TASMANIAN TRIP - DECEMBER 2006-JANUARY 2007

TASMANIAN TRIP
DECEMBER 2006-JANUARY 2007
Monday 4 December to Sunday 10 December
Devonport to Stanley
Blog 1

Boarding the Spirit of Tasmania Ferry at Port Melbourne was the start of our Tasmanians adventure. We knew that we couldn’t take any fruit and vegetables across but were not prepared for the ban on extra fuel so we had to get rid of the 20L each of petrol and diesel that we had. No problems. It was a calm, warm evening and we had a lovely exit from Port Phillip Bay. We don’t really know if the crossing was rough because we slept through it and arrived at Devonport Harbour on the Mersey River to a mild, calm and beautiful blue skied morning.

We decided to spend a few days in Devonport checking out some of its attractions. It is fantastic to be back in travel mode, seeing new places and chatting to new people at the caravan parks. From our caravan window I could see the Spirit of Tasmania coming in and leaving as it blasted its horn to remind me to look out the window.

Our first explore was to Mersey Bluff and along the Mersey River and then further along the coast to Back Beach and onto Coles Beach. They were both beautiful sandy beaches but not white sand.

The weather was raining and cold but it didn’t stop us from driving to Leven Canyon. The countryside is very beautiful, undulating farm land with different crops, flowers and vegetables giving the area beautiful and varied colours.

We walked through our first rain forest to get to the Canyon lookout. It was very windy but beautiful. We took a tour through the Gunns Plains Caves and even though we have been through many limestone caves each one is quite different.

We drove back to the coast via the scenic route and through a tiny place called Penguin where even the rubbish bins are penguins.

On our way back to Devonport we stopped at Turners Beach and Lillico Beach which is where the penguins come out of the water to their homes on land for the mating season. All these places are quite close and are delightful with beautiful English like gardens.

Burnie is situated on Emu Bay and is one of the largest container ports in the country. It is quite an industrial town with the Australian Paper Mill, Hellyers Road Distillery, Woodcraft places and cheese factories. This was our introduction to the beautiful Tasmanian timbers which we fell in love with.

The tour of the distillery was great even though it was quite early in the day to be drinking spirits. Hellyers Distillery was named after Henry Hellyer the explorer/surveyor who discovered the area.

We took the tour through the Australian Paper Mill which makes Reflex paper. It is a large factory with precision machinery manipulating large rolls which roll, cut and pack the paper. It was a fantastic place.

Round Hill Lookout gave us a beautiful panoramic view of Burnie and Emu Bay. It was great that we could drive to the top. Next we headed off to Fernglade Platyous Trail in the Fernglade on the Emu River. It was THE most tranquil spot with beautiful ferns along the Emu River and information about the platypus, birds and flora of the area. We spotted a Pademelon, a small Wallaby, eating along the pathway. It was a most calming place.

Our next stop was the Emu Valley Rhododendrons Gardens which is a beautiful huge garden with a wide range of different rhododendrons from all over the world and also a large variety of other plants. Of course we missed seeing the plants in bloom but it was still lovely.

We stopped at Guide Falls at West Ridgley, they were small but very pretty, then on to Fossil Bluff and Table Cape on the beautiful coastline. It is easy to see why so many lighthouses are needed with such a rugged coastline.

We went to the tulip farm at Table Cape which was also not in full bloom at this time of the year but we learnt a lot about the industry. The area had huge fields of white daisies from which the pesticide companies extract the pyrethrums used in producing their pesticides. The many fields of white opium poppies provide the opium for the production of legal morphine and codeine.

Boat Harbour Beach and Sisters Beach were the first beautiful white sand beaches we saw in Tasmania while the river flowing into the bay was quite brown with tannin from the trees.

We continued on to Rocky Cape Lighthouse which was so different from the other 2 Capes or Bluffs. The day had been great but we still wanted to see the Fairy Penguins come in at Burnie. It was very cold and windy and the penguins only come out of the water after dusk. We waited and rugged up in warm clothes, gloves and beanies. The penguins were so cute and we were very close to them on the boardwalk.

We continued our journey west along the north coast of Tasmania to Stanley which is a most beautiful spot containing old picturesque little timber cottages set on a peninsula which today was very windy.

We went to Highfield Historic Site, the original home of Mr and Mrs Edward Curr the Colonial Chief Agent of the Van Demons Land Company, originally established to set up a sheep industry on the recommendation of the surveyor Henry Hellyer. The Currs had 15 children!!! Many of the sheep died of cold in the first winter and the business did not survive although future dwellers in the house made success of other enterprises. The homestead was set on top of a hill overlooking the township of Stanley and was quite majestic.

Hellyer who explored and surveyed a lot of western Tasmania eventually committed suicide and some of the documentation leads people to believe that he felt bad for the failure of the sheep investment. The stories are amazing and as always the stories of the treatment of the aborigines are quite difficult to deal with.

We took the chairlift to the top of “The Nut” or Circular Hill which is at the end of the peninsula at Stanley. It is a volcanic crater left after the surrounds have eroded. We walked around the top to enjoy the panoramic views even though it was cloudy and hazy from surrounding bush fires. We really enjoyed the views even though the wind was still howling at the top.

After that we wandered around the town and saw the little house where Joe Lyons, the Prime Minister of Australia from 1930 to 1939 was born.

The next day we headed off to the must see Dip Falls and The Big Tree in the Dip River Reserve which is a HUGE gum tree being at least 400 years old in a magnificent rain forest. The wind had totally died down so we went on a seal cruise leaving Sawyer Bay and heading around The Nut to a little island with lots of fur seals, white bellied cormorants, Pacific gulls and a majestic albatross. It was beautiful to out on the water.