We drove into Hobart to browse in some shops and try to find camp chairs – unsuccessful.
Refuelled Truck – 76cpl – at Claremont.
John watched the One Day cricket on TV. I read and sewed.
The second duck family visits regularly for fresh water and bread handouts. She is now down to seven babies and seems to be doing a rather better job of looking after them than the first one did.
Tea was squid rings, marinated in lemon and garlic, with salad.
We have decided to stay on here, rather than “waste” two days in packing, moving, setting up. Also do not want to rush our Mt Field experience.
So, off to the Office I go, to extend our booking, yet again. This time, I am charged $16 a night, with no free seventh ones. The fees here seem to depend on which staff member one encounters, and what mood they are in!
It was a pleasant, warm day. Too nice to be idled away.
We drove south, to Geeveston, via the Southern Outlet Road. The first part of the drive was through timbered country, but then we emerged into farmland.
Crossed the wide Huon River at Huonville. We stopped in this town to check out the Mitre 10 hardware store, for camp chairs. John bought some special paint to do the underside of the van, and the A frame. I bought a book on garden pools.
After this, the road mostly followed the increasingly wide Huon River and there were some really lovely outlooks across the river. Really pretty country around here.
At Geeveston, we went to the timber and forest centre, which was excellent, far exceeding our expectations. We looked at the displays on timber and forest use and at some great creations in timber – bowls, tables, boxes. The Tasmanian timbers are so unique and beautiful.
John bought $6 worth of offcuts; we were able to choose them. Only time will tell if they are any good. Places like this are so tempting for anyone interested in woodcraft.
There was a wood turner working in the display area and we watched him turning little vases from Huon pine. One of his productions had some small brown knot marks on, which I really liked, so I bought the vase – for $22. He took us into the workroom and we talked for half an hour. He gives lessons in wood turning and so we are going to take classes with him, later in the year, when we are staying down at Dover, as we plan to do. He seems very good and was demonstrating at the Melbourne Wood Show. He has only been doing wood turning for seven years. He has an excellent lathe and seeing it in action has confirmed in John’s mind that it is the one he wants, having seen it before at the Melbourne Wood Show.
After a couple of hours at the timber centre, we headed back to Hobart. Bought some cherries from a farm stall on the way, and ate them as we went. We drove 143kms.
This morning, we wondered if it is worth going to all the hassle of packing up and moving out, for just six days. John is interested in watching the cricket, and there is no guarantee we would have power – or a TV signal – out at Mt Field. We could maybe stay here and do some more day trips on non-cricket days?
We went shopping, after breakfast, for food and wine for tonight.
About 11am, M phoned, from the top of Mt Wellington, to confirm tonight’s arrangements. But, I think, mainly because he was up there and wanted to tell someone!
We drove into the city. Went to BBQ’s Galore, looking for some camp chairs like the ones we have, which would be handy to have for visitors. No luck.
Met M and H at the Hobart Tower Motel, at 1.30, where they are staying with their sports car group.
I returned to the van with M in his Austin Healey – rather more quickly than I was comfortable with! H travelled more sedately with John.
M took John for a spin around the local area.
We all sat and talked for the rest of the afternoon. It was a lovely, warm afternoon, so was great to sit outside.
We had an early tea, as M does not have great lights on the sports car, so we wanted to make sure he could leave in daylight, if he wished.
The car occasioned much interest at the caravan park!
Our meal was gazpacho and rolls, salmon cutlets, potato and salad, followed by strawberries, raspberries and Tasmanian ice cream. All very good and I am sure they enjoyed it, as some of the meals they have had on the trip have been rather indifferent, they said.
They are leaving home in late February for a trip up the Centre, having to be in Darwin by late April, before travelling through WA. So we may meet up somewhere in those parts.
We left Hobart at 10.15am to drive to Oatlands to meet John’s nephew I and wife and daughter. We only had about 75kms to drive.
It was a warm day, and a pleasant drive up there, although the Midlands country is quite dry.
Reached Oatlands at 11.30. We parked outside our meeting point at the Post Office, then walked to the Information Centre, then on to a cafe to see what it was like.
Oatlands has lots of lovely old buildings, most of them built from stone. The settlement dates from the early 1800’s. The town would be a great resource for anyone interested in the colonial architecture of those times. Some of the buildings have been looked after/ restored, others not.
