The edge of the world - Tasmania.

On a whim we decided to just do it and book a holiday to Tassie. Neither of us having been there before we had no idea what to expect. With descriptions such as the end of the earth, the wilderness state... etc it was bound to be remote and wild.
We flew into Launceston and got out on tarmac, always a sign of a small airport. Immediately signs to declare fruit and vege dominated and a sniffer dog made its way up the line. I got rid of a banana but it pawed me. Oh well least it was only fruit!
We picked up our hire car at half price thanks to Nick and his calling up on a Getaway deal one thursday night. Ollie was well due for a nap and didn't disappoint. He nodded off immediately so i had to go and do the grocery shop once we drove twice round Launceston and actually found the Coles.
Launceston was reminiscent of a Blue Mountains town such as Katoomba. I guess i expected a larger city?
We drove straight to Cradle Mountain. Ok when i say straight, nothing is straight in Tassie. The roads are windy to the point of being probably second to Slovenia in windyness.
Arriving at Cradle mountain in the afternoon was good because it gets dark so early at 4.30 ish in Tassie in May. We found our Highlanders cottage, dumped our stuff and went out to the park to get in a quick walk. The weather was a bit dicey so we got in half of the Dove Lake walk which was pretty good.
A cosy night was spent in our Pandani cabin with gas fire. Ollie loved checking out all the cabin had to offer in the cupboards and drawers and especially loved going up and down the stairs.
Reading through the guestbook it seemed wildlife was prolific in the area and didn't disappoint with a rather fat possum trying to get in the door and me screaming to get it out.
One night there didn't seem enough but its a well booked area so we moved onto the Derwent valley. Only problem was it was quite far away! Through the Franklin River wilderness area, the mighty SW expanse of forest. Its always fascinated me on maps such a large expanse still exists without roads and towns. Surely if the Tassie tiger exists still it would roam this area. The last one having been caught in the Florentine valley nearby to our destination of Maydena on the Strathgordon dam road.
The drive through was uneventful. We had lunch at Sheffield, town of murals. Hmmm. Ollie wrestled a toy Tassie devil in a cafe and we soon realised cafes were somewhat more basic than in Sydney. And that a coffee was exorbitant! $4 being the norm. Never will complain of Sydney prices being able to get one in Glebe for $2.50.
I drove on and on and on through Queenstown, a bizarre moonscape of mining. We struggled to find somewhere for lunch so it was a late one in a town reminiscent of the artificial looking Leigh Creek in S.A.
Tarraleah was apparently bought by a mainland family who had done up the houses and grounds nicely. Still i couldn't help but think it all looked a bit staged and Wolf Creek/ Truman show went through my mind as a new plumbing van rolled past the cafe window slowly and two well behaved children sat eating their soup.
Ollie definetely wasn't robotic and was trashing the place as usual throwing sugar sachets everywhere.
As we left town Nick had to stop for a look at some of the prolific road kill, a wombat and a wallaby.
It was fairly late when we finally arrived at Maydena and found the Giants Table cabins. I think we were the only ones staying there, it was so quiet. So so quiet at night and so dark compared to inner Sydney. We all slept very well. Our cabin was spacious and homely with some personal touches such as sweetpea flowers and toys and highchair for Oliver. On arrival our host showed us out to her ponds to view some platypus. We saw some in there the following afternoon which was great.
With a whole day up our sleeves to explore the area Nick was in his Grizwald element. We went to the Styx valley first to view the big trees. Bigger than the W.A ones. It was a bit hypocritical to be in a forest reserve yet driving past logging trucks and active logging complete with bulldozer. I don't agree with it.
Onto the Field National Park and we actually found a decent cafe there. Yipee we could finally eat a real meal! Not that our self catered meals were bad, thankfully we had the foresight to actually bring supplies from Launceston. The nearest supermarket being almost back in Hobart.
After lunch we walked to Russell falls through beautiful forest. Then having not paid the entrance fee, bah 22 bucks we already paid that at Cradle mtn. We risked it and drove right up to the alpine area of the park. It was a snow storm of sorts. Ok not major snow just a sprinkle but so cold and blustery we dared not get out the car. Ollie slept through it all.
