31st March to 17th April 2011

31st March 2011

Barry has had his operation and since had stitches and dressings removed and is feeling fine but still has to rest for a couple more weeks. He actually drove the car today but didn’t wander around the shops, and didn’t do any harm, however we will not be doing cruising around the highlights and delights of Melbourne. Once Barry is fully fit we will be heading for Warburton in order to visit the Healsville area, which means there will be a shortage of information for a while. Meanwhile Barry has fitted a tilt bracket to the outside of the van to mount a second TV for watching whilst in the annex in warmer temperatures. This was done in short spells so he is on his feet for short spells only.

3rd April 2011

Garon and Sue brought a picnic lunch round to the caravan park and spent a very pleasant afternoon with us which may be the last time we see them for some time as Garon is heading off on another business trip to America and Sue will be heading for Sydney, and we may have moved on before they return, subject to Barry’s recovery. Whilst they were here with us Garon helped Barry change one of the gas struts on the caravan boot lid using a silastic cartridge gun to compress it. The gun broke trying to change the second one but Barry managed it with a new different type of clamp the next day.

5th April 2011

Barry, like the weather, is much improved now, and drove Merry to Mentone railway station where she caught the train into Melbourne to visit Parliament house which turned out to be slightly disappointing as they only showed her the chambers and the library and not the rest of the building, so the visit didn’t last very long. After lunch she moved on to Fitzroy Gardens and Cook’s cottage which was transported many years ago from UK in pieces and rebuilt. Barry was phoned as her train passed Caulfield which gave him time to drive to Mentone station to collect her.

11th April 2011

Barry’s rest period of three weeks is nearly over so he has started taking gentle short walks to get mobile gradually and now does some of the easy household chores to break his current boring lifestyle. So far he has listened to over 700 tunes via his iPod.

12th April 2011

In the night Melbourne and surrounds received 47mm of rain and another 10mm the next day which combined equalled their average rainfall for April and caused some flooding of railway stations and roads, including our local shopping area of Dingley Village.

In the afternoon we walked with Foxy to the local shops and back which amounted to a half hour walk which is further than he Barry has walked previously with no problems. On the way we discovered a chestnut tree on the nature strip with nuts lying all around it, so helped the local council clear some of the mess up.

13th April 2011

We took a longer walk around the perimeter fence of the local golf club which provided a three quarter hour walk. On the way we spotted a turn off that appeared to lead to a park which might be explored soon if the weather allows.

14th April 2011

The weather wasn’t too good but we did manage a walk to the local shops which allowed the collection of some more chestnuts.

15th April 2011

We took the golf course walk with the inclusion of checking out the park, which turned out to be woodlands rather than a park, but added about 10 minutes to the walk.

17th April 2011

The weather forecast promised fine sunny weather so despite the dubious looking start to the day we drove 130kms for a look at Ballarat, which turned out to warrant a more in-depth look than we could manage in one day.

We walk most of the length of the main street as it had numerous statues on the wide median strip that gave some insight to the history and war effort attributed to the city.

We then headed out to Wendouree Lake where we parked and had lunch on the pubs alfresco strip where Foxy could enjoy the meal with us, and then drove round to the other side of the lake to the points of interest.

This included a tram museum, botanical gardens with the Prime minister walk which has busts of all of our previous PMs (interestingly one of them only had a reign of terror for about 2 weeks. Pity it didn’t apply to the present ginger dictator.).

 An indoor Begonia display as a result of a recent competition, the Australian ex-prisoner of war memorial listing all Aussies ex-prisoner of war personnel and the Olympic Games rowing section of the lake.

This was all included in the afternoon walk in very pleasant surrounds with plenty of shade for a day such this one that lived up to the forecast. After our mandatory cuppa in the carpark we headed back home using the tunnel to avoid the city rather than driving through it, as on the outward trip.

