I got the opportunity to get away again. This time it was to join up with a mate (and missus) from the Overlander forum. It’s dad’s last weekend down here so I thought I better drag the old bugger along (I can say that now as I can run quicker).
We departed home and headed straight for Burnie. It’s a fairly boring run along the highway (for Tassie), but the scenery is still fantastic in places. A quick stop at the roadhouse for some fuel & food was welcome, but overall we arrived in Burnie just before 9am.
The weather certainly wasn’t forecast to be the best, however thankfully it was meant to clear over to the east. The end result though was a cloudy, misty day. It wasn’t miserable or cold for that matter, but it did wreck a few of the lookouts along the way. Still in some respects wet weather gives another perspective on the areas and can certainly make an area even better.
We met Hoggy at Maccas (a long favourite meeting point for Overlander gatherings) and proceeded down the Murchison to the Hellyer Gorge. Winding our way down the valley was at times quite slippery due to the rain.
Climbing up the other side of the range, the road opens up into nice long straights. It wasn’t long before we arrived at Waratah. Now I have to admit that I only really know the pub in this place, so it was quite different ‘doing the touristy’ thing.
However I am please to say it was worth it, & I’m glad we stopped in and checked out the museum, waterfall & other displays.
From Waratah we travelled a couple of km’s up the road to a rest stop for a bite to eat.
Not much further south we turned east towards Cradle Mountain. There is a decent climb approximately 3/4 along the road, but the reward is some fantastic views – even in wet weather.
Cradle Mountain was covered in a low cloud, but I figure you’ve got two options in life. Sit at home and complain about it, or just bloody do it anyway. I’m sure you can already guess which philosophy we take 🙂
We headed east out of Cradle Mountain travelling through towards Gowrie Park. There are a couple of lookouts along the way, but most were covered in low cloud. We did catch one which had a killer of a staircase next to the pipes. It doesn’t show exactly how steep it is, but I reckon it’s gotta be a challenge for ‘The Biggest Loser’. That’d kill em for sure 🙂
The weather was really turning it on for us now, so we decided to set up camp down on the banks of the Mersey River.
There is a nice sheltered part out of the wind, although I think we might’ve interrupted a dirty weekend for a young couple (oops).
The night was filled with small talk, an attempt at keeping a fire alight and some ‘blokey’ cooking (dinner was prawns followed by Salmon & then muscles). No salads or vegies here………
We woke to a glorious morning and set about packing up camp. A breaky of eggs, bacon, tomatoes & mushrooms went down well.
A nice climb up to Devils Gullet with the ensuing 500 metre walk certainly woke everyone up. But that view is worth every bit of the effort.
Continuing on up the hill we arrived at Lake McKenzie. I have never seen it soooo low before. To be able to drive that far down was certainly a new experience.
One way in, one way out – but it certainly made it easy to leave one more lookout for the return journey.
We headed towards Mole Creek turning off just before the town to head up to Sheffield. A quick stop at the Mersey River for a picture ensued.
A quick run over the range through Paradise & we arrived in Sheffield in time for lunch.
The bakery (hopefully) enjoyed our business before we departed heading out through Kimberley. We crossed the Mersey River and popped out onto the highway at Elizabeth Town. We followed the old highway through to Westbury where we ditched Andrew and went home. Nah we said goodbye and headed back home wishing we could’ve kept touring around.
Overall a very enjoyable break away from normal life with some good company to boot. The old fella got to see some more of the state & I got to revisit areas long past visited (plus look at stuff I never have).
Cheers
Chris