Day 50: Oatlands to Greens Beach

We continued our journey north this day, heading all the way to the north coast (Tasmania is so small, especially when you drive the straight, fast road up the middle).

We got to Launceston by mid morning. This is the second largest city of the state, with a population of about 91,000 (Or is it 71,000? I found two different figures!). Another of the "one of the oldest cities in Australia", it was settled in 1806 and was second in Australia to be declared a city after Hobart in 1889. 

We headed for the famous Cataract Gorge and spent an hour or so exploring. I'd been there as a kid and thought it was much further from town than it was, but it's practically inner city!

One of the first things that struck me was, in the middle of the gorge, the blue rectangular swimming pool surrounded by a bright green, mowed lawn. That seemed quite odd after the national parks we've been to where the priority was on preserving the natural state of things as well as possible, this looked very unnatural. Hence I don't have a photo of it!

But as we walked around and read the signs we realised that this area was an example of what people (largely from the UK) thought was beautiful in the latter part of the1800s and how they did recreation—that involved tea parties on the lawn, band rotundas, walkways, shelters, and lookouts. Still, it was a beautiful, peaceful place to wander around, though we hadn't allowed time to do the longer walks.

After lunch we drove north up the western side of the Tamar River (earlier in the month we'd driven across Batman Bridge about halfway up the river and stayed over on the east side of the river, near the mouth at Low Head). The Tamar is a very wide, shallow river for most of its journey, so there are almost no bridges over it! We drove almost to the "end of the road" for our last night on the island, at a caravan park across the road from Bass Straight.

But on our way there we stopped at Beauty Point to see Platypus House. Ironically I don't have any photos of the five platypuses there, just the echidnas that they also house! It's a rescue facility, and they haven't had any success with breeding platypuses, though the echidnas have produced a baby in the last year. We had a 45 minute personal tour (no one else showed up for the last tour of the day), so got to ask lots of questions. In the echidna room we got to get up close and personal with them (they could touch us, but we were asked not to touch them). The baby kept investigating our shoes! 

Echidnas and platypuses are the only monotremes in the world: that is, mammals who lay eggs. There is not much else they have in common, but it was cool to see them so close. Platypuses are very difficult to spot in the wild, though David thinks he might have seen one playing in a stream earlier in the month.

Yes, it was our last night on the island and wasn't a particularly remarkable evening. We still had more to do the next day, but the time is nearly here for me to reflect on the Tasmanian leg of our two month journey (along with a map we compiled of the journey)!

Day 49: Hobart to Oatlands

This is the day that we really turned our sights north. With only three nights left before our boat ride back to the mainland we headed north out of Hobart. Our first stop was at another famous historical site, one that I saw back in the '80s. 

Richmond gaol

Richmond was a early settlement in Tasmania and has many sandstone buildings, including a famous bridge and gaol. The gaol was built over a period of 1825 to 1840. It's quite small compared to sites like Port Arthur and Cascades, it seems to be more of a place that prisoners stayed on their journeys between places. But also a base for convict work gangs building public buildings and infrastructure. They claim it's Australia's oldest intact gaol but I've seen different wording on that (careless writing, possibly)

After the gaol we did a little bit more souvenir shopping (I found a pair of Tasmanian earrings and bought them from the artist, she even made a change on them at my request before I bought them). We ate lunch in a free carpark and headed north again.

Our destination for the night was a free free camp in Oatlands, beside a lake. This historical town has more than 150 sandstone buildings, including a fully restored flour mill built in 1837. It is now the only operating mill of its kind in the southern hemisphere. It is the third oldest windmill in the continent which makes it one of Tasmania's major tourist attractions. We didn't book a tour, but instead walked around Oatlands looking at the various buildings (many of which had informative signs out front of them). We also stopped at an old building that now houses a coffee shop.

Keep scrolling for more photos and information about Oatlands.

