One of several reports in a series covering the Subaru 4WD Club's Tasmania excursion from 17 September to 17 October 1999
Tasmania
Days 8 - 15
27 September - 4 October 1999
Strahan to Lake St Clair
Lake St Clair to Port Arthur
Port Arthur Convict Ruins
Port Arthur to Dover
Day Trip to Cockle Creek
Dover to Hobart
Around Hobart
Monday 27 September - Strahan to Lake St Clair
Today’s
trip took us from Strahan on the banks of Macquarie Harbour to Lake St Clair via
the very winding road between Strahan and Queenstown. Danny and Beth left camp
early as they wanted to take the tour of the Mt Lyell underground mine from
Queenstown and the rest of us left later for a more leisurely trip and a later
rendezvous with them after their tour. Unfortunately their plans were thwarted
by insufficient numbers and they had to settle for the less exciting and much
shorter above ground tour. Meanwhile the rest of the group arrived in Queenstown
and set about finding good vantage points for the best views. Matthew and
Vanessa went up in the chairlift on the edge of town while Graham got some work
done on the Liberty. The front left tyre had been wearing down very rapidly on
the outside. A wheel alignment using a computer revealed that the left front
wheel had been pushed back about 5 mm, probably in an accident with the previous
owner. A severely dented rim on the spare supported this theory. The alignment
was adjusted accordingly and seemed to fix the problem (still working well!).
We all set off from Queenstown about 11.00am for the drive to Lake St Clair. 
Lunch stop was at beautiful Nelson Falls reached by a very short walk from the road. The next section of the road provided spectacular views of the mountains south of the Cradle Mountain area and the beauty of Frenchman’s Cap stunned us all. Ralph and Marilyn, Danny and Beth walked closer for a clearer view and reported that the rest of us had missed something special - one for the list for next visit!
The
camping ground at Lake St Clair was very rocky and, coupled with the incredible
wind (quite co-oo-ool), made tent-pitching a real challenge. The tourist centre
was an unusual building, fairly new, constructed of huge logs and walls of glass
providing a wonderful view of the lake and its surrounds. This is a very popular
walking area. The lakeside walk to Platypus Bay was beautiful but cold and
windy.
A
group of large (well-fed) Brush Tailed Possums invaded our camp at dinnertime.
One particularly well developed fellow found a packet of animal food in Marilyn
and Ralph’s car and some others harassed us for the vegetables we were
preparing for dinner. Tame Pademelons were also in abundance.
Tuesday 28 September - Lake St Clair to Port Arthur
We left Derwent Bridge at 11.45am without having the planned boat trip on the lake as the wind was still gale force. Our destination was Port Arthur and after pumping up Matt’s FRHS tyre again (leaking through the bead) and digging out several tent pegs embedded in the rocky ground, we followed the northern bank of the Derwent River, arriving at the Port Arthur camping ground around 4.00pm.
We received a prickly greeting from an Echidna at the gate and after we all
responded politely, we checked in, bought our tickets for the tour of the
convict ruins next day, set up camp and set off for a drive round the area.
Palmer’s Lookout gave us magnificent views to Tasman Island. We were able to
use the Camp Kitchen to prepare dinner and then it was a fairly early night for
us all.
Wednesday 29 September - Port Arthur Convict Ruins
There
is a new Visitors’ and Information Centre at Port Arthur which provided us
with a marvellous introduction to the site and a rich, condensed history of its
establishment and function over the years of its existence. We walked with a
guide who told stories of the days of the convicts for a short while and then
urged us to explore the site on our own. Included in the ticket price was a boat
trip on the bay and around the Isle of the Dead where lie the graves of convicts
(unmarked) and others (marked). That evening, it was time for the Ghost Tour
where Arnold became the lantern carrier as the guide told us stories of all the
ghostly visitors we might be able to meet. Fun was had by all in spite of there
being no ghostly appearances.
Thursday 30 September - Day Trip - Port Arthur to Dover via Mt Wellington
It was time to leave Port Arthur, heading back off the Peninsula and south to Dover along the Huon River, with a brief stop at Mount Wellington in Hobart for lunch. This section was led by Danny, as Ralph and Marilyn left early for Hobart and a repair job on their accelerator. But first we took in all the sights of Tasman Peninsula; Tasman Arch, Devil’s Kitchen’ The Blowhole, Waterfall Bay and Dootown where all the houses have "Doo" in their names ("Just Doo It"; "Doo Nothing"; "Af-2-Doo"; "Gunna Doo"). We caught the most wonderful view of Eaglehawk Neck and the Peninsula from Penzance Bay before detouring west via Dodger’s Ferry. We entered Hobart over the Tasman Bridge, met up with Ralph and Marilyn (eventually!) and drove 1250metres up to the peak of Mount Wellington. The view was absolutely spectacular and we were blessed with the one day in twenty on the mountain that is free of gale force winds, rain and cloud. After photo sessions and lunch we set off, heading south to Dover along the western bank of the Huon River.
