Up in the Trees

The night at the B&B was comfortable, if a little chilly at times although we had a heater and electric blanket to use if we needed them, so it was our own fault really if we were cold. We awoke around 7ish and eventually braved the chill to get up and dressed, ready for breakfast.

After breakfast we drove south to Geeveston where bought tickets for the Tahune Forest Airwalk. We then drove about 30km into the forest before arriving at the visitors centre.

The airwalk is a raised walkway through the forest treetops along the Huon River. It's pretty impressive as you end up on a cantilevered platform almost 40m above the forest floor. It's a fairly easy walk, but the scenery at the end is spectacular. We were lucky , as the weather was really good and there was no wind. Even so, the platform was swaying gently. I wouldn't like to be on it in high winds, although the blurb said that it is designed to withstand winds of 180kmh.

After returning from the airwalk, I went on the Hangliding ride. This is a "zipwire" ride over the river while you are strapped to a hanglider. I was strapped into the chair and then hauled backwards over the river before "gliding" back to where I started. I got two goes and it was fun, despite last nights cold rain that had gathered on the canopy being dumped on me during the first run. Once again, the view of the scenery was great.

After a hot drink we drove back to Hobart and I went for a whisky tasting at the Lark's Distillery. I sampled a very nice selection of local malts and left feeling quite happy. I also left with a bottle of their port barreled malt, which was my favourite (except for the very expensive rum-barreled).

Then it was down to the docks for some fish and chips to soak up the alcohol and a quick trip around the main shopping street before heading back to the airport for our flight home.

Cold, Rain and more Rainbows

The alarm was set for 6am but didn't go off as I forgot it was a weekend, and the alarm was only set for Monday to Friday. Luckily, we both woke up just after 6 and got to the restaurant just as they opened.

After brekky, we checked out and began the drive to Cradle Mountain.The road was very twisty and the weather, once again, alternated between sun and showers. We stopped for petrol at an automated petrol station at Zeehan.From there we promptly headed the wrong way, soon realised our mistake, turned round and began heading once again to Cradle Mountain.

After a couple of hours we zoomed past the Visitors Centre, past a police car that was frantically signaling to us to slow down (I think Alicea thought they were waving at her) and stopped at the barriers next to a sign saying that we needed a day pass to enter the park.

We went back to the Visitor Centre (at the proper speed) and bought a day pass each ($33) This included a free shuttle bus ride into the park and back (about 20 mins each way) which we decided to do.

By now, as we were up in the low lying clouds, it was cold and constantly drizzling, so we were well wrapped up in coats, scarves and hats.

We caught the shuttlebus down to Dove Lake and we were planning to do a short walk to Lake Lilla. However, due to the cold and wet, Alicea decided to stay undercover at the car park hut, and I decided to brave the elements on my own.

The walk was very picturesque and quite wet. More than once I wished that I had brought my walking boots as some of the path was a bit slippery and my socks were gradually getting wet as my runners are not the most waterproof footwear.I was also having problems taking any decent photographs as, every time I tried, the rain would just coat the lens. The rain did stop a couple of times, just for a minute or two, and the sun shone through, and then it was back to the drizzle.

Once I'd reached Lake Lilla, I turned around and headed back to the car park. As it came into sight, I saw one of the shuttle buses leaving, which meant a 20 minute wait for the next one. I rejoined Alicea in the hut and the rain began to bucket down. I'd got back just in time! We got on the next shuttle bus back to the Visitors Centre where we had a nice warm drink and a snack before setting off in the car again.

We drove out of the Cradle Mountain National Park towards Launceston and then headed south towards Hobart and saw some amazing full and double rainbows on the way. We stopped in Perth to have some lunch (veg soup and garlic bread) at a pub and then continued onwards to Hobart.