This is one example of the buildings in Oatlands.
The sign says: 'Elm Cottage'. Built c. 1837 by
Joseph McEwan, then publican of Invary Castle 
(Kentish Hotel), probably for his impending retirement.
In the1840s 'The Elm' was rented to john Ryan who provided
lodging for Kevin Izod O'Doherty, one of the five Irish 
political prisoners sent to Van Diemens Land in 1848.
Devout Catholics, the Ryans often hosted Mass
in this cottage prior to the building of St Paul's church.
In 1850, Father Keohan stayed with the Ryans whilst awaiting the
completion of the Presbytery. Later in the 19th Century, it was
called 'Prospect Cottage' when Mrs McRa and her sister Harriet Jones
ran a girl's school from these premises, offering private lessons
in music, French, and drawing. It also served briefly as a branch
of the Union Bank. For most of the 20th century, it was the family home
of Eva Burrill. The cottage takes its name from two English elms
once planted in the front yard.

This was the lake we spent the night next to. It isn't
very picturesque, but is apparently a valuable conservation area.
Also the location where they mined a lot of the sandstone for the
town's many buildings.

Parked by the lake.

Day 48: Copping to Hobart

Neither of us enjoy cities much, and so we don't hanker after most of the tourism opportunities available there. However we do make exceptions. This day we spent in Hobart, seeing a couple of sights and doing a little bit of souvenir hunting.

Our first stop was at the Cascades Female Factory. It's a historic site in Hobart where approximately 7,000 female convicts were incarcerated between 1828 and 1856. There isn't much left of the sandstone buildings, but we were able to walk through an audio tour inside the walls that gave us a good idea of the site and the lives of the ladies who passed through here. In it's current form this site has only been open to the public for two years.

Inside the walls of one portion of the Cascades
Female Factory (not sure why "factory")

It truly was a miserable, sad place in the 1800s. The conditions were harsh and many (including their very young children) didn't survive to see freedom again. 

This is part of a multi-campus Australian Convict Sites World Heritage Property (one of 11 across Australia). As we looked at this place and the cruise we did on the west coast, it's clear to see the powers in charge were struggling to know how to deal with crime and poverty. Many had been sent to Australia for very small crimes (stealing clothing or a loaf of bread, for example). The general policy at the time seemed to be to treat offenders harshly and trust that the convicts would see the errors of their ways and reform themselves, if they didn't the punishments got harsher and harsher. This, of course, had mixed results.

Looking towards the Derwent River and
Tasman Bridge

We ate lunch parked in the street outside the site and then proceeded to inner city areas to try to find a park for our large vehicle. We ended up finding a good spot near the Botanical Gardens that only cost us $3. It was a bit of a hike into the main centre, but good exercise! We walked near a dock area where the bright red Australian government's Antarctic exploration ship was docked.

Inside the hut replica

Our destination was the Mawson’s Hut replica. It's a little hut with a huge amount of information about Antarctica, especially in the early 1900s. The original hut was built by a team lead by Australian Douglas Mawson in early 1900s. They spent two winters living in this hut (at the windiest place recorded on the planet), exploring and doing scientific discovery. The hut is still in existence in Antarctica, but obviously most people can't visit it, so this replica has been build in Hobart to educate people, but also to raise money as they seek to conserve the original. We spent a fascinating couple of hours reading the many signs and posters there, and talking to the two ladies on duty at the time. It was amazing to explore this world, having lived through four winters in the harsh environment of Hokkaido, where temperatures barely make it above zero for several months of the year. We lived there in relative luxury, compared to this team! 

This replica is only 11 years old. The last time I really was a tourist in Tasmania was when I was 10 years old, in the '80s. It's been interesting to note what we were able to see this time that my family couldn't have seen back then!

After these two historical adventures we went hunting for coffee (for me) and souvenirs. It was about 3 in the afternoon and we had discovered that once it hit that time, many tourist things in Tassie start to close at this time of the year. But we were tired, too, so then we walked back to our van and drove to our lodgings for the night.

This was an extension of the surprises of the weekend. We stayed the night with our new friend (that we'd first met the day before at church, but knew of her before that through David's cousin), her son, and mother. They fed us dinner and we had an entertaining evening playing the game Sequence with them. This was our third night in a row in a house and it was a nice break from our little box-on-wheels.

Day 47: Copping with family

This Sunday we didn't drive anywhere, we barely set foot in the motorhome! I also took very few photos.

After breakfast we set off on foot for Copping Christian Fellowship and enjoyed a few hours with them: two hours of worship, then a couple of hours of chatting and eating afterwards. It was their monthly shared lunch and in typical country fashion put on a huge spread! A friend of David's cousin invited us and it was a delight to meet her and her son, so much so that we ended up staying with them in Hobart a couple of days later . . . but I'm getting ahead of myself. 

