Port Sorell- Our final Tasmanian stop!

Tuesday May 15th saw us pack up the caravan at Quamby Corner and head a bit North to Port Sorell. This will be our final stop in Tasmania before setting sail on the Spirit of Tasmania on Saturday afternoon. The drive was beautiful with some of the nicest farm land we have seen!

We booked in at the Lion's Caravan park which is quite a large park. We joined Carol and Stephen in a separate area down the road near the beach. Not crowded at all at this time of year with most of the Grey Nomads already heading back to the mainland. A large block of ensuite type toilet/showers were the amenities in our section of the park. Nice, modern, and clean with key access. 4 Stars! The sites are lovely and large and easily accessible. On the negative side they aren't that level and there are large distances to the power/water facilities at the front of the sites. We needed an extra section of hose from the Ransleys to reach our water connection.

We got setup before taking a quick trip into town to do some shopping. Quite a nice little town with a new Woolworths and a good size IGA. In the afternoon we went for a walk along the beach with the Ransleys before having a bit of a campfire before dinner. Nice night and good to catch up with our travelling partners.

On Wednesday the Ransleys joined us on a road trip to Waratah. We travelled West along the Bass Highway before heading South at Burnie. We made good time and arrived in Waratah about 10:30 where we had a bit of a stretch. We then headed about 10Km West towards Savage River before stopping at Philosopher Falls. There was a short 2 hour walk there that I only stumbled across on the Internet when looking for things to see in Waratah. What a great find and a shame that it is not better advertised. This would definitely be the best rainforest walk we have done in Tasmania (and there are a lot of good ones)! The colours were incredible with the brightest green moss/lichen you can imagine growing on everything. The highlight though was the vast variety of mushrooms, fungi, and lichen that grew everywhere throughout the walk. I've included several examples below but this is only a small sample of what we saw. The colours and shapes are incredible with a number that I had never seen before even in books! The photos below are unedited other than adjusting the light!

The walk had good paths although there were a number of wet areas. The temperature was only about 3 degrees so we were all dressed warmly as you can see. The walk ended with a good set of some 217 steps down to the viewing platform for the falls. The falls weren't the best we have seen but were still impressive and with lots of water flowing. The steps back up were a bit of a challenge before we retraced our steps to the parking lot. Lots more photo stops along the way!

Surprisingly we were the only people there throughout our visit which is a shame given what an outstanding walk it is! Not that we minded enjoying the enchanted forest all by ourselves!

We returned through Waratah before heading North on the Murchison Highway via Hellyer Gorge. This was a road we had avoided with the caravans but were keen to see before our Tassie trip ended. The road was relatively good until we approached the Gorge reserve where it became quite steep and winding. That being said it was far from the worst road we have ventured on in Tasmania and probably would have been ok with the caravans (taking it slowly).

Hellyer Gorge itself was a major disappointment. We had lunch in the picnic area which is quite rundown before doing a quick 15 minute walk. It wound through some less than impressive forest before walking briefly along the Hellyer River which again was nothing special. Not a gorge by our definition at all! Thank goodness for the great walk earlier or we would have all been quite disappointed with our day!

We carried on North after lunch enjoying travelling through some lovely green fields and small towns on our return to Burnie. From there it was a quick trip back to Port Sorell a bit earlier than we had expected. A good days drive and a fantastic walk!

Thursday and Friday are going to be easy days with a bit of relaxation, lots of cleaning, and some serious computer catch up. Sandra had the washing machine going for several hours while John spent the time editing/deleting hundreds of photos and a few weeks worth of Blog posts.

We enjoyed a lovely BBQ Thursday night and a big baked breakfast on Friday morning. Friday will be more of the same with hopefully some quiet relaxation time in the afternoon. We are able to stay at the caravan park as long as we need on Saturday so can head straight from here to the Ferry late afternoon. The ferry at Devonport is less than 30 minutes from here. Hopefully our Spirit of Tasmania experience is much better than our trip from Melbourne 3 months ago!

Quamby Corner Caravan Park near Deloraine

After seeing the kids off on Saturday May 12th, Sandra and I packed up the caravan to head off ourselves. The weather was clearing a bit so we managed to get hooked up while relatively dry. We headed towards Deloraine before travelling a bit South to an area called Golden Valley. We booked into Quamby Corner Caravan park there.