Oatlands street scene
One of the old features is the Callington Mill, a flour mill that dates from the 1830’s. It is unusual in being driven by a windmill apparatus – there was no river here to make a mill race. I guess that, on calm days, no flour was ground here!
Callington Mill & associated buildings. The main wind sails were removed when the mill closed, about 1900
Oatlands is clearly not the tourist attraction that Ross or Richmond are – there seemed to be very few tourists or visitors around at all. Oatlands does not have a river or an old bridge – maybe that explains it? But it does have a good sized lake – Lake Dulverton – that they are battling to keep filled, via a bore. And associated ducks! We can’t get away from ducks!
There was only the one cafe open – and it was not too good either.
Apparently there are moves underway to restore the Callington Mill to working order. If this eventuates, then Oatlands would have a significant tourist attraction and more associated businesses might be viable.
The main sails were mounted on the bracing at the right
I and family arrived a bit after 12. We wandered about, explored the Mill, ate our packed lunch, wandered some more. It was all pleasant enough – I hadn’t met these members of John’s family before.
We departed mid-afternoon. It was hot enough to have Truck’s air-con on for a while on the way back. We bought some fruits and vegies at a stall on the way home.
Back at camp, the latest mother duck was down to seven babies.
I made gazpacho for tomorrow’s dinner. It involved much hand chopping of ingredients into little pieces and was quite tedious. John watched cricket on TV.
Tea was soup, salads, stewed apricots.
We discussed going to Mt Field, next week, for six days, before having to come back here for the next round of visitors.
John’s nephew M phoned early: they get into Hobart, from Queenstown, on Sunday and will come here for a meal on Monday.
We did the shopping after breakfast; it did not take long. Refuelled at Claremont – 76cpl.
We had a morning visit from another mother duck, with ten really young ducklings. I fed them bread in a dish of water, which they really hoed into. We should not really “assist” in this way, but I feel so sorry for them. I wonder how long this lot will last? She sat under our van with them, for a while.
After lunch, we drove through the city and down to Kingston. Pleasant drive, via Sandy Bay Road, and the Channel Highway, following the coast.
At Kingston, we did the Alum Cliffs Walk, which took us two hours and was a good hit-out.
Drove back via the same way we’d come – the view is different going the other way!
Back at the van, I made vegie and barley soup, and stewed some of the apricots that were going very soft.
Tea was soup, lamb chops, potato slices, salad.
As soon as he got up, John phoned his nephew and arranged to meet them at Oatlands, on Sunday.
We should have been leaving here on Sunday, so I booked us in for another two nights – was charged $14 a night.
The tourism man came at about 10.30 and stayed nearly three hours. It was an interesting visit. He seemed to find our views and experiences of use, but was already aware of some of the issues, such as poor quality caravan parks and the cost of bringing caravans on the ferry. He said they find the TT Line difficult to deal with. I don’t know that much will change, but at least we have tried to do our bit to represent our growing segment of the travelling public.
After a late lunch, we drove into the city, to the Service Tasmania Centre, to pick up the sticker for our annual National Park Pass. As always, the place was interesting, and tempting. While John had an internet session there, I browsed and bought maps and bushwalk books – spent $65.
We got back to Glenorchy at 4.45pm, to pick up the mail, and I was able to collect my photos too. John mailed off some tourist information to daughter R.
Back at the van, read the mail. There was a good batch of Xmas cards in it. Was a card from my Darwin friend, A, saying he and wife V will shortly be in Tasmania for ten days. Bit of a contrast for them! I phoned him and we arranged to meet in Hobart on the 18th. It is proving very hard to get away from here!
When I mentioned to John about going out to buy chips, we had a lengthy “discussion”, with John insisting that it was only Thursday and I was ahead of myself! He eventually ceded the point, and then was cross because he had missed out on the pre-dinner beer that he allows himself on Fridays.
While he went to get the chips, I cooked the pike that I’d caught at Nubeena, for him. He said it was very nice. I had a very good Scotch fillet steak.
There are many ducks that hang around the caravan park, and beg food as they can. Between the rough demands of the drakes, and mothering duties, the female ducks have a tough life. One had been bringing around a brood of twelve young. Today, it was distressing to see them being attacked by seagulls. They were about a week old. She could not defend so many, and seemed a pretty dumb duck, to boot. By late in the day, she only had six left. I now hate seagulls.