Sunset from the property

Just like the previous Sunday, we worshipped in a style that's a little different to our usual, but it was good, nonetheless. Their sheer friendliness and amazing welcoming style was very special. They were interested enough in us for several of them to find out that we are missionaries in Japan (not something we tell everyone we meet).

Our our way back up to our lodging, we stopped by David's aunt and uncle's place (they all live on one large property, but in separate houses). I'd never met his uncle and can't remember that I had actually met his aunt. Even though we'd just had a large lunch, we stopped for afternoon tea and cake!

After that we returned to our room and chatted for a little while with our sons, as is our usual habit on a Sunday afternoon. The difference while we're travelling is that our guys are using our house in Ipswich as a meeting spot for a few hours and we call them there. It's a little odd, but works. Unfortunately we haven't had much luck at getting WiFi on a Sunday, so our chats have often been short, without the usual playing of games.

We ate dinner with David's cousin and his partner, who we'd just met. Turns out she grew up in Toowoomba, just like me, and later on had studied in a similar field to me, so we had quite a bit in common to fuel conversation. 

It was lovely to spend the day out of the motorhome in real, solid buildings. And dare I mention showering in a shower in a private home?

Overall it was a delightful weekend. Enjoying the hospitality of strangers or distant relatives we hardly know always makes me feel a little nervous beforehand, but it worked out well and I'm thankful for this time to connect with three people David knew fairly well as a child.

Day 46: Mt Field National Park to Copping

One advantage of a free camp is that they don’t regulate your arrival or departure times like caravan parks do (though I still don't understand why a four-hour gap between departures and arrivals is needed at a caravan park). We stayed till after lunch at Mount Field National Park. That gave us a rest morning, a rare thing. It was time to take in the visitors centre. Time for me to catch up a little on blogging. And the ability to make our own hot chicken rolls for lunch...yum!

This was a beautiful campsite,
the tall trees of the national park
were clearly in evidence here.

Strangely, during our time in southern Tasmania, we went through the town of Sorell four times. We stopped at the pictured grocery store three of the four times and stayed one night at their RV stop on the other visit. Organising our route for our month in the state wasn’t easy, because there are hardly any roads on the west, south-west, or north-east coasts, there’s no one way or easy loop to take to see Tasmania, so against our inclinations, we had to double back on some roads. This day, though was easy, as we were travelling in areas that have been long settled.

The view from our lodgings this night.

Our goal was David's cousin's place. He and David grew up near each other in Central Queensland, but we haven't seen him since our wedding over 25 years ago. A lot of water has gone under the proverbial bridge since then! There was much to catch up on. We stayed two nights in his guest room. It was the first time since Bega on Good Friday that we'd stayed in a real bed in a house.

 

Day 45: Teds Beach to Gordan Dam to Mt Field National Park

We got up and got going with reluctance the next morning. It was chilly and still grey and grim. But we had places to go and things to see.

First stop was "the end of the road" at the Gordan Dam. Built in the 60s and early 70s to generate electricity for Tasmania. It's the highest arch dam in Australia and Lake Gordan is also one of the largest in terms of volume (Lake Pedder is also one of the top 10 in volume in Australia).

It was misting when we arrived, but we rugged up with our plastic jackets and explored. There was a climb down a metal staircase to walk across the dam wall that we managed, though it was a little scary. The views were stunning. The photos only shows a glimpse!

Lake Gordan

It made me a little sad to think of all the beauty
that has been hidden by this artificial lake. The question that
hangs out there in many places in Tasmania is:
to harness (or use) or to protect?

More Lake Gordan

After that we drove back along the road we travelled the day before till we reached Tyenna where we had lunch in the van and then stopped for coffee/hot chocolate at the Swedish/Austrian/Australian cafe.

Our next goal was another national park, this time Mount Field. It's a very popular as it's fairly accessible to both Hobart and Launceston, but the one big plus for us was their campsite. You can't book it, but it's cheap and provides electricity, showers, and water. We drove right in and easily got a spot. Then we headed out on the walks. We ended up walking nearly 10 km and over 50 "floors". It's a gorgeous park. Like many places we've been it would have been good to stay longer and do more. Check out the photos of our walk, though!

