This Adventurous Age

Adventures travelling and working around Australia.

Category Archives: 2000 Travels


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2000 Travels March 20

MONDAY 20 MARCH     STANLEY

The morning was a mix of cloud and sunshine.

We left camp about 9.45am, to travel the Western Explorer route, south to Corinna.

The first part of the way took us over the same roads we’d travelled yesterday, through Irishtown and on down to the Kanunnah Bridge over the Arthur River. From here, we kept heading south west, to a T intersection, not long after we’d crossed the Frankland River, where we turned south east. The track ahead went through to Couta Rocks, on the coast.

After some 15kms on the Western Explorer route,  we took a somewhat rough track to our left, for a short way, into the former mining settlement of Balfour. Tin and copper were mined here, for a few years, in the early 1900’s. In 1911, a tramway was built from here across to Temma, on the coast, to take the ore to ships. But Temma was not really a safe place for ships, and the mine was abandoned shortly after anyway, so Temma never became a port. The very rough 4WD Balfour Track goes between Balfour and the coast.

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Relics of mining at Balfour

We had a little explore and found some abandoned bits of machinery and a lot of tracks, which we did not have time to explore.

Stopped at the Donaldson River crossing to eat lunch. This was in a rather rare forested section. Much of the way had been over button grass plains. These grow where the soil is almost non existent, having been scoured and eroded away in the ice age times. Where the soils are deeper and richer, there are forests.

Stopped several kms further on, parked Truck and walked the Longback Track to the top of a ridge, which gave us great sweeping views all round. I went close to walking on a small snake and back stepped very quickly, while it wriggled away. Today’s snake!

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The Western Explorer traverses varied country

Continued on to Corinna, reaching there at 3.15pm. The place consisted of a few rustic cottages, and the barge, by the very wide Pieman River. Not far from Corinna we stopped so that I could take a photo of a particularly large myrtle tree.

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Really big myrtle tree

This trip down to Corinna was superb, through the mix of button grass plains, and myrtle dominated forests. There were some big ranges in the distance. The road was fine – where it was steep, or particularly bendy, it had been sealed.

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The Western Explorer crosses some difficult country

On a couple of our stops we saw ground parrots – a bird new to us.

It had been such a varied and enjoyable drive that we decided to go back the same way, rather than the planned route on the bitumen via Savage River and Waratah.

Just out of Corinna, found we had a tyre going down. It seemed to be the tube again, like the last one. We changed it more quickly this time. Hoped we didn’t get another flat on this remote road – still hadn’t done the smart thing and brought the second spare. It is a hassle to get it up on the roof rack. But we didn’t let any worry spoil the journey.

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Changing flat tyre near Corinna

We actually saw several lots of traffic, all going the other way – more than we would have expected, given the lateness of the day.

We got back to Stanley at 7pm, having driven 326kms.

It was so late that we bought fish and chips for tea.

While walking in the forest on one of our stops, I’d found some yellow and red myrtle leaves on the ground, near a big tree. I thought then that we might be lucky and get to see the spectacular leaf colour change before we leave here in mid-April.

It was a great day!


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2000 Travels March 19

SUNDAY 19 MARCH     STANLEY

I encountered S, briefly, on her morning walk. Saw K and A and got their address details for our visit there on Thursday.

Socializing done, packed lunch, then set out driving. Went south-ish, through Irishtown, Edith Creek, the Trowutta area, the Tayatea  road to the Milkshake Hills Reserve. What a great name

Stopped at the Tayatea Bridge, over the Arthur River to admire the river and surrounding forest.

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Arthur River at Tayatea Bridge

Lunched at the Milkshake Hills Reserve, in a very pretty forest-surrounded picnic area. John encountered a large tiger snake by the path to the toilet. It slithered off and hid in a nearby tree stump.

We took a walking track through the forest, then up to the top of one of the Milkshake Hills – these are buttongrass country, rather than forest. It was a very pleasant walk with interesting changes in vegetation as we went.

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Walking track in the Milkshake Hills Reserve

When we returned from the walk, the snake was back in position, coiled up in the sun again. It quickly slithered back into its stump home, though no doubt cursing us in snake-talk.

Drove on, to the Julius River Reserve and did the nature walk circuit there. Part way into it, John realized he’d left the keys in Truck, so we completed the rest of the circuit very quickly. There was lots of myrtle, silver wattle and sassafras trees along that walk.

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Silver wattle trees

Next destination was Lake Chisholm, and we walked in to that – another pretty walk in big forests.

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Lake Chisholm

The reserves we visited today are not National Parks, but are managed by Tasmanian Forestry, which means they are areas which may have been – or will be – logged.

Drove on and admired the outlook from Sumac Lookout, on the Sumac Road, then stopped again at the Kanunnah Bridge over the Arthur River – again. This was further downstream from the bridge we’d stopped at, this morning.

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Arthur River at Kanunnah Bridge

We travelled through the Roger River area and linked up with the way we’d come, thus completing a circuit that took us through some of the Arthur River valley.

Bought some produce from a roadside stall – tomatoes and raspberry and strawberry jams.

Drove 190kms today. It was a very enjoyable day with a good mix of driving and exercise.

