Day 14 - 7th October

Rocky Cape to Corinna

Distance Travelled - 233.5 km

5 am was a horrible time to wake but thankfully I was able to turn over and go back to sleep for a while. After what can probably only be described as fitful dozing I finally struggled out of bed at about 8 am. Had breakfast, showered and packed away what I could whilst waiting for other things to dry out a bit. Chatted to several other people in the campsite who wandered by and then packed away the dry stuff, finally able to leave by 10 am.

Drove through to Bluff Hill and out to the lighthouse there. This one was somewhat different to others as it has a round brick building at the bottom of it and and more regular shaped tower and light. I took a few photos and then spent time just watching the sea pound the coast, sending up some high spray. This was viewed from a distance and between the wind whipping up sand and spray and the waves crashing onto rocks sending up more spray that got obliterated by the wind it was hard to get a decent photo that didn't look completely washed out.

Leaving Bluff Hill I spent the day driving through some beautiful country, stopping at some small towns to have a look. The drive from Arthur River through to Corinna was amazing. It ranged from scrub land with large hills / small mountains (reminiscent of Bluff Knoll in the Stirling Ranges in WA to some extent) through to rain forest type environment out towards Corinna.

Got to Arthur River and spent some time there doing some photography at a place they call 'The Edge of the World'. Looking at the ruggedness of the coast and the large amount of driftwood on the rocky beaches it is easy to see why. It certainly puts into perspective the forces of nature and how fragile we really are as humans.

The road from Arthur RIver to Corinna is super windy and twisty with large sections of it signposted at 45 kph and 50 kph and with good reason.It is probably the most accurately signposted speed-wise section of road I have driven on this year. I really enjoyed the 80 to 90 km that this section covered. It forces you to slow down and gives you an opportunity to see the scenery a bit better than when sitting on 100 kph. About 10 - 15 km before Corinna I saw my first live wombat for the trip. I came round a bend and it was standing on the side of the road. Before I had a chance to slow down and stop for photos it had taken off into the bush for cover.

Had a look through Corinna when I got there and then headed back out to the Savage River crossing where I spotted a place to camp on the way through. Got there and another car was already in the same spot but they were happy to share. The 2 older guys, Max and Rod - both in their 70's- and I got on well and spent a good couple of hours chatting about all sorts of things, sharing a fire and a cup of coffee after separate dinners. I spent time in the afternoon and evening taking photos and enjoying just looking at the superb scenery around me.

After they decided to settle down for the night I took time to write my blog and sort photos. Today has seen me take the biggest volume of photos I have done for a while. Many are of the same scene as I try to get the 'just right' shot. Hopefully I will have one or two that turn out ok.
Tomorrow I will go across the river on the punt and then continue down to Strahan and then see  if I can get some photos of the lighthouses down this way. Depending on what that entails I will then make plans to start heading back towards Michelle and Shane's in Lilydale and see what happens on the way and from there.

                                             Dead tree not far from Rocky Cape tavern

                                                 Bluff Hill lighthouse

                             Big driftwood on the stony beach at 'The Edge of the World'

                                Water entrance through rocks at 'The Edge of the World'

                                                    Ayrum lily at Arthur River

                                                       Ayrum lily at Arthur River

                                                      Ayrum lily at Arthur River

                                                     Ayrum lily at Arthur River

                                                   Max, at the Savage Creek campsite

                                                  Max, at the Savage Creek campsite

                                                      Rod, at the Savage Creek campsite

                                                Rod, at the Savage Creek campsite

Day 13 - 6th October

Rocky Cape to Stanley and return

Distance Travelled - 71.8 km

A somewhat overcast sky greeted my eyes as they peeled open at just after 5 am before promptly shutting again to reopen at aboout 6 am. Still no change in the weather so I dozed until just before 7 am. Got up and packed away a dry tent thanks to being under cover in a disused camp kitchen type area. Had breakfast and cleaned up in time in ring John, the owner of the property where the new lighthouse is located, by 8 am.

