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Published: April 14th 2011
A log fire, separate bedrooms, a big TV with great DVDs to watch, and pouring down with rain outside - we are in H(e)aven!! Thank you Marie and to your Dad and Sheryl for letting us stay in their holiday ‘shack’ in Orford, on the east coast of Tasmania. We have been in Orford since Saturday, and we are so, so grateful we have been in a house for this past week, as the rain has bucketed down, and it has been freezing. I think had we been confined to Cazza we might just have had to call it a day! What is lovely about Orford (besides the cosy fire, separate rooms etc etc!) is that it is on the coast, and by the forest, so we have been doing some beautiful walks while we have been here. Unfortunately, it looks like this will be the only stretch of eastern Tasmania we will be seeing, as we hear the rain has been equally bad further up and many stretches are again flooded (same as when we arrived) so tomorrow we drive straight up to Launceston for the weekend before catching our ferry back to
the mainland on Monday. Tasmania has been so amazing we could easily have stayed here another few months.
Prior to being in Orford, we had the most fantastic few days on an island called Bruny. Paul has discovered willyweather.com and we now schedule our trips according to the wise words of willy weather. And it has worked a treat (so far). Paul saw that there were only two days of sunshine scheduled for these two weeks we were in southern Tassie, so we seized the opportunity to leap on to a ferry and head to Bruny to make the most of the sunshine. I recall earlier that I said South Australia’s Kangaroo Island was a treat. Well, it was, but not a patch on Bruny Island. Much smaller, it has a wilder, more intimate, feel to it. We did some amazing hikes, through vastly different terrain; a real rain forest, a cliff walk amongst giant eucalyptus trees, and a wonderful three hour beach walk where we met not another soul!
But without a doubt, the highlight of our trip was on the ‘yellow boat’ Pennicott Wilderness Journey. To be honest, I was not keen on this trip as
it was a bit pricey, and it was on a speed boat - not my idea of enjoying the beauty and tranquillity of Bruny Island. And then when we arrived, there were masses and masses of people waiting to take part on the tour. I had my doubts, but Paul had made the booking, based on recommendations by other travellers, so off we went.
It was a most stunningly beautiful day; warm, clear skies, flat waters, and as we boarded the third yellow boat to leave, we couldn’t help but be warmed by the infectious enthusiasm of our hosts, Colin and Lee. They were full of good cheer, and were so excited by the good weather - they told us this was a rare treat. And off we sped. Wow, what a ride! Colin in particular was like a little boy let loose in a candy store. We went up really - really! - close to spectacular dolerite sea cliffs (some of which are the highest in the Southern Hemisphere), we zoomed through deep sea caves, we did ‘wheelies’ around sea stacks including the iconic The Monument, all of which, Colin enthused, he could rarely do as the sea
was normally too choppy. He also took us very close to observe the ‘sleeping dragon’ (though as my photo suggests, I would nickname it the grumpy old man). This was a blow hole at the foot of a huge cliff, and it would suck in water, and then blast it out again. Once again, we got in quite close, and a few of us got wet. Apparently what we saw was nothing though, as when the sea is rough, the dragon can spray up to 30 metres!
Wildlife was not neglected on this three-hour tour. Paul spotted the White Breasted Sea Eagle atop a cliff, much to Colin’s delight, as to see this beautiful bird eating its prey so close is, apparently, a rare treat (fortunately my camera skills did not let me down and I got some good photos). We also went up close to two colonies of seals (the New Zealand fur seals and the Australian fur seals). Needless to say there were quite a few quips about the differences in these two species, naturally favouring the Aussie seals. We then saw something truly remarkable; Colin had taken the boat out to sea, and I was surprised
to see how much activity there was away from the shore. We saw so many birds, including the Shy Albatross, wheeling in the wind, diving and gliding. Beautiful. And then, there was this plopping sound in the water, hundreds and hundreds of little plops, and it was a school of fish close to the surface. Quite surreal.
And it gets better because on our way home, we saw dolphins! A large pod of dolphins playing with our boat, surfing the bow wave and racing each other underneath and alongside the boat, leaping out of the water, arching along our boat. Oh, it was beautiful. Seeing wildlife this happy, this free, this uninhibited was truly beautiful, and breathtaking. I could have stayed and watched them for hours, but, sadly, we had to leave them after only about 10 minutes, as Colin was very behind schedule due to our own frolicking earlier on. Made me think though, surely we should be able to enjoy our lives as much as these dolphins, shake some of our inhibitions and just enjoy life! It is well worth living!
Like all good things, this journey too had to end. We hoped off the boat
- reluctantly - and traipsed our way back to Cazza, but not before stopping off to have a late lunch in a rainforest and to enjoy a little - but very muddy - walk. We were bush camping again, this time at a small campsite right by a beach. Bruny Island is actually two islands - North Bruny and South Bruny - which are joined by a long, narrow sandy isthmus. We were camped on this slim stretch of land, called the Neck. It was very peaceful. The day before, we took advantage of our site to take a long hike along the beach. We were the only people there - it is quite unbelievable that somewhere so beautiful is so isolated, not teaming with tourists. William was again in his element collecting bucketfuls of shells. Later, all the boys created magnificent sand castles, while Paul and I enjoyed a lovely sundowner on the beach. That evening we went to a place where one is supposed to see hundreds of Little Penguins coming in from the sea to roost. We waited and waited, but it was not to be. Our timing was off, as during autumn and winter very few
penguins leave the relative security of the water, swimming 24/7 for a good few months.
