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Published: January 16th 2012
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As Monday 9
th January dawned the rain cleared and we were treated to a lovely rainbow over the village. We rather reluctantly left the delights of Tarraleah and headed in the general direction of Hobart. We didn’t anticipate reaching there today as there were a few places en route that caught our attention although we still had to arrange overnight accommodation. We reached the small village of Westerway which gave direct access to the Mount Field National Park – an area we wanted to explore. We spotted a sign for accommodation which suggested there was a vacancy so we drove about a kilometre along a gravel track which led to a house and two chalets. We had rung ahead but only got an answer phone message. We followed the signs which invited us to enter the house to make a booking. The house was open, a radio was on and a computer was in operating mode but we found no-one. Another sign said “If I’m not in the house I’ll be in the garden” but a thorough check of the garden found no-one. Yet more signs said we were welcome to inspect the chalets and to just walk in and look
around. The first chalet was locked and we could see bags and personal items scattered around. It was clearly occupied so we deduced it must be the other one that was vacant. We tried the door and it was un-locked so Graham went in to make sure it was the sort of place we wanted. He was back out in a few moments as he came across more personal items – this one must be occupied also!! We went back to the house and followed the same procedure as before with an even more thorough check of the garden but still found no-one. With chickens running around and glorious views we were rather disappointed but we decided that this wasn’t the place for us and drove back into the village.
We could see no other obvious accommodation places in Westerway but in hindsight we didn’t look hard enough so we drove about 20 kilometers to the town of New Norfolk where we visited the Information Centre. They recommended a motel but, unlike Deloraine, this IC was run by volunteers so we had to make our own enquiries about booking. We drove through the town and soon found The Junction
Motel and booked a room for a couple of nights. This would give us a chance to go back to Westerway tomorrow to explore the National Park. Today, though, having settled in to our comfortable room, we drove around New Norfolk, a pleasant town, and along by the river before tackling a steep gravel track which was signed “Pulpit Rock Lookout”. The rugged drive was well worth it as the view of New Norfolk from the top was splendid. Back at the motel we attempted a couple of Skype calls – the first time we’d had computer connections for a couple of days – and then had a fairly early night.
On Tuesday 10
th January we had it in mind to visit the Mount Field National Park and to drive further west to Strathgordon. So, after a very leisurely breakfast and having prepared some sandwiches, we set off at about 10:00am. We had to drive about 20 kilometers back to Westerway, passing through Plenty on the way, and then turn off for the village of, the accurately named, National Park. On this road we came across a couple of accommodation options which may have negated the need to travel
on to New Norfolk yesterday. However, at National Park we were obliged to obtain a park pass for the day at the cost of $24 but as we were hoping to spend the whole day there we thought it would be worth it. This gave us immediate access to some falls and a tree top walk. We made it as far as the falls – The Russell Falls. They are probably the most visited falls in Tasmania and they were magnificent as the water cascaded over three tiers of rock. The climb to the tree top walk looked to be too much for us so we thought better of it and made our way back to the car on a woodland walk. We then drove towards the lakes of Pedder and Gordon which were about 100 kilometers away. The scenery was undulating and beautiful but unfortunately the weather soon began to deteriorate. Luckily the main road was entirely bitumen so progress was good although the weather seemed to have affected the number of “punters” touring the park – we hardly saw another car. When we got to Maydena we decided to escape the rain for a while and to save
our sandwiches until later so we went to a small café and enjoyed foccacia and chips and it was excellent. The weather was more of a nuisance than anything and we were not to be put off as we battled on to Lake Pedder. From the lookouts, we could also see Lake Gordon but to get a closer look would have required going on wet, gravel roads so we stuck to the main route. Eventually we reached the very end of the bitumen road where a hydro-electric power station was situated. It was special in that the main processing unit was about 183 meters underground. Unfortunately for us, it was at this time that the weather was at its worst so although we were able to enjoy the spectacular views we resisted the opportunity to walk around the area.
On our way back out of the park we called in at one of the superb lookouts overlooking Lake Pedder where we stopped for a cuppa. Another slight detour was along a gravel road for about 3 kilometers to The Creepy Crawly Trail!! The rain started again when we reached here so Graham stayed in the car while, armed with
a brolly, I braved The Creepy Crawly Trail wondering what on earth I might encounter. But apart from all of the signage being in reverse order I met nothing untoward, and I did get wet! Otherwise, the journey back out of the park was uneventful with, perhaps, the biggest surprise being the absence of tourists. The weather must have been off-putting but this is the height of the Tassie tourist season and we expected a few more fellow sight-seers. We got back to the motel at about 6:00pm so we had had a good day out on our park entry ticket. During the evening we managed a Skype conversation with Rod in Calne and a typed Skype conversation with Sarah who was about to dash off to Liverpool for her work. Preparing and posting a blog and getting ready for our onward journey to Hobart took up the remainder of the evening.
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