Much to my surprise, I must admit, he seemed quite happy for me to go and have a look at the lighthouse. He asked me to be there at 9.30 am so I had time for a quick walk of about 30 minutes before heading out. Arrived in Stanley at about 9 am and did a few quick shots of the old lighthouse structure at the wharf before heading out to the rendezvous point by about 9.15 am. Not long after John turned up and we chatted for a bit before he opened up the gates. He had to go to town so just told me to lock the gates when I left and that would be fine. I had been given the impression that he was always reluctant to have people ask to go see it and I was pleasantly mystified at the difference.

I wandered out to the lighthouse, about a 10 minute walk, to find a significantly different lighthouse. Whilst not a traditional structure it was certainly an improvement on the metal lattice towers that many of the new ones are. I took a few photos and headed back to the car. I then headed to the town, stopping to take a couple of photos of 'The Nut', a large rock formation at the end of the headland.

Entering into town I visited the Cow and Calf gallery recommended to me by the guy I was talking to at the campsite last night. WOW! is a ridiculous understatement. The photos this guy has taken are amazing. David Murphy is the name of the photographer and after looking through the gallery I am in two minds. One is to use his photos as inspiration as to what is possible and the other is to give my camera away as anything I produce seems so insignificant and pales so much in comparison.

Walking away from the gallery I headed to the wharf and took a couple of shots before heading back to the Rocky Cape Tavern campsite. I decided to have a very leisurely day today and with forecast rain and high winds this afternoon thought I might take the opportunity to relax a bit more rather than drive off into the unknown in potentially bad weather.

Got back to camp and spent the afternoon reading, sorting photos, listening to music, setting up camp, having a little nap and chatting to people before deciding to write the blog early. I think I can access the internet at the pub so I might be able to post my blog tonight instead of tomorrow if all goes well.

After finishing the blog I will have tea and then look into plans for tomorrow which basically consists of heading to Marrawah and hunting out the West Point and Bluff Hill lighthouses. After that the general plan is to head towards Strahan and the lighthouses at Hell's Gate and Cape Sorell before heading back towards Michelle and Shane's at Lilydale over the next few days. Given the weather I think it might be an early night.

Old Highfield lighthouse

 

                                                           New Highfield lighthouse

                                                              Bay near new lighthouse

                                                                 'The Nut' at Stanley

                                                           Rusted nut on the wharf

                                                              Stanchion on the wharf

                                                              Stanchion on the wharf

                                                      Stanchion on the wharf - modified

                                                              Fisherman on the wharf

Day 12 - 5th October

Wynyard to Rocky Cape (via Stanley)

Distance Travelled - 157 km

Cloudy overcast skies greeted me this morning and coupled with a heavy dew overnight meant that the tent fly was quite wet with just a little seepage at the very foot of the tent although this was just on the canvas and hadn't entered the inside of the tent yet. I woke at about 6.30 am to the sound of many birds chirping and singing and then dozed on and off until about 8 am.

I had breakfast and then wandered a little trying to take a few photos of dandelions, bees and seagulls that might be reasonable before giving up and settling down to read. By just after nine the sun had still not come out and not a skerrick of wind was about so the tent had not dried at all. I packed up and headed into town.

I spent a while wandering through the streets looking at various shops and then meandered over to the info centre for the 10 am opening. It was a good day to be there as it was their 10 year anniversary. There was free coffee and cake, free entry to the vintage car museum attached to the centre and a bundle of willing helpers on board to assist with any questions.

I had a look through the car museum and was quite impressed. All the cars there are owned by one man and are all restored. The range from the 31st Model A Ford ever made through to an original Cadillac, Model T, K and N Fords. There are at least 18 cars, 3 motorbikes and few penny farthing bikes in the collection. Someone has way too much money.

After leaving the museum and info centre I went to the local library and posted my blog. Strangely, the info centre charges $2.50 per half hour to use the internet but you cannot use a thumb drive whereas the library is free and thumb drives are allowed. The people at the library were also very nice and accommodating.

Having posted the blog I planned on going back up to the tulips near the lighthouse in an attempt to get a decent photo in what I thought would be muted, overcast light but when I exited the library the sun was out and a small breeze was wafting by. I decided to delay the photography and head back to the campsite to dry out the tent. I sat in the sun and read for half an hour while the tent dried out and then headed to the tulips.

