We left a very wet Sydney hoping for fine weather in Tassie, but arrived in Launceston airport to walk across the tarmac in drizzle.
Erika met us in the baggage area and then radioed for the Bloomfields
to collect us. This huge rigg pulled up, blocked the whole pick up bay
and we piled in. Kids in the boot with Maddi and I sat between Ella and Kai.
We travelled to Cradle Mountain where we set up camp. We
pitched our tent under the van awning as there was not much room, and there was
a great camp kitchen so the space under the awning was not needed.
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| Cradle Mountain camp with our brief sunshine |
It was cold and wet so the camp kitchen was our place of refuge with
a roaring fire and space for the kids to run around. A great place for us all
to fit for a meal with toasted marshmallows for desert.
There was lots of wildlife in the caravan park - very fat possums,
wallabies with joeys and Maddi spotted a huge wombat late at night just outside
the window of the kitchen.
We awoke to a very small patch of blue sky, but lots of drizzly
rain. The kids went exploring, looking for wallabies while we made lunch and
got set for an adventure to Cradle Mountain.
We caught the shuttle bus to Dove Lake at the foot of Cradle
Mountain and walked around to the old boat shed and on to Lake Lilla. We
walked up to Wombat Pool for a late lunch with a pesky crow who liked the idea
of our cheese over the dead frogs he was already carrying.
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| Tim, Jo and Anna at Dove Lake with Kai front and centre |
The kids walked really well with Tim and Ella in the lead for much
of the day, Anna and Maddi playing games along the way and Kai fluctuating from
striding out, to flying over puddles.
We continued on, back down the steps we had climbed to Wombat Pool
and round to large areas of button grass on our way to Ronny Creek. We saw a mother wombat and her baby as we
walked along the boardwalk. It was very cute, and not worried about us at
all.
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| Back row: Jo, Erika, Thea, Tig and Ella Middle row: Maddi and Anna Front row: Kai and Tim |
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| Mum and baby wombat taking an afternoon stroll |
As it had been drizzling on and off during the day, we were glad to
get back to the camp kitchen late in the afternoon, get the fire going again,
and cook pikelets for afternoon tea.
Some of us snuck out late at night to visit the Tasmanian Devil Sanctuary.
This is a conservation facility with a captive breeding program aimed at
ensuring the genetic diversity of the animals with the intention of
reintroduction into the wild the Tassie Devil, Eastern Quoll and Spotted-tail
Quoll.
It was amazing to see these creatures up close, touch a Tassie Devil
and see them fed. The are not pack animals so it was each for themselves
rather than sharing a meal. They are not territorial so any fights are
over breeding rights rather than a food. We also saw the spotted quoll,
which is closely related to the Tassie Devil also being a predator and non pack
animal. The spotted tailed quoll can grow to larger than the Tassie
Devil. The numbers in the wild were depleted by a significant bounty on
the animals beginning in the 1830's. This bounty was on the devil, quoll
and Tassie tiger to eradicate them from the sheep farms. For over a century they were trapped and
poisoned and became very rare. It was
not until the 1940’s that the Tassie Devil was protected by law, after the
extinction of the Tassie Tiger.
Time to pack up the next day and move on. With everything
stowed just after 10, we headed away from Cradle Mountain and on the road to
the West Coast. More games of I-spy and other games to keep the children
entertained. Anna and Maddi made up a clapping song as the car and van
travelled slowly up and down the hills.
We travelled past huge craggy mountains as we drove up and down
through rainforest and open country to reach Rosebury where the children were
very glad for a park to play in and lunch.
Our destination for the next couple of days was Strahan on Macquarie
Harbour but we had a sand dune to find first. It was huge and quite a
climb to the top. Tig and the kids went straight up the 50m dune while
Thea, Erika and I chose the more gentle way up. There were vast dunes
with the ocean in the far distance.
The children were so glad to be out of the car that they set off on
an expedition of their own. When we finally caught up with them after
chasing them all through the dunes, we explained we were not going to the
water, but just going to climb and slide down the dunes on a piece of
cardboard. Lessons learnt about staying in sight of an adult, the adults
having an unexpected run through the dunes, the kids had a great time sliding
down dunes closer to where we were meant to be. That over, we headed for the
car and all went back down the huge dune the kids had first climbed. No
broken bones, but pockets full of sand. Kai got tipped upside down to
empty his pockets and everyone brushed off as much as possible.
