Montagu Campground to Bruny Island

23 October 2014 - after a great two nights at Montagu Campground we packed up under grey skies and headed east through Smithton to Wynyard. 

Hellyer Gorge

We like Wynyard because they sell fresh Tasmanian scallops that had just been thawed today - figure that one out. I also like Wynyard because they sell fresh Cold and Flu tablets at their chemists. We also picked up some fresh wine and whisky too. Fresh coffee and brunch were served at a delightful cafe next to the chemist - so we had some of that too. After packing away all the fresh produce in the van we fuelled up and headed south stopping off at the very pretty Hellyer Gorge for a quick stroll.

View from van - Waratah

Our day's journey ended at, the now tiny, old tin mining town of Waratah which is seven kilometres off the main road to Zeehan and Queenstown. The tin mine closed down in 1947, the cafe closed this year, the grocery store closed some time ago, the "roadhouse" doesn't sell diesel and the only pub in town is now up for sale. The camping ground is located behind the council / post office / library building. Tourism is keeping the place alive - just. 

Waratah is worth visiting though. My first impression, albeit through flu veiled eyes, was to keep going.

Waratah Falls

 Julie could see the beauty of the place so we decided to stay a night - which turned out to be two. We paid our camping fees at the council building and "picked any site we liked" which was difficult because we had so many to choose from as only two were taken at that point.  It ended up being a delightful place.

On the day we arrived the weather was perfect, in fact it was warm, sunny and still. We wandered the town looking at the preserved tin mining relics including water wheels and mining carts, then wandered the lakes around which the town was built, looked at the numerous ducks on the shores and ran from the attacking plovers. I hate plovers!

Walk around lake in Waratah (van site in background)

Looking for platypus

Platypus are said to lurk in the lakes too so that engaged us for a while. No platypus were seen though. I think they were scared off by the attacking plovers. For those still taking notes - the washing machine and dryer are free and the camp showers and toilets are all-in-one ensuite style and even have wall heaters!  All this for $25 per night for a powered site. 

walking in the  150 year old Water Race

Scary tree

Philosopher waterfall

Day two in Waratah and yes I still have a cold and thanks for asking. Also the weather turned drizzly and overcast - a good day for a walk or two. First was Philosopher Waterfall named after the bloke (John "Philosopher" Smith) who discovered tin in the area in 1871. This was a lovely walk, again through spectacular fern, beech and other plant forest, that took us along the 150 year old water race that powered the tin ore stampers and then on to the waterfall itself. Beautiful. The many many steps down to the waterfall, and back up, were the best we've experienced, given we've become somewhat expert at judging these things for their non-slip qualities, gradient and tread height!

After returning to town we did all the remaining historic tin mining relic walks, museum and looked around at the perfectly preserved and working tin stamper mill/battery - the last to work in the area. A short walk at the back of the town took us to a lookout above the closed Bischoff Mine (closed in 1947).

Abandoned Bischoff Mine

Platypus spotting kept us entertained in the late afternoon.  There were many ducks paddling and fish jumping however we didn't see any platypus so had dinner and went back out with a torch and finally saw one swimming around in the moonlight.

No smoking sign for vegetarians

It's 25 October and that can mean only one thing - it's today's date. Given today's date we decided it was time to move on. The obvious destination from Waratah would be Strahan, but we have been there before and done everything we wanted to do, so we decided to head to Queenstown. Before you even stop in Queenstown you have done everything. The van park was good, in fact there was only one other camper staying there (everyone else is in Strahan) and only a few of the cabins were booked. 

Queenstown is an area that just doesn't seem to fit in Tasmania. Over a century of extensive and ruthless mining activity has left the landscape scarred. The surrounding hills are denuded of any meaningful vegetation, not helped by the fact that there is now no topsoil, only exposed rock. Most of the houses are neglected "mine owned" dwellings that meander along the polluted (bright orange) creek that flows along the valley floor. The public buildings are well maintained and the steam train and its sheds even more so. Queenstown is a place to have visited and not to visit. 

