Southbound to Hobart

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“Head East young man…” But before you head East, you must first head South.



Many years ago I was told that 10 miles (it was a long time ago) in Tassie, was the equivalent of 30 mls in Vic, 50 mls in N.S.W, 80 mls in S.A, 100 mls in Qld, 200 mls in the N.T and 300 mls in W.A. How true that is, as the roads here are both full of beautiful scenery and demanding of the driver’s attention 110% of the time. Even the major arterial roads are narrow by comparison and with 2.8 tonnes and 21’ of caravan behind, the twists and turns require a degree of attention not found on roads in the rest of the country. And if they are not twisting and turning, they are exploring the sides of mine shafts!



We travelled 187 kms on Sunday from Tomahawk to St.Helens – that’s 5610 kms

in W.A.terms! but it was certainly worth it. We have camped in the Bay of Fires region, just out of St.Helens. The area has a world-wide reputation for its stunning beaches and scenery, and in our opinion it is completely deserved. Take a couple of paces through the bushes protecting the dunes and you are hit with beach of pure white linen sand down to the glass-green water. The waves stand up tall and powerful before dissolving into a mass of snow white foam accompanied by the unmistakable boom of cascading water. It is breath-taking in its beauty and simple display of power. Our campsite was large and fairly private. Geoff tried his hand at fishing again a couple of times and became disgusted with nothing to show for his time. However, he wasn’t the only one catching nothing.



We took a day trip back up into the hills behind St Helen’s, this time without the caravan attached. We stopped at the Pyengana (pron: pie_‘n’_gh_anna) cheese factory and tasted their produce and bought some (not the one that was $119.00 a kilo which was delicious). We also had a lovely lunch there – ploughman’s platter and were glad that we ordered one between the two of us, as we couldn’t eat all the cheese and wrapped some up to take away with us. On to a nearby spectacular waterfall which Marg viewed from the top and Geoff galloped down and back up again to take pictures. He was puffing mightily when he arrived back at the top and Marg thought she had made a great decision not to go down, or else Geoff might have been carrying her back up and been puffing even more!



Our next port of call is a placed called Lagoon Beach which is again on the coast in the Bay of Lagoons... The gwh (great white hunter) has been fishing again and caught a fish which he will be having for his dinner tonight. He’s re-enthused and is down there again trying to catch its brothers and sisters. Earlier today we went inland to a place called St Marys, and how glad we were that we did not have the caravan with us; this road via Elephant pass on one and St. Mary’s Pass on the other would have been a major brown corduroy trouser event! The town is a much smaller version of Nimbin with alternative folk and galleries with unusual items for sale at very high prices. Geoff selected a café for lunch and had to settle for a very healthy alternative style lunch – good for vegans and vegos, but not meat eating men. Having experienced enough trauma for the day, Geoff decided that a visit to Iron Stone Brewery at White Sands would be needed to settle things down. While the 6 beers available were quite good, it is very hard to justify $4.05 for a 375 ml stubby, and that was after the $5 tasting price was deducted!! Meanwhile the fishing did not go well, and anyway it was time to move on from Lagoon Beach.



A massive 52 kms further south found us at Dolphin Sands near Swansea and the Nine Mile Beach (NMB), not to be confused with Ninety Mile beach in Vic. (I told you things were more compact here). Again this was a free camp and in a pretty location on a bend in the estuary that comes off the end of NMB. Camp sites were few and accessed by a narrow chute down onto a sandy open area and after nearly driving onto the 3 metre wide NMB, we chose a spot on a nice flat area of hard packed sand. The day was turning and a wet cold front was crossing the state and being on the East coast we were last to get it. Undeterred, after setting up the van, we headed back out to take in a couple wineries we had past en route. They certainly are not bashful, about the prices they ask at the cellar door down here, and as their almost exclusive red grape/wine is pinot noir which more often than not is $40 bottle, not a lot of red has been added to our dwindling supply. Marg has managed to get over the money thing and has bought a few interesting (nice) whites, which should make the trip home for enjoyment with our friends.



The weather really closed in at NMB and it poured all night, and we awoke to a small lagoon at our front door and made the decision to move on sooner rather than later. There are some pretty strong arguments for not moving on, including everything being covered in wet sand (which loves the black carpets in the car), and the wet roads with the caravan in tow. Nonetheless, move on we did and Marg was keen to visit “Kate’s Berry Farm” just south of Swansea. That was a great idea, however the farm is located on the side of a hill, and Geoff was delighted to find they had a circular driveway up to the shop. Selecting 4WD (high) we started up the drive and things were going well, until… there was a patch the underlying clay come through the gravel and that’s where things went pear-shaped. We literally ground to a halt, and there was no alternative but to back down. Marg got out to direct (and you will remember the driveway is circular), but her advice was made somewhat redundant by the fact that the car was slipping in the clay and very little Geoff did with the steering translated to what was intended! Eventually we regained some traction and backed about 150 mts to a point where we could turn around. With nowhere to park the van we headed of leaving Kate with a freshly ploughed driveway.



We are now in Hobart, and the showgrounds which is a ‘free camp’ - $25 a night for a powered site? It is certainly not what we would call value for money, but it is only 7kms from the CBD, with good access. After finding a site (without water), we set off to have a look at Mt. Wellington which dominates the skyline behind the city. It was a trip nearly as long as we did to get here, although the Mt. is only a short distance from the city. Talk about winding roads… Of course you would know that by the time we got to the summit, the clouds had descended and blocked a lot of the view. Marg noted that the car outside temp gauge showed 17deg when we started the climb and when we got to the top it was 7 deg! The car does not understand wind-chill, nor the effect of the air being wet from the cloud so it was actually really bloody cold taking the obligatory photos.



Today has been better weather-wise and we went into town and caught a small market – mainly local produce that was interesting, and then Mawson’s Hut replica which was really fascinating and then the historic Hobart Penitentiary and Chapel. That was a great experience and one that astounded us by taking 2 hrs and 20 mins to walk through the relatively small building that survives today. A must see if you are in Hobart.

Tomorrow we are taking the ferry across to Bruny Island, and that will be the start of our next blog.

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Photos

Legewood memorial tree carving
One of about 8 carved trees

Bay of Fires - Cosy Corner (Nth) beach (40)
Our campsite

Milton winery Cranbrook (Nth of Swansea)
They are still a couple of weeks from picking in Tassie

Views of Hobart from Mt. Wellington
Low cloud shrouded the view of the city proper.