Author: Ann Bradshaw

North East Tassie

Launceston (pronounced ‘Lon-ceston’) is Tasmania’s second biggest city after Hobart.  Its main tourist attraction is Cataract Gorge Reserve which unfortunately is not dog friendly so we took turns having a look in.

Cressy – the fly fishing capital of Tasmania

Cressy is host to the Tasmanian Trout Expo every September.  It’s a shame we weren’t here then as Jonathan might have landed a $10,000 trout.  Cressy sits on the Macquarie River and is also close to Brumby’s Creek and weirs which are regarded as some of the best trout fishing spots in Tasmania.   Jonathan caught a couple of rainbow trout in the Macquarie River.  He’s becoming an expert trout filleter too and we had rainbow and brown trout fillets for dinner to compare the two.

Campbell Town

There were some beautiful sculptures next to the bridge carved by Eddie Freeman from Ross.  One depicted Dr William Valentine and his telescope.  He was responsible for the US Naval observatory team who observed the Transit of Venus at Campbell Town in 1874.

Westbury

This historic town has several National Trust buildings and a very English feel to it.  It even has a village green complete with stocks.

Bay of Fires, NE Tasmania

We found another fabulous free campsite at Swimcart Beach on the Bay of Fires and we managed to get a spot with direct beach access.  I thought the bay probably got its name from the bright orange lichen on the granite boulders but apparently it was named by Captain Tobias Furneaux who saw the fires of the Aboriginal people on the beaches in 1773 as he explored the coast of Van Diemen’s Land.

I can imagine this campsite will be absolutely packed over the summer.

Port Arthur Historic Settlement

The only thing we really knew about Port Arthur was that it was the site of Australia’s worst massacre in 1996 when 35 people were killed by a lone gunman and many wounded.  Most victims were shot at a cafe at the Port Arthur settlement and you can pay your respects at a memorial.

The settlement at Port Arthur started out in 1833 as a place to send convicts who continued to offend once they reached Australia.  It became a model for the rehabilitation of criminals based on Pentonville Prison in England.  Prisoners were disciplined and punished but also received religious and moral instruction, training and education.  As well as the prisoner population, soldiers and civil staff and their families also lived at Port Arthur and by 1840 there was a population of over 2000.  Convict transportation ended in 1853 and the settlement then housed an institution for ageing and infirm convicts who became known as the ‘old gentlemen’.  Some of these old gentlemen even led tours for the tourists who began arriving.  As free settlers arrived, the name was changed from Port Arthur to Carnarvon to distance the town from its convict past.  In 1856, the island also had a name change from Van Diemen’s Land to Tasmania.

Today, the site contains more than 30 buildings and extensive ruins and is set in landscaped gardens overlooking Mason Cove.  Apart from the fact that it had turned cold again, this was a good tourist attraction for the Bradshaws as dogs are allowed into the site.  The entrance ticket includes a 40 minute guided tour and a cruise round the cove (which wasn’t dog friendly).

In fact the tour had Winston’s paw of approval as there was frequent stopping when he could amuse himself by rolling in roo poo.  Being the only dog there, he also received a lot of attention.

Cockle Creek

Our stay at Cockle Creek is a good example of the highs and lows of travelling.  Cockle Creek is the most southerly campsite in Australia and we found a perfect spot to park up.  It was the warmest day so far in Tassie at 29 degrees and we were hotter than Cairns, Brisbane and Alice Springs.  There were oysters and mussels on the rocks and Jonathan used his geology hammer to harvest some for dinner.  Winston enjoyed swimming in the creek and running on the beach.

After a fabulous day, we set off back to Hobart the next morning only to get a flat tyre 10km out of Cockle Creek.  A lovely local couple stopped to assist with a tyre change and we were on our way again an hour later.

We spent the afternoon on a quest to get some new tyres and TyreRight in Hobart managed to sort us out.  While we were waiting, we went to the Electoral Commission office and cast our votes for the upcoming Queensland elections.

In other voting news today, the results of the same sex marriage survey were announced and 61.6% of Australians voted for the law to be changed to allow same sex couples to marry.  Many landmark buildings around Australia were lit up in rainbow colours to mark the occasion.

