Stumpy's Bay - goodbye to our troubles

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After swapping contact details with the bunch at Georgetown we set off bound for Mount William National Park, via Bridport and Gladstone. We struck road works and gravel road for 15k's coming to Gladstone. Big road going motorcycles don't love loose gravel so much so it can be interesting to feel 220kg of motorcycle, plus gear etc. sliding around underneath you as you round each corner. Comes in handy to have done some off-road bike riding when younger so that this slipping and sliding does not upset you too much.

From Gladstone to our campsite at Stumpy's Bay was a dreadful road. There were big graders and earth moving equipment working on the road and it was like riding through a freshly ploughed paddock, it was about a 30km ride from Gladstone and a big challenge for Lorenza who had a few problems in the loose dirt. It did not help her much when the Moto Morini stalled when she went to pass one of the big graders and then had to try and restart the bike with the roadwork crew looking on.

The local Devils are hungry

Before we got to Stumpy's Bay we had to check in at the Rangers station to let them know we would be staying and how long. The Ranger had a good sense of humour and pulled Lorenza's leg about the ferocity and hunger of the local Tassie Devils. He claimed they would not only steal our food, but probably love to eat our leather boots and jackets as well. In fact the more Lorenza played along with him the more ferocious the Devil's became - he claimed they loved eating motorcycle tyres! We wished him a good day and could tell that there must not have been too many visitors lately because he would have been happy to stand there talking all day.

Stumpy's Bay is about the most easterly point of Tasmania. We found a wonderful sheltered camping spot, with views of the beach and the mountains. There was not a person in sight, our only companions were the many Forrester Kangaroos and Bennett Wallabies. We are camped in amongst some trees about 200 metres from the beach. Lorenza is preparing dinner on our trusty metho stove while I write in our travel diary. The sun is just setting and with dusk coming we are hoping to be introduced to a lot of local wildlife. From our campsite, looking out across the beach, then the ocean, it is interesting to think there is no land between us and New Zealand. Our little campsite in paradise is about the same latitude as Wellington in New Zealand so it is lucky for us that the weather is calm.

The locals come out at night

After dinner we were treated to some entertainment when the locals came to visit the small creek behind our tent. The Kangaroos and wallabies came out for a drink or two. We could hear some Tassie Devils, but did not see them. There were also some bush turkeys and possums making lots of noises around us. We had a small campfire and relaxed listening to the sounds of the night. The locals were obviously as curious about us as we were of them.

Breakfast with the locals

One thing about camping out is that once the sun is down there is not much to keep you from getting an early night. This then leads to a very early morning which is such a bonus in a place like this. At sunrise it was incredible to see it come up over the ocean, with the wallabies and kangaroos going for an early morning stroll along the beach. We had breakfast with a ring of wallabies watching us and hoping for some scraps. We did not share any of our food with them because they are used to a certain diet and our breads etc can give them a thing called "stumpy mouth" so knowing this we had bought some roo and wallaby food pellets with us. They munched away on these as we breakfasted on dried fruits etc. The Bennett Wallabies are such lovely sweet, timid animals, they have beautiful eyes and were welcome to stay watching us as long as they wished.

We spent the day exploring the beach and the nearby bushland. I had brought a small book with me about the flora and fauna of Tasmania, so we had fun identifying various plants and animals. It is amazing how many small ferns or herb like plants are hidden beneath the forest trees and when you take the time to look, what seems like a big patch of green turns into a tightly knit eco-system that can be so much fun to study. It was good to slow our minds down and notice some of the detail rather than just taking in the big picture as we often do.

Mmmm - some fresh water please

Our only problem camping there was that we did not have much room to carry water on our motorcycles, so we had to search around a bit for a fresh stream to get more. The water in the creek behind us looked a bit brackish, so we set off in search of something more promising. We found a nice little stream running down a grassy hill and managed to collect enough water in some bottles for further cooking and drinking.

We had lunch by the beach and just relaxed watching the sky and listening to the wind in the trees. It was so nice to be alone together and let the last 12 months of stress about work, money, bills, and our big move from Queensland to NSW float out to sea.

Thanks

As we packed up our gear in readiness for leaving Stumpy's Bay, we said thanks to the locals, the beach, the sky and the ocean for cleansing us of all our stupid worries and concerns that we had packed in our "soul baggage" and let go on the beach. It was a great few days and well worth the effort in getting there.

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