Binalong Bay to Launceston Airport - 14 September 2013

Today is our last day. I would be quite happy to stay, but unfortunately work on Monday. Our last day started off cloudy and felt warmer than the 8 degrees that it was when we left.

The birds put on a show for us this morning in the garden. There are so many birds and they fly up to the deck and through it even when we sit there.

On our way through St Helens we stopped at the newsagent to claim our winnings from a scratchie we had yesterday - $25. We bought 2 scratchies yesterday with winnings of $37 from 2 we had bought the day before. We like Tasmania scratchies.

When I dropped the key off before leaving, I spoke to the owner of the cottages (only knew Marion's name, not her husband's) about the way we were intending to drive back to Launceston. We were going to drive down through St Mary's and across through Fingal and Avoca to hit the Midlands Highway and then head up to the Airport. We haven't been that way before. He suggested going another way as he said it is an uninteresting trip with nothing touristy to see. We decided to stick with our plan as the other way to go was the way we had come on Tuesday when we came across from Cradle Mountain. Plus, we had also done that trip last time we were in Tasmania.

Our first stop was at a little coal mining place called Cornwall, about 2 kms off the main road. I had to go and look as my ancestors came from Cornwall itself. There was a sign on the highway to the Cornwall Wall of Remembrance. It was erected in 2006 I think it was. It had a plaque with the names of people who had died in mining accidents over the years but then it had all the names of the people who had actually worked in the mine located in Cornwall. Coal was first discovered in Cornwall in 1843 but coal production didn't commence in Cornwall until 1886. There are a few coal mines in the area. There have been ups and downs in coal production since then but has remained fairly steady over the last 30 years.

Driving through the tiny town of Cornwall, life looks a real struggle. The yards are overgrown, cars are driven till they stop and then just left, houses are not maintained. The places that are looked after with pride really stand out. A bit sad.

Further down the road is a place called Fingal and there is also a coal mine there. It is slightly bigger than Cornwall. It had the lovely backdrop of the Ben Lomond National Park.

We didn't see a good place for morning tea till we reached the highway where we saw St Andrews Inn, built in 1845 with convict labour.

I must have been holding the camera crooked as the building looks like it is falling backwards and Bruce is about to fall over, but that was not the case!

On the walls in the hallway are the original documents of indenture. George has owned the place for 17 years and he does all the cooking. In the cake cabinet he had a chocolate and beetroot mud cake with chocolate chilli ganache. He said it was lovely and I imagine it would have been but I took him at his word. I have a chocolate and potato cake which I make and the potato makes it lovely and moist. I imagine the beetroot does the same.

Not far down the road at Epping Forest there was a market so we stopped for that. There was a lot of china and glass, some of which looked very nice. We went inside the building to see what was in there and on one of the tables were 3 bundles of patchwork fabric fat 1/4's (quarter metre pieces). There were 5 pieces in each bundle and they were half price at $15 each. I took all 3. The lady said I obviously knew a bargain. Apparently they were from a shop owned by a lady who had died. They will go nicely in a quilt I am working on at the moment.

Not far from Launceston Airport is the village of Evandale. Every time we are near the airport we go there and have a walk through. There are lovely old houses, and old buildings converted to galleries or cafes. This gallery used to be the stables of the pub, build in 1840.

Well, it is time to go. On to the airport to drop the hire car off - 870km later. Back to Brisbane for us and back to work on Monday. We had a great time.

Our next trip away will be for a few days in mid October. I'll add to the blog then.

Binalong Bay - 13 September 2013

On the ABC current affairs program this morning, they interviewed Tom Denniss, an ultra marathon runner who was completing a run around the world at the Sydney Opera House this morning. He had spent 662 days running over 26,000 steps, and raising money for charity. His favourite part of the trip was running across the Nullarbor. He sounds like a very interesting guy. If you want to read more about him follow this link www.tomsnextstep.com.

We headed out this morning and out first stop was Shop in The Bush about 15 kms from St Helens. It is literally in the middle of nowhere. It sells antiques, old jewellery, books, and other stuff - odds and sods in other words. It has been operating since 1982 by the same people, so it must be doing something right.

