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Published: February 26th 2011
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Tasmania - 4 seasons in one day, the travel books say. Included in each season of course is wind, cold and some form of precipitation.
To recap our visit to Stanley, we did get out and drive to Arthur River and the "Edge of the World", we did get out for a great dinner at the Stanley Hotel and, the following morning, we did climb "The Nut". The wind was incredible, cutting and cold; the chairlift well and truly shut down.
Cradle Mountain was not only windy, but cold – 6 degrees at the visitor centre – and with flurries of sleet and snow. In February. Almost undeterred we checked into the Highlanders Cottages – highly recommended – and went for a number of short walks around the Visitors Centre. It was quite fascinating walking around the gushing creeks, through boggy country with lichens, mosses etc., in the wind and rain.
The next day dawned even worse, rain turning to sleet turning to snow, and colder still. We caught the park shuttle bus to Dove Lake, even entered our names in the walkers register, but we couldn’t bring ourselves to walk for two hours in these conditions. So,
quite disappointed, we caught the next shuttle back and had a coffee instead.
Heading west 100 kilometres or so Strahan was blessedly warmer, although still windy and raining on and off. But we had a bit of a look around this rather twee, very commercial village, apparently much of it owned by the same company that owns the Wilderness Railway and one of the Gordon River Cruise operators.
The Wilderness Railway, the restored 35 kilometre Mt Lyell railway from Queenstown, was our next event. It was scenic, certainly, and the old train a bit of fun, but it was the appreciation of the isolation, the harshness of the country and the difficulties of constructing and running the railway that were the real message for us.
The train took us from one of the most photogenic towns in Tasmania – Strahan – to probably the least – Queenstown. The rainforest in between was incredible, the indelibly polluted Queen River at Queenstown equally so.
Hogarth Falls is within the Strahan town limits, an easy 40 minute return walk within the Peoples Park (sounds a bit socialist to me). We wandered out on the way back from the railway
trip and enjoyed a pleasant change in the weather as well as what was (for Tasmania) a small waterfall.
If the Wilderness Railway is a must see to gain an appreciation of the way early settlers lived here, then the Gordon River Cruise is absolutely essential for the sheer peace and beauty of the whole Macquarie Harbour area. Hell’s Gates – quite interesting. Fish farms – not so much. Sarah Island – more convict history but with a shipbuilding twist. Gordon River – absolutely magnificent! The peace, the solitude (admittedly on a cruise with 150 other tourists), the unspoilt country. A great snapshot of one of the Tasmanian wilderness areas.
Leaving Strahan after 2 nights, we travelled through Queenstown and down to Derwent Bridge and Lake St Clair, with a stop at Nelson Falls on the way. Very scenic, and very cold. Lake St Clair was very peaceful. We walked about 5 kilometres out to Platypus Bay (no platypii in site, however) and back. If you stopped and stood still you could hear absolutely nothing.
Moving on south east, we arrived in New Norfolk, unfortunately not early enough to walk along what seems like a very pleasant
Derwent River frontage, but in plenty of time for a great steak in the New Norfolk Hotel.
Our motel threw in tickets to the Salmon Ponds nearby, and they were an interesting diversion for an hour or so – ponds full of fish that attack like piranhas when food is thrown into their pool.
Mt Field National Park, famous for Russell Falls, was also close by and – to some degree – sunny. The falls were spectacular, but would have been much nicer but for the annoying foilage all around them that blocked the view. We also did the tall trees walk, quite an interesting insight into the way the forests and the swamp gums work.
Next stop Hobart.
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Craig
non-member comment
Cold Eh?
When I was a lad that was my bath temp!