Our plan for tomorrow morning is to do the Huen Skywalk, so we headed through Hobart to Huenville and then onto Franklin where we found a little B&B (Huon Franklin Cottage) to stay the night and went to a restaurant called Petty Sessions for dinner. The food was okay, nothing special, but there were some fabulous pictures - photos and pencil drawings - dotted around the walls that were done, we were told, by the owner's partner.

After dinner, we retired back to the B&B.

ABT No 5

We had booked a trip on the West Coast Wilderness Railway which is a restored railway line that was opened in 1897 that ran between Queenstown and Strahan to carry the copper from the Queenstown mines to the port at Strahan.

We had breakfast at a local cafe that was okay, but nothing special and then waited for the shuttle-bus to take us to the local station.

Once at the station we were shown to the premier class carriage (there were only two carriages in total, the other being "tourist class") and introduce to Ashley who was to look after us for the day.


On entering the carriage we were handed a glass of sparkling wine and very soon the train shook into life and we were off.

The railway has to negotiate a 1 in 20 and a 1 in 16 incline so it uses an ABT Rack and Pinion system to drag the train up the incline and to provide extra braking on the way down. The locos themselves are fitted with large cogwheel pinions which engage with the rack on the centre rail. There were five originally, but only three are in service at the moment and we spent the day being pulled by ABT No 5.

The scenery was stunning. The carriage we were in had a "balcony" at the rear that afforded an excellent view as the train rattled along the banks of the King River, the Queen River, past various gorges, through ancient temperate rain forests and over several bridges.

All the while we were fed and watered with Tasmanian wines, Tasmanian cheeses, coffee, hot chocolate and other snacks and drinks.

Tom, who was looking after the Tourist Class carriage, gave a running commentary about the history of the railway, the mines and the general area.

We stopped at various small stations on the way where we could stretch our legs and go for a stroll into the rain forest.

Eventually, the train rolled into Queenstown where we boarded a bus for the trip back to Strathan. It was a really enjoyable and interesting day.

Before we left for Tasmania, I was told to try the crayfish but, try as we might, we haven't found any yet. The only place that seems to sell it here in Strahan is a local souvenir shop(!) but we would rather have it in a restaurant than on our laps in our hotel room.

So, we ended up in Hamer's, the local pub, where we had some oysters followed by steak (Alicea) and curried scallops (me) which were both rather nice.

We then went back to the hotel for the night as we've a long day tomorrow as we try to get to Cradle Mountain and then do the long drive back to Hobart.

Long Drive Through the Rainbows and a Change of Plan

We walked down to Salamanca Place for brekkie and had a very nice dish of scrambled eggs on sourdough toast in one of the cafes. Then we checked out of the hotel and started the 300km drive from Hobart to Strahan which, we had decided would be our overnight stop on the way to Cradle Mountain.

The scenery on the drive was stunning as we followed the river Derwent as it wound through the hills and valleys, occasionally stopping to take photos. The weather was very mixed. One moment it would be sunny, the next rainy, the next both. This meant we saw about half a dozen rainbows during the trip which just highlighted the scenery even more.

We stopped at Derwent Bridge for a coffee, initially going into the Derwent Bridge Hotel (just after a coach party of pensioners had arrived and were being ushered to their tables for lunch) only to discover that the only coffee they had was instant. So we doubled back to another cafe that we had passed a couple of minutes earlier called the Hungry Wombat and had a "proper" (albeit decaf...) coffee and a piece of cake each.

Thus replenished, we set off on our way again, heading through the trees, down the extremely twisty road towards Queenstown (the next bit of civilisation) and then on to Strahan. The road down to Queenstown was very, very twisty as it made it's way down the side of the mountain into the mining town. Queenstown isn't the prettiest of towns, but it was nice to get there as it meant the end of the drive wasn't far off.

After some more twisty roads we ended up in Strahan about 2.30pm. We parked and headed to the local tourist info to find out about accommodation and whether there were any tours/actvities we could do.

