Howeverlongittakes: The end of eleven months in Tasmania.

Lake Burbury

The drive from New Norfolk reminds you that you are in Tasmania and not on the mainland, driving over the central highlands towing a large caravan means negotiating steep mountain roads that slow you down to around 20 km.

Polluted Queen River (Queenstown)

After a night at Brady’s Lake and three at Lake Burbury and a quick stop over at Queenstown (nothing much to see there apart from the polluted river and barren landscape caused by the mining in the area) we arrived at Macquarie heads campsite 11 km out from Strahan. At $8.00 per night and set amongst tall tree ferns why would you want to stay at a caravan park!!!! While there Chris and I went on the Gordon river cruise which apart from cruising up the majestic Gordon river also takes you into Macquarie harbour and through Hells Gate (the name given by the convicts being sent to the Sarah Island penal settlement in the harbour).
After eight days in the Strahan area we travelled north to Wynyard via Hellyer Gorge.
Wynyard is a beautiful town which is over looked by Table Cape and Fossil Bluff.

Campsite at Macquarie Heads (Strahn)

Table Cape is famous for the tulip farm which exports tulips to the Netherlands and Fossil Bluff for the fossils found of giant marsupials.
The whole area is covered in rich volcanic soil that in turn supports a large agricultural community.

Gordon River

After two days in Wynyard it was time to get to Arthur River on the rugged West coast via Stanley which also has a large land mark recognisable from a distance, ‘The Nut’ is the remains of a giant volcanic plug. The walk to the top is very steep but well worth it for the views of the surrounding area. A visit to Digg falls and the very old Digg tree (which is 62 m tall and has a circumference of 16m) was also not to be missed. The tree has been aged at around 400 years.

Tree Fern

Arthur River is very remote and seemed to always get the westerly winds blowing onto the mainland. The mouth of the Arthur River is also the area named by the locals as ‘The Edge of the World’ because if you were to travel from there in a westerly direction you would not come across another land mass until reaching South America approximately 8000 km away. Camp sites there are well managed by Parks and Wildlife which include flush toilets and water taps. While there I managed to catch two trout in the river mouth which soon became an evening meal.
Leaving Arthur River we back tracked along the Bass highway towards Burnie. As we found Wynyard so nice the first time we spent another two nights there to refill the water tanks and then made our way to a quaint little seaside town called Penguin, named after the little Fairy penguins that inhabit the area.

Hmmmmm

Our last campsite was 13 km south from Penguin at Riana, the best site we have come across while in Tasmania. The Pioneer Park was established by the locals and is meticulously maintained by them, with hot showers, BBQ’s, flush toilets and rubbish removal, all for only $8.00 per night. Just down the road you can visit the Wings wild life park (where we eventually got to see a Tasmanian devil), and Leven Canyon.
After 16 days there it was time to get to Devonport to catch the Spirit on Tasmania back to Melbourne.

Stream near Montzuma falls

Our 11 month visit to Tasmania was an experience we will not forget. The people are the friendliest in Australia and could never do enough for you and with so little traffic it was easy to get from one point to another (if you don’t mind the mountain roads).
One day we will get back again to catch up with the friends we made while over there, but now it is time to move on and see the mainland for ‘Howeverlongittakes’.