This Adventurous Age

Adventures travelling and working around Australia.

Author Archives: wendyviney


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1999 Travels November 15

MONDAY 15 NOVEMBER   ST HELENS TO COLES BAY   120kms

Today’s was a picturesque drive following  the coast. The road was rather narrow in places and John did not get much chance to look at the scenery we travelled through. Again, we were passing through areas that cried out for us to linger and explore!

We stopped at Bicheno to buy a paper and a focaccia bread for lunch.

Turned off the Tasman Highway to go into Coles Bay, the township by the Freycinet National Park. This was going to be a place we spent some time at, before the cricket intervened!

Booked into the Iluka Caravan Park – $12.50 for a powered site. It was not a very attractive caravan park, but was adequate. We were able to stay hitched up.

John was told as we booked in that TV reception is poor, here, but he spent ages fiddling with the TV aerial. Then he thought he would go fishing – the beach and some rocks were virtually over the road.

I went for a long walk. Followed the shoreline around, had a look at the “centre” of town, walked around to the National Park entrance and had a look at the campground there. I decided we were better off where we were – what I saw of the campground was not very attractive.

The scenery across the bay to The Hazards was spectacular. It is the scenery and walking in the National Park that makes this place so popular.

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The Hazards

When I got back it turned out that John did not go fishing, after all – he couldn’t be bothered getting out the gear – but he’d been for a walk, too.

Tea was soup, asparagus frittata, salad, and strawberries. We love the strawberries we have been buying from farm gate stalls – really tasty.

11-15-1999 to coles bay.JPG


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1999 Travels November 14

SUNDAY 14 NOVEMBER   BRIDPORT TO ST HELENS   152kms

We had to do a full pack up this morning, and got away about 10am.

We decided to take the Tomahawk Road and go through Gladstone and on to the coast at Ansons Bay. As far as we could tell in advance, this route would avoid the steep and winding mountainous terrain of the main road to St Helens, although much of it was unsealed.

We refuelled at Bridport – 85cpl.

We stopped at the farm gate to buy some more bunches of asparagus.

The gravel sections of road were good at the start, but deteriorated for a while to being rather soft and loose – but not enough to give us any problems. The section through Gladstone was sealed.

It was a varied drive, quite of lot of it through the sort of coastal scrub you get on grey sandy soils, but some through farmland, and some through more forested country. At some points there were blue mountains in the distance. There was almost no other traffic on the roads.

Gladstone was tiny – far smaller than I’d expected. A couple of people in the streets there looked surprised to see a caravan and turned and stared at us!

We detoured into the hamlet of Ansons Bay and ate our lunch by a sea inlet there. It is mostly made up of lots of shacks, from the little we saw.

I found it rather frustrating to be rushing through this area – had hoped to spend some time camped somewhere on the coast north of St Helens. We might get back up here later in the trip, with luck.

We got to St Helens mid-afternoon. The night on a powered site at St Helens Caravan Park cost $15. We were able to leave the rig hitched up.

After basic set up for overnight, we went for a ride on the bikes, down into the town – the park was up on a hill – and around the waterfront. It looked an attractive town – I would like to have a longer stay here. The exercise of the 6.5km ride was welcome, even though it was very windy.

Tea was soup, cold lamb and mash, followed by strawberries.

11-14-1999 to st helens.JPG


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1999 Travels November 13

SATURDAY 13 NOVEMBER     BRIDPORT

I walked to the shops in the morning and bought the paper, then sat outside in slightly warm sunshine, reading it.

John went off to bowls after an early lunch. It was “social” bowls – except it wasn’t very social as there was only one other player! However, he enjoyed himself.

I went for a long walk around the town, which I enjoyed.

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Once was a jetty

I made potato soup and cooked a lamb roast dinner. We had strawberries after.

The week at Bridport had been really enjoyable – lovely and laid back. I would have liked to stay longer. However, John had discovered that a Test cricket match was to be played in Hobart soon, and he really wanted to go to it! So, the original plan of dawdling down the east coast, before the holiday period, and summer crowds, were abandoned.

11-12-1999 dusk light bridport.jpg


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1999 Travels November 12

FRIDAY 12 NOVEMBER     BRIDPORT

The weather was not particularly pleasant today – cold, chilly wind, grey.

We drove to Scottsdale to do a grocery shop.

John then went fishing again in the late morning – no luck.

After lunch went for a walk, down to the boat mooring area in the Brid River mouth in the middle of town. We looked at the fishing boats tied up there and at some boat building that was going on. It was quite a long walk there and back.

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Orange lichens – often found on seaside rocks in Tasmania

Tea was bought fish and chips, which were quite good.

It was a really windy night.


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1999 Travels November 11

THURSDAY 11 NOVEMBER     BRIDPORT

We woke up at 9am to sunshine, blue sky with a few clouds.

After breakfast, John rotated the Truck front wheels with the two spare wheels.

I walked to the shops and bought rolls for lunch, then packed some salad to fill them, when we were ready to eat, later.