John said he was feeling better and that we could tackle something a little more ambitious today. So I packed a picnic lunch and we headed off driving up the Derwent Valley, on the highway, through New Norfolk.
The first stop was at Plenty, at the Salmon Ponds. Despite the name, this is principally a trout hatchery. Dating from the 1860’s, it is the oldest trout hatchery in the southern hemisphere, having its origins in the nostalgia of settlers for the familiar flora and fauna of Britain. There, salmon fishing was a popular pastime, so there was a wish to stock the colonial streams.
In the 1860’s some live salmon and a few trout eggs were successfully transported and the Plenty Salmon Ponds date from then. It was expected that the salmon hatched here would migrate as usual, to sea, then return to the place of their hatching, as is normal. But they had other ideas, so that experiment did not work. However, the few trout eggs hatched and the offspring established themselves very successfully in Tasmanian waterways, so the place became a trout hatchery, eventually supplying trout for stocking of streams over much of Australia and New Zealand.
Grand gardens were established, in the English style, around the trout ponds.
Old World gardens and one of the trout ponds
It cost us $5 and $3.75 for entry. John got an “older person’s” discount! Since he was not yet 60, he wasn’t sure whether to be pleased or insulted!
The visit here was absolutely fascinating and worth every cent. We each bought a 20cent container of fish food, from a dispensing machine. This provided us with great entertainment for over an hour!
Buying a container of pellets to feed the trout
We were able to walk the paths alongside the ponds and feed huge trout, both rainbow and brown, albino trout – easy to see – and salmon. They do hatch some of the latter now too. These really jumped ferociously out of the water to take the food.
Albino trout
Spent some time browsing in the excellent trout fishing museum, housed in what was the house of the first superintendent of the Ponds, built in 1865.
We drove on further west, to Mt Field National Park. On the way, John had an empty log truck sit right behind us, partially pulled out and just about touching our back corner, trying to push John over so he could pass. It was a two lane road, but the lanes were not all that wide. It was not a pleasant experience – our first encounter with the notorious Tasmanian timber jinker drivers!
There is quite a little settlement at what is called National Park, at the base of the range, where the National Parks headquarters are. It is a popular place, being the start point for the fairly short walk to the iconic Russell Falls.
We ate lunch in the car park there, then set out for a walk. Our first goal was Russell Falls, then we went on to Horseshoe Falls. This first part of the track was quite busy with other day trippers. We are not really used to sharing our walks with numbers of other people!
Russell Falls
Horseshoe Falls
We continued on the medium grade, two hour circuit track to Lady Barron Falls and then back around to the car park. This section really sorted out the walkers and was much quieter! It was very pleasant walking through the forest, with lots of man ferns beside the track, which followed a creek for much of the way.
By the Lady Barron Falls circuit track
All three sets of falls were beautiful, with a reasonable amount of water flowing.
Lady Barron Falls
Massive swamp gum by the track
On the way back to the car park where we’d left Truck, we took a detour through the campground. It looked a very pleasant area. It was very busy, but should be less crowded by the time we can come here, so hope we will be able to find a site then.
Drove back to Hobart, the way we’d come. Drove 149kms today.
We got back just too late to catch the Post Office before closing.
We had a phone message from a man from Tourism Tasmania – a researcher – and phoned him back. He wanted to come and see John tomorrow, because he was interested in talking to experienced caravanners! Us? This is in response to the letter John sent about our reactions to Tasmanian facilities for nomads like us. Or rather, lack thereof.
There was also a message from John’s nephew I – he and family are on a trip over here.
Tea was an omelette and potato slices.
Phoned K who assured John the mail had been sent, as asked. We had a pleasant chat.
This was an enjoyable day. Really enjoyed the forest walking.
Today the weather was slightly more pleasant.
We have now been travelling for two years!
John’s stomach was improving, but still not right; more Imodium.
Chatted for a while with two couples from neighbouring vans who are from the Launceston area. They recommended the caravan park at Legana if we are visiting Launceston. one lot gave us their card and said to phone them if we do stay at Legana, which is where they live. Very friendly of them.
After a light lunch, we drove to Glenorchy, so John could do his internet thing. It did not work properly, so he was quite frustrated by that.
I returned my library books, mostly unread.
