We left the Tasman Peninsula and retraced our steps to Hobart, to pick up our (repaired) awning and catch up with an old friend for coffee. Hobart blessed us with a car-park - right in the centre of town - probably the only Capital City in Australia where you can pull that off with a camper in tow!
In talking with Damo, we determined that perhaps heading up the east coast was not in our best interests due to the popularity of the Freycinet Peninsula at this time of year, so we changed our plans (benefits of having no real plan anyway) and after a delicious round of coffee and hot chocolates at Princess Wharf, we headed west.
When we headed from Strahan east previously, we drove through low mist and rain. It was a horrible drive, windy and slow. This time, heading west, the sun was out and it was a glorious adventure with new sights and impressive vistas at nearly every turn. We loved it, and after a quick resupply at New Norfolk, we pushed through to the delightful Lake St Clair.
Lake St Clair is the deepest fresh water natural lake in Australia. Its actual depth seems to depend on who you ask, but there is no denying that this lake is beautiful, and a fitting end to the Overland Track popular with thousands of hikers each year.
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| The boys contemplate Lake St Clair |
We continued west, and stopped for a short walk down to the Franklin River. This is one of the most famous rivers in Australia, and we thoroughly enjoyed a stroll along its banks. It is the kind of place that you could spend hours sitting just rejuvenating your soul.
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| Franklin River |
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| On the Franklin |
Our day wasn't done yet - we also stopped at Nelson Falls. The short walk to these falls are as much a walk back in time as a walk to the falls themselves. Ancient forest in this part of the world has close links to Australia's Gondwanan heritage, with ferns, myrtle, birch and pines all having close relatives in rainforests of South America and even Papua New Guinea. I insisted on everyone wearing hats - but the walk was under the forest canopy and completely surplus to requirements!
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| Nelson Falls |
Our camp that night was at Lake Burbury, one of the many hydro dams in the area. The camping area was tired, neglected even, but we didn't really mind. In fact it was delightful.
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| Lake Burbury Camp |
I will write an entry one day on our camp routines - but one way we can ensure we free-camp for as long as possible is by having showers every day. A simple 12 volt shower, heated by a billy of hot water provides more than enough cleaning for all of us. If water is tight, we can all have a wash on just 10 litres of water, although if water is more plentiful, 15 litres gives everyone a great shower. The only trick in these parts is to do it before the sun goes down - because it gets a little chilly!
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| A shower a day keeps us away from caravan parks as much as possible |
Our destination, and the main reason for heading west again was to ride on the Wilderness Railway. The railway was constructed to service the copper mine at Mount Lyell (Queenstown) and provide access to the port of Strahan. It closed in the 1960's, however was reopened in 2003 as a tourist railway. It closed again last year, however after a turbulent reshuffle, reopened on the 6th of January this year. It is well worth the ride.
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| No prizes for guessing where we are, |
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| The ABT Steam Engine - Wilderness Railway |
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| In the delightfully reconstructed carriages |
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| The little engine that could |
The railway was constructed over incredible terrain, and used a revolutionary (at the time) rack and pinion system to climb the steep grades on the track. With two engines in tandem, 120 tonnes of ore could be transported to the port at Strahan. It was a fantastic ride - and the history of the railway (and its competition) is brought to life by the tour guides.
Montezuma Falls... or maybe not! We decided after our jaunt on the railway to head north and visit Montezuma Falls. There are two tracks in, and we took the 4WD track in from Melba flats. We decided (thankfully) to leave Matilda at the turn off - and this was probably the best decision we could have made at the time.
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| Breathe In - tight going on the track |
It didn't take long for things to start looking bad. The track was flat enough - it was an old tram line after all, however we couldn't turn around... and the rutted and boggy track was fast deteriorating. We were starting to really scramble through some deep boggy sections, when we came to what looked like a particularly nasty hole. I stopped and got out to have a look, picked a line and then gingerly headed in...
I chose poorly.
We slid into the hole, and bellied out on the bank. We were stuck.
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| Max Trax didn't help... I needed a lift and big tyres! |
It took us about an hour to get out of the mess. It became apparent that digging wasn't going to work. Nor was Max Trax. I eventually admitted defeat and dragged out the hand winch and after a few tugs astern, we were back in action.
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| Eventually I got out the hand winch - a gentle tug astern and we were free |
The only problem was we still couldn't turn around - so on we went - through even deeper and even more slippery holes trying desperately to ignore the crunching and scraping coming from underneath Rocky as we slithered and slid along the track. Eventually we made it to the turning point at the end of the track, but we had used up all our time for investigating the falls which were still an hour walk away - so back we had to go. With a bit more momentum - and a little less care we got back to the main road without another bogging. Phew.
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| Happy to put that one in the rear view mirror! |
And so we headed to Lake Mackintosh for a well earned swim before dinner.
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| A well earned swim at Lake Mackintosh |
What a heap of fun that was... well perhaps not. It was definitely the highlight of the boy's trip so far - and it was good to test some of our limitations without any serious harm being done. That said, I was very glad to put that day behind us. The next day for Jo and I was simply fantastic.
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