Iron Blow Lookout - Queenstown

Public Art in Queentown

On arrival the weather was good, so in the afternoon we did the local lookouts, which do really expose the environmental damage done to the place by mining, and the public art near the centre of town that depicts the mining history of the region.

Next day we headed back up north to do the beautiful three hour walk to Montezuma Falls. The track was a little hazardous after the wild winds in recent days.

walk to Montezuma Falls - wooden tram bridge from the 1890's

Walk to Montezuma Falls - inside an abandoned tin mine

The track follows a disused mining tramway that still has exposed sections of the old timber sleepers and bridges across creeks. The track took us to the 109 metre falls and a very scary swing bridge that crosses the creek that flows from the falls. 

Montezuma falls from the swingbridge

We then set off into Zeehan for a bit of lunch. Zeehan seems to have bought the cheaper town design and feel than Queenstown did. It does have plants growing in its surrounding hills though.  A drive through the centre of town was like riding slowly on horseback into one of the wild west towns in mid-America in the 1850's. Whatever townsfolk there were looked at you suspiciously as you went by. 

Swing bridge at Montezuma Falls

Montezuma Falls

On the outskirts of town we found a cafe that had fresh paint and signs - so it had to be good. Expecting to hear the piano music stop playing and the chink of stirrups and everyone stop to look at us, we parted the 'clear' plastic fly stopper strips and entered the establishment. There was a local sitting at the best table who turned out to be a friend visiting the lady owner of the establishment. We were served by the very friendly owner and nothing was a problem. Salad rolls for lunch were good.

The Spray Tunnel is a 100 metre long keyhole shaped tunnel 3 metres high and just 2.2 metres wide that was built in 1899 by the Spray Silver Mine to get their ore out. When I was here many years ago you could drive through it Once inside you could not open your car doors. For a bit of excitement we set off to drive through it and to wander around the mining relics at the far end. Today however, for safety reasons, bollards bar its entrance and you have to walk through it. What are they protecting - the cars? Anyway we walked through it and wandered around the old mine site for a bit then returned home.

Entrance to Spray Tunnel, Zeehan

Inside Spray Tunnel, Zeehan

27 October - for the last couple of days the weather forecast for the region we are in and across the ranges to the east was bad. We are heading east today. This morning's latest forecasts confirmed that we would not be doing the planned bush camps at Lake St Clair or Mount Field NP, nor would we be staying in Derwent Bridge or Hamilton.  We had short-listed five options and they just kept reducing until only one option was left - New Norfolk.  

The forecast included storms, hail, gale force winds, snow to 600 metres, temperatures to -2 degrees, and several warnings including a bushwalkers warning. We left Queenstown in the rain and climbed the steep road to its east. The road traverses the Collingwood Range just south of Cradle Mountain and we did a lot of this in fog and rain. We did stop at Nelson Falls for a look and again at Donaghy's Wilderness Lookout which we didn't look at because it was raining and foggy. 

Sample of The Wall carvings

The highlight of the drive was the stop just outside Derwent Bridge at The Wall - a 100 metre long wall of hand carved timber panels 3 metres high. It looks to be 75% complete but is already a masterpiece. Sculptured by Greg Duncan for the last 9 years it is expected to be finished by the end of 2015. Photographs are prohibited so there are none in this Blog other than the photo from a promotional card. The carvings tell the story - in Greg's opinion - of the settlement of Tasmania, the hardship endured and the impact on the fauna.  It's a self-funded art project which is very unusual in its scale, location and funding model.

Outside The Wall

The weather continued to deteriorate and get colder. Each of our stops saw our little gas heater get turned on to bring the inside van temperature up to a habitable level. We arrived at New Norfolk Van Park and Julie again negotiated a great site with views to the Derwent River through my favourite weeping willow trees.