We drove to the city and to Sandy Bay to suss out the caravan park there, for when R visits. It was located more centrally for her to visit main city attractions. However, we did not think it suitable for us as the sites were very small and it seemed poorly drained – always of significance in these parts! It is in a very scenic part of town, though.
We went to Officeworks for John to get some printing paper – he thinks he might make us some “business” cards. It seems that more people are travelling with these – could be handy. We also priced their colour copy service for our next lot of Xmas cards – it might be a lot easier to get them printed for us!
John took the big torch to Black and Decker, for repair, but they could not fix the blown fluoro tube.
We went to A&R to see if the book ordered for me, before Xmas, was in – no. We used V’s Xmas book voucher to buy “Solomon’s Song” for John; he likes Bryce Courtenay books. I resisted buying the book on Hobart’s walks, since we expect to be leaving soon, and John is still not fit for much walking. We had just done enough exercise for him, around the shops!
Decided not to go walking around the docks again, which had been an idea of John’s, but to go for a drive instead. The hilly country up behind the northern suburbs was attractive, the other day, so we decided to go back there.
We drove up through Collinsvale the same way we had gone on Sunday, then took the Collins Cap road. Collins Cap and Collins Bonnet are peaks to the west. Thought this might be an interesting road. But we turned around when the narrow road became dirt. Signage is poor in these parts and I was worried that I would navigate us to very lost!
From back in Collinsvale, took the Glenlusk and then the Molesworth roads – fairly narrow and winding, but sealed – and with signs! From Molesworth, drove on through Malbina to New Norfolk. Between Molesworth and Malbina, had seen the other end of the Collins Cap road and realized that it was a through road, so we turned around at New Norfolk and took that. It began as sealed, but not for long, but was alright to drive, though very narrow and winding. For much of the way it was quite high up, following ridgelines, and so there were some excellent vistas down into valleys and for quite long distances. It is surprisingly rugged country up there, but very pretty. There were some very isolated, run down, feral seeming settlements we passed. Eventually came out at old familiar Collinsvale, the way we had already been twice! Drove back to the van, having driven 95kms.
It had warmed up through the day. We had even gotten a bit hot, when walking around the streets of Hobart.
We got back too late for me to make soup, so opened a can of celery soup. I poached a chicken breast for John to have with some potato. I had tinned tuna with mine.
After tea, John read and did some computer time. I wrote up the diary, and read.
After the lovely weather for much of yesterday, the threatened rain did come in, and today was really cold, wet and windy – one of the worst weather days we’ve had in Tasmania! How quickly it changed! We needed the fan heater on for much of the day.
John was still feeling very poorly. He was resistant to the idea that his woes might be due to something he ate at the Taste of Tasmania. Apparently, there has been a gastric bug doing the rounds of southern Tasmania for a few weeks, so maybe he came by that. However, since I am fine, I subscribe to the first theory!
We drove to Glenorchy shops to return an unused video to the library. He had borrowed it to check if our machine was working, but hadn’t gotten round to doing so. He booked internet time for 1.30pm tomorrow. That is an awkward time because it cuts right across our day.
I cashed in out Tattslotto tickets – got back $82 in total. Not bad.
I put two films in for processing, including one from the automatic camera, that has been holding up my photo filing for some time. I try to put photos in the album in the order that events happened, and since I use the SLR camera mostly, this can happen. The photos will not be ready until late Thursday, as they are very busy after the holiday period.
We did not spend long away from the van, as John did not want to miss the cricket.
I started John on Imodium tablets at lunchtime. Might cut down the frequency of trips up the hill!
At some point, when next door turned on something electrical, the combination of that with our heater, jug and TV, caused the power to fail on the pole. The manager came and moved our lead to a different pole and that fixed the problem, it seemed.
Another light tea was called for: sweet potato soup, then a small amount of pasta mixed with some cooked peas, corn and zucchini.
John was definitely ill. He had a very upset stomach. I decided that my diagnosis was confirmed! He spent the day lying on the bed, watching cricket – the final Test was on in Sydney.
I did the washing, as it was a beautiful hot day, and quite windy. It was one of the nicest weather days we’d had, to date, in Tasmania.
I read through the afternoon. Drove to Claremont for papers, this morning.
By 4pm, there were signs of storms coming, but the washing had gotten dry by then, and been picked in.
Tea was another very light meal: sweet potato soup; a few pieces of boiled potato for John and some mashed potato for me.
This Adventurous Age 