From there we drove on to Pyengana, a few kms further down the road, to visit the Pyengana Dairy Company, where they have been making cloth bound cheddar cheese for over 100 years. It is in a beautiful valley and there are 200 Friesian cows in the dairy. They get 1,000mm of rain each year so no wonder it is green and lush looking. We took part in a cheese tasting and the cheese was delicious, so creamy. They have won many awards and it is used by many of the top chefs in the country. They have over 100,000 people go through the place each year. We bought a few of the different cheeses to take home with us and look forward to opening them. They also have their own brand of milk and also ice cream. See www.pyenganadairy.com.au.

After the cheese tasting, we decided to have morning tea at The Holy Cow Café at the Dairy. Great name for their café. They are also open for brekkie and lunch. We had a lovely Devonshire Tea with their own cream and jam. Yummy.

After morning tea, we were able to look through the window at a couple of the guys making cheese. Huge vats of cream being stirred for about 3-4 hours to make the cheese. It is bound in cloth, in the traditional method, and set aside to mature for varying lengths of time depending on the type of cheese being made.

From the Dairy we went down the road about 1 km to The Pub in the Paddock, famous due to the beer drinking pig, Pinky, that lives there as well. It doesn't really look like a pub, more like a lovely old farmhouse. The Pub is on the market for $800,000.

We headed back to St Helens then and went for a drive out to the end of St Helens Point. When we were last in St Helens, we stayed along St Helens Point in a cottage called The Beachhouse. It was a great house and we went past it today and it is still operating as a holiday rental. Out near the end of the Point, are the Peron Dunes. The Dunes are pretty extensive and would be great to slide down on a piece of cardboard!

It was back to the cottage for lunch and a relaxing afternoon, before going for a walk in the late afternoon. Thank heavens it wasn't as windy today as what it has been, although it was still cold. We walked up to the area on the hill behind where we are staying. There are quite a few houses on the market. One of them has a fabulous view and I checked the price it was selling for. $720,000 +. Not bad for an ocean view.

Bruce is happy that he is able to watch the Rugby League semi final on TV tonight live even though he is in Tassie.

Binalong Bay - 12 September 2013

What a windy day it was today. A bitterly cold wind. The highest temperature today was 11 degrees. But at least it was sunny.

We set off about 9 am for a walk up the beach to the other end. Bruce took his backpack with thermos, mugs and morning tea. As we reached the other end, in amongst the red lichen rocks just out of reach of the water, a fish was flapping feebly. Bruce picked it up and threw it back in the water. Hopefully it survived.

We climbed over the rocks/boulders out to the headland to see if we could find a sheltered spot to have morning tea. What a beautiful spot for morning tea, looking out towards the ocean and no one else around.

If we had walked back along the beach, we would have had to walk into the wind. We decided to head inland hoping that would be better. It was in parts. The road took us up high above Binalong Bay overlooking the Bay and Grants Lagoon which is just behind the beach. We walked about 8 kms all told.

We had lunch on the front deck and it was beautiful, the sun glistening on the water. Bruce saw a bird do a kamikaze dive into the water after a fish.

I did hear bits and pieces of another book on the radio today that sounded pretty good but didn't hear the title or the author. All I knew was that it was set on Thursday Island. I ended up googling it and found it. It is called My Island Homicide and is by Catherine Titasey.

After lunch we drove out to The Gardens, about 13km along the coast from Binalong Bay. The road is a dead end, ending at a couple of houses. When we got there, there were some people in a hire car who had couldn't get their car going. It would start, but they couldn't get it out of park. It had happened to them three times today and they had only hired it this morning in Launceston and were on their way to Bicheno. There was very little phone reception there but he found a spot where he got a bar or so and with great difficulty, after a few attempts where we could hear Peter but he couldn't hear us, Peter suggested looking for a lock on the stick. Sure enough, there it was, and the people left happy people.

After they left, I walked along the track that cut around the headland. I always have to see what's around the next corner. It was very pretty countryside and coastline. Green pastureland meeting the beach with its red rocks. What a place to live.

On the way back to Binalong Bay, we stopped at Cosy Corner North to check it out. It is quite a large area on the beachfront with sheltered spots in amongst bushes and trees where you are allowed to free camp for up to 4 weeks. There are toilets provided, but no water or power. We also checked out Cosy Corner South, Swimcart Beach and Jeanneret's Beach, which all have free camping for up to 4 weeks. After the 4 weeks you have to move out of the area for 4 weeks. You can't move to the one just down the road. After the 4 weeks, you could move back again if you wanted. Pretty good. Cosy Corner North and South were my favourites. At Swimcart Beach you can actually park your van right on the edge overlooking the beach, but on a windy day like today, it wouldn't have been very pleasant.