Very tall trees

I think this is Lady Baron Falls

The annual shedding of bark seems to go on a long time.

The famous Russell Falls aren't hard to walk to

Coffee shop + general store + gift shop
It's been fun to go to coffee shops that aren't chains.

Day 44: Snug to Teds Beach

It was a misting, cold day. The landscape was almost
eerie and it certainly felt remote.

This day we aimed for another "end of road" adventure, the second in the week. We slightly misjudged things, though, as it was a public holiday (ANZAC Day), a rare one where grocery stores shut for the morning out of respect to those who have served to protect our nation. We've been mostly buying food as we go, the occasionally bigger shop, but often just a few things as we need them. This day we were driving into territory that didn't have shops, and almost got there before midday. Thankfully we were able to snag some meet and bread rolls at one of the last shops on the road, but they weren't cheap! It has continued to be interesting to find the remote areas of this little state, and realise that actually there's quite a lot of them, and small rural towns. There's very little "city" here at all.

Teds Beach

This road took us into the middle of the large area in central Tasmania that is designated national park. We stopped for the night close to the shores of Lake Pedder, a lake greatly increased in size in the 70s due to the Serpentine Dam. This is a free free camp. We had access to toilets only.

Lake Pedder

It was a fairly small campsite and was almost full with seven units staying overnight. Amusingly six of the seven had Queensland number plates! It was cold and people stayed inside, so we only met one of them, though saw another come back on his mountain bike, only to pull out his kayak and spend some time on the lake. It was cold and wet, I guess he wasn't feeling it so much because he was so active.

It was a slightly eerie landscape, not helped by misting rain. The area looked barren and desolate. This is the one place that we've camped where there was absolutely no internet coverage. Not even one bar "I'm trying and might give you occasional access". Our phones said "SOS only". No problem! We had plenty of other things to occupy our time, but on these very cold nights—the van has no heating—I've often been heading for the warmth of bed soon after 8.30 (and then read for an hour or more). It was under 10C when we got up and got going the next morning.

Ted's Beach is named after a Project Manager of the Gordan River Power Development (1969 till 1975) who fell in love with the area and wanted to encourage people to come and enjoy swimming, fishing, and boating. The beach is artificial in the only sense that they cleared the vegetation away and the water (when it rose after the dam became operational) created the beach from the rocky shore.

Day 43: all day at Snug

This was a wonderfully quiet day. I spent time blogging, as well as reading and playing games with David. The weather had turned colder, but we had a lovely northerly aspect on the van and sun poured in all day, keeping things very comfortable. 

Snug has a population of around 1,400. After lunch we went for a little walk exploring the local creek and a couple of bridges. A needed restful day. Also, hot showers in a decent bathroom are always wonderful after a couple of free camping days! We enjoyed a rare meal out in the evening at the local pub. It definitely looked like a sleepy country town.

On the right of the photo is north Bruny Island.
This island has about 800 permanent inhabitants,
but they receive thousands of visitors (perhaps as
many as 150,000 per year). We didn't go over there.

We took a short walk down the Snug River

It's a fun name! It's not so common in
English to use adverbs or adjectives as 
proper nouns.

Day 42: Cockle Creek to Snug

After several busy days, we decided to head to a place we could stop for a whole day. David chose "Snug" because it had a cool name (and a caravan park)!

We started the day, however, by walking a bit further along the road we'd been parked on to the true "end of the road", read some more information about some of the amazing pioneers who'd lived down here, including a family whose women ran their forestry business after all their menfolk and male workforce went off to war. We read about the French who came for scientific investigation, named a few things, made friends with the local original inhabitants, but also unwittingly, by their mere presence, killed off the whole tribe by introducing new diseases. We read about the huge whaling industry that also operated from this southern point, but died out pretty quickly, along with the whales.

More clear (cold) water: Cockle Creek

End of the road sign.

It's blurry because the road was bumpy: that's my story!

Then we headed north again. There's only one way out! We drove up to Huonville where we stopped for lunch and a short walk along the river, then drove through the famous Huon Valley to the town of Snug, on the NorthWest Bay (or is it the D'Entrecasteaux Channel, the boundary isn't clear).

Autumnal colour at Huonville

Smoky sunset at Snug

Sunset at Snug