Tea was cold pork, potato and fresh tomato – yum.


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2000 Travels March 18

SATURDAY 18 MARCH     STANLEY

In the morning it was still very windy, and there was some rain.

S called around to say hello and I walked to the newsagent with her.

Spent much of the day reading the papers and doing some share related stuff.

John decided not to go to bowls practice at Smithton, given the weather conditions.

After lunch we went for a walk up to the wharf area, at the base of The Nut. Looked at tied up fishing boats then walked back.

The wind dropped through the day, and later in the afternoon, put the awning back up.

A came round and talked with us for a while – K and M were golfing!

I cooked roast pork and vegies for tea and we had strawberries to follow.


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2000 Travels March 17

FRIDAY 17 MARCH     STANLEY

It was a sunny, pleasant day.

After breakfast, we drove to Burnie. Collected the mail. Went to the bank and collected our new Mastercards – finally! It has taken the best part of a couple of months. Had to arrange new PINS.

Did some shopping. Got a couple of films processed.

Refuelled in Burnie – 91cpl.

Bought some lunch in Burnie. It was mid afternoon by the time we got back to camp, having driven 169kms.

Bought fish and chips for tea.

After tea, I was outside the van, adjusting the guy ropes in the strongly rising wind, when a white 4WD stopped. It was cousin K and wife A. They introduced themselves, then chatted for a while. Then they went on to their van to have their tea.

The wind was gusting very strongly – there are gale warnings out. It is apparently the “tail” of a big cyclone that hit north west WA a few days ago. We decided to take the awning roof off altogether and put it in Truck.

At bedtime, we decided to put down the poptop van roof, as well. It made things much quieter in the wind, and we slept well.


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2000 Travels March 16

THURSDAY 16 MARCH     STANLEY

We decided to extend our stay here. Our neighbours told us they had driven the Western Explorer route as a day trip, so we decided to do that, too, now we knew it was do-able that way.

There were some sunny patches today – things improving!

It turned into a cleaning morning. I washed the clothes and cleaned the inside of the van. John washed Truck and some of the van outside.

After lunch, John drove to Smithton – 25kms away but the nearest bowls club – for a practice. He came back excited because they asked him to be a sub in a pennant match on Saturday. It has been quite a while since he’s had any bowls.

Tea was soup and fried rice.

While we were eating tea, a man came round and told John the other Saturday bowls team had forfeited – so the pennant excitement was short-lived. However John now had the choice of a big practice instead, on Saturday afternoon, or/and? a mixed social game on Sunday afternoon. We will see what the weather is like – whether it is favourable for some of the touring that is still to be done.

R phoned to say she has obtained a job with a law firm – good news!

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Dusk at Stanley


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2000 Travels March 15

WEDNESDAY 15 MARCH     STANLEY

Woke to another cloudy day. It is beginning to feel like summer has really ended.

Got chatting to our neighbours, who are full time travellers. They are into walking in the wilderness too. She was a governess in the Kimberley in the 50’s and 60’s. She told us that the old man who holds the Mt Barnett community together – which we were impressed with in ’93 – is very ill. It made me wonder what we would find there, later this year.

Set off for another drive. However, John could not resist calling in to Cockatoo Timbers, on the road out of Stanley, on the way past. He bought some more turning blanks. It was getting to the point where it was hard to fit all this wood in the Truck!

Drove south on the Mengha road , then on back roads that soon became gravel, to the Black River picnic area, where we ate lunch, by a pretty stream with lovely reflections.

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Black River

After lunch and wandering around there a bit, continued on over the river ford and wound our way to the Dip Falls. We walked for a couple of km there and did the steep climb down to the base of the falls, which were quite special – probably the best we’ve seen in Tasmania. They were unusual in that the rock was columnar basalt and it had formed block patterns – like well laid paving stones.

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Dip Falls

 

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Unusual columnar rock at Dip Falls

Just on from the falls were the Big Trees – impressive girth. Our park neighbours turned up there, too.

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Huge fallen tree trunk

Took the Mawbanna road back to the highway and so to camp. Apart from the river and falls, the drive was excellent, through pleasantly varied forest and farm lands. We did 110kms.

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More wood – getting hard to fit it all in!

Tea was soup, sausages and salad.

Cousin K phoned – he wants to meet up with us here at the weekend, and also invited us to visit them in Wynyard for a BBQ. It will be exciting to meet another family member – he is about my age, too.


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2000 Travels March 14

TUESDAY 14 MARCH     STANLEY

I had noticed that we were sleeping in later – until 9 or 10am. The mornings seem much darker.

This day was not windy, but there was some light rain and it was a grey day, but it cleared up a bit later in the day.

We went for a drive – to Smithton, first. The hinterland country behind the coast in these parts is rich farming country – some cropping and dairy cows. There are plenty of timbered areas left though – beside the roads, along creeks, and just at random.

It is surprisingly pleasant to be back in farmed country. Guess we’d just had our fill of the west coast wilderness country, for a while.

At Smithton, called in at the big Gunns timber mill, but they were not really interested in visitors, or showing timber or discussing small scale purchases.