Onto Strahan to check out the local Tourist office for the low down
on where to stay and what to do. The two caravan parks in town are owned
by the same people, so that choice was easy. We also booked on a river
cruise for the next day then headed to the caravan park to get set up. We
had a great grassy spot near the play equipment, camp kitchen and amenities.
Thea again cooked a lovely meal and as it was a lovely evening we sat
outside at their big table. Time to de-sand the kids in the shower ready
for bed. Tig, Tim and I took a quick
time out to view the beautiful sun set over the bay.
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| Tim and a Strahan sunset |
Tassie weather is very changeable. After a lovely afternoon,
we had wind and rain during the night. The tent withstood the onslaught,
but if I was to travel Tassie again, a van would be better.
An early start the next morning to get on the boat by 8.30.
Mormor walked to the dock with Thea, Maddi, and Anna, while the rest
of us followed in the car. Kai cheered as we passed them on the way.
The boat was large and not too crowded so we were able to spread
out.
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| Thea taking photos up on deck |
We went out of Macquarie Harbour through "Hells Gates"
into the Roaring Forties. The Roaring
Forties is the name given to the strong westerly winds found in the Southern
Hemisphere between the latitudes of 40 and 49 degrees. These winds are stronger in the south because
there is little land below the 40th parallel south.
It was extremely windy outside the heads and we heard lots of
stories of ships being wrecked trying to get in. Hells Gates is a narrow
passage way into the harbour between the southern head and an island in the
middle of the heads, the channel to the north of the island is shallow.
It was called Hells Gates by the convicts who went through there on their
way to Sarah Island as they felt they were entering Hell.
There are still cottages inhabited on the southern side of the
entrance whose only supplies come by the water.
The Macquarie Harbour has many high-tech fish farms producing Atlantic
Salmon and Ocean Trout for local, national and international markets. The
farms consist of a number of large netted areas where the young fish are fed
and grown. Salmonids are not native to Tasmania and have all been
introduced.
Our next stop was Sarah Island. A fascinating place with
amazing history in its short life as a secondary penal colony. We had an
amazing tour guide who made the history come alive as she told us how the first
people there cut all the trees down but then had to build a 12 metre high fence
to stop the winds so they could grow vegetables. She told us of Grummet
Island where the worst offenders were sent, of the 6 cell solitary confinement
jail house built but seldom used, of the cat of nine tails used frequently.
She told of many escapes including the one who escaped past Frenchman’s
Cap and on to Hobart, to be recaptured and then put to work in the surveyors
department. She also told of the corruption and contraband trade that had
prisoners in Hobart wanting to reoffend so they could be sent there. She also told us of the skillful boat
building enterprise that was established there.
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| The kids finding out all about Sarah Island |
For more info visit www.roundearth.com.au and www.parks.tas.gov.au
Back on the boat we had a sumptuous lunch, including salmon and
Tasmanian cheeses as we continued up river at a slow pace into the Franklin World
Heritage area. We stopped in horseshoe bend to walk in the forest and see
the huge 2000 year old Huon Pine which had fallen, but saplings are growing
from its roots. We also saw myrtles, leatherwood and Sassafras growing in
the rainforest where they have some rain 300 days a year.
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| Maddi and Anna exploring Heritage Landing on the Gordon River |
The return journey was straight back down the river and a time to
relax, enjoy the views. The kids had a great time visiting the captain and standing
on the front deck in the wind.
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| Maddi, Ella and Tim enjoying the wind |
Dinner was fish and chips from town followed by a play on the beach
as the sun does not set until after 8.30.
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| Ella, Maddi, Tim, Anna and Kai |
Thea called Tanzania today for Jake's birthday where they were having
beans and bananas for dinner as a birthday treat. There was much singing and chatting via Skype
on the iPad.
It was a lovely day with hardly a spot of rain, not a lot of
sunshine, but we have concluded that the sun only comes out in 5 minute bursts
in Tasmania. We were even able to dry our
washing in the warm breeze.
So as not to feel too sure of ourselves as far as the weather was
concerned, it rained during the night, well actually it poured. Anna, Tim
and I were in a 3 man tent and I had opened the window flaps as it was quite warm
when we went to bed. Fortunately the rain didn’t come in.
We packed up another wet tent and put it in the caravan bathroom for
the day.