We left Bridport about midday, thinking we might visit Sideling Lookout or Mt Barrow or Cypress Falls, then decided to visit the Lavender Farm at Bridestowe Estate, instead. Our time was limited, as John wanted to go to bowls practice at 4pm at Bridport.

We drove to Scottsdale where we needed to visit a bank. Looked in real estate agents’ windows, out of curiosity – prices in these parts seem fair.

It was a bit of a roundabout route to get to the Lavender Farm from Scottsdale.

An immigrant family in the 1920’s brought French lavender seeds with them and began the crop in this area, so it is an old established operation. The French lavender is the one that is of great value in the perfume industry. The shop at the farm was interesting. I bought some oils, incense and postcards. Unfortunately, the lavender is not in flower yet – it would be spectacular when it is. We watched a video about it.

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The Bridestowe Lavender Farm

Ended up eating our lunch rolls very late, like 2pm, because we couldn’t find a place to stop for lunch, on the narrow, winding roads. We probably should have just eaten in the car park at the Lavender Farm! John eventually pulled over at a road corner, in front of a fire station, and I put the filling in his so he could eat it going along. I ate mine unfilled as we went.

We got back to Bridport about 3pm, which gave John time for an hour’s fishing, before going to bowls. All he caught was a toadfish.

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I walked to the shops and went to the Post Office – there was mail for us.

There were some rain showers in the late afternoon, which gave some really pretty light effects on the bay and an interesting sunset.

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Sunlight on the jetty ruins

John came back happy from bowls practice, and has arranged to play on Saturday afternoon.

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Dusk light

There was nothing of note in the mail bag, and nothing personal from anyone.

Tea was asparagus soup, and a hokkien noodle and vegetable stir fry.


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1999 Travels November 10

WEDNESDAY 10 NOVEMBER     BRIDPORT

Again, we slept in. Yesterday’s storms had gone. The sky was blue.

After breakfast, John went fishing just down from the van. He caught a good sized flathead, which will make a good meal for him. His first Tasmanian fish!

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First Tasmanian catch!

While he was doing that, I walked to the shops, bought a paper, checked at the Post Office, but there was no mail for us. The bakery was open, after a five day closure, so I bought rolls for lunch.

About 3pm, John decided we should go to Weymouth, back to the west of here, to check out a beach the caravan park manager had told him about. Gem fossickers had been active there a couple of years ago, apparently, after petrified wood and agate.

We drove back about 30kms towards Georgetown, then took the Weymouth road, to the coast. Weymouth is where the Piper River enters the sea. We parked by the river, then walked along it to the mouth and the beach. There were some odd stake structures in the water of the river – could not work out their purpose. It was a very pleasant walk.

We then drove around to the beach which was made up of sea-polished pebbles. John found some petrified wood and we gathered a few other pretty stones. Probably spent about half an hour on the beach, looking at pebbles. Exposed as we were, the afternoon wind was rather cool.

Tea was asparagus soup, which was very nice; flathead and fries for John, I had flake from the freezer with my fries, all followed by tinned pears and yoghurt.

11-12-1999 cloud light bridport.jpg

The ever-changing light across Anderson Bay was fascinating


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1999 Travels November 9

TUESDAY 9 NOVEMBER     BRIDPORT

Again, we slept in fairly late.

About 11am, John went fishing – all the way to the rocks just near our van! I did a few casts too. No success for either of us.

After lunch, we drove east, out the Gladstone road, to buy some asparagus; we’d seen a sign for this as we came into town on Sunday. Bought a kilo at a very good price.

We continued driving on the Gladstone road, through pretty country, with farms and some marsh in parts. Some 20kms from Bridport, took a minor road towards the coast – to Blackmans Lagoon, where we thought there might be birdlife. There wasn’t and the lagoon was nothing special.

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Coastal dunes and vegetation in Waterhouse Conservation Reserve

We continued on a 4WD track, for 3kms, to Waterhouse Beach, which is across the bay from Bridport, and in the Waterhouse Conservation Area. It became a varied drive, through dunes and coastal vegetation. We stopped where the track met the beach and did not venture onto the soft sand, though others before us had done so.

11-09-1999 01 Waterhouse Conservation area storm coming

Storm coming in – Waterhouse Beach

There was a spectacular storm front building behind us, as we reached the beach, so we decided to retreat back the way we had come. It began to rain as we were driving back towards Bridport.

Later in the afternoon, we had really heavy rain, and thunder and lightning. The storm light on the bay was really unusual and quite special, and I ventured out to take a number of photos to try to capture it.

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Storm over Anderson Bay at Bridport

11-09-1999 06 Bridport dark storm clouds

Stormy skies over jetty ruins

I cooked a batch of asparagus soup, with some of our purchase today.

For tea we had the last of the potato and bacon soup, sweet and sour chicken with rice, and yoghurt.


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1999 Travels November 8

MONDAY 8 NOVEMBER     BRIDPORT

Slept well with the background noise of the sea, and were rather late waking up. The caravan park is very quiet.

It was a blue sky day, and almost shorts weather in areas sheltered from the breeze.

