Tasmania #1

Monday 11 November 

This morning Barre, Marion and I got a taxi to the airport for our short trip to Tasmania. The traffic was awful but we had allowed plenty of time. Then the rain was so heavy we had another delay joining the queue of planes to take off. The flight was smooth once we were above the clouds and we saw a little of Hobart below the clouds on landing. Another delay waiting for our Budget rental car. I contacted friends Gail and Ian and headed for Richmond chosen as a good place for lunch and a rendevous.

Ian met us at the Richmond Alms Pub where we enjoyed a chat over maps while having lunch. Gail and Amelia joined us for a short while then we went our own ways.

We headed to Oatlands for Barre's first plant collecting site. This fantastic lake was full of Triglochin (procerum?) and other plants out further and lots of waterbirds. It took Barre a while to find the Potamogeton australis he was looking for but eventually he got enough for his DNA sample.

Heading north again we turned off towards Interlaken on a gravel road to investigate a site a few kilometres off the main road. No luck there but we did find an echidna walking along the edge of the road.

Back on the main road north Barre noticed the next town called Ross on the map. As I had heard of it before we called there. What a beautiful little heritage town full of fantastically old buildings. As there was a motel which is lovely we decided to stay.

We walked back to the old stone bridge to look for platypus that apparently live there. The river had broken its banks into the fields beyond. No luck with platypus though. We went to the pub for dinner (a light one to compensate for lunch).

 

On the short walk back to the motel we passed other old buildings and quaint shops. Such a lovely place to spend our first night in Tassie.

Tuesday 12 November

As the bakery opened at 7am for breakfast we met up and walked around in the cold air (lots more clothes on today including my woolie singlet). By the time we came out it was sprinkling. I asked the staff at the bakery about the road up to Interlaken  for a 2-wheel drive small car and they said definitely not. There was probably even still snow up there.

We then changed plans and headed north east. Our first stop was Campbell Town for fuel then a quick look at Lake Leake in the pouring rain for waterplans. This ensured the car is now all muddy. The water was too high for Barre to see anything.

 Then on to Bicheno where we too a quick walk down to the beach. The colours on the rocks from lichen and algae is amazing. I think the spiky grass on the beach is actually Triodia sp. I was surprised to see it here. We had morning tea, grabbed maps and leaflets then tried to book a penguin tour. The only booking available was for 8:45pm so we declined the offer then took a quick look at the Blowhole with more amazing colours.

As it was very wet we decided to head south and along the Freycinet Peninsula. Coming in the view of the Hazards was fantastic. Once there we went to the National Parks office and had great plans for a 1 hour walk and staying there overnight but first we needed lunch! 

We went to the Lodge for scones and cream (cheaper and light) and by the time this was finished the rain had closed in again. So we cancelled our ideas of the walk and instead drove to the Cape Tourville lighthouse. There we had a short but magnificent walk on formed paths and a boardwalk with views down to Wineglass Bay and beyond. We watched the rain squalls get closer but got back to the car before it was too bad.

The unanimous decision was then made to head back out and then south to Swansea to find somewhere to stay. We found the Swansea Motor Inn. Barre booked 2 rooms on the main road side of the motel but Marion and i convinced him to hang the expense and take rooms looking right over the bay towards the Hazards on the peninsula. We could just see the outline through the rain but the view is great.

We had a cuppa overlooking the bay then found somewhere for dinner and I found some Elderflower drink! Back to the motel to settle in. The rain and mist are now so thick that we can't even see the other side of the bay anymore.

Wednesday 13 November

Today we woke to rain and more rain. We could not even see half way across the bay. 

We drove to the Bark Mill Bakery for breakfast. A policeman arrived for his breakfast and when asked about road conditions south he said he had just driven it and lowered all the speed limit signs because of the amount of water across the road. Gray (a town to the north of us had 247mm in 24 hours).

As sightseeing would be minimal on such a day we decided to look through the Bark Mill Museum. This was fascinating and well done, showing how tannin was extracted from wattle bark for tanning. There was also a section on the discovery and mapping of Tasmania.

Following the museum visit we filled with fuel then headed south and west towards Sorell crossing raging torrents of flooded rivers and looking out on paddocks covered in water. It rained all the way and was still light rain when we got to Sorell for a pit stop. We continued on to Copping where we bought drinks then on through Dunalley towards Eaglehawk Neck.

We stopped to take a short walk to see the incredible tesselated pavement rock platform. We also had fantastic views south along the Tasman Peninsula. The parking area was opposite the Lufra Hotel so we had lunch there and also booked for the night.