We arrived back at the cottage in time for afternoon tea and spent the rest of the afternoon reading. What a hard life holidays are!

Binalong Bay - 11 September 2013

I just saw on the weather tonight that St Helens had the highest temperature in Tasmania today - 14 degrees. It showed snow on Mt Wellington in Hobart and no doubt it snowed in Cradle Mountain. It was sunny most of the day with a few clouds building up during the day. We were sitting on the deck in the afternoon with the sun shining just about everywhere but behind us where there were rain clouds, when it started to rain. It didn't last long though and it is supposed to be fine for the next couple of days.

We drove in to St Helens after breakfast this morning. We parked the car and walked up each side of the main street, before paying the Information Centre a visit to pick up some information on walks at Binalong Bay. I also asked at the Centre if the patchwork shop that I had visited the last time I was in St Helens was still open. Unfortunately it had closed so I missed out there. We then went to the IGA supermarket and bought enough groceries to last us till we leave here.

We have listened to a fair bit of Radio National while in Tasmania and they have interviewed a number of authors. Their books sound like they will be worth reading. One of them is by Ruth Ozeki, who is part Japanese and part American. She was at the Brisbane Writers Festival. Her book is called A Time for the Time Being. As part of the interview the recorded her reading part of her book, possibly at the Festival. She really got you in, just with her storytelling skills. Then another person they interview was Turia Pitt, who wrote the book called Everything to Live For. Turia is the ultra marathon runner who was caught in a bushfire in the Kimberleys, I think about 18 months or 2 years ago, with burns to 65% of her body. She sounds like a remarkable person, and the book is the story of what happened and her recovery. Her doctor said he had never had anyone with such deep burns to survive.

After an early lunch, we walked up the road from our cottage to walk the track to Snake Point. The beginning of the track involved rock hopping across rocks along the edge of the water. We took the easier option of sticking to the gravel road, joining the track further along. Along the coast in the Bay of Fires area a lot of the rocks are covered in red lichen.

We reached Snake Point and looked out to sea, to see if we could see any whales. Apparently a couple had been in the Bay yesterday, but we didn't see any. However, on the way back we did see a seal sunning himself on rocks and then taking a swim. He was a cutie.

Altogether we walked about 9 kms today which was good, seeing we hadn't done a good walk for the last couple of days. I was having withdrawal symptoms!

Cradle Mountain & to Bay of Fires - 9 and 10 September

Monday 9 September - Cradle Mountain

It poured overnight and didn't let up all day, so we spent a very relaxing day in front of the fire. The view from our cabin is certainly easy to take. We were joined during the day by our resident currawong, who even brought a mate along a couple of times.

I spent the day either reading (I'm reading Kate Morton's The Secret Keeper at the moment) or doing some sewing. I am working on an applique quilt called Charleston Rhapsody, a design by Carolyn Konig, and its progress has been given a boost after today.

One unfortunate consequence of the heavy rain today was being unable to visit Devils @ Cradle. We were going to do the tour tonight which also took in the feeding of the Tasmanian Devils. We had heard good things about it but it was not to be.

We have thoroughly enjoyed our time at Cradle Mountain and will be very sorry to leave. It is such a beautiful place. But, tomorrow we move on to another area - one we haven't been to before, the Bay of Fires National Park.

Tuesday 10 September - to Binalong Bay and Bay of Fires

It poured during the night and we even had thunder. It was still raining when we got up this morning. The forecast is for a cold front coming through later today bringing snow down to 200 metres and sea level in places. The snow would certainly look a picture at Cradle Mountain.

We got away early and not long after leaving the mountain, the rain stopped. Our first stop was at Sheffield, about an hour from Cradle Mountain. We have stayed here twice before and really like the town and the area. It is called the Town of Murals and Mt Roland forms quite a distinctive backdrop, rising to about 1200 metres. There are about 60 murals around the town and the surrounding area, telling the story of the area. The town runs a mural competition each year and so a new mural is added each year. There was also a shop in town that had lots of different tea cozies in the window.

