Days 6 & 7
Loryn & Ellie stayed at Mum’s to have a nice quiet weekend after our travels over the last few days, whilst I did a quick run up to Campbell Town to pick up Ethan. I was pretty excited as it had been a good 12 months, as mentioned earlier, and I couldn’t believe how much he had grown in that time
As it was just the two of us, it was decided that I would take the ute for a run and leave the RAV4 behind for Mum & Loryn. Because I haven’t been in Tassie for that amount of time, the poor ute hasn’t been used as much (normally I use it when I travel down with the RAAF). Ethan and I found this out fairly quickly when it rained, I turned on the wipers and the wiper blade stayed stuck to the windscreen (oops!!!).
So Ethan had a lesson in windscreen wiper replacement whilst we drove across to the East Coast. We stopped at Avoca and St Marys along the way, along with a quick look at the waterfall at the top of the range (it wasn’t really flowing and was overgrown).
Upon arriving on the coast we spent a few hours exploring between Scamander and St Helens Point. I’ve been through that way a lot over the years, and despite this, we still found areas I hadn’t explored before.
We booked in to a fancy “glamping” tent at Scamander and spend the evening catching up, wandering down to the beach and having a feed
After a sleep we checked out and headed north, deciding to stay on the highway rather than going along the coast.
I had noticed that there was a visitor centre at the Musselroe Wind Farm at Cape Portland. Being relatively new (2013) I hadn’t been there before so we headed off up the gravel road exploring. We found out that the average wind speed at this site is 33m/h – we would believe it after what we had that day!!!
Of interest each foundation is over 1,250 tonnes, around 2.67 metres deep at the centre and 19 metres in diameter. Each foundation is around 80 truckloads of concrete – noting that this site is km’s from anywhere. The tower height is 80 metres with a diameter at the base of 4.5 metres.
The 56 turbines were transported in pieces from Launceston (165km’s) or Bell Bay (140km’s) during the night and early hours of the morning. There are three blades per turbine at 44 metres long each (the transport would have been fun). Over a 12 month period this wind farm produces approximately 5 percent of Tasmania’s electrical energy needs.
We headed back to Gladstone for a feed (again yummy) before meandering across to Scottsdale, and up to the Sideling lookout
Arriving in Launceston our plan to have a game of mini-golf was cancelled, as they have closed it down (read: bloody annoying as we were really looking forward to it). We continued on to Perth where we caught up with Jacob and I said my goodbyes.
I headed back to Mum’s with a quick stop in Campbell Town
A very enjoyable weekend exploring with Ethan, but I must admit I was stuffed by the time I got back to Mum’s. The ute ended up with around 900km’s on it from the 2 days.
Day 8
The plan today was to head up to Triabunna, catch the ferry across to Maria Island and spend the day exploring. For those not aware, Maria Island became a penal settlement in 1825, and a convict probation station from 1842. The agricultural station was abandoned in 1850 and then went through a period of industry from the late 1800s as a cement work and then small farming and fishing.
It was declared a national park in 1971 and was recognised as a World Heritage Listing in 2010. If you are lucky enough to do so, you can arrive in style by plane although most of us arrive by boat. There are no shops, cafes, vehicles – you take everything with you, and you walk everywhere. You can take or hire a pushbike if you are inclined to do so, but I will warn that for a little island there is plenty of places where you are heading uphill!!!
Upon arriving we headed south straight away along the Coast Road to the Painted Cliffs. The tides weren’t really in our favour and we also wanted to get the longer part done first.
We wandered back towards Darlington exploring the huts / houses along the way
We stopped to have some lunch in Darlington and explore the township
After lunch we headed out to do the Fossil Cliffs Circuit. This really gave me a good workout pushing the pram, especially after the warm-up from the morning session. It was so exciting Miss Ellie decided to go to sleep!!!
At the completion of the loop we still had a bit of time left to fill in before our ferry trip back. We took a look around the outskirts of Darlington and decided that we definitely have to come back and spend a few nights on the island. I really want to do some of the longer walks to Bishop and Clerk, as well as Mount Maria.
I can say that the cider on the ferry back to Triabunna went down an absolute treat. Loryn was teasing me because my step counter was basically showing nothing because I had been pushing the pram!!! 🙂
We stopped into the Thumbs Lookout, south of Orford, off of the Wielengta Road. Unfortunately we couldn’t continue to loop around to Kellevie as the road had warnings up about the conditions ahead – and not having recovery gear and the time of day – it wasn’t worth the risk. (I’m sure Mum’s RAV4 would have done it!!!) 🙂
The run home was uneventful once I cleared past the slow-ass tourists (oh my God – there’s a corner – brake, brake, brake!!!)
We really enjoyed ourselves today. It is very different to what a lot of people would may do, but we absolutely loved it and are definitely planning on coming back.
Day 9
I was stuffed – absolutely and totally stuffed. So Jacob drove down to visit us and stay the night, and coupled with the weather, it was all the excuse I needed to have a lazy day at home. And I abso-bloody-lutely enjoyed it, and the couple of Bundy’s that may have been consumed too.
We did catch up with family at Rosny Park, and we did diagnose some issues with Jacobs car (gotta love it when Dad’s a mechanic, and Poppy Lenny is one of the best engine builders in the state) 🙂
Day 10
We headed into Hobart a tad earlier to get some parts for Jacob’s car (spark plug leads etc). I had to catch up with a RAAF colleague at Derwent Barracks for lunch and a discussion about 2021 plans, so it must have been amusing for him to see me finishing the repairs in the carpark. 🙂
In good news Jacob let us know that he got home safe and that the car was now running really well!!!
Mum & Loryn picked me up and we headed out to the Salmon Ponds and Museum of Trout Fishing, not far from New Norfolk. I’ll let the pictures tell the story….
In very short words – it was amazing, I’d recommend it to anyone, and I’d go back. Oh and the ciders they sell are very yummy indeed 🙂
Heading back we stopped for a photo of the Derwent River before the short hop over Tea Tree to home.
Day 11
Packing up sucks but unfortunately that was our morning. We did have plans to sneak up to Mt Wellington (it had snowed again), but the mountain never cleared up. We were also planning to do a quick river cruise up the Derwent, but this was also closed because of COVID.
So in the end we packed ourselves up, drove to the Hobart waterfront and had a feed and a few drinks at Mures. It was a bloody good feed, other than they ran out of seafood – kinda embarrassing I reckon when they are meant to be ‘THE’ place to go on the docks (oops!!!)
We said our goodbyes at the airport, did the normal exciting check-in “stuff”, watched other flights be cancelled (and kinda got nervous), and then we actually left on time.
Ellie had a great flight and as per normal the staff were nothing but kind and helpful
Helen thankfully met us at the airport with a quick stop at the Big M prior to driving back to their place. Sydney traffic quickly brought us back to reality 🙂
As per normal – an absolutely amazing trip exploring some new areas as well as some old, and I can’t wait to head back again. There is still so much to see, and we’ve been talking about a west coast trip for a while now.
I’m stuffed, time for a holiday I think 🙂