1st April to 12th April 2010

Thursday 1st April 10

It started out wet so this was treated as a rest day.

Friday 2nd April 10

The weather has turned cold but dry so we attempted a game of golf. After four holes the club competition started so we gave it away rather than get in their way and went back at 3.30pm to start again. In all honesty we shouldn’t have started at all, as we played like beginners. We had a fish and chip dinner in the golf club.3rd April

Saturday 3rd April 10

The weather has once again turned wet preventing outdoor activity.

Sunday 4th April 10

The weather is now almost perfect so we finally made our assault on the old heritage town of East Pillinger.

On the way from Queenstown to the turn off to East Pillinger we had a great view of Lake Burbury. The journey to the point where vehicles are no longer allowed was easy and the 4WD bit was also suitable for 2WD cars, some of which had practically filled the small parking area prior to our arrival. We had expected to be the only people there but it turned out that the Launceston Wanderers Club were having a day out, plus a few others.

We had an early lunch in the car park and set out on the trek at 11.40am along the old train track over the Bird River Bridge and followed the river for about half of the trek.

This was all rain forest country with the usual moss and fungi growth and then left the river for a while before rejoining it towards the end of the track where the river runs into Kelly Basin, which is an inlet from Macquarie Bay.

The remains of the town are sparse with remnants of the old jetty, two brick kilns, a chimney of a bakery and two boilers.

We spent about three quarters of an hour looking around and resting before the trek back out, which offered better views of the river in the reverse direction.

We took longer on the return journey for one obvious reason and because we took more photos on the way out because of the better views and light conditions. We arrived back at the car at 5.00pm and found the information post that told us it was a 7.5 km walk each way. We arrived back at the caravan at 6.40pm for a thorough telling off from Foxy for leaving her at home, but Pillinger is in a National Park that excludes her because of the threat that she poses to wild life. We didn’t see any wild life and any self respecting lizard could see her off.

Monday 5th April 10

Rest day

Tuesday 6th April 10

Preparation for moving out on Wednesday morning.

Wednesday 7th April 10

The day started out like a fine weather day so we finished packing up and then went into town to Banjo’s for some pepper/steak pies and steak/mushroom pies for an early lunch before heading out. Whilst hitching up the caravan the weather changed to a sudden downpour so that our move to Waratah was in the rain. The caravan park is a bit cramped, like all Tassie parks and is council run on waste land behind the council offices. Waratah’s claims to fame are a tin mine, a waterfall in the middle of town and the longest par 5 fairway on an Aussie golf course.

Thursday 8th April 10

Rained off.

Friday 9th April 10

We drove out to Hellyer Gorge, which we drove past on our way to Strahan but didn’t stop, about a month ago.

This gave us a 15 minute walk beside, and in, the river bed until we emerged back onto the road and then took the 30 minute bush walk on the other side of the road.

This was a typical rainforest walk which again had an array of ferns, mosses and fungi and re-emerged onto the road further up the hill.

We had the mandatory picnic lunch and then drove back to Waratah and checked out the waterwheel and waterfall whilst the weather was reasonable.

The waterfall is quite impressive and is fed from the local lake and a side stream tapped off by the original tin mining company to run the waterwheel. The mine had seven of these waterwheels at various locations to operate machinery in their respective location.

We then drove out to Whyte Hill to the look out across the Tarkine and then took the track across the road which took us past the old quarry and down into the valley to the remains of the old township of Magnet. This is one of those tracks where you hope not to meet another vehicle coming the other way as there is no way of passing. On arrive we discovered another vehicle and trailer with two guys and trail bikes who were able to tell us about the area as they were born and bred locally.

The township itself has been removed but there are the burnt out remains of an old mill and concrete foundations.

We then returned home to the van resisting the urge to turn off again to Philosopher Falls as the weather was starting to threaten and also getting late in the day for an hour and half walk, so they are on the list of jobs to do.

Saturday 10th April 10

Once again, activity has been put on hold. As we are at a high altitude we are effectively in the clouds which currently do not want to go away, so it is permanently drizzling.

Sunday 11th April 10

It is still very wet and miserable but we did manage to visit the nearby museum although it was really a load of junk and then visited the Stamper Mill which is the original built by a guy named Kenworthy, to crush ore, convert it to slurry and then pass it across a vibrating, rippled table. The water washes off the light material leaving the heavier, tin, behind for collection. A clever, early form of automation which had a freewheeling pulling so that he could push the drive belt onto the freewheel pulley thus stopping the process to collect the tin left on the table without stopping the whole plant. The only manual labour was to shovel the ore into the feed hopper , a 44 gallon drum, and collecting the tin from the table.

It was wet for the whole day and achieved nothing other than almost completing the Sunday paper crossword. We then had a virtually sleepless night due the wind getting up at around midnight to almost gale proportions, with lashing rain which we had not expected, or been warned of, as the TV reception here is useless. We are using the satellite dish which only gives us ABC for every state except Tassie, and Imparja which is all based in Queensland and NT. Consequently, we had not taken our awning down to protect it but fortunately we had attached guy ropes which did an excellent job, but the noise produced by its movement in the wind leaves you waiting for the worst. We also moved the car across the front of it at about 3.30am to act as a wind break which helped a little.

Monday 12th April 10

Once day light reared its head we braved the elements and managed to put the awning away without it getting out of control which is just as well as the wind seemed to be getting worse. Without the awning, it was a lot quieter in the van but still rocking in the sudden gusts.

The wind eased in the afternoon but the rain didn't, apparently giving Waratah 36mm in the last 24 hours. In the evening the wind dropped off completely allowing a quiet night for sleeping.