Near Westerway there were several fields of Hops which were interesting to see grown. Lots of wood poles with wire supporting the Hops which hang from the wires.
Roads were the usual winding and hilly but traffic was not too bad. We arrived at Left of Field camp ground near the entrance to the National Park late morning. This is sort of a cross between a bush camp and a caravan park. The owner, Adrian, is a cheerful, interesting host. Very laid back and gave us a quick tour and a couple of options for us to get set up on. Adrian has created a unique and quirky environment with lots of junk/art located throughout the park. The two toilets are unisex but modern and clean. A bit strange sharing with the women but we survived. Only one shower so really this is best designed for the self contained caravans. 3.5 Stars!
The weather was beautiful on the Saturday so we had a quick lunch once we were set up before setting out to explore the National Park. We were able to walk through a trail next to the railway tracks (not utilized) and creek, to enter the National Park and the Visitor Centre. There is a fair sized campground at the National Park which might be worth a look as well. A lot of sites appear to back onto the creek.
We set off on a 5KM loop walk with our first stop being Russell Falls. The walk was once again through Rain forest with lots of green ferns, moss, lichen along the way. After a short walk we arrived at Russell Falls which is quite a tall multi-tiered water fall. Very nice with multiple viewing platforms.
We headed up quite a steep set of steps to the top of the falls before heading still higher as we made our way to the next major stop which was Horseshoe Falls. A smaller but wider set of falls that was beautiful in it's own way. There was water coming down the falls at either end but it obviously wasn't in full flow.
From here we did an extended walk through rain forest and the Tall Trees loop. Some huge towering Swamp Gums are over 70M high. Lots of time spent hugging and admiring these giants.
Unfortunately the weather took a turn for the worse over night with high winds and considerable rain fall. We were parked under a couple of large trees and didn't sleep to well with nuts, bark, and small twigs dropping on the caravan roof during the night. Sunday was more of the same and we basically hibernated in our caravans with very short walks around the park during drier moments. Sunday night and Monday morning were more of the same with some very strong wind gusts. We did brave the elements for a drive into New Norfolk with the Ransleys. Beautiful countryside again along the way, and New Norfolk was considerably larger than we had expected. The girls looked in a few antique places and bought a couple of groceries. Rans and I enjoyed a Pub lunch while the girls got some fries and tea at the local McDonalds. We headed back to the caravan park for another wet afternoon. The wind had subsided a bit at least!
Tuesday morning was still cloudy and light rain although the sun looked like it was trying to break through. We packed picnic lunches and headed out with the Ransleys to explore Gordon Dam Road. The road began with dense rainforest but eventually opened up to plains and mountain peaks. Quite beautiful and the weather cooperated at times. We eventually made it to Lake Pedder/Strathgordon where we took a short break at Lake Pedder Wilderness Lodge. Lake Pedder and Lake Gordon are two natural lakes that were made into much larger ones with the building of 4 dams and a canal joining the lakes. Beautiful scenery but windy and cold during our visit.
We carried on West where we first took a drive into the Serpentine Dam. We had a walk across the dam wall and got a few pictures before jumping back in the car.
Our main destination of the day was Gordon Dam and it was definitely worth the trip. The tallest dam in Australia at 140M it is quite impressive. Carol, Sandra, and I descended a few hundred steps and walked across the dam wall to the far side. It is quite a drop to the river below and not for those with a fear of heights. Sandra did very well to complete the walk but she did keep well away from the fence on the side of the drop! Rans chose to stay at the top and capture pictures as he isn't very good with heights. As a side note they actually offer abseiling down the wall of the dam. We didn't take them up on it but would be quite a thrill!
On the far side of the dam you could yell and hear a very clear echo return in a second. Cool! We captured quite a few photos of both the dam wall/drop and the huge body of water created by the dam. The system can hold up to 27 Sydney harbours which is quite incredible! Quite different to Lake Argyle in the Kimberly, but impressive as well!
We returned to the car and retraced our steps. Had another quick stop at the Wilderness Lodge before stopping for lunch at Ted's Beach along Pedder Lake. Luckily the picnic area was sheltered as the wind was cold! You can tell by some of our pictures that it wasn't the warmest day we have experienced. The sun came out in patches throughout the day which allowed Sandra to capture some lovely photos of the mountains and lakes. The drive was one of our highlights of Tasmania to date!
The wind had subsided and the sun was actually shining by the time we returned to our campground. It was only 14 degrees but we still enjoyed a bit of outdoor time after being cooped up for 3 days! We had a bit of a group meeting to decide our next stops as well. Easter weekend (5 days in Tasmania) is coming up so we needed to find a place to book. Luckily we were able to secure a spot for a week on Bruny Island over the holiday period.
Tuesday night was quite calm so we all got a better sleep. Woke up to the cold though as was only 3 degrees. The girls are doing some laundry as we are going to a free camp after this. Washing was easy but getting it dried was a challenge because of damp, cloudy, cold weather.
After lunch we took another drive into Mt Field National Park heading farther in than our last visit. After the visitor centre the road turned to gravel and became narrow and winding. A few pullover spots along the way as we made our way to Lake Dobson.
Once there we took a 40 minute (over an hour for us) walk on the Pandani Grove Nature walk around Lake Dobson. Very cold and wet but with beautiful moss/lichen everywhere. A great little walk which we really enjoyed. Quite a few photo opportunities for those that love the green of moss, lichen, ferns, and general rainforest!
Had a stop at Lake Fenton on the way home as well as a few more interesting trees. Great short drive! Found most of the clothes still a bit wet so had a bit of a Chinese laundry going in the van with multiple heaters and clothes hanging everywhere. I got most of the outside equipment put away for moving on tomorrow. Eventually everything was dry and we are ready to move on!
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