Saturday 11 February 2017

A Week (and a bit) In Eastern Tasmania

Meandering Northwards





Our friends Max and Prue from Brisbane have been in Tasmania since New Year's Day. They spent most of January travelling around the island with family, then Dianne and I had a week of cycling in Victoria in the week overlapping January/February, but we finally managed to catch up and organise a little trip up the east coast together. We were keen to share with them some hidden pleasures and other more well-known treats.

After waiting patiently for a large skip to be removed out the back so we could get our camper off the shed (in-joke for Ultimate camper people) we headed off. First stop was at Qew Orchards to pick up some fresh apricots for our journey. Our destination for the first couple of nights was Bicheno but we wanted to share with Max and Prue the joys of Milton Vineyard along the way. Here's a photo of Prue and me enjoying a view of the vineyard from the deck ...

On the deck at Milton Vineyard

We happen to like all of Milton's wines, but it seemed like a good day to share a bottle of their Rosé. Here's a photo of Prue and Max. If you look closely, along with the vines and dam reflected in the window behind you can see a glass of Rosé ...

Enjoying the good life in Tasmania
Max and Prue are old hands at the outback touring game and, along with Graeme and Liz (another experienced off-roading couple), they babysat Di and me on a trip to Cape York a few years ago. We wanted to make sure they didn't leave Tasmania without sampling some of the delights that make our part of the world so special.

Digression: Limoncello alert! This is especially for those who have come to know and love the intoxicating drink made in southern Italy. (I use the work "intoxicating" advisedly. Limoncello could well be refreshing, but only if you stop after one, possibly two shots. Otherwise ... well, you get the idea.) On our cycling trip last year, limoncello became quite a favourite of rather a large number of our fellow riders. They didn't always front up the next morning bright-eyed and bushy-tailed! Anyway, at Milton we discovered that a Tasmanian distillery is now making its own version ...


Possibly refreshing ... if you're careful!
We didn't partake or purchase a bottle on this particular occasion, but if we get visits from limoncello enthusiasts ...

The next stop was at the Devil's Corner Cellar Door, this time just for the scenery. (It would have been nice to enjoy  another bottle of wine and some of the tasty treats on offer but we still had a bit of driving to do.) Here's the view looking across at the Hazards in Freycinet National Park ...

Looking across to the Hazards from Devil's Corner

There are at least three other cellar door operations along this section of coast, so there are plenty of opportunities to wander slowly northwards, sampling and assessing the virtues of each. However, on this day we were happy to get to Bicheno and set up our campers.

Sampling Freycinet National Park

For those of you who don't know Freycinet, let's just say that, along with Cradle Mountain, it is one of the jewels of mainstream Tasmanian tourism. Dianne and I most like to visit the park in the winter these days. Reason? It has become such a mecca that in the summer time it is just so full of people. In fact, rangers have to act as parking lot attendants to ensure people aren't clogging up the entrances - and that they have paid their park fees. 

This day, the two of us were keen to get to the carpark early and zip up Mount Amos before meeting Max and Prue for some more sedate sight-seeing. Not really a track as such, the route to the top of Mt Amos involves a fair bit of scrambling over rock slabs, which are becoming a little trickier in places as the rock surface gets increasingly polished in places. The views from the top are spectacular. Here's a photo of Di, who is striking a pose reminiscent of our granddaughter who often adopts a similar stance when drinking from her water bladder ...

Di at the top of Mt Amos

Di made a nice study of rock and vegetation ... 

Rock garden

... and I liked this view down onto Wineglass Bay and the isthmus ...

Wineglass Bay and beyond

A similar view can be had from the lookout on the track that leads down to Wineglass Bay, but chances are,  if you start reasonably early you can have this view to yourself at least for a little while, whereas there is someone at the lookout pretty much all time these days.

After our quick little jaunt up the peak we met Prue and Max in Coles Bay for a coffee and a bit of extra breakfast. Next it was off to Sleepy Bay ...




... and then the Lighthouse so Max and Prue could enjoy the excellent walkway ...



These are two of the hotspots that many of the visitors to Freycinet take in. We wanted to show our friends something off the beaten track, so we decided to take them over a four-wheel drive track to the southern end of Friendly Beaches. Di jumped out of the car a couple of times to check stream crossings, and while she did so she took a couple of short videos of Max's BRT (big red truck) doing its thing...



The drive was fun and the beach beautiful ...

blue sky      white sand       aquamarine water       red granite

A Day of Serpentine Diversions

We thought it would be good for Max and Prue to see a bit of Tasmania that few mainland visitors - and not even many Tasmanians - ever explore. There is an old coach road that leads from the east coast highway through to Avoca in the valley of the South Esk River which travels through the old tin mining town of Royal George. To get to it we had to head back south for a little ways. Di and I had been through it once before, and we also thought that it would be interesting to drive up to Storys Creek, another old mining town under the southern slopes of Ben Lomond. It was an interesting drive but unfortunately the overcast skies meant that light wasn't great for photos. However, the views and camping potential at Storys Creek, with a track leading up to the crags of Stacks Bluff means it is a place Di and I have filed away for a future visit.