The caravan park had turned into a swamp overnight. Tig
collected cardboard from the local cafe/bottle shop and we laid this down in
front of the wheels for him to drive over and protect the grass. The kids
had a great time picking up the pieces driven over and running them to the
front of the van wheels.
We had a windy and undulating drive to Queenstown in the sporadic
rain. Past barren hills to a mining town to stock up on fruit and veges.
We thought we'd have lunch in the park as it was sunny when we came into
town, but by the time we had done the shopping it was hailing, so we opted for
lunch in the van. By the time we had walked back to the van after the
sudden storm stopped just as suddenly, the sun came out and we put our own
picnic bench on the foot path and ate lunch there.
From Queenstown we were heading to Lake St Claire to see the other
end of the Overland track. Again rainy and windy when we stopped we did
have about 5 minutes of sun to walk to the jetty and have a look around.
We had decided not to camp there, so we drove on to a recommended free
camping spot at Lake Brady. A beautiful
spot, but we arrived in the rain (again). The sun made us a rainbow while still
raining, but the weather did clear enough for us to just about eat dinner
outside with a lovely view of the lake.
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| Lake Brady sunshine dinner but still freezing |
It was a freezing cold night of 6 degrees when we went to bed in the
rain. It rained a lot of the night and we packed up the tent between showers of
rain in the morning.
Just as we were setting off it started to snow and the temperature
had fallen to just 3 degrees. It was a beautiful sight and we were glad
to be on our way in the warm car. And this was the first day of Summer!
This area has a series of lakes, canals and hydro electric plants
generating electricity so we had quite a lot of steep up and downs today.
We headed to Mt Field National Park and as we got closer we could
see snow on the top on the mountains. Ella wanted to go and play in it.
Our campsite was close to the river and we fitted the van, camper
van and tent into the site nicely. The kids explored, finding a baby
echidna and pademelons.
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| Tig relaxing at Mt Field National Park |
After lunch we set off to find Russell Falls and some huge trees in
the beautiful weather. We also saw more echidnas and pademelons many
with joeys in their pouches or feeding nearby.
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| Off for our walk to Russell Falls |
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| One of the many echidnas |
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| Maddi, Tim and Anna |
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| Pademelon with joey |
We had a lovely afternoon around the campsite with sunshine and
beautiful weather by the banks of the river. We ate dinner outside
surrounded by the local wildlife.
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| Pancake breakfast in the camp kitchen |
After packing up the next morning we drove up to Mt Field, one of Tasmania’s
ski fields. We could see patches of snow up the top, but the road is
gated so we could not drive all the way up. We walked past a beautiful
alpine lake and the kids ran up the hill past a wombat.
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| Kai testing the alpine lake water temperature |
On the way back down we stopped at a group of very basic huts where
there was snow on the ground and the kids had a great time throwing snow at the
walls, making a mini snowman and then throwing snow at Tig’s car.
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| Snowman fun |
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| The car having a snow shower |
Back down to the campsite to collect the van and head off to Hobart
in time for a Cadbury factory tour. We drove through some beautiful
countryside of raspberry farms, dairying, sheep and pasture.
We made the factory at the time suggested, only to find out that
actually they were not doing the tours today as they were remodeling the area.
We made the most of the factory shop and enjoyed real hot chocolates made
with chocolate shavings.
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| Real hot chocolates at the Cadbury Factory |
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| Cadbury Chocolate Truck |
We searched the internet and found a caravan park for the night.
I was charged with the task of getting us there and with the modern
technology of the iPad and electronic maps. However, I did not master the
technology very well and Tig and Erika had to do some swift lane changes to keep
heading in the right direction.
We set up a lovely camp in more sunshine - this is how I thought it
would be. The kids played stuck in the
mud while the adults enjoyed a relax before dinner at the restaurant at the
caravan park.
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| Relaxing in the sunshine at Hobart before dinner |
The sun was shining again the next day so many loads of Bloomfield
washing was done while I packed up our bags for the plane trip home. We drove closer to town and caught the bus
into Salamanca Markets for the day. The
variety was amazing from wood work to gems, food to fashion, toys and
plants. We experienced the fickle
Tasmanian weather again, with 2 showers during the day.
At the end of the day it was time to head back to the caravan park,
collect our bags and fly home. We had a
wonderful week with the Bloomfields and feel very privileged to have been able
to share a week of their adventure.
Words and photos by Jo Kitchener
Photo captions by Thea
Words and photos by Jo Kitchener
Photo captions by Thea
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