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Year View| Summary| Highlights| December 2007 (Month View)

Aug ‘07 | Sep ‘07 | Oct ‘07 | Nov ‘07 | Dec ‘07

01.12.2007 – Saturday 1 December – Tasmania

Day

• Bronwen had already packed for Tasmania, but me being myself, I hadn’t, so packed now. Then, with everything neatly packed away ready to go, it occurred to us to weigh the bags, and they came out far too heavy. A quick re-pack, moving everything possible into cabin baggage, or not taking it at all, got the weight down a little.

Afternoon

• I drove up to the train station, dumped Bronwen and the luggage there, drove home, and walked back to the station, catching the train to Roma Street, changing for the airtrain, and catching that to the airport. Thus began our Tasmanian holiday.

5:40pm

• Jetstar’s Airbus A320 departed roughly on time, with Bronwen and I seated in seats 1E and 1F—I asked for extra legroom—but not before we’d had to pay $35 excess baggage, which was actually lenient, it should have been around $50.

9:15pm

• We arrived in Hobart. My first impression was that the airport is very small, and catching the $12.50 bus into the city, that Hobart itself is also very small. Bronwen had prebooked a $60 room at the Hollydene Inn. We went for a short wander around the city, and then slept.

02.12.2007 – Sunday 2 December – Hobart

Morning

• Both Bronwen and I slept in. I woke feeling seedy. We went for a walk around Hobart, looking for food, but nothing was open. It was fairly hot and tiring. Around lunchtime, as things gradually opened, we had nachos at a café on the main mall.

1pm

• It’s quite hot, though I suppose not very hot compared to what Brisbane would be at this time of year. Bronwen and I retired back to our room.

2:20pm

• Off for a walk. Checked out a local beach, imaginatively named Sandy Beach. The water is quite cold—I don’t think I’ll be swimming. We also found a Woolworths, so there’s some civilisation around here, though the city still seems very small.

9pm

• Wandered around Hobart. Bought a milkshake. It has been quite hot, only getting cooler now, though it didn’t get dark until 8:30. Had a nice curry that Bronwen made for dinner.

11pm

• Back from our walk, and off to bed. There weren’t many people around, but there were still several restaurants open—later than they’d normally be in Brisbane, particularly on a Sunday night.

Comment by io – Saturday 12 April 2008, 1:39 PM

  The ubiquitous milkshake makes materializes in Hobart!

03.12.2007 – Monday 3 December – Port Arthur

7:30am

• Got up. Packed. Turns out it’s raining. Walked to Lo-Cost Auto Rental, where we picked up our Hyundai Accent Auto, 2005 model. We’d booked a manual, but turns out they had an auto instead—which normally cost a little more, so can’t complain. I drove to Mount Wellington, through thick fog, which lifted just as we got to the top. We couldn’t have asked for better timing really. It was very cold, and didn’t take long before the fog began blowing back—something between sleet and cloud, cold and coming sideways. The car wouldn’t unlock with its remote key, due to the transmission towers on the mountain. The car radio also failed to work. Bronwen drove back to Lo-Cost Auto Rental, who changed a fuse, fixing the radio.

1:30pm

• I picked up an American tourist from the Pickled Frog—who Bronwen had met back in Brisbane—and we drove to Port Arthur, where we had chips for lunch and left our American friend. Bronwen and I went for a walk to Remarkable Caves and along the spectacularly cliffy coast, before getting a $20 campsite at Port Arthur Caravan Park.

Evening

• After setting up the tent, we went for another walk, had Bronwen’s curry for dinner, and wished it hadn’t again begun raining. A Launceston school is having some kind of camp here, so it’s very busy, with school kids all over the place.

Night

• The tent leaks from the corner of each window somehow. Fortunately it didn’t rain enough to be a big problem, though the two corners of the bed did get wet. The bed also went down a bit—fortunately not enough to really matter. Perhaps buying the cheapest inflatable air mattress and K-Mart tent wasn’t the way to go.

04.12.2007 – Tuesday 4 December – Coles Bay

Morning

• We woke late, packed out still-wet leaky tent, and Bronwen drove slowly north along the scenic East coast of Tasmania. We visited Dootown, where all the houses are named various “doo”-related names—proof enough that while Tasmanians don’t seem to have two heads, they’re certainly not normal—the Blowholes, Devil’s Kitchen, Tasman Arch, and Tessellated Pavement, before taking a gravel forestry road through Sandspit Forestry Reserve. We somehow managed to have to turn 180 degrees to keep going the right way.

Afternoon

• We drove through Orford, Triabunna, Swansea, and on to Coles Bay. We stopped a few times to sightsee, seeing an old convict bridge, several sections of scenic coastline, and some boring historic streets that Bronwen insisted were interesting.

6:15pm

• By the time we got to Coles Bay (which has mosquitoes, it turns out) it was too late to go walking, and we were fortunate to get a $20 campsite at the Iluka Holiday Centre, as it normally closes at 6. Bronwen made the first of many marvellous pastas, having somehow managed to disappear and return with half a kilo of good parmesan. Exactly how she managed this I’m not sure, as we only just managed to get a campsite, let alone fine foods.