28th February to 20th March 2011

28th February 2011

We had a smooth trip back from Tasmania to the mainland and a fair easy journey from the docks to the caravan park at Dingley Village despite the Navman trying its hardest to go via Montagu road which has the notorious low bridge. As we arrived there quite late we only put the awning up, Foxy had travelled well despite being shut in the caravan on her own all day she didn’t make any mess, but was glad to get out when we arrived in the docks.

1st March 2011

We put up the annex with perfect timing as it rained the moment we completed the task.

2nd March 2011

We managed to organise a doctor’s appointment for Merry as she is due for her 2 yearly check-up. In the morning we took a walk through Dingley Village which appears to be quite a classy area with some serious real estate within its boundaries, however, it has one slight drawback being close to Morabbin air field although it has not caused us any noise irritation, unlike Jandakot air field. In the afternoon we took another walk to check out the huge parkland on the other side of the road which meant walking for about 1km down the road to the entrance which announced ‘No Dogs’.

3rd March 2011

Merry visited the doctor and gained the required referral and was able to make an appointment at the Day Hospital for Monday, so the whole deal will be dealt with inside a week

5th March 2011

This was the first day this year to vaguely resemble summer, although the night time temperatures are still low, but better than Tasmania with snow still on Mt wellington.

We drove through to the old heritage town of Williamstown on the eastern side of the bay and walked partially round one of several walks recommended by the visitor centre which took in Nelson’s place hotel that has a model of the Titanic as a roof, and then on to the Time ball tower in Gellibrand Coastal Heritage Park.

This is a large canvas ball raised to the top of a pole extending above the grey stone tower and dropped at exactly 1.00pm daily as a time check for shipping. The walk also took us to the Botanical Gardens, which was quite small and didn’t really impress as it was full of weddings and kids parties, and then back to the harbour. The town has many of the original facades still in good repair and shows off the original heritage despite the modern alfresco decorations at street level appearance. The harbour is home to the HMAS Castlemaine which is now a naval museum, and as we drove out we detoured to the old original morgue and then homeward.

10th March 2011

We left the caravan in storage at Dingley Village and moved in with Garon and Sue for a week or so. There have been a few changes since we were here last year with new curtains, new screen security doors front and back, a new back fence and the back side fences covered with bamboo panels enclosing the new decking that covers the entire compact backyard and finished off with a cane outdoor setting. The front entrance porch has also gained a timber deck and a row of standard roses has appeared across the edge of the driveway facing the front door. The lounge has the addition of a large picture of a magnificent bark shedding tree caught at the right time with the sun bringing out the colours against the misty background.

11th March 2011

We took advantage of some unusually fine Melbourne weather and visited the Caravan and Camping Show at the Caulfield race course and managed to avoid changing the caravan. This was mainly due to there being nothing better than what we already have in an appropriate price range, and even then it would have meant entering into the 5th wheeler category.

We did however, see some interesting ideas should we actually have a van made to order, and also bought a $100 shower tent for $45 plus a pair of springy back supports that fit onto virtually any chair, making an ordinary chair very comfortable. Last time we were here we went into Melbourne on the train and on the return trip got off the train and discovered the next bus to Garon/Sue’s area was not for quite some time and walked the half hour journey. This time the bus was at the bus stop and departed the moment we got on and sat down. A much better arrangement when you have walked around a show ground all day.

14th March 2011

Being a public holiday Monday it became part of a relatively lazy weekend which doesn’t happen for Garon/Sue very often, and even then Garon finds it hard to not to give up reading, which he enjoys, and attend to some chore/job that he happens to think of. We on the other hand did relax for most of the day but took an hour long walk both to and along the beach which is about a 15 minute walk away for us, at our pace. There is only one stretch of beach that dogs are allowed on without a leash and both sides of that area dogs are not allowed on at all until after the end of March. The dog area is not exactly the most attractive beach as it a bit rocky and collects seaweed but the dogs don’t mind.