New Norfolk river walk

The weather was sunny enough and calm enough to spend time outside and to go for a walk along the river in the afternoon. Then the weather from the west caught up with us.

Overnight the wind came up and the temperature went down. The next morning heavy rain squalls greeted us followed by sunny patches then rain again.  Combined with a maximum temperature of just 8 degrees and strong winds the day was spent keeping warm and dodging rain. Meanwhile up in Brisbane the temperature was 36 degrees so we hear!

29 October - after a day of rest we were keen to get out and about and explore the local area.

Russell Falls, Mt Field NP

Horseshoe Falls, Mt Field NP

Russell Falls ... again

Mount Field National Park is 30 klm up the road and was our target for the day, whatever the weather. There is a great 3 hour circuit walk that took us to the impressive Russell Falls, its relative Horseshoe Falls further upstream, through the Tall Trees walk with all its tall trees and then on to Lady Barron Falls. We rewarded ourselves with a nice lunch at the National Park Cafe and then continued up the hill to the top of Mount Field NP at around 1100 metres. Near the top the gravel road and surrounding countryside became snow covered. At the end of the road we parked the car in snow and did Pandani Grove walk around Lake Dobson. Snow covered the track, the surrounding trees and bushes. We walked for about 45 minutes in a winter wonderland alone except for the pademelons that had left their prints in the snow.

Driving up to Lake Dobson, Mt Field NP

Arriving in the snow covered carpark

Walk around Lake Dobson, Mt Field NP

A great day was had by all those in our car. Returning home we turned on the heater and sat inside the van because the wind was still raging and the temperature hadn't reached above 12 degrees all day.

What better way to celebrate 30 October than by putting our car and van on a ferry and setting sail to Bruny Island. The weather remained cold however the winds had abated to around 20-30 kph. We had a look at a couple of bush camps as we travelled to South Bruny but they were soggy and windswept. We ended up at Adventure Bay Van Park and had the choice of casual sites amongst the many permanent vans. The park is well protected from the winds and has a lovely beach across the road. 

Cloudy Bay, South Bruny Island

With the weather reasonably good, if you like clouds, dodging only a few showers and moderate winds, we set off after lunch across the middle of the island to Cloudy Bay in the south.

The track was dirt and very soggy from the recent rains and made for some enjoyable off road driving. Our mission, because we accepted it, was to check out a bush camp for a possible two night stay later in the week. We discovered the bush camp, well the drive to the bush camp, which was down a broken concrete ramp onto a wild and windswept beach that led to a headland in the distance that was being battered by the winds from the South Pole, seaspray, rain and whatever else the Great Southern Ocean had for in store it. It didn't seem to meet our criteria for an enjoyable camping experience so we crossed it off our list of places to go on Bruny Island.

Very narrow isthmus

Standing on the lookout on the very narrow isthmus

North and South Bruny Islands are connected by a very narrow sandy isthmus.

On one side is the calm Isthmus Bay (go figure!) and road and on the other side is the wild Tasman Sea. A great viewing platform high up on the sand dunes provides full 360 views of the area if you can reach it in the high winds. We did so then realising it was time to turn on the heater, we headed home to do just that. 

Cape Bruny Lighthouse

The thing to do when you come to Bruny Island (or Tasmania for that matter) is the fantastic Bruny Island Boat Cruise. The next morning we woke, checked the forecast, looked at the weather outside and decided today was the day - cruise day. The boats leave from the jetty just 2 klm south of us and so, with great excitement, I phoned up to book a spot for the three hour tour. Everyone else in Tasmania had read the same brochures but, unlike us, had phoned and booked a spot the previous day. The result of all these phone calls was that the boats were booked out. We took the available spots for the next day - the reason they were available because the weather was forecast to deteriorate and to continue to do so for the next couple of days. 

