One of several reports in a series covering the Subaru 4WD Club's Tasmania excursion from 17 September to 17 October 1999
Tasmania
4 - 7 October 1999
Days 15 - 18
Danny & Beth - Solo North
Richmond Bridge
Work commitments meant that Beth and I had to head back to the "North Island" a week before the rest of the group. Following the Cascade Brewery tour, we said our farewells in the rain and headed for Richmond, described as Australia’s finest Georgian Village, and famous for its convict bridge built in 1823. Unfortunately, the limited time available meant that we could only do a cursory inspection of the historic town.
After
a quick tour, we began heading east toward the coast and an over night stop as
far north as took our fancy. With the afternoon light failing, and under cool
wet skies, we made good time and reached Swansea, on Great Oyster Bay, before
settling for the night. Enroute we took a quick look at the convict
construction, Spiky Bridge. We were roughly one day ahead of the rest of the
crew but were also trailblazing in the rain. And as it was raining at nightfall,
we decided to pamper ourselves with a real bed (and ensuite), set in old world
charm, at the Oyster Bay Guesthouse. A nice meal, a game of scrabble and port by
the open fire – luxury!
Spiky Bridge
Freycinet NP and Wineglass Bay
Freycinet Granite
Next day, we did a quick tour of Freycinet NP, scaling the seriously steep climb to the lookout overlooking Wineglass Bay. The rain had stopped, but the broken overcast meant that we didn’t see the bay at its picture post card best. Hopefully, it would be brighter for the club members following. We then trekked north through Bicheno, took a short detour into Douglas Apsley NP, and then cut inland through Elephant Pass to St Marys. The view of forest and farmland from Elephant Pass was impressive (as was just about everything else in Tasmania) and served as a pleasant place to have lunch. Next stop was St Marys and then St Helens. Our main task at this stage was to find an auto electrician as it seemed our battery was nearing the end of its natural life. The battery was eventually changed at St Helens, where we had intended to stay for the night, but staying in another caravan park under city lights didn’t enthuse us, so we headed further north. It turned out to be a great choice!
Bay of Fires
I had read about the Bay of Fires in 4x4 Magazine and so decided to head to Ansons Bay, about 45km north of St Helens. On arrival, we discovered there weren’t any places to camp at Ansons Bay, so we headed a little further north, to Deep Creek, near Eddystone Point Lighthouse. It turned out to be the best camping spot we had enjoyed in Tassie. Inbound, I had a probable sighting on a Tassie Devil, which dashed across the road and into the scrub. Next morning, Beth made a positive sighting on another in the same vicinity. Our campsite for the night was at a prepared site beside a big reflecting pool near the creek mouth. The area was grassed and very well maintained by four legged lawn mowers. In the background, surf could be heard breaking on the beach, and other than the lighthouse 3km away, there were no man-made lights to interfere with our view of the Milky Way. As the sun went down, the creatures of the night came out. We hand fed eight wallabies around our tent, and during a night walk up to the lighthouse, Beth got to have her first "in-the-wild" encounter with a wombat. Next day we took a short hike down to the beach to see the red stained rocks, after which that part of the coast is named - "Bay of Fires". Overall, a great place to camp. Don’t miss it when next in Tassie.
Deep Creek
Devil Footprints at Bay of Fires
After Deep Creek, we travelled a little further north along the coast before heading southwest toward Ben Lomond NP and Launceston. The main attraction at Ben Lomond, which is a designated Ski Field, rather than a bonefide NP, is Jacob’s Ladder, a very steep unsealed road that follows a zig-zag path through incredibly broken rocky terrain. The turbo had no problem eating up the hill, but we did stop several times to record the event on film. Again, we had missed the snow by a couple of weeks.
Jacob's Ladder
From there, it was off to Launceston for our last night in Tassie. But unfortunately, we found that city to be less than impressive,. We arrived at the information centre right on knock off and with the front door locked, the staff ignored our pleas for help in finding the caravan park; which we discovered later, was the only caravan park in Launceston. It is located beside a very noisy main road; and the city itself is sprawled out with no particular plan evident. To make matters worse, the town is very poorly signposted and we found it very easy to get lost. But it was only a one-nighter, and early next day we paid the Tamar Knitting Mill a visit on our way out (very worthwhile) and then toured both sides of the Tamar Valley, before heading to Davenport and the Princess for our voyage back across the strait. Needless to say, we found a very worthwhile vineyard along the way – hic!
Before boarding the Princess of Tasmania that afternoon, we had our last meal in Tasmania - back where it all began, at Molly Malone’s Irish Pub – just for old times sake!
Danny Williams SC412
Previous Report - 4 October - Hobart Gourmet Day
Next Report - 7-9 October - Danny & Beth Home Alone
The main group's journey north - Hobart to Bicheno
Jump back to First Report - Brisbane to Tasmania