Night

• After dinner, Bronwen and I wandered along the scenic beach, before going to bed, ignoring the noisy kids nearby. So far it hasn’t rained.

05.12.2007 – Wednesday 5 December – Bay of Fires

Morning

• Bronwen and I walked the two and a half hour walk to Wineglass Bay—said by many to be the most scenic bay in Tasmania—via a lookout perched on the side of a mountain. Bronwen had thoughtfully made sandwiches, which we ate on the beach. I knew there was a reason she’d come.

Afternoon

• I drove to Cosy Corner Beach, in the Bay of Fires. It’s a free camping area, though quite windy and cold. We’ve done 585 kilometres so far. We stopped off at a beach on the way here, and again at Saint Helens, which has the dubious distinction of having the largest supermarket on the East Coast. It’s a Supa-IGA, about the size of a small Brisbane supermarket. There are some nice rocks out at St. Helens’ Point though.
  Wallabies and wombats are abundant and quite tame. There’s even a cinema at Saint Helens. The council here is called Break O’Day Council. It’s all quite backwards, in a scenic, pleasant, rustic British—but worrying—kind of way.

Evening

• After a lovely pasta, Bronwen and I spent a while looking around Cosy Corner Beach. It’s the sort of rugged secluded coast some people dream of. Bronwen cleverly opened the car door onto a rock, denting it slightly—though I’m glad to say the rock was fine.

06.12.2007 – Thursday 6 December – Launceston

Morning

• Cornflakes and muesli for breakfast. Pack tent. Bronwen drives to Saint Helens again for water, some supplies from the supermarket—and of course, a chocolate milk for me.
  Bronwen drove to the Pyengana Cheese Factory, at Pyengana in case you hadn’t figured that out, and onto Saint Columba Falls. It rained gently most of the way. Carrying my tripod and a couple of thousand dollars worth of camera gear underneath my $2 emergency poncho (we went all-out on the equipment for this holiday) seems like something I’m going to have to get good at. I drove back down the mountain from the falls.

Afternoon

• Bronwen drove to Derby, where we had Bronwen sandwiches at a park. We stopped again at Sideling Range, where we had planned to climb a mountain, but thick fog had rolled in and visibility had dropped to well below a hundred metres, and being bitterly cold and wet, we decided we should abandon our mountain ascent and remain alive.

Evening

• Bronwen drove us into Launceston, where we got temporarily lost looking for the Treasure Island Caravan Park, which cost us $22 for a tent site for two. From there, we walked into Launceston, had a look around, and a curry from a nearby Indian restaurant. It wasn’t as good as Halim’s back in Brisbane.

Night

• We walked up Cataract Gorge—which really is spectacularly scenic, lit up colourfully at night, and seems to be a popular haunt for the local youth—before walking back to the caravan park and having a shower at last. We’ve put 805 kilometres on the clock, just a little over our 800 kilometre (200 kilometres a day) limit.

Comment by io – Tuesday 13 May 2008, 9:42 AM

  Yep that colour is vibrant brilliance.

07.12.2007 – Friday 7 December – Devonport

Morning

• We woke (fortunately), and packed up the tent just as it began raining. I drove into Launceston, where we bought the cheapest umbrellas we could find—at a place called Chickenfeed—and had a look at King’s Park, its monkeys, and went for a walk across a suspension bridge at Cataract Gorge, before driving to Devonport. Excitingly, we came across a normal-sized Woolworths on the outskirts of Launceston, which cheered me up no end. Perhaps there’s hope for this island after all. We stopped, of course, and I bought flavoured milk.

Afternoon

• We found a gale-force-wind-attracting lookout, complete with driving rain, Batman Bridge, and Beaconsfield—which looks just like it looked on every Australian news report while the miners were stuck underground there. Bronwen and I spent a fascinating few hours in its museum. The mine is almost unbelievably vast.
  I then drove on to Latrobe, had a milkshake (caramel, seeing you asked), and set up tent at Mersey Bluff Caravan Park, in one of the most fantastic spots for a camp I’ve seen—overlooking an isolated beach, on a grassy expanse surrounded by shrubbery.

Night

• Nice hot chips for dinner were followed by a wander around Devonport, and I’m now eating chocolate. We’ve driven just under a thousand kilometres, and there’s a power point in the kitchen so I can charge my camera battery.

08.12.2007 – Saturday 8 December – Stanley

• We’re at Stanley, with 1112 kilometres down. We had a look at a lighthouse at Devonport before Bronwen drove to Leven Canyon—which is by far the most impressive canyon I’ve ever seen. Breathtaking comes to mind. I wish I knew how to capture its grandeur, and sheer depth, but my photography just doesn’t do it justice.

Afternoon

• Being late for a tour through Gunns Plains Caves, I drove from Leven Canyon on to Gunns Plains, as fast as I dared.