Walk along Adventure Beach in front of our caravan park

Plan B for today ended up being Plan A from tomorrow. Off we set to visit Cape Bruny Lighthouse and do the walk on Labillardiere Peninsula . Both were lovely but really our hearts were not in it - we were pining for our boat ride.

Next day the weather gods shone on us and we did the cruise. What a cruise it is!

A three hour tour

On boats that travel at speeds up to 50 knots and with seats second from the front with no protection except for the seat belts to hold us in, we set off south along the coast.

280 metre high cliffs

The boat travels just metres from the giant kelp covered shores with vertical 280 metre high rock cliffs above us. We visited numerous caves and went inside one with 2 metre swells lifting us up and down just metres from the walls. A visit to a blowhole saw all those in the front of the boat, particularly those with seats second from the front, get drowned in seawater. Feeling invigorated by the saltwater shower, the boat then added significant wind chill factor to the already biting wind blowing up from Antarctica as we sped off to our next highlight of the trip.

One of many caves/arches on the boat trip

Getting drenched at the Blowhole

That next highlight was speeding between two rock stacks at full pelt followed by a wild hard turn to look back at the spectacular landscapes emerging out of the ocean. For good measure we did the whole 'speeding through the rock stack' thing again before we headed further south. The skipper decided that the four metre rolling swells, 40 knot winds (yep, 40 knot) and cross-chop waves were safe enough for the 10 minute high speed dash across from the Tasman Sea to The Friars in the Southern Ocean.  Nothing between us and Antarctica!

The Friars are where a couple of hundred male fur seals call home. The dash across to them was frighteningly exhilarating. For the whole trip across I was madly trying to remember what to do 'in the unlikely event that the boat sinks'. When a jellyfish landed in my lap I thought the oxygen masks had dropped and I slammed the thing on my face and sucked in just a little too hard.

The seals were there in great numbers all lying on the rocks covered in white stuff that comes out of the other end from where the fish go in. Several of them frollicked in the water around the boat and all of them were completely unconcerned by our presence. I saw three of them laughing at the guy in the second row with bits of jellyfish in his hair.

Male fur seals at The Friars

Next we were off chasing seabirds located further out to sea. We were now heading home with the wind and swell behind us. The skipper seemed to have a great time sideshooting along the huge swells. Soon we came across some albatross and then several hundred mutton birds all skimming the waters looking for a feed.

Mutton birds feeding

Heading back to the relative calm of Bruny Island the skipper did a great job running behind the showers that were now becoming more frequent. As we neared home we were hit by a heavy shower that washed all the salt water and jellyfish off us. All we could do was pull the poncho hood and our caps down over our faces to stop the pelting rain from stinging us and ride out the shower.

Anything to keep the rain and wind out

The three hour trip was wonderful. We both thoroughly recommend it. Just make sure you wear every piece of warm clothing you have with you plus the red full length waterproof ponchos that the crew provide for the trip.

The Friar returning home

We planned to do a walk around the headland this afternoon after the boat ride but the weather deteriorated - plus it took us an hour to get our core body temperatures back to normal. Now when I say the weather deteriorated it means that the wind squalls were around 80+ kph, pea sized hail fell every 30-40 minutes followed by heavy rain from 4:30pm that afternoon until 7am the next morning. One particularly heavy hail fall happened before sunrise and was starting to worry us as the noise in the van was deafening. Fortunately there was no damage to car or van. 

Hail on our mat from one of many hail showers

It's 2 November and today we packed up and left Bruny Island. Our time on Bruny Island was interesting in many ways, as was this part of our trip around Tasmania that has taken us from the very top of NW Tasmania to the southern tip of Bruny Island. We have had some wild weather at times, always it has been cold but we have seen and done some wonderful things. A little more sun and a lot less rain and wind would be good but what would I have to write about if that was the case.

Catching the ferry from  Bruny Island back to the mainland of Tasmania

We are both well, happy and really enjoying ourselves.

See you next time :)

Jeff and Julie