9th February to 16th February 2011

9th February 2011

Once again we packed the annex in readiness for our move tomorrow rather than taking the risk of leaving it until the morning as the weather report indicates the possibility of rain, and also the next stage is slightly longer than we usually do. We also anticipated a long slow haul up the mountain to Derby.

10th February 2011

With the majority of the packing up already done we were able to leave quite early. We were also fortunate on the uphill stretch into Derby as we had nobody pestering to pass us in an area where passing is not a great idea. We made it to the top alright but on the descent on the other side we did have one cowboy logging truck driver who thought he had the right to use our side of the road to get round a really tight bend. However, we didn’t give in to him and didn’t move over as there was only straight down on our side, which forced him to wind his neck in and move over, with just enough clearance. We arrived in Low Heads, which is a short distance from Tasmanias first settlement George Town, earlier than expected which was good as it allowed us to put up the annex before the threat of rain became a reality, which it did about 5 minutes after we were completely set up.

11th February 2011

Barry took the car into Launceston to have the annual service on the gas fumigation system and pickup a new lid for the washing machine that we ordered a few months ago.

12th February 2011

We drove back towards Bridport and turned off to visit the Lavender farm which is supposedly the only perfume grade lavender farm in the southern hemisphere, and in the world.

However, we were aware that we were visiting at the wrong time of the year as the harvesting is done in January, so we didn’t get to see the purple crop in bloom covering the fields as far as the eye can see, but we can say we have been there, and did get the general idea.

We continued on to the Lilydale Falls which is actually 2 falls about a 5 minute walk apart and the first fall is only 5 minutes from the carpark. Neither fall is especially high, were they raging torrents as the north east hasn’t had as much rain as other areas, but both had their charm.

After the mandatory lunch in the carpark we drove on to Holybank Treetop Adventure Park where you are suspended in a harness and travel around the treetops on an overhead cable for an hour, or more. We called in for information only as we do not want to book and then do it in the rain, as there are no refunds and once you have booked you are committed. One major drawback is the $90 each price tag for pensioners. The other drawback is the fact that you can’t take cameras with you, or anything else for that matter, as any dropped item can seriously affect anyone walking in the park below. We understand that, but it is a bit pointless without the lasting memories afterwards, and Merry could not go that long without a drink of water which we would not be able to carry with us, so that puts an end to that idea . We have done 3 different treetop walks at various places so we don’t feel we are missing too much.

On the return journey home we did the usual thing and took a slight detour to the Batman Bridge as a recognisance trip to ensure we can use this bridge and road for our next move to Devonport. The bridge is quite impressive at 313 feet high and as many metres long over the Tamar river and will provide a much shorter route than going down to Launceston to cross the river.

13th February2011

We have discovered that there isn’t much to see or do around George Town so spent today preparing meals, and loading necessary equipment from the van to the car, in readiness to drive across to Arthur River to spend a few days camping in our tent. This allowed us to visit the wilderness area in the top left hand corner of the state and effectively ensure that we visited every area of Tasmania in the year that we have been here.

14th February 2011

We headed east on our intended journey through a lot of the area that we have previously covered last year but just before reaching Stanley we turned inland to check out Dip Falls.

These falls drop in two stages over basalt columns and have a track to the base including 160 steps and once there over a great view of the lower fall with a small amount of the top fall showing which belies the true height as the top fall is the highest of the two stages.

This becomes evident when you return to the top and walk over the bridge and around to the viewing platform on the other side of the river. Both drops have their different appeal and are very different to the other falls we have visited.

We drove on over the bridge to the Tall Tree, another one, but different breed, but is mainly interesting as the base apparently is thick enough to require 15 men to join hands to reach round it rather than the height. We then continued our journey past Smithton and on to Arthur River but again detoured briefly into Dismal Swamp, now renamed Tarkine Forest Reserve which boasts a tubular slide down into the rainforest in a sinkhole. You sit on a mat with your feet in a hooded nose cone and slide extremely quickly through the tube to the forest floor. The nose cone stops you using your feet to slow down which you would probably try to do on the steep bits. We watched from the viewing platform for a moment’s amusement as people raced through the tube before heading off to our final destination at Thorny Wattle campground, just south of the township.  We had this to ourselves for the duration of our stay at a cost of $6 a night and had a water supply that was not suitable for drinking, but fine for washing, and a not-so-nice deep drop toilet, but we had 76 litres of drinking water with us, and our own toilet.

15th February 2011

We went into town (using that term very loosely) and stopped by the jetty were the two river cruise boats operate from to check out what they offered and explained that we had the dog with us and would therefore not be going on the trip. Within minutes they had organised a dog sitter and would wait for us to drop Foxy off, and we were on our way. The trip took about 4 hours and included morning tea and afternoon BBQ lunch.

We watched some White Bellied Sea Eagles swoop to catch food that was thrown out for them and saw their huge nest as we cruised by. During the lunch break we had a forest walk with a very informative commentary during which we discovered that the Tasmanian Eucalyptus trees (Gum trees) are more commonly called Tasmanian Oak as people prefer that name for their furniture and kitchen cupboard doors. They grow quickest and tallest in the rainforest after a bush fire and provide a covering canopy for the Myrtle, Sassafras, Leatherwood, Blackwood and Man ferns (Tree ferns everywhere else) and when the Myrtle is old enough (around 350 years old) it puts out a toxic poison that kills off the Eucalypts as they are no longer needed for their survival, and is the reason you see what looks like dieback trees (called stag horns in Tassie) sticking up out of the forest. We also now know that the Sassafras is the first to flower at the beginning of summer and the Leatherwood is the last to flower at the end of summer. On the return trip we watched a large Tiger snake swimming across the river and gradually slowing down as the cold water sucked the heat out its body, but it did make it to the other side.

After the boat trip we collected Foxy, which took a while as the couple wanted to chat for ages and used a baby wombat as an added attraction (she is a wild life carer for little orphans) and eventually took a walk along the river estuary to the ocean to get back on friendly terms with Foxy after she gave us a telling off for leaving her. We then drove to Smithton via Marrawah to make sure the secondary battery in the car was charged well enough to run the Engel fridge/freezer through the night, and to check out the town, which was much larger than we expected.

16th February 2011

We packed up the camp as we were going to check out some other attractions further into the Tarkine wilderness with a possible overnight camp somewhere else. We drove south along a gravel road to Couta Rocks and then east to Kanunnah Bridge which is supposed to offer views of the Frankland River (not the Franklin River) rapids when there is sufficient water flowing, and into the South Arthur Forest.

Here we visited the Sumac Lookout (which provides excellent insight to the dense forest of the Tarkine region), the Julius River rainforest walks where we had lunch, another lookout over button grass, which is 80% of the cause of the brown tannin in the rivers  rather than the trees, and Lake Chisholm which is a huge sink hole that has filled with water due to the base being sealed off with dead foliage and clay.

There are no inlets or outlets but it is always full. We had intended to continue on to Milkshakes Hill Reserve to do the rainforest walks but the Tayetea Bridge was washed out by floods in 2007 and hasn’t been repaired since (things happen slowly in Tassie) so we had to give that idea away and consequently, having seen most of the points of interest in the area, determined that there was enough time to drive home rather than camp out for another night, especially as the weather appeared to be closing in. We continued the journey mainly on gravel roads through the bush, rather than backtracking to Arthur River and out through Smithton, as it cuts off a huge triangular route, and emerged east of Stanley on the Dip Falls road. We stopped off at Wynyard for another cuppa, and a rest from the hours of driving, and ultimately arrived back at the caravan in time to watch the 7.00pm news.