Leaving Sheffield, we then stopped at Deloraine for a cuppa. Deloraine is a town of artists and craftspeople and there is a big Craft Fair in November each year since the 1970's. I went in to one of the galleries before joining Bruce in the café. There were some beautiful quilts and knitted garments, paintings, woodwork, etc. on display. I can imagine what the Craft Fair would be like.

We bypassed Launceston and headed towards Scottsdale and St Helens. About 25 kms the other side of Scottsdale we saw a sign to Legerwood, 3kms off the main road. They have an Anzac memorial in the park in town which was fabulous.

In 1918, 9 trees were planted to honour the 7 soldiers killed in WW1 and a tree each for Gallipoli and the Anzacs. The trees were declared dangerous in 2001. A committee decided to hire Eddie Freeman to chainsaw carve into the trees a likeness of the men killed. By Anzac Day 2006, the carvings were completed. Each tree has a plaque at the bottom of the tree with the name and biography of the soldier killed. They now draw in tourists. It really was very good.

We stopped off in St Helens to buy a few groceries for tonight and brekkie before driving out to Binalong Bay, about 20 mins north of St Helens, arriving about 4pm. We are staying at Character Cottages, a cluster of cottages on the hillside looking out over Binalong Bay and up the coast. We are staying in the Deluxe cottage. It is a lovely cottage with a glorious view. We even sat outside on the deck to have a cuppa when we arrived but half an hour later, the temperature dropped and the wind picked up and was strong enough to blow one of the chairs across the deck!

 

There are quite a few walks in the area so we should be able to get some walking done. If that doesn't happen, it certainly won't be a hardship to sit and admire the view!

Cradle Mountain - 8 September 2013

Well, it is our 40th wedding anniversary today. To think we have put up with each other for 40 years! We are very content with our life and enjoy ourselves.

It rained again during the night and there was a misty rain falling this morning when we went down to brekkie. It was 2 deg. While we were at brekkie, Gill and Mike rang to pass on their congratulations. It was their 40th wedding anniversary a few weeks ago. We also got a great text from Ian and Yvonne with a great cartoon of Kevin Rudd out the front of the Lodge with his bags packed saying "My name's Kevin and I've got to zip!!"

Bruce's nephew, Luke, is getting married today. He and Josipa flew over from Perth on Friday, together with Josh, Luke's brother, and are having the ceremony at Mike and Mandy's place. We rang and spoke to Luke and wished them all the best. We would have liked to be there but we had booked our trip to Tassie back in January. Matthew and Katrina flew the flag for our side of the family. Katrina will take lots of lovely photos no doubt, so we will be able to see those when we get home. Luke was saying a few of them had a game of golf yesterday and there were more bottles than clubs in the buggy!

About 11.30 we drove to Dove Lake and Cradle Mountain to tackle the Dove Lake Circuit. We last walked this circuit in the year 2000. At that time there was no timber boardwalk along any of the track. Now there is a lot of the timber boardwalk along the track and they are still working on it.

The Dove Lake Circuit is 6.6km long and takes 2-3 hours to complete. We did it in just over 2 hours. It is not a difficult walk but a little bit harder than easy. We had rain for most of the time we were on the track, but only a misty rain. We couldn't see Cradle Mountain until we were right underneath it and then it was still fairly misty. At the beginning of the walk we past a fellow with a fishing rod. He had been fishing for trout in the Lake. He had no luck but enjoyed himself. We also met a couple and the fellow had recently retired. He said he had slipped into the retirement lifestyle very easily. They had booked a one way ticket on the boat with no return date. He said he did have an appointment in mid October with the accountant for his tax but he said the Tax Dept owes him so they probably wouldn't stress if he didn't get it in then! We also met a group of 2 fellows from Hawaii and a girl from Hobart.

The track goes through The Ballroom Forest about half way along the track. It has stands of myrtle, sassafras and king billy pine trees with a creek running through it into the Lake. A lovely spot.

This is a photo of Cradle Mountain today, misted in with the rain.

For dinner tonight, we booked into the fine dining restaurant, The Highlander. It is where we have brekkie of a morning. The other nights we have had dinner in the tavern and we have been very happy with the meals. But tonight was special so it was The Highlander.