The following day, after two nights at Bruny Island, we had to leave (mainly because we had seen the forecast which threatened rain, and we did not feel like bush camping again in the rain). Before that though, we decided to take on a challenge. We had read that there was a great hike called The Fluted Cape, but it was a difficult hike and not recommended for children, but it was also supposed to be magnificent, along the ridge of some of the sea cliffs we had seen from the boat. We chatted to a ranger, who recommended great care if taking kids (for Paul, this was like waving a red flag to a bull!). We decided to give it a go. But we did have something working to our advantage. Pam (we had met her and her husband Ken - he of the saving our caravan from having its one side shred to pieces fame! - in Otway National Park) confided that when doing this highly recommended hike we should trek clockwise rather than the suggested anticlockwise route, as then we would
8. Blowhole I
(can you see why I think of it as a grumpy old man?)be walking up along the cliff’s ridge, and then down in amongst the forest, rather than vice versa. As everything else she had recommended about Tasmania - we were basically following her advice on what to see here as they had spent three months touring in Tasmania alone - we decided to heed her advice. And what good advice. At times, the path ran right alongside sharp drops - vertical drops up to 150 metres above the crashing seas below. Fortunately, because it was steep, the boys walked slowly. Had it been vice versa, with the boys tendency to bound down any mountains climbed, I think I would have had grey hairs and a very, very hoarse voice. As it was, the hike had that bit of extra excitement, and the boys could still run down the mountain with no fear of remonstration from me. And, guess what! At the end of the hike, we were rewarded with another sighting of the dolphin pod, leaping out of the water close to shore. I was so surprised and excited that I yelled out, giving the boys a fright (and nearly causing Quinton to cry - shame). It was beautiful. Needless to
say I ran alongside them as far as my not-used-to-running legs would take me, to watch this spectacle for as long as I could. We picnicked by the shore hoping to see a return of the dolphins, but they did not return, and eventually, after spending some time creating balancing-rock art, we had to gap it to make it to the ferry on time.
Prior to that we were in Hobart. Our last day there we had quite the cultural day. We started off walking through Hobart’s Botanical Gardens (this was actually unintentional, as I had misread the GPS and made a wrong turn, which led us to the gardens, so we decided to visit it). These are Australia’s second oldest botanical gardens and it was quite a surprising walk, for me at least. The gardens were divided into a number of sections (Tasmanian section, a Chinese collection, a Japanese garden, an English park, a rose garden and even a subantarctic plant house etc etc) but what amazed me was the giant trees section. Here were trees two hundred years old, trees of great significance, including grand old English oak trees, a majestic 130-year-old Sequoia tree...remarkable.
After this
beautiful walk, we then headed to Cadbury’s to tour its factory (and we had heard that everybody gets a free family block of chocolate). This was a surprisingly interesting and informative tour for both Paul and I, AND we each received a family-sized block of chocolate, and a handful (or two) of Cadbury’s mini-sized chocolates, AND we stocked up on cost price Easter chocolates (the other Cadbury factory, on the mainland, spends 11 months making Easter chocolates just for Australians! They work flat out 11 months, and then get one month off before starting egg production again).
After having scoffed chocolate to our heart’s content, we decided it was time to experience a bit of culture and headed off to visit the Museum of Old and New Art, better known as the Mona Gallery, which opened only in January this year. This is Australia’s largest private museum; David Walsh (he made his fortunes gambling) spent well over $55 million to build this three-level-deep museum carved into a cliff face to house his eclectic collection of art which is reputedly worth more than $100 million. And entry was free! What an unusual collection he has. Basically, he collects things that
10a. Blowhole IV
As the water gets sucked back into the underwater cave either interest him, or are controversial/shocking, or are just very, very, unusual (I think the term is unique?) A quote from co-collaborator Mark Fraser: “It is intellectually challenging. We are not following the standard museological pattern that is prevalent in the world – although that isn’t necessarily the challenge...We are not pretending any form of objectivity. We are highly subjective in what we are doing. We are not didactic either – we are not saying we are teaching anything. We are dealing more with experience than what museums normally deal with. At times we can be quite dramatic, we emphasize the theatricality of space and emotion. It’s a far more personal space that we are creating and a space that our visitors can engage with on a more personal level”. It was definitely an eye opener, and I can’t begin to tell you what we saw, but if you are interested, check out mona.net.au
Anyway, it is now 11pm, so I must sign off now as we head off early tomorrow for Launceston.
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Jeanette
non-member comment
Cuckoos and Bruny Island
Hi All, Thank you for your latest Blog. William and Quinn look so happy in the big chair and in a 'cosy' home. What a pity you have to keep going, I get the feeling that, as you said, a three month stay would be great in Tas. And Dolphins aplenty, wonderful! You all sound ready for the next lap, after your short rest. Lots of love Jeanette and Tom