This is a relatively low cost ($25/night) park which is a bit like a farm stay but with modern amenities. A relatively small park but with decent size sites. We managed to be able to do a drive thru and got set up. The amenity block was relatively modern and a good size for such a small park. They were relatively clean so 3.5 Stars. Telstra coverage is spotty at the park but my Wi-Fi antennae gave us coverage in the caravan.

Sandra started the laundry while I did a bit of computer work. The day was clearing up quite nicely but still cool. Sandra managed to get most of the washing done and dry which was a challenge. The caravan park does provide a washer and dryer which is included in the nightly fee which is quite generous. They do however request that you use the dryer sparingly and only one load of washing per day. We mostly used our own washing machine but did use the dryer once to finish off some towels.

Sunday morning Sandra did another load of washing before we headed South on The Great Lakes drive. We decided to drive into Liffey Falls as we drove by. A fairly rough and narrow 6km of unsealed track into the falls with only light vehicle access. We did come across one tree which threatened our progress but we made it safely through to the parking lot.

From here the walk was about 45 minutes each way into the falls. There are a series of 4 cascades prior to the final falls themselves. The walk was good with a bit of climbing and numerous view points. We did have to detour through one section where a large tree had come down across the walkway destroying some handrail and fencing. The effort was worth it however as both the cascades and falls were beautiful. We had the place to ourselves until our return journey where we met 4 other small groups of people.

Back in the car we made our return trip to the highway before heading South again. The road was relatively good although some winding portions and a gravel section. There were a number of areas to pull over and enjoy the view of the valleys below and the Great Lake itself. The top of the hill is the beginning of the Central Highlands and the temperature cooled off somewhat although it was sunny.

We passed through Miena and carried on towards Derwent Bridge where we enjoyed our picnic lunch. We toured "The Wall" again to enjoy this incredible art work. We spent quite a bit of time enjoying the wonderful sculptures and made two laps around the exhibit. Once again we would say this is our top attraction of our Tassie adventure. Make sure you take it in if you visit this part of Tasmania. Allow plenty of time as well to enjoy as it is quite an experience. A bus tour came through as we were arriving and was in and out in about 20 minutes while Sandra and I spent 90 minutes!

We retraced our route back through Miena stopping at Pine Lake to do a short walk on our return journey. Quite a lovely short walk which is completely on boardwalk leads you to this Alpine Lake. The vegetation is quite different and reminds me somewhat of the Arctic in Canada.

We returned to the campground in the late afternoon where the weather was still good but a bit hazy.

Monday we decided to head West and explore the Eastern entrance to Cradle Mountain. We travelled through Chudleigh and Mole Creek before heading into the Mersey State forest. The road became quite narrow with lots of twist, turns, and hills. Luckily traffic was light and we found a few places to pull over at lookouts.

The road near the Cethana River was particularly interesting with several hairpin corners. One had a 15Km posted which I've never seen on a highway before! Note the GPS route below!

We passed through Moina before heading West again to our destination at Cradle Mountain. We enjoyed our picnic lunch there before doing a short walk to Pencil Pine and Knyvet Falls. I had done this one before but Sandra had missed it so we decided to take it in. A beautiful rainforest walk with a couple of nice waterfalls that only took us about 45 minutes.

From here we began our return journey. Near Moina we decided to explore two more waterfalls. These were located about 8km off the highway on an unsealed road to Lemonthyme Wilderness Retreat. The road was narrow but good quality and not busy. We were both surprised when we arrived that the resort was considerably bigger than we had expected. About 20 cabin type accommodations and a full restaurant/bar. It shows as 5 Stars which is surprising given it's remote location.

The staff at reception were very helpful and provided us with a bit of information and map for the walk to Bridle Veil and Champagne Falls. The walk was about 4Km return with much of it uphill along a 4wd track to Bridal Veil falls. A short path off the track led us to the first of these wonderful falls. Considerably bigger than we had expected and in full flow due to the recent rains they were very impressive. We crossed a short bridge at the base of the falls which was an excellent viewing point.