From Smithon, took the Montague road, which stays closer to the coast than the highway. Turned off that to go to the coast, along the gravel road to the old Montague port, and the council’s seafront camping area.

From here, we looked out across a narrow, tidal, stretch of water, to the large Robbins Island, not far away. This island is privately owned, and farmed.

We sat there, in Truck, to eat our packed lunch – it was not warm enough to venture outside – looking out across the channel.

Out on the tidal sand flats, there were some black lumps. John viewed these through his binoculars and pronounced them to be rocks. I little later, I could swear that some of the rocks moved! Then they grew legs and necks and turned into swans. John swore they were originally rocks!

We drove back to Smithon and went to Brittons timber mill there. They were quite welcoming. We were shown their veneering mill and the process for making same which was really interesting. Essentially, the timber is cut into long, thin, sheets – it was amazing how thin the veneer slices were.

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The veneer mill at Brittons

We had previously been told, at a couple of the sawmills we’d visited, that veneer mills get the best logs. There were certainly some good looking veneer sheets being made.

John was really interested in the remains from the veneering process – the end offcut lumps, with their potential for turning on a lathe. Also interesting were the thinner boards they produced – useful for making wooden boxes.

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Good looking boards left after the veneering process

We were then shown the Sales Room, which contained some superb products from wood workers, some using veneers really well. There was a display of pieces of all the different timber types.

John bought several turning blanks – lovely patterned pieces – that cost $2 a kilo, regardless of timber type. That might have sounded cheap, but wood is heavy stuff! We also got some veneer samples, and took a number of photos. That was another really good timber place to find.

Back to camp, then, having driven 90kms.  Photographed today’s booty, then John packed it away in Truck.

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Turning blocks bought from Brittons

Tea was vegie and barley soup, salad and tinned fish.


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2000 Travels March 13

MONDAY 13 MARCH     STANLEY

The day was wet and windy. The winds were very strong. The van was rocking from the wind.

We stayed in, apart from a quick walk to the shops for the paper, in a break in the rain.

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Wet day in Stanley – travelling is not always comfortable!

The wind died a little, later in the day.

I made a batch of vegie and barley soup.

Tea was bush flavoured seasoned chops – bought that way, potato, broccoli.

There have not been too many times in Tassie when the weather has kept us indoors for two days straight! Or when Truck has not been driven for three days in a row.


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2000 Travels March 12

SUNDAY 12 MARCH     STANLEY

I walked up to the shops for the Sunday paper.

Met S again! With the black lab. Such is the way of a small town. I told her about the Desert Parks Pass operating in SA and the associated maps that one gets as part of the information pack.

It was a very windy day – blowing a gale, it seemed. Then it rained. So it was not a day for doing much except reading the papers. I did some work on share materials.

John put some extra guy ropes on the awning.

S and husband M called in during the afternoon. He inspected the van. I talked with her about the Flinders Ranges.

In chatting, it turned out that their travelling companions were my cousin, K and his wife, A. K was the son of dad’s older brother, but I had never met him. S gave me their phone number and said she would mention meeting us, to them. They live in Wynyard and have a van here in the park, so they are often here on weekends. Tasmania is a very small world!

M pointed out that Stanley is “7kms out to sea” so to speak, and thus it is often windy. Guess that is one way to look at it.

Tea was cold chicken, potato and broccoli.

During the night, the wind was strong enough to rock the van!


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2000 Travels March 11

SATURDAY 11 MARCH     STANLEY

I was up before John and walked up to the shops for the papers. On my way back, I was stopped by a lady who was walking a black labrador dog. She had seen the Cooktown T shirt I was wearing and wanted to talk travel. I admired her dog – she said it was a neighbour’s, and she just did them a favour, walking it.

S is from Burnie and has a holiday house here. She and her husband are teachers and are planning a trip to Innamincka and the Flinders Ranges in the mid-year holidays. She asked if she could come round to the van, later, with some maps, to have a consult.

Read the papers for the rest of the morning. We had decided to have a fairly quiet day, after yesterday’s travel.

After lunch, we walked to the base of The Nut, where the walking track goes up it. There was also a chairlift for those who wanted. It was a stiff climb up, then we walked around the large flat area that is its top. It was much better up there than I had anticipated. There was a variety of outlooks – along the coast, over the town, and almost straight down to the little port section, below. We spent about an hour up there, watching the activity around the port. There was also an outlook over the historic Highfield property, that occupies the rest of the Circular Head promontory of land behind The Nut.

I didn’t take the camera, figuring we’d be going up again, another day, and rather regretted it when I saw how much of interest there was.

While I was roasting the chicken and vegies for tea, S called in – she’d been by earlier, with maps, but we were out. She said she’d bring her husband round at some stage over the weekend.

Got chatting with four people from vans behind us. It turned out they were friends of the couple that we’d gotten to know in the caravan park at Berriedale. They have moved back into their east coast house, but apparently he was still fretting to travel more. I could relate to that!

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Dusk at Stanley – tide out

Phoned K and left a message for him to send the mail, mid-week, to Burnie. We should be heading that way when we leave here, so can collect it then. Have also been in contact with the bank, and our new Mastercards are being sent to the bank there.