Margate

We camped at the Bowls Club which was a very scenic spot.  There was a platypus in the river and some elusive trout which kept Jonathan occupied for a few hours.

Inverawe Gardens

Margaret and Bill Chestnut have turned 22 acres of weeds into a beautiful native garden which attracts over 100 species of birds.  I booked into one of Bill’s bird spotting workshops which gave me a chance to test out my birthday binoculars.  Our group spotted 35 species over a couple of hours.  As the gardens are next to the North West Bay River, there were also plenty of shore and water birds.  Margaret laid on a fine morning tea for the group.

The gardens are behind the Margate Train whose carriages house various traders such as the Devil’s Brewery, Choo Chews and the Pancake Train.

 

 

Hobart

Hobart’s not that easy to get around in a motorhome as you’re forced to drive through the busy centre and there aren’t many spots to park a large vehicle.  We managed to find a fairly central spot at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.  The Museum has an exhibition dedicated to the Thylacine or Tasmanian Tiger called Skinned, Stuffed, Pickled and Persecuted.  The Thylacine was hunted to extinction in the wild and the last known specimen died in Hobart Zoo in 1936.  There are still reported sightings but any footage is always grainy and the image unclear.  This is one of the most recent.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-06/tasmanian-tiger-sighting-claimed-by-trio/8877598

 

The museum has an extensive collection of Tasmanian colonial and contemporary art.

From the museum, it’s a 5 minute walk to the hugely popular Salamanca Markets, held every Saturday near the waterfront.  There are hundreds of stall holders selling everything from Tasmanian produce, crafts, clothes and giftware.   We had our first taste of the famous Tasmanian scallop pie which is traditionally filled with a creamy curry sauce.

Mt Nelson lookout gives you a fabulous view across Hobart.  There are picnic tables, a café and also the Mt Nelson Signal Station.  Between 1836 to 1877, the station sent semaphore messages across to the penal settlement at Port Arthur.  A 20 word message could be sent in 15 minutes.

We stayed at the Hobart Showgrounds which was handy for Bunnings.  Strangely the camp kitchen was in the Ferret Pavilion.

 

Mawson’s huts Replica Museum, Hobart

Sir Douglas Mawson led an Australasian Antarctic expedition during the great period of Antarctic exploration in the early 1900s.  His ship the SY Aurora left Hobart on 2 Dec 1911 and landed at Cape Denison.  The expedition members built themselves huts and lived in these for two years through constant blizzards and winds up to 320km/hr.  After the expedition left, the huts lay undisturbed until the 1970’s when attempts began to preserve them.  The huts on Hobart’s waterfront are faithful replicas of the originals (probably better as they were built by skilled carpenters).  They are near the wharf from which the SY Aurora sailed.

The gift shop sells knitting patterns so you can knit your own replica Mawson balaclava. I was tempted as it’s been pretty cold so far in Tassie and if it saw Mawson through an Antarctic expedition it must be pretty cosy.

Snug Beach

Snug Beach is an interesting little town south of Hobart.  They are commemorating 50 years since a devastating bushfire killed 11 residents.  The Duke of Edinburgh visited the town a month after the fires and a plaque says “His words of encouragement to those who had lost everything in the fire lifted the spirits of survivors.”  It goes to show he doesn’t always put his foot in it.

The caravan park is right on the beach and the bay is beautiful but when the wind is blowing in the right (or wrong) direction, the smell of the seaweed is quite overpowering.  Seeing the Southern Lights more than made up for the honk though.

 

The Central Highlands

We drove straight down through the centre of Tassie.

Deloraine is a very pretty town on the Meander River.  More platypus swimming about right in front of the van.

Jonathan caught his biggest brown trout to date at 20”, fly fishing at Penstock Lagoon.  It made a very tasty dinner over two nights.

We sat watching this cute little echidna for ages.   Tassie wildlife doesn’t seem at all shy.

Tassie Adventure Day 1

It was freezing cold (literally) in Devonport but the sun was shining.

We visited the Tasmanian Arboretum in the morning …

… and spent the afternoon by the Mersey River.  Jonathan did some fly fishing and caught a brown trout for dinner.  I sat platypus spotting with my new birthday binnies and soon saw one swimming around.   It didn’t seem bothered that Jonathan was standing in the water.