From here we took a bit of a bush track with lots of bends and a few obstacles along the far side of the river before recrossing the river again via another small bridge. From here we did a fairly steep and slippery descent to the base of Champagne Falls. While not as big as Bridal Veil they were still quite impressive with the large volume of water flowing in the river. We returned up the hill before re-joining the 4WD track and returning down the hill to the wilderness retreat. A bit over 90 minutes and a very enjoyable walk with two lovely water falls!

On the return trip we travelled farther North through Gowrie Park and then Sheffield. A nice mural wall in Gowrie Park extended for quite a distance and was a lovely setting surrounded by mountains.

From Sheffield we took  a winding route that brought us back to the Bass Highway where we once again travelled South through Deloraine to our campground. The route home passed through some lovely green farmland. A big day but most enjoyable!

We are planning to head off in the morning to re-join with Carol and Stephen at Port Sorell. The weather here has been lovely and sunny although still cool. We had a bit of a frost one morning and we were glad that we were able to use the electric heater!

Longford Part II- Stephanie & Tim

Wednesday May 9th saw us make the short trip South again to stay at Longford Caravan Park again. Stephanie and Tim are driving up from Hobart later today to spend 3 days with us including Steph's birthday.

We booked to site 40 which we had prearranged. A lovely large site with the power/water on the right side of the van for hook-up. We did a little bit of shopping in Launceston during the afternoon and took care of Tim & Steph's cabin booking . We upgraded to a slightly large caravan for them to give Tim a bit more room.

We enjoyed a nice dinner with them that night. The weather had turned and was windy, cold, and raining!

Thursday we joined Tim & Steph and took a return trip to Beaconsfield to tour the Historic Mine Exhibit. The mine museum was very informative and the section about the mine accident was quite emotional. There were several other sections to the museum describing the local area  and history with lots of hands on exhibits. As you can see we all had a bit of fun with these! Definitely recommended if in the area.

 

 

We took a drive over to George Town for lunch at the Pier Hotel. After lunch we had planned to return to Beaconsfield to do the Sea Horse and Platypus shows. The weather was still not good as we would have been pushing against time to complete both so decided to do a quick tour of Low Head and George Town with the kids.

We did the lighthouse again before a quick trip to the George Mountain Lookout. It was cold and miserable with strong winds. We quickly returned to the safety and warmth of the rental car before the rain hit. The night was very windy again with rain which was a bit disappointing.

Friday was Stephanie's 28th birthday and we had lunch planned at a gluten free restaurant in Launceston. Before that we headed North again to take in the two shows we had missed yesterday. We missed a turn on the way so the kids got a bit more of an indoctrination into Tasmanian roads with lots of hills and turns.

We made it on time for the 10AM show at the Platypus/Echidna centre. Luckily we were the only 4 there so got lots of up close time with both the platypus in their tanks and the Echidna which wandered freely amongst us. Very interesting to see both of these creatures up close.

We went straight from here to the Sea Horse exhibit next door for the 11AM show. This was a very interesting show with several different species of sea horse on display. The centre also functions as a commercial farm for one species of sea horse. Was quite informative to see how they progressed from day old babies to full grown commercial size sea horse.

 

The last stage of the show was a mixture of several different Australian sea animals on display. There was quite a large tank where you could touch/hold various sea creatures including sea horse. A variety of other species were also on display.

Once we completed this show we headed straight back into Launceston for our lunch reservation at Samuel Pepys Café. This is a 100% gluten free restaurant which is quite unique. We all enjoyed a lovely lunch. To top it off we stopped at a Gluten Free bakery and picked up some baking and meat pies for dinner.

The weather was still miserable so we took the kids for a visit to The Tramway Museum. Very interesting even a second time for Sandra and I.

We enjoyed a nice evening with the kids at their caravan. We enjoyed our meat pies and some dessert to celebrate Steph's birthday. I think the kids have decided caravan life is not for them unless they change considerably in the future. The only place Tim could stand up fully was in the two roof hatches.

The weather was poor for their visit but we still enjoyed our time together with lots of laughs and good food. They headed off Saturday morning after breakfast to return their rental car and fly home from Launceston.