15th March 2011

We drove back to the caravan and removed the side wall of the annex and took it to Bayswater and had the canvas place there that we used once before, modify the top rope edge so that it is easier to install when we erect the annex, and also had an extra flap added to the skirt. We then called into the Jayco agency and bought a replacement filter for our drinking tap ad replacement gas struts for supporting the boot lid in the open position. That was not available so we went to an engineering firm in Dandenong, for these but still had to order them for next week.

16th March 2011

Barry visited a specialist and arranged hospitalisation for a minor day surgery job next Thursday and then collected the modified annex wall/skirt and refitted them with ease.

19th March 2011

We spent a fair part of the day working with Garon/Sue levelling and compacting various areas of the garden, and then laying artificial grass on them.

20th March 2011

Garon/Sue drove us down to Mornington for late but pleasant breakfast although not all of it was totally up to the expected standard. We them drove out to the Cranbourne area of the Mornington Peninsular to a Dame Elisabeth Murdoch’s Cruden Farm where an Open day was being held to support the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute. The House wasn’t open but the gardens were available wandering or picnics which many others took advantage of. We didn’t because of the late breakfast. After arriving back at Garon/Sue’s we walked to Black Rock House that was built in 1856 -1858 as the original holiday home by a Charles Hobson Ebden who became disgustingly rich after selling land in the Collins Street area. He left an estate of 100,000 pounds in 1867 when he died during lunch in his beloved Melbourne Members Club. The suburb surrounding the House was named Black Rock after the house and is still a very wealthy area. The house was originally to be built as a castle but only the stables and courtyard walls were completed in this style as the stonemasons left to join the Gold rush. Some of the building was continued in brick until the bricklayers also joined the Gold rush, so the house was finished in timber.

20th February 2011

It rained quite heavily and almost continually for the last two days and was quite windy, but today for the first time since we started our road trip the wind has become so strong that we have taken down our annex before the wind takes it down for us. We have experienced strong winds before but we were more sheltered in other areas by hills, fences or buildings, but here in Low heads near George Town we are very exposed on the east shore of the Tamar river estuary which allows the 40 knot wind to hit us head-on. When the wind changes direction it comes across an open field from the ocean behind us, as we are on a point so we don’t get any relieve from the change of direction.

21st January2011

Today the wind is not so severe but still cold and holding the temperature down to 20° despite the effort of the sun.

We drove down to West Launceston to the Penny Royal which is listed as a tourist attraction for some reason. It is a motel/restaurant and private apartment complex with a difference, in so much as it was disassembled from its original site with every stone numbered and rebuild at the side of the Gorge.

Each apartment has a different frontage with a castle gate entrance to the rear area. We moved the car down to the waterside by Royal Park and bought lunch at a fish & chip takeaway and then walked through the small park by which time the tide had come in sufficiently to cover the mudflats that appear at low tide.

We then drove out to Deloraine and on a further 10km along the Mole Creek road to a salmon farm called 41° South to buy some hot smoked salmon which Merry was introduced to by the people we chatted with at Evercreech Forest Reserve. We met another couple there that were looking for Montana Falls and helped them look for it after consulting the management at the salmon farm for directions. We never found them so returned to George Town via an alternate, shorter route via Exeter. We discovered that the Bell Bay Power station down the road from George Town has gas fired turbines with the natural gas being supplied by an underwater pipeline from Victoria and that there is also a DC power connecting cable from George Town to Victoria so that they can trade power when required. The system uses Earth as the return conductor just like using a car body as the return conductor, and the DC is changed to AC via invertors at up to 600Mw at a time. The actual power station was built as a back up to the Hydro system for times of drought and therefore, is hardly ever used.

22nd February 2011

We attempted to visit the Bell Bay harbour, which is supposedly the busiest harbour in Tasmania, but gates avoid anyone getting too close, so we moved on to Mt George lookout for an overview of the area.