What a scenic trip this was: apple and pear trees in full bloom, wonderful boats moored along the banks of the river and interesting old houses. We called in to the Apple Museum near Huonville for a brief visit before settling in at the camping ground at Dover, right opposite the beach. That night many of us feasted on fresh seafood and then it was time for a farewell drink to Vanessa who would leave us next day after our trip to Cockle Creek. As she said, ‘Well, someone has to go back to work to keep the economy alive!’
Friday 1 October - Day Trip to Cockle Creek
We set off to travel the most southerly road in Australia. It was sealed up to the Hastings turnoff and then we were on large, sharp rocks. The Forester received its very first flat tyre but the worst part for Arnold and Pat was having to take everything out of the boot to get to the spare and then repack. We passed through some tiny fishing villages where the locals are obviously quite happy not to suffer the invasion that a better road would bring and then it was one last very ricketty bridge over the clearest water imaginable and we were at Cockle Creek, the most southerly Australian settlement.
This used to be an old whaling station and the oldest resident, Rose, who went there as a bride, still lives there, alone, and visited regularly by the National Park Ranger who brings in supplies and chops her firewood. She told us she hates not being able to do her own chopping but, at ninety-two, thought she’d better let the "young blokes" take over. With satellite TV she was able to give us news we had missed over the previous couple of weeks. The Ranger arrived while we were chatting and she obviously hasn’t lost any of her spirit as she ticked him off for being a few days late!
We’d planned to visit the Lune River/Ida Bay Railway Museum and Scenic Tour on the return journey but discovered that, as it was going to take an hour and a half for the full tour and trip to Deep Hole and back, we wouldn’t be able to fit it in as we also wanted to visit the Hastings Thermal Pool and Caves. When the Thermal Pool turned out to be an unfilled concrete swimming pool and the cave to be not as good as Marapooka, we put the Railway Museum on the list for next trip and set off for a forest drive which looped west then north back towards Geeveston and Huonville. This took us through some beautiful territory and we picnicked on the banks of the Esperance River, a magic spot.
Some of us returned to Dover via Police Point Road which gave us a bird’s eye view of another stretch of the Huon which was the site of salmon and trout farms and a large fishery complex.
Saturday 2 October - Dover to Hobart
Graham’s Liberty turned out to be the second casualty of the Cockle Creek road as it had a flat this morning. With help from the troops the puncture was found and repaired in quick time and we all met in Huonville, did a little shopping at the local Purity (Coles) store and set off down the eastern side of the Huon towards Cygnet to check out the wineries. Once again the orchards were a magnificent sight and a pleasant interlude of wine tastings at Mount Panorama and Cygnet made it another special morning. Arnold and Pat set off ahead of the group to visit the Salamanca Markets in Hobart which are only open on Saturday and they promised to enjoy it for all of us. The rest of the group wanted to see more of the D’Entrecasteaux Channel and the Bruny Islands so we took the scenic route through Kettering, Snug and Margate. Just north-east of Kingston we stopped to check out the Shot Tower, its 250 steps worth the climb for the view of the mouth of the Derwent.
We then headed to Sandy Bay Caravan Park in Hobart, overlooking the Derwent, Tasman Bridge and Wrest Point Casino. The view was spectacular as this was the first day of the sailing season and the harbour was full of yachts in full sail. That night some of us tried our hands at the Casino but the only luck we had was remembering to change our watches after midnight as this was the beginning of daylight saving in Tassie!
For more details on this day's trip see the Dover to Hobart report
Sunday 3 October - Around Hobart
The ‘oldies’ in the group, Graham and Peg, decided to have a day off and waved everyone else away next morning on their trip to Lake Pedder. After driving through the hop-growing area around New Norfolk, it was great to have morning tea at the spectacular Russell Falls (147 metres) on the edge of Mount Field National Park. There were wonderful views from the Gordon River Road during the approach to the huge curved wall of the Gordon Dam. After a very interesting tour of the area round the Gordon Power Station, it was time for lunch at Ted’s Beach. It was a long drive (340kms round trip) and not over yet. We couldn’t leave Hobart without another climb of Mount Wellington, this time at night to see the lights. Once again we were very lucky as the peak was cloud-free, very cold, and the view breathtaking.
For details of the Lake Pedder trip see the Lake Pedder report
Monday 4 October - Chocolate, Beer and Rain
Monday 4 October: Not one member of our group of chocoholics was up late for an 8.00am visit to the Cadbury factory. With all the free samples we ate and the quantities we bought later, it was no wonder that we took a few hours’ break before our next visit - a tour of the Cascade Brewery. Both of these tours were very interesting and fun to do and a great way to spend some time with Danny and Beth before they left the group and headed off to complete the rest of the tour in quick time in order to be back at work in Canberra by the following Monday. That evening, with the rain really set in, the rest of us decided to eat out and after chasing around a very closed town finally found a great meal at yet another Irish Pub; this time at David Boon’s Bar in the city.
For details of the chocolate and beer tastings see the Hobart Gourmet report
Graham & Peg French
Jump to First report - 20 October - Melbourne to Devenport
Previous Report - 21-26 September - Devonport to Strahan
Next Report - 2 October Dover to Hobart
