A good size
for us to share was 750g. The fishermen are getting $75.00/kg off the boat so
can’t expect to pay anything less once cooked.
Just north from Bicheno were some east
coast wineries. Gary remembered the name of Merv Bishop’s photographer friend from the SMH
who moved down to Tassie to start a vineyard – it was Freycinet Wines.
We
wandered in and made ourselves known– the white wines were delicious, grown in
their cool climate conditions. We are still adjusting to the pinot noirs –
their lightness of flavor but size of the price of decent ones ($60+) needs
some getting used to. We bundled up a dozen to send off to Melbourne.
Once at St Helens we hoped to go onto
Binalong Bay to camp at the southern end of the Bay of Fires.
The coastline of
curving beaches and orange algae-covered rocks is very beautiful, but camping
options far less optimal. Little clearings in the bush without even a drop toilet
were not appealing to to us, so we retreated to the Big4 at St Helens – ensuite and all.
But what a lost opportunity for a little community – we still felt that a lot
of Tassie tourist infrastructure is still more typical of the 1960’s, on the
mainland. Isolated locations in WA were better served for the traveller without
a van toilet, who wanted to explore the natural areas of the state.
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| Typical orange lichen rocks at Bay of Fires |
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| Coastline near St Helens |
Tuesday 16th
December
In St
Helens & environs
We set off inland to the Pyengana Valley
and cheese factory. Gaz found his ‘bookshop in the bush’ and of course collared
two more books to add to his Antarctic collection.
The road wound through dense forest with breakouts of cleared land for beef cattle and dairying in the Weldborough Pass area.
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| Pyengana Valley Vista |
The road wound through dense forest with breakouts of cleared land for beef cattle and dairying in the Weldborough Pass area.
The Pyengana Dairy now has 24 hour milking
by robots to produce the raw milk for their famous cheddar cheese – we had seen
a report of this on Landline. The best variety was a bitey, naturally salty
style that is matured for 18 months. It has won all sorts of national awards
including from the Gourmet Traveller Food awards. They supply the best cheese
shops and restaurants on the mainland – yet another Tassie food speciality at
the premium price end - $41.00/kg.
We had hoped to follow a forest road
circuit route back to St Helens, but when local advice was suggesting to ‘just
keep turning left and you may end up driving through someone’s potato paddock’,
we thought we should keep to the main road and follow a less adventurous route
tomorrow as we head toward Launceston via Pipers Brook vineyard on the east of
the Tamar estuary.
It has blown a strong easterly gale for
most of the day keeping the temperature down and threatening rain – not
pleasant for outdoor living. The people
next door were banging in extra pegs and guy ropes along the base of their tent.
Wednesday
17th December
St Helens
to Launceston via Pipers Brook & George Town
It has started out as a rare sunny day as
we head west to Scottsdale and the Tamar Estuary.
The Tasman Highway wound its
way across the classic northeastern landscape – hilly, forested country
interspersed with lush grassy valleys where cattle, dairying and cropping
dominated.
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| Near Heads of Tamar Estuary |
The Pipers Brook Vineyard was your usual
corporate wine producer. Hectares of grapes surrounded a huge tasting room,
café and winery complex established in 1974.
We tasted the sparkling, pinot grigio, pinot gris, (more elegant than p. gris!) sauvignon blanc, chardonnay and pinot noir. Like other tastings, we are yet to really like a pinot noir varietal - perhaps more accustomed to the heavier styles of shiraz and the tastier grenache etc. we purchased a tasting ½ dozen to take back to Melbourne. Following this we had lunch in the café – huge ham baguette for Gaz and a tasty lamb pie pour moi.
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| Gazza at Pipers Brook Winery |
We tasted the sparkling, pinot grigio, pinot gris, (more elegant than p. gris!) sauvignon blanc, chardonnay and pinot noir. Like other tastings, we are yet to really like a pinot noir varietal - perhaps more accustomed to the heavier styles of shiraz and the tastier grenache etc. we purchased a tasting ½ dozen to take back to Melbourne. Following this we had lunch in the café – huge ham baguette for Gaz and a tasty lamb pie pour moi.