Our friends were keen to investigate an iconic attraction that they'd heard about: Mt Elephant Pancakes so we diverted southeast at St Marys and up to Elephant Pass. I took a photo of them especially for Neville, a mutual friend who told them they mustn't leave Tasmania with dropping by for a pancake. So Nev, here they are ...



(The dog isn't with us but seemed to want to be in the photo. Who were we to deny him?)

That box ticked, we continued back down to the coast and drove north to Diana's Basin where we thought we might stop for the night. After a short bit of exploration we snuggled into a nice sheltered free campsite, complete with a neat little stack of firewood. 

Before I go on, here's a graphic which should explain the sub-title for the day's excursion ...


(We could've gone more directly, but where's the fun in that?)


It was still only mid-afternoon when we arrived so after putting up the campers we wandered down to the mouth of the lagoon and onto the beach. It was a gorgeous place to be with interesting things to see close up ...






... and a wonderful wider view under a threatening sky ...



Back to camp, get the fire going so we could have a deep bed of good hot coals. Prue had a small lamb roast to pop into the camp oven along with some root vegetables. Di's bit was an apricot crumble. I split the wood and Max tended the fire and poured the Shiraz. A truly wonderful evening with great friends, topped off when we were treated to an amazing double rainbow ...


What's a little shower when you get to see something like this?

A Short Drive to Weldborough

If you're driving north from St Helens and it's blueberries are still on the bushes it's well worth stopping in at the farm about 5 kilometres out of town and picking your own. That's what we did. Fabulous. Not sure if Max and Prue are quite converted yet, but they've never had blueberry pie! After this diversion we got on the road and almost immediately off it again when we peeked in at the quirky Shop in the Bush. Di and I hadn't ever stopped there and Prue was a bit interested so in we went. The place is full of antique jewellery, tools and other stuff, including some rare books or hard-to-find books. We bought a little souvenir for someone special and Prue picked up a couple of outback travel and history books.

It's only a short hop to Weldborough, where there is nice camping out behind the pub. We arrived early, checked in and set up camp so we could get out and explore the surrounding area.

Unfortunately the people running the pub (new owners, we suspect) have doubled the price for camping since we were last there a year ago. It seems that now most people are bypassing the place and camping for free in a very pleasant campsite just down the road in Derby, which has become a mecca for mountain-biking. That town is thriving while Weldborough is almost dead. Putting up the price of camping seems to have really backfired: the menu was also disappointing compared to the last time we were there, so it's hard to imagine that we'll be back in the foreseeable future. Perhaps being so close to attractions like the Pyengana Dairy, Blue Tier, the Pub in the Paddock and St Columba Falls have made the owners assume they'd always have a steady trade, but they seem to be very much mistaken. What a pity. It was a vibrant and enjoyable place the last time were there; not so this time. We got to three of the four places I've listed above, but with a low ceiling and rain threatening we decided to give Blue Tier a miss this time.

Home to Hobart

After four days enjoyable days on the road we were starting to suffer from bike withdrawal, so we farewelled Max and Prue the next morning. An early start and we were back home by midday and out in the garden harvesting a bit of produce ...



After a light lunch it was onto the bikes for pleasant spin to Granton and back to work out the kinks. Along the way Di looked over her shoulder at Mt Wellington and couldn't resist stopping and taking this photo ...



After getting a taste, we decided to tour up the Derwent Valley and over the hills to Brighton the next day for a very pleasant 100 kilometres. After doing some jobs around the house the following morning, Di went to the gym while I had a more strenuous workout on the bike. Along the way I stopped to take this photo ...



We really are lucky to live here in Tasmania where there is so much good stuff to do in the outdoors. We're currently very passionate about our cycling, but have spent a lot of time hiking and climbing on our wonderful island.

When Di heard the forecast for yesterday's weather she proposed a gentle ride south to Cygnet. It started out that way, and we cruised up over the shoulder of the mountain and down the other side to Longley, where I took this photo of the hotel (which has been there since 1861 and is thriving) ...


... but there's no keeping a good woman down when she's got a taste for it. We plodded into a bit of a headwind until we turned north, then gradually built our speed coming home. Di ended up with quite a number of personal records. I ended up with sore legs.

This morning we had another ride, and this time it was a very gentle cruise. Di is happy because she has now ridden 300 kilometres for the week. (I'm happy because my legs aren't as sore as they were this morning.) In the afternoon we pretended to be grown-ups. Di did some housework and the shopping while I worked in the garden. For dinner we had a fabulous ratatouille that Di made. We don't have any capsicums ready yet, but she used aubergine, zucchini, tomatoes and garlic grown in our garden. Here's a photo of my plate ...



It will be a while before we have enough of our own olives to make it worthwhile harvesting them; onions aren't really worth growing and we haven't quite figured out the chicken coop thing. There's no way we could ever be self-sufficient in fruit and veg, but it sure is rewarding - and delicious! - to put so much of our own stuff on the table. And so goes another great week (and a bit) in Eastern Tasmania.