On a clear day such as today it is possible to see the top of the suspension framework of Batman bridge, the head gear at Beaconsfield Gold Mine and the lighthouse on the end of the point. From there we moved on to look at the mural on the local water tower and then on to Bell Buoy Beach where the tide was well and truly in, and excluded any beach.

•  24th February 2011

We had already put the annex and awning away because of the wind a few days ago and haven’t bothered to set them up again just for a few days, which made it very easy to do a final pack up today to head for Devonport where we are very close to the Ferry terminal as we have to be at the terminal at 6.30am on Monday. We can watch the Spirit of Tasmania come and go a few times whilst we are here.

The 13 month tour of Tasmania to all intents and purposes is over with a short drive around Devonport. We have missed a few small townships as it not possible to see, or do, everything but we have done enough to claim that we have genuinely seen Tasmania.

We have spent a week, but usually 2 weeks or more, at 21 of the recognised tourist places and used them as a base from which to tour the surrounding area within a 60km radius, which has covered almost all of the main roads, many minor roads and quite a few unsealed roads. We have:

 visited towns that are noted for their murals, their topiary or even their oddball letter boxes

 and visited others towns that are known for their fantastic pepper/steak pies or pancakes.

 visited 22 waterfalls (three of them twice)

 watched a blowhole perform

 visited at least six museums with the Zeehan Mining Museum being the best with Hobart a close second.

 watched powerboat racing and a surf lifesaving championships

 enjoyed a rack and pinion train trip

 been around when the world record number of water skiers behind one boat was achieved

 been down 3 caves (one of which has just been re-opened since it flooded)

 taken 5 boat trips, other than the ferry to Tassie and the ferry to Bruny Island.

 been to the Launceston Festivale and Carrick Agricultural Show

 been to the Echidna and Platypus park, the Tasmania Zoo, the Seahorse aquarium, the Beaconsfield mine

 explored the remains of old mining towns

 visited markets and sampled several local cheeses and wines

 driven along more roads with sheer drops off one side more times than you can shake a stick at.

 driven over numerous mountains because you have to

 seen most wildlife associated with Tassie

 walked for hours through rainforests

 climbed many lookouts for great views

 met many friendly people including some we knew in WA

 Best of all we had the bonus company of Stu and Be and their respective parents on several occasions.

The only thing we haven’t experienced is summer and genuine warm weather. Tasmania is a beautiful state but unfortunately going nowhere due to a pathetic local government that has been in power way too long, and they also have shocking narrow roads and woeful drivers.

26th February 2011

We drove through to the other side of Latrobe to the Cherry Shred bought some cherries which in fact were classified as seconds due to slight rain damage but were still better than the cherries in the supermarkets and only half the price. As it was nearly an acceptable lunch time we also submitted to a cherry pancake with cherry/chocolate ice cream which went down quite nicely. In the late afternoon we walked from the caravan park to Pardoe Beach, back to the Ferry Terminal and then back to the Park but that walk didn’t reveal anything special, just a 3.6km walk.

27th February 2011

We did our final preparation in readiness for our move to the Ferry Terminal at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning.

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.

25th January to 7th February 2011

25th January 2011

Day of rest after the trek around Freycinet but in the afternoon we manage a walk along Denison beach as our literature vaguely mentioned something of significance in that area but we didn’t find anything other than the usual sand and sea that one finds at the beach.