1:33pm

• Arriving just a few minutes late, we literally caught the tour preparing to go underground. Rushing, we managed to join them, and it was well worth it—with cave after spectacular cave unfolding before our slightly clammy and damp selves.

Evening

• Exiting troll-like from our caves, Bronwen drove us on to Stanley, where we got a powered campsite for $22—being the same cost as unpowered for some reason—at Stanley Caravan Park. In contrast to last night’s campsite, this is boringly neat, orderly and well-maintained. We walked up the “nut”, wandered down a rocky beach on dusk, snuck behind the sensitive penguin rookery warning signs, and sat with a penguin. We also bought two litres of Neapolitan ice cream, which we have to eat prior to leaving the caravan park fridge tomorrow—this perhaps wasn’t a good idea.

Night

• I charged up my camera battery, and the air mattress went down. Evil mattress.

09.12.2007 – Sunday 9 December – Rosebery

Day

• We woke to find that our air mattress had let a lot of its air out. After managing to finish our remaining litre and a half of ice cream, and forgetting to get our wine out of the fridge, I drove to Roseberry via Wynyard, where we restocked at Woolworths. We had planned to stop at Cradle Mountain Campgrounds and go for a walk in the morning, but icy rain and reports of snow changed our mind and we got a nice, large $60 room at the Top Pub in Rosebery instead.
  On the way, we stopped at Port Latta, Rocky Cape National Park, Hellyer River, Table Cape Lookout, and accidentally came across the world’s largest tin mine just outside Waratah.

Night

• It’s still raining and quite cold. We’ve put 1454 kilometres on our hire car, and nice Bronwen pasta in our bellies. Hurrah for miraculously obtained parmesan.

10.12.2007 – Monday 10 December – Strahan

Morning

• Bronwen drove to Murchison Dam, the first in a series of Dams—and a cold looking dam it was—and then on to Montezuma Falls, one of the highest in the state. We managed to complete a three hour walk along a scenic old tramway through spectacular forest and past an old adit without it raining, though it tried a few times.

Afternoon

• We continued on to Zeehan, where we weren’t game to drive through an old tunnel just wider than the car, then on to Strahan (pronounced “straw-n”, in a very Queensland sort of way) via a lookout, where we paid $25 for the least inspiring campsite we’ve had so far, complete with mosquitoes, at West Strahan Caravan Park.

Night

• We bought chips for dinner, and drove down to the beach to watch the sun set over the ocean. Unfortunately it rained on and off, but we did get to go on a free sheerwater (muttonbird) tour, which was surprisingly educating and interesting.

Trivia

• We’re up to 1604 kilometres.

11.12.2007 – Tuesday 11 December – Lake Saint Clair

Morning

• Awoke, with the mattress again flat, and the tent promptly snapped a main pole. It’s still raining on and off too. The west coast sucks. I drove out to Macquarie Head (Devil’s Gates), then checked in Strahan for tents, tarps, mattresses, poles, or other things someone with a broken tent, broken mattress, and stuck in the land of three-headed-cousins while it rains, would want. Unfortunately, nothing in Strahan sold anything useful.

Later Morning

• I drove on to Lake Saint Clair, mostly through rain, stopping for a lovely little rainforest/waterfall walk where we had lunch, and at Queenstown, where we got a tarp but no rope or poles. All the rope had been bought by Parks and Wildlife for catching wombats, apparently. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to believe that or not, but the man in the hardware seemed serious enough. I bought bricklayer’s string instead, in a lovely fluorescent pink.

Evening

• Camping at Lake Saint Clair is $10 per person, with a six-minute shower token included. It’s still raining. We’ve set up the tent with the broken part of the pole removed, and the tarp over the top. Hopefully that survives the night, and ideally the rest of the trip. In other exciting news, Telstra’s CDMA tower here is an hour wrong, presumably it doesn’t know about daylight savings, and we’ve now driven 1785 kilometres.

12.12.2007 – Wednesday 12 December – Mount Rufus

Morning

• We wake up after a fairly uncomfortable and broken sleep, but feeling rested. Sleeping without a mattress really isn’t ideal, particularly when the ground is quite cold. After breakfast, we talk to the rangers about the weather, before heading for a hike up Mount Rufus. The weather looked ominous, building up as we walked, and getting stuck on a mountain here in inclement weather can be dangerous, but it only sprinkled lightly on us on the way back. It was a sweaty and exerting climb of around three hours, with quite a steep ascent, and a less physically exerting four hour walk down the other side, via Lake Shadow, a lot through very impressive carefully laid walkways. It was interesting in that we passed several different types of vegetation.

Evening

• My feet and legs, particularly ankles, are now a bit tender.

Night

• Our washing is now done, for only $2, and is drying in the apparently (but probably not intentionally) free dryer. We’ve eaten Bronwen pasta. It has rained, but not too heavily, and so far looks to be holding off.

Aug ‘07 | Sep ‘07 | Oct ‘07 | Nov ‘07 | Dec ‘07

Year View| Summary| Highlights| December 2007 (Month View)