Accommodation wasn't a problem as there were several places we could choose from. The two main tours that they do here are a boat trip up the river and a rail trip throught the rainforest to Queenstown. Unfortunately, both are day tours and we had missed them.

The other trip that we had read about, a boat trip out to one of the islands to see the little penguins wasn't running, so we were out of luck.

So, we went to see what accommodation we could book. We went to the Strahan Village reception and had a look at one of the rooms they had overlooking the harbour. It was lovely, and on the way back to reception to confirm it, we booked in for their buffet dinner.

Once that was done, we had a quick wander around the harbourside, stopping for a coffee before returning to the hotel bar for some tapas (cheese & onion tortilla, chilli pepper squid) and a drink overlooking the harbour.

Our plan was to drive to Cradle Mountain tomorrow and head back to Hobart to catch the Salamanca markets on Saturday. However, after chatting to some people in the bar who were talking about the railway trip throught the rainforest we decided to book that for tomorrow and head to Cradle Mountain on Saturday, forgoing the markets, which meant booking an extra night here in Strahan. It turned out that residents of the hotel get 10% discount on the train trip, which was a bonus so we booked the train and an extra night in the hotel.

The buffet for dinner was pretty good. As a bonus, the bar had James Squier, so i was able to get a decent beer too. There was plenty of choice and I started with a roast pumpkin soup and then had a selection including some Atlantic trout with wasabi mayo, mussels, scallop, pear and walnut salad and a selection of antipasto veggies. After finishing that, I returned to the buffet bar to have pink ling with an orange and fennel sauce, garlic scalloped potatoes, roast potatoes and brocolli. The ling was pretty dry and tasteless, but the garlic spuds were lovely. Finally, I waddled back once more to sample the pavlova, choccy caramel slice and washed it down with some custard...

The hotel has wireless, but it only seems to be available in the bar/restaurant area. I purchased an hours worth which hopefully will be enough for me to upload this blog and a few pix. If you are reading this, then I guess it was.

To Tassie!

The alarm woke us early, very early, at 5am. To be honest, neither of us had slept well and were awake well before the alarm.

The taxi arrived about five minutes early and we we whisked away to the delights of Kingsford-Smith Domestic.

For once, Jetstar took off on time and, about two hours later, landed in a large field on the outskirts of Hobart, which purports to be the airport.

While Alicea waited for the suitcase, I went and sorted out a hire car an very soon we were on our way to Port Arthur, the penal colony.

Once we were there, we went on a cruise out into the harbour to hear some of the history and to get a closer look at the Isle of the Dead (where the deceased prisoners were buried) and Point Peur, the boys' prison.

The cruise was about 20 minutes and was included in the price, as was a 40 minute introductory tour.

After the cruise, we grabbed a pie and chips to eat before meeting up for the introductory tour. This tour basically gave a bit of history about the layout of the place and a very brief overview of the reasoning behind its building. We also heard a few tails about the convicts.

After the tour, we had a wander around the main buildings. A lot of the buildings are now in ruins, due to bush fires and falling into disrepair, but it is still possible to get a feel for the place. After it ceased being a prison, part of it was turned into an hotel and part (the asylum) was used as council offices..!

We then went back to Taranna to see if Alicea's brother Mick was at home. Unfortunately, he wasn't so we took a picture and posted it on Facebook to prove that we had been there. We then went to the Tasmanian Devil Conservation Center nearby. It was $32 each to get it, which was extortionate for what was there. There were a few enclosures with Devils in, some Quolls, some birds of prey and som wallabies and Roos. I know that these places cost a fair bit to run, but we did feel a bit ripped off.

We drove back to Hobart and checked into the Collins Hotel. We then went looking for a restaurant that had been recommended to us, only to find that it had shut down. We then went to another place on the docks called "Mures" that was really nice. We shared a huge seafood platter which was lovely and I tried a Tassie single malt which was quite nice but different to the Scotch's I'm used to.

From there, we walked back to the hotel where we retired for the night.