26th January 2011

Australia day and a fine weather one at that. We drove to St Marys via Elephant Pass but resisted the pancakes but turned off to South Sisters Lookout which took us uphill along a dirt road for quite a while until we found the turn off to the lookout and then became more suited to 4WD vehicles, but still going uphill, but more steeply. We eventually came to a carpark just below a shed which presumably was something to do with the antennas on the lookout. We walked the remaining part of the road to another parking area outside the shed which offered a lousy lookout situation but we found a narrow track hidden by bracken and then noticed the stony, stepped track with a handrail. The track was steep with uneven height rock steps and was tough going and split near the top to go to two separate antennas which meant climbing to each in turn. The views from the left hand antenna platform were great but restrict in direction whereas the second platform allowed 360 degree views. Climbing down was just as hard as climbing up, with some parts requiring Foxy to be lifted as the jump was too great for her little legs. On the way back down the road from the carpark we met a young couple walking up the road as their car was not suitable. We informed them that they still had half a kilometre to go and then the climb to the top, so they gave it away and came back down to their car, with us. We met another older couple doing the same thing but they decided to push on, but our money says they gave up long before they got to the top. We continued on to very small village of Fingal where we sat in the local park and had our lunch, and notice a silvery stripe amongst the trees in the distance and guessed that it was the Mathinna Falls, which is where we were heading.

 Our guess turned out to be correct but the track took us to the base of the falls which only allowed aview of the last fall with a glimpse of more above it. On the walk in we had a view of the top of the falls which was very high so we knew there was a lot more than could see from the bottom, but when we attempted the very steep, very rough track upward it proved too severe for us oldies.

We met other people who claimed to have climbed up to the next level but they were much younger than us. From here we backtracked on the dirt road to the turn off to Evercreech Forest Reserve that claims to have the world’s tallest White Gum Trees (90 metres tall). From the carpark it is a 10 minute return walk to the Tall Tree observation point, or continue on for a 20 minute circuit walk. There is also a 40 minute circuit walk that takes in Evercreech Falls which we didn’t know about as the falls doesn’t get a mention in any of the literature we have gathered, nor is it mentioned on our map. We did the 20 minute walk first which ended at a second carpark where we met the people that had climbed the second part of Mathinna Falls who also informed us that doing the 40 minute walk involved crossing the river on stepping stones with a rope support. We changed from our shoes to our walking boots and attacked the 40 minute walk which actually took us about 55 minutes.

The crossing didn’t get our feet wet thanks to the walking boots, but we suspect the stepping stones only had water over the top of them due to the excessive rain a couple of weeks ago, which also means we are probably seeing these waterfalls at their best.

We returned to the main bitumen track via another alternate dirt road which we estimate cut off up to 20 kilometres, and then headed for home but with the intention of a short detour to the coal mining village of Cornwall to view the Coalminer’s Heritage Wall. A nice tribute to the past miners but not a ‘must see’ tourist attraction so used the stop as an excuse for a tea break before so heading home.

27th January 2011

Once again we packed up the camp and moved on northwards to St Helens. The most significant observation on the way was that the road gets narrower as you head north. It is the most used road in Tasmania by the tourist trade so it carries numerous caravans, motor homes and as with most of Tassie, logging trucks, which all only just manage to pass each other so long as you run your nearside wheels on the very edge of the bitumen whilst you hold your breath. We needed to do some shopping, and had been looking forward to St Helens as it boasts a super IGA store, but were disappointed with it as several items we wanted weren’t stocked.

28th January 2011

We drove into town for more information from the visitors centre and gained a copy of a map that we already had and rough idea of where dogs are allowed, or not. They only had one copy of the 4 page document and a broken copier so you had to memorise it all.

We went on our way towards the Bay of Fires but deviated to Binalong Bay and Humburg Point first, which gave us views across the bay with several small, genuinely white beaches separated by rocky outcrops covered with red lichen, plus views of a lagoon. We proceeded to The Gardens at the end of the road running past the Bay of Fires and stopping off at some of the parking areas to check the beach. This was a huge disappointment for us as literature we had read in the past had built up ideas in our minds of a beach littered with rocky outcrops, or boulders, covered in red lichen creating the effect of fires. In reality it is a beach littered with sand, albeit a nice white coating of sand, but not exactly what we were expecting.  At the very end of the road at The Gardens is a rocky outcrop and prior to Bay of Fires are a few rocky outcrops, but not on the Bay of Fires, just sand. Rather like Hellfire Bay near Esperance in WA where there is no Hell and no fire, just peace and tranquillity.