We had a very nice meal, beautiful presentation, but it was a case of big plates small helpings. It was okay for me, but Bruce has a very healthy appetite. There is a wine cellar in the restaurant and you could go down and pick out a bottle of wine. Or you could order by the glass. One glass is enough for me so Bruce just ordered a couple of glasses.

The staff at the Lodge have been very good. They have been very friendly and will go out of their way to help you. One of the waitresses we had tonight is from Estonia. She has been out here with her boyfriend for a few months, starting in Perth, then Adelaide and then here. They will stay another 3 months before moving on. They are here on a 12 month working visa.

While we were at dinner, Matthew rang to tell us how Luke's wedding had gone. He and Katrina had really enjoyed themselves and spent a bit of time talking to Josh. Josipa's 2 brothers had also come over and walked 'down the aisle' with her. Sounds like it went really well. Pity we couldn't be there.

It was a great way to spend our 40th anniversary at Cradle Mountain - out in the open with breathtaking scenery. Couldn't ask for more.



Cradle Mountain - 7 September 2013

Woke a couple of times during the night to the sound of rain and it was still raining when we got up. It was very windy as well. We had to drive down to brekkie.

Mid morning we drove out to Cradle Mountain so we could get a couple of photos when the weather clears - the weather continually changes here. As we stepped out of the cabin it was snowing! It quickly changed to sleet but it was lovely to see the snow. Hope to get more of it while we are here.

Peppers Lodge is the first accommodation outside the National Park and it is 8km from Dove Lake and Cradle Mountain. We got a bit more snow on the way and the temperature was 1 deg. The wind was very icy. There were quite a few people setting off to do one of the walks from Dove Lake. We had already decided not to do one today. Thank heavens. It would be very unpleasant to be walking with this wind. When we arrived at Dove Lake, Cradle Mountain was obscured by cloud but we managed to get a few pictures of it reasonably clear. You can see the snow up the top of the mountain. It is a very distinctive looking mountain and very beautiful. There were even waves on Dove Lake from the wind. By the time we left and headed back to the Lodge at 12.15, the temperature had risen to 2 deg.

We have a resident currawong on the deck of our cabin. When he sees us he flies in and sits on the railing and then jumps over to the back of the chair which is just outside the window. He sits there looking in at us. This afternoon he started making noises to attract our attention.

 

We went down to the Lodge to have afternoon tea. More snow showers while we were there. After afternoon tea, we decided to do the short Enchanted Walk, which is only 1 km long and an easy walk. It follows the Pencil Pine River on one side, crosses over and then comes back the other side. It was a lovely walk, along a timber boardwalk the whole way. It was a lovely walk and we saw pademelons and more wombats. I love the gnarled trees covered with moss and all the moss that covers the ground. It makes everything look so old.

 

We had an early dinner and sat down to watch the election telecast and a change of Government. 



Cradle Mountain - 6 September

It rained overnight and was still raining this morning when we went to brekkie. As we walked out of our cabin, there was a pademelon under the verandah out of the rain. Then another one hopped in. I opened the door to go in and get my camera and he wanted to hop inside. Obviously used to people.

At breakfast we spoke to a fellow, from the Gold Coast, who had just finished the Overland Track yesterday. This is the 3rd time he had walked it and he hasn't been rained on once. Lucky he finished it yesterday. He was very interesting to talk to. He stayed in the cabins this time, but he has camped previously. I thought the Track would be closed over winter but it isn't. During the peak time, the numbers are controlled and it costs $200 each to do the Track. If you do the walk in the low season, it is free and not as crowded. There are improvements being made to the Track all the time. He was saying that the timber boardwalks they put in cost $180/metre as they fly the workers and equipment in by helicopter.

This fellow (we didn't even get to introduce each other but just talked) had also done the Kokoda Track with his son's school. They had 2 spots left so he took one and an ex Army fellow took the other. The ex-Army had an interest in military history so he took them through each battle spot pointing out where the enemy guns were, where the Aussies were, etc. He said it was a fabulous trip.

After breakfast we went up to the National Parks office to get our passes. It is $16.50/day per person or you can get a Holiday Pass for $30 each or $60/vehicle (up to 8 people) and it lasts for 2 months. As we are going to Bay of Fires National Park next we got the Holiday Pass.