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Anderson Bay, Bridport, from the beach in front of our van

I walked to town to get the paper. John drove off to inspect the bowls club, which is the other end of the main street area.

We drove out to Double Sandy Point Reserve, which is the point at the bay entrance, on this side. It is, as the name suggests, a double point, with a sandy small beach between them. We looked at birds and just admired the scenery. Out there, it was rather blowy and chilly.

Had lunch back at the van, then went walking. Followed the foreshore path and tracks around the bay to Granite Point and some way beyond this along the edge of the Little Forrester River – a creek, really. Retraced our route for some of the way, then came the rest along the road that runs past the caravan park. It was a decent walk.

We passed the end of the old jetty – a picturesque ruin. It was built in 1916 to aid the export of timber to the mainland, but was destroyed by fire in 1928.

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Old jetty remains at Bridport

I was surprised how well ordinary plants grow here, so close to the sea. I do not usually associate plants like rhododendrons with the coast.

Tea was soup, pasta with caper and olive sauce – nice. Some more of the very delicious local strawberries bought from a roadside stall two days ago, followed.

11-12-1999 Bridport dusk rainbow light.jpg

Anderson Bay and jetty ruins at dusk


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1999 Travels November 7

SUNDAY 7 NOVEMBER     DEVONPORT TO BRIDPORT   165kms

We woke up early, without trying, and were surprised to find that it was fine, with blue sky. And they say Melbourne weather is unpredictable and changeable! This area is amazing!

Despite having to do a full pack up, we were away by 10am.

Refuelled at Latrobe – 79cpl.

Somehow, this navigator missed the turn to the back Tamar road at Latrobe, so we continued down the highway to Sassafras, then via a back road through East Sassafras to the Exeter road. It was a pretty detour, anyway.

Near Exeter, we took the West Tamar Highway, to our left, then turned off this onto the Batman Highway and the Batman Bridge over the Tamar River, which is quite wide at this point.

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Looking towards the Tamar River mouth, as we crossed the Batman Bridge

Just over the bridge was a picnic area and we stopped there to eat lunch. We had a great view of the unusual bridge structure. There is an A shaped towering frame at the western end of the bridge, and the rest of it is held up by cables that come from the tower. The bridge appears to elegantly soar over the water, to me.

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The Batman Bridge – supporting tower and linking cables

From there, we followed the eastern side of the Tamar, towards  Georgetown. At Bell Bay, took the road east to Bridport.

I had chosen Bridport as a base from which to explore some of the north-east corner of the state, and because it was on the coast. I had never been there before. The plan was that, from there, we would slowly make our way down the east coast, exploring it before the Xmas school holidays made it too busy.

We booked into the council run caravan park at Bridport, for $12.50 a night for a powered site, with the seventh night free. That made it a good economical $75 a week. But we had to put 20 cents into a meter for a hot shower.

The park stretches for a long way along the foreshore of Anderson Bay, in a long narrow strip. It was a bushy sort of park, with camping bays and sites in amongst the coastal bush.

We drove and walked around the park, having been told we could choose our own site. We found one right above the shore line, which gave us great views over the bay from the back window of the van. We could clearly hear the sea from inside the van. In “front” of our site are rock and sand areas, and further along, the remains of an old jetty stretching out into the great, wide, sweeping bay – it was just so beautiful.  One angle looked a bit like the Daintree coast – a wide beach, some wind-blown sand dunes and mountains behind.

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Setting up camp at Bridport, with the bay right behind us

It was so good to be beside the sea again. We never did get our sea side experience after the arid central Australian travel!

I suspect this park would not be pleasant in the summer holidays, but it is lovely now. The amenities are adequate, without being fancy. They were clean enough.

After setting up, we went for a short walk along to the old jetty. There is a walking track along the foreshore that goes right past our van. Then we walked the other way, into the town centre and back, so we walked about 3kms altogether.

It is a very small town centre – a village, really, with some basic shops, overlooking the bay.

Tea was soup, beef stroganoff and pasta, with strawberries to follow.

We decided we would like it here.

11-07-1999 to bridport


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1999 Travels November 6

SATURDAY 6 NOVEMBER     DEVONPORT

We had planned to move on today, but it rained steadily all through the night and into the morning, so we decided against trying to do a wet pack up.

Had an “indoors” day instead.

Went for the papers and read those. I sewed. John played computer games. He listened to the cricket.

I think my blocked ears might be beginning to clear – there was much crackling happening in there.

The rain seemed to ease, later in the day, which we hoped was a good sign for tomorrow.

We were disappointed to hear that the referendum proposal, held today, to make Australia a republic, had been defeated. We had submitted postal responses to this, before leaving Victoria. It all brought back my regular despair  at the ignorance/apathy of the average citizen. Also disappointing is that some of the politicians are now trying to make political capital out of something that should be above petty party politics – like pointing out that so many ALP held electorates voted No, despite their leader’s advocacy of a Yes vote.

I cooked a batch of potato, bacon and onion soup.

We had toasted cheese for lunch – it was that sort of day, so only had some of the soup for tea.