Gary was determined to revisit George Town
with the image of a lighthouse and a collection of small buildings in his mind.
I had NO memory of the place. Sure enough, there were three light houses to
protect the entrance to the Tamar Estuary and a very interesting collection of
late 19thC light keepers and harbour masters' white washed homes.
The village had a lovely ‘feel’ to it and even more modern homes echoed the white tones of the original buildings.
The village had a lovely ‘feel’ to it and even more modern homes echoed the white tones of the original buildings.
The Bell Bay industrial complex is located next to George Town and a expressway led into Launceston. Many heavily loaded timber and ore trucks barreled past us headed for Bell Bay for alumina smelting and wood chip production. You can imagine Gary’s comments for the next ½ hour! The camp ground in Launceston has seen better days but is being upgraded to a Big4 status so our stay will be a minimal 2 nights – but still $35.00/night.
A young woman with a boy aged about 4 was
sleeping in her car next to us. She had a few bags and placed towels on the
windows for privacy. It really disturbed us to have this sort of social problem
right next door – we didn’t know whether to offer assistance or not. Gary spoke
to her next morning and found she was from NSW and planning to find a house in
Launceston because of hoped for cheaper rents etc …
Thursday
18th December
In
Launceston
With a trusty annotated mud map we set off
to explore the city - a maze of 1 way streets. We headed first to the Queen
Victoria Museum your typical late 19thC collection of rocks, stuffed Tasmanian
animals especially the Thylacene and big boned dinosaurs etc.
Upstairs was a WW1 set of exhibits focusing upon the stories of Tassie soldiers. The new building was a recycled industrial site – very effectively redesigned.
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| A pathetic reminder of our past ignorance |
Upstairs was a WW1 set of exhibits focusing upon the stories of Tassie soldiers. The new building was a recycled industrial site – very effectively redesigned.
The Tasmanian Design Centre held a very
classy arrangement of handmade jewelry, silk painted scarves, knick knacks and
lovely handcrafted wooden furniture from the classic Tasmanian timbers. A few
well-dressed ladies of the city were browsing, probably for Xmas presents.
Fate led us to a lovely bookshop in which
to browse, there was another further down the Mall – how good is that there are
two long time such stores still surviving in such a small city. We located
another good menswear store, Routleys, where Gaz was able to find a good
selection of quality wool/cotton long sleeve shirts – Gowings from home is so
missed.
On the recommendation of the ladies from
Routleys we had lunch in a bistro that had a variety of boutique beers and
ciders on tap. The strawberry/pear cider was delicious as was the crushed apple
– both on tap. Across the road was an outdoor clothing & equipment store. I
have been looking for a medium weight rain/wind proof jacket for the Europe
trip next year – and I found one! It even folds in on itself into a little
pack. Just what the Dr ordered.
We will be pleased to get onto the road
again tomorrow – two days to explore the west Tamar region and the small area
to Devonport. We will be happy to get back on the boat on Sunday to Melbourne.
It’s still light at 9.00pm but yet another very cold and at times windy and wet
day - certainly not the sandals and t-shirt weather we thought we would have.
Friday 19th
December
Launceston
to Kelso via Tamar Wetlands and the wineries of Tamar Ridge and Holme Oak.
We only had 50km or so to travel along the
western shore of the Tamar estuary to the western entrance at Kelso. I realised
we had visited the Tamar Wetlands before – a bit of relief given my total memory lapse
on Georgetown.
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| Variegated wren on reed |
The previous night had got down to 60C
in Launceston and I struggled to keep warm. However the
day started off well in cool sunshine.
We decided to sample the wines of Tamar
Ridge. The vineyard had a superb position overlooking the estuary with large
storage holdings dug into the hillside to store their sparkling wines as they
mature on their lees.