By the time we got back to our cabin, the rain was starting to ease but each time we went to head out on a walk, it would get heavy again. Finally it stopped but we decided to just do the King Billy Track which was only a 2 km/30 minute walk through the bush behind Peppers Lodge here. It was a beautiful walk through the rainforest. There were myrtle and sassafras trees but the King Billy Pines were something to see. Some of them are up to 1,500 years old.

We didn't get rained on so after lunch we decided to chance it and do one of the longer walks. We decided on the Dove Canyon Circuit which is a 2-3hr/7km circuit with a Grading of Hard. Some of the track is along the timber walkways but most of it is pretty rough and is not regularly maintained. It was pretty wet underfoot a lot of the way and you had to scramble up and down rocks, sometimes quite steep rock faces, but I managed really well I felt. There were only a couple of spots where I needed Bruce to help pull me up. My poles helped a lot, just keeping me steady and also taking a lot of the pressure off my knees. Along the track we crossed the Pencil Pine River and the volume of water was tremendous. At the top of the Canyon you can hear the noise of the water going through. They have wire along the cliff edge and we couldn't see the bottom so it was quite a way down. We passed a few pademelons. The walk took us 2 1/2 hours and it started raining about 20 mins from the end. I thoroughly enjoyed the walks we did today.

We got back to the Lodge and were walking up the path behind the Lodge Shop when we spotted a wombat having a feed in the grass along with a small wallaby. It was great to see.

We headed up to our cabin to make use of our spa bath. As I was undressing, Bruce saw a leech on the back of my leg. Yuk yuk. It is the first leech I have had and my reaction was a real girl's reaction. I was not happy! Then of course I couldn't stop the bleeding. I hope he enjoyed himself as he didn't live long after that.

Bruce took the bottle of champagne we were given down to the couple in the cabin next to us. They are spending a year in Tasmania to see as much as they can. We had spoken to the fellow yesterday afternoon. He wife had flown to Adelaide yesterday for a job interview and would be back this afternoon. They have been here since Monday.

We saw some beautiful sights of Cradle Mountain today in our walks. It is such a fantastic place.

To Tasmania - 5 September 2013

It was a very early start this morning to catch our flight to Tasmania. We flew to Melbourne where we had a 2 1/2 stopover before getting our flight to Launceston. Melbourne was wet and dreary and we were expecting the same for Launceston but it was lovely sunshine when we arrived at 1.30pm, and 18 deg.

We picked up our car at the airport and headed out to Cradle Mountain, where we were booked in to Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge for 5 nights.

We stopped off at Deloraine for supplies - chocolates, nuts, cheese, wine and cider. Deloraine is a lovely town. We have been here a couple of times and had seen the Yarns display a few years ago which is stunning. There was no time for sightseeing here today as we didn't want to be too late getting to Cradle Mountain.

You forget how beautiful Tasmania is until you come back and see the spectacular scenery. The last time we were in Tassie was in 2005. We brought Mum down with us. I didn't realise it was that long ago.

We arrived at the Lodge at Cradle Mountain about 5pm and the temperature had dropped to 10 deg. When we checked in, we were told that we had been given an upgrade to a spa suite. Very nice. The cabin is lovely and very tastefully decorated. On the wall over the bed is a large picture taken on one of the walks on the property. There is an open fire in our room with a lounge in front of it. Off the main room there is a deck looking out in to the bush.

While we were unpacking, someone dropped off a bottle of champagne just inside the foyer of the cabin. I had mentioned on check in that we were here to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. That was a lovely gesture.

Our cabin is about a 3 minute walk from the main building on a timber boardwalk. The main building has the Bistro, the Restaurant and a couple of lounge areas downstairs and upstairs they have a couple of rooms they use as TV rooms. They run a slide show on plants and animals each night at 8pm or you can watch the news etc. There are no TVs in the cabins. We will head down there on Saturday night to watch the election.

We opted to eat at the Bistro tonight but booked in to the Restaurant for Sunday night, our Anniversary. We had a beautiful meal at the Bistro, both of us having salmon. There are fires in all the rooms of the main building, except for upstairs, and the rooms are lined with timber. It's a lovely building.

The Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park is about 65km long and 40km wide, 161,000 hectares in size. It became a World Heritage Area in 1982.