 A few of the other stopping points on the way back after the Bay offered some views of lichen covered rocky outcrops to console us. So far we preferred Bicheno for its lichen covered rocks, the blowhole within the rocks, granite lookout outcrops that you can climb and only a 5 minute walk into town, whereas here we have a 5 minute drive into town.

29th January2011

In the afternoon we drove down to Scamander to check out the claim to having some of the best coastline in Tasmania. If you are a beach type person then the claim could be correct as l there is only a long sandy beach, but not as white as the Bay of Fires beach. It was also not suitable for little kids as the wave break was very high and strong, but that may have just been one of those days. What we consider to be great coast line is what we saw around Bruny Island, Freycinet Peninsular and the Great Ocean Coast road.

30th January 2011

Since arriving in St Helens we have had very windy afternoons and also last night but it has calmed down since day break and produced a humid day with a summer-like temperature.

1st February 2011

It rained most of yesterday, and today is back to windy with the rain expected in the evening.

In the afternoon we took a short walk in the memorial parks (1 for fishermen and 1 for soldiers) and along the harbour front and then drove out to Burns Bay on the end of the Point. Here we took the 60 minute return walk to Beerbarrel Beach via St Helens Point. This provided some good views of lichen covered rocky outcrops and an echidna on the return journey.

 Merry took a 10minute walk to St Helens Light for an elevated view of the surrounds before we returned to camp just in time to beat the rain.

A not so perfect panorama.

We have decided to return to Mainland Aussie earlier than we had booked for in May and have re-arranged our return trip for the 28th February.

3rd January 2011

We drove out to Pyengana and on to St Columba Falls (the highest Tasmanian falls) which we have declared to be the best so far, marginally better than Nelsons Falls.

The top half of the falls is highly visible from the carpark and wonder if it is worth the 10 minute walk from the carpark to the lookout at the base of the falls. The walk alone is worth it in its own right as it is all temperate rainforest fern trees, some of which have grown with other trees growing through them. The lookout platform allows great viewing over multiple cascades as the water splits in several directions on the way down in varying length drops.

 On the way back towards Pyengana we turned at the appropriate signpost onto the dirt road to Ralph Falls but came to a T junction with no signpost and took the straight on option which turned out to be the wrong one, but it covered some interesting areas. We eventually came across a couple of logging types and one of them gave us directions to the falls via Ringarooma, rather than backtrack. We estimate that the trip was about 50kms from T junction to the Falls when we arrived there, but had given us some great views as we approached Ringarooma.

We had lunch in the carpark and then did the 10 minute walk to the lookout (Norm’s Lookout) which looks across a 90 metres deep void straight into the ribbon of water at the top of the falls. It is a narrow ribbon of water that falls in a single drop and Australia's tallest single drop falls.

On the return track we took the optional 40 minute circuit walk to Cash’s gorge which offered a couple of lookouts, one of which was simple a case of perch yourself on the rock cliff edge, but did have a view of another small no-name waterfall, and the other is a fenced platform at a point that was safe to stand at without the barrier.

The track then became a boardwalk along what was originally the Ringarooma 1884 bridle path back to the carpark. The car trip out in the other direction brought us back to the T junction where we originally went wrong and was only about 5kms.

The intention now was to head back towards Pyengana and turn off to Halls Falls but decided to give it a miss and return for that waterfall another day. We took a quick detour to photo the Pub in the Paddock, an out-of-the-way excuse for a gargle if you so desire, and then stopped off at the Holy Cow Cafe near Pyengana for a coffee and cake. This is cheese factory/cafe where you can see the cows being milked as well as tasting the variety of cheeses.