Every variety we tried was delicious from the champagne style, to riesling, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay and pinot noir. The botryitis sticky was viscous and delicious- just as it should be.
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| Sampling a nice Tassie Pinot Noir |
Every variety we tried was delicious from the champagne style, to riesling, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay and pinot noir. The botryitis sticky was viscous and delicious- just as it should be.
The vineyard was purchased in 2000 by Brown
Bros of Milawa. This was a well-planned strategy, to mitigate the impact of increasing
temperatures in Victoria and a need to broaden their range with quality pinot
noirs and cool climate whites including champagnes. The tasting room had a
sweeping view over the estuary and served a few platter styles for a light
lunch. We noted tasteful cabins high on the hill – to be noted for the future.
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| Tamar Valley from Tamar Ridge Winery |
We followed the wine map carefully to the
much praised Holme Oak vineyard. We were rather underwhelmed by their offerings
and were unable to taste the good wines of 2012 – their production quality
varies greatly if there is too much rain – 2011 and 2013 were not good years.
The drive to the tip of the mouth of the
Tamar wound through shoreline views with vineyards stretching down to the
shore. No wonder it’s a popular spot in Tassie – close to the amenity of
Launceston but well out of the city hussle and bustle in just 30 minutes.
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| Tasmanian Wombat visits our Tamar campground |
The Big4 camp ground was located in a rural
area – the proprietor kept the grass down to discourage the tiger and Copperhead snakes! We submitted to the comfort of a cabin for the night and were
delighted to have wombats gobbling the grass beside our front step. I think
it’s the first time we have actually seen them up-close in the wild.
Saturday
20th December
Kelso to
Devonport via Beaconsfield, the Raspberry Shed and Ashgrove Cheese
Bright sunshine at last! A stiff westerly
breeze was blowing but the Tamar water sparkled. A short stop in Beaconsfield
was a delightful surprise. Their market was on and we found a magical wooden
toy maker – just doing it for the love of it! The model builder had a wide variety of complex
trucks, dozers, boats, cranes, cars and even a two storey doll’s house with an
internal lift.We couldn't resist purchasing a couple for our grand nephews and nieces.
The rolling countryside was a beautiful landscape of sunlit golden paddocks of recently cut hay rolled into giant round triffids, waiting to be rolled into neat storages for winter fodder.
There were also large fields of pink opium poppies now in full flower as well as newly planted potatoes and ripening grain. All of this was with a dramatic backdrop of the Western Tiers – the escarpment of the central Tasmanian plateau.
The Raspberry Shed was a local phenomena –
there wasn’t a single item of food or beverage that didn’t have raspberries
incorporated into it – we polished off a raspberry crepe, waffle, milkshake and
smoothie – enough to last us until the next Tassie visit. 
Although not feeling hungry, we briefly
stopped at the Ashgrove Cheese Factory and purchased a kilo of the crumbly,
tasty style of cheddar they make so well.
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| Cow used to make mixed herb cheese |
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| Making Ashgrove cheese crumblier |
Entering Devonport we reflected somewhat on
our third trip to Tasmania. It certainly runs at a slower pace to Sydney and
the camp grounds and road infrastructure still need to be further developed.
This is perhaps its attraction – with surprising delights such as MONA and
fabulous cool climate wines and delicious fruit and dairy produce thrown in to
delight visitors. The ‘find’ of the trip has been the lovely ciders – our
favourites were crushed apple and strawberry with lime.
As we sit in the warmth of the dying day, the ‘Spirit of Tasmania’ has just glided past our camp site to its dock 500m down the road. We will be boarding her for Melbourne tomorrow at 9.00am. Gaz managed to get a last Tassie photograph of her with the Big 4 Jumping castle in the foreground…a symbolic end to our apple isle odyssey.
A day-time voyage on the Spirit of Tasmania, so Gary pretended he was in Antarctica and hot the deck with a long lens to capture any seabirds attracted to ship. He managed to get a couple of passable snaps of the Australian Gannet.
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