Some platypus viewing back at the cabins and we were all tuckered out. Oliver went to bed nice and tired and we stayed up a bit, until 8 something hahah.. to play scrabble. No tv out in these parts!
With supplies running low we had to stop in New Norfolk and then tried to find a shop listed as selling Tassie produce. Well like everything else it was shut or closed for winter. Not real big on tourist infrastructure.
Hobart was really close so we decided to do the Cadbury factory before driving up to Freycinet NP. Having been to the scary Birmingham one in England we were prepared for anything. But not nothing! They don't do tours through the factory anymore and just show you a dvd presentation and talk. But they do ply you with chocolate goodies on the way in to make up for it. After that its onto the gift shop.
Loaded with chocolate we drove through historic Richmond onto Freycinet NP. Stopping at Orford we found another good cafe thanks to the lonely planet. Had a trout pizza which was pretty good!
Oliver was getting feisty so we had to find a playground to vent his energy. As it turned out he messed up his face on the woodchip floor in the playground and looked a little worse for it.
Kate's berry farm was on our way so we also stopped for arvo tea. Beautiful berry jam and pie. Later turned out the Freycinet Lodge buffet used her jam so copious amounts consumed for brekkie.
It was approaching dusk by the time we were on the peninsula road, a bad time to be driving in Tassie with all the wildlife. I slowed it right down to avoid adding to the roadkill.
I must admit we were expecting a lot of the Freycinet Lodge. It was the most expensive of our accomodations. As it turned out the family cabins were a bizzare layout with tiny kitchen and main bed in the living area. No bath was a disappointment. Lucky for us we paid half the usual price on wotif.
The buffet breakfast was generous and we made full use of it in our usual style. Nick overdid it the first day and felt some discomfort on our walk later.
We did the Wineglass bay lookout walk which was a given. But not one to quit I was keen to push onto the actual beach. Seemed a shame not to actually walk on it. Since i was carrying Ollie i won. The deal was i would carry him down and Nick would carry him back up. The back up was rather steep but well worth it. Oliver actually fell asleep in the backpack on the way down, cute. When he woke he was crawling after the poor wallaby on the beach. It was a scenic unspoilt piece of beach.
Later that afternoon Oliver had a decent nap back at the cabin while we both had a nap/rest too. A rare treat these days. The afternoon was cold and blustery but we still checked out the lighthouse and Honeymoon bay.
Another treat later was enjoying a bottle of wine, ok no wineglasses, and a chat... all too rare with the baby these days.
After the buffet in the morning we hit the road early. It was a little busier, still not peak hour or anything. We maybe saw one or two cars in front of us instead of none.
Looking at the map Nick had decided on a short cut down to Port Arthur that the LP had suggested as well. Part of my mind was suspicious but i went along. The road detiorated to dirt with potholes through a forest reserve. The land and views were stunning though. Fodder for thought on buying land! Farm land with a rugged coastal view.... It was with some relief we reached the highway again and soon got to Port Arthur. What a great location for a penal settlement. Isolated (check), narrow peninsula to prevent escape (check), freezing cold wind (check). This was somewhere i had wanted to see having studied Australian history at school. It did not disappoint. It was fascinating learning about the conditions there in the early 1800s and easy to picture the cold since it was freezing but the place itself was surprisingly picturesque with english garden, church, cottages. Spent an interesting few hours walking around and Oliver was well behaved despite his cold little hands and snotty nose.
The drive back to Hobart was actually quite short and easy. And we even stopped at the Tasman arch via Doo town. Nick wanted to see more but i had to insist we press onto Hobart to enjoy our swish apartment for the night. And swish it was! We had been upgraded to the three bedroom townhouse with spabath and granite benchtops, stainless steel and concrete floor. Lovely. All too brief a stay.
With babe in bed we had a dinner of fish and oysters from the local market.
Mt Wellington received a decent sprinkle of snow that day and night and unfortunately we were out of time to go see it. We had to head to the tiny Hobart airport for our flight. Hardly a giftshop or cafe in sight. The flight home went over Flinders island and saw both the coast of Tassie and coast of Australia which was cool.
Never did see that Tassie tiger but i know you are out there somewhere.

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