4th January 2011

The weather is threatening rain but this didn’t happen until late morning but convinced us to stay put but had the pleasant knowledge that Stuart and Belinda would be on their way to join us in St Helens when Be leaves work at 4.30pm. We met them soon after their arrival after a 250km journey and had dinner in a waterfront restaurant.

5th January 2011

Stu and Be picked us up in the morning for breakfast in town which was an excellent decision and included a long chat time. We then headed out to St Columba Falls as the 10 minute walk from the car park allows wheelchair access which is fine on the downhill way in, but not so good coming back out. It is amazing just what Be can manage as Stu is no light weight but she is, although she did get some assistance from us on the steeper inclines, but she got a good work out without the help of a Gym.

We took more photos and on comparison with the previous photos there is slightly more water falling today. On the return journey we stopped again at the Holy Cow Cafe for cheese tasting and light lunch. We discovered that the dairy is robotic and each cow has an identity disc to operate the gate to come to be milk when she wants, but if she returns within 6 hours she is redirected back out without the milking. After they are automatically milked they emerge into an area that has a rotary backscratcher brush which the cows obviously love, and can’t get enough of it before heading to the paddock.  They are really contented cows and apparently produce more and better quality milk, which ultimately makes for better cheese.

6th January 2011

We had breakfast in town with Stu and Be and once again sat and enjoyed each others’ company for a while before they had to make their departure for the trip back Hobart, fortunately via Ross in order to pick up some of the Bakery’s magical offerings. This will be the last time we see them for a long time, probably until we all arrive back in WA in several years time which will take a while to get used to.

Rather than spend a lonely afternoon in the caravan we bought some fruit in town and drove out towards St Columba Falls again but turned off to Halls Falls and spent about 2 hours doing the return walk/climb to the falls and also a weir further upstream.

 We were going to make a cuppa when we got back to the carpark but that coincided with the arrival of three families with multiple kids and uncontrolled dogs. One of the dogs fancied Foxy for lunch but didn’t achieve it, and Barry read the riot act about dogs being on a leash in public, and especially in State Forests. When asked which dog did the attacking he said it was the grey one with the sore rib cage.

We moved on to Anchor Stamper to the old tin mining area to view the old water driven Stamper that was used to crush the ore, and is now being taken over by nature as the bush grows back. It presents a very different temperate rainforest picture with machinery intermingled with Fern trees. We then continued onward and upward into the Blue Tiers Reserve which is part of Mt Poimena where we finally had our cuppa before doing the Goblin Forest short walk as the other walks where way to long and too late in the day. We returned along the shorter route via Lottah back to the highway and home.

7th February 2011

Our time in St Helens is running short with still more to do so drove to the tin mining town of Derby and visited the Mining Museum. The mine had used a dam to collect water to operate the nozzle dud to wash the ore down and also other equipment, but during an unusually heavy period of rain the dam collapsed, flooding the mine with the loss of 14 lives. We drove on to Branxholm where we had our lunch in the local park, then continued to Legerwood where their local park is much nicer, and has nine memorial trees that became unsafe and cut down. The stumps now have chainsaw carved figures of the seven lost soldiers from the locality, and two depicting Gallipoli and the Anzacs.

We returned towards Derby  taking the Derby Back Road which bypasses the town, and then turned off towards Gladstone to visit the Little Blue Lake, which is a disused quarry filled with water that has turned a Turquoise colour due to the decomposing granite.

We then continued on to Bridport to look it over as we can’t stay there due to the only caravan park not accepting dogs. However, it doesn’t matter as it didn’t have much to offer us, despite having met people who have said they would love to settle there.

We did get to see a ferry from Flinders Island, full of cattle, come into the narrow channel to the port. On the way to Bridport we did a short detour to a beach side Links golf course rated 33 in the world by an American golf magazine, which at the time was enduring high winds and would not be fun to play in, as several people coming off the course confirmed. We returned to Derby via Scottsdale and back to St Helens over the mandatory mountain that we will have to drag the caravan in a few days time.