Not sure if I got any decent photos but it was enjoyable trying. I left the tulips and went back into town and took a few more tulip photos as they have quite a few sections along paths and in planter boxes with more tulips in them. Having saturated my thirst for tulip photos I finally headed out of town and made for Rocky Cape Lighthouse.

After several detours and wrong turns I eventually found the lighthouse in the 2nd section of Rocky Cape National Park and took a couple of photos of a quite uninspiring lighthouse before heading off to Stanley. The drive was pleasant enough but nothing of huge interest. I found the info centre there and was told that there was no lighthouse on the wharf and the other was on private land an inaccessible. Further discussion, prompting, questioning and chatting eventually gave me the information I was seeking. There is a miniature lighthouse on the wharf I was told but no movement on the private property one.

I went to the wharf and discovered the miniature one is actually the light and lamp room from the original lighthouse - minus the tower is all. Took a few photos and then headed up to where the other lighthouse is near to see if I could sneak a peek. No luck there - just as I got up the hill a huge sea fog came rolling in, surprisingly quickly, covering everything in sight. I moseyed on down to another tourist attraction - the Highfield buildings, and spoke to the people there. They gave me a number for the guy who owns the property the lighthouse is on but warned me that he usually does not let people out there.

I rang him shortly after and his phone was answered by someone else as he was busy with customers. I explained what I was after and was told to ring back a 8 am in the morning and John would sort something for me then. I then headed past the local fire station  and found someone to chat to before heading off to find a camp for the night. I ended up back near Rocky Cape where there is a free camp site at the Rocky Cape tavern. I decided to spoil myself and not eat my own cooking tonight, instead choosing to let the tavern kitchen staff do it for me. Rissoles, chips and salad went down very nicely.

After tea I chatted to another camper who is also a keen photographer and then went for a half hour walk before settling down to write the blog, sort pictures and go to bed.

 

                                           Bee and dandelion at campsite

Bee and dandelion at campsite 

 

                           One of the cars at the vintage car museum at Wynyard Info Centre

One of the cars at the vintage car museum at Wynyard Info Centre

 

                                                         Tulip near the lighthouse

Looking back on the field of tulips from the lighthouse car park

 

                                                         Tulips in town at Wynyard

Tulips in town at Wynyard

 

Rocky Cape Lighthouse

Day 11 - 4th October

Beechford to Wynyard

Distance Travelled - 230.3 km

Windy conditions and flapping sides of the fly woke me a few times during the night but on the whole it was not too bad as I was able to fall asleep again fairly quickly. I woke up around 7 am with sunlight dabbling at the edges of the tent opening. In no particular hurry this morning I managed to doze on and off for a while and then lay listening to the chirping of birds and then my ipod until just before 10 am when I could no longer stay comfortably in my tent.

I got up and had breakfast and then read for a short while as I waited for the dampness to dry out of the tent. By about half past ten I was ready to leave. I drove off towards Devonport enjoying the initially winding roads through the countryside before ending up again on highway roads that took me to the Mersey Bluff lighthouse. This lighthouse has distinctive red stripes painted down the tower but interestingly these are only on the coast side of the tower. The inland side is just painted white.

I went for a short walk around the area and then decided to head on towards Burnie and the Round Hill lighthouse. This was a little tricky to find as it was not listed in the GPS and I only had sketchy information from the Internet. Having driven into town and talked with people at the information centre I had to drive about 7 km back out of town from where I had come. Driving into town you cannot see the lighthouse as it is only small and on the coast side of the hill. Going out of town it is easier to see. I parked nearby and climbed the hill to find it. Having taken a few photos I headed back to the car and decided to head towards Wynyard and the Table Cape Lighthouse as there is more chance of finding a place to stay the night out there as it is slightly more remote.

The drive was one again on busyish roads but I managed to find it without much fuss. It is right near a tulip farm and well signposted. The lighthouse precinct was very windy and a bit nippy but was reasonably busy with visitors. I spent a bit of time there and took a couple of photos before heading back out to the entrance road to take photos of tulips visible from outside the farm. The section that I was taking photos of was not part of the farm display from what I can gather but I was still a good boy and stayed on the road side of the barbed wire fence.

After taking photos there I headed off in search of a place to stay. Not too far from the farm is a picnic spot near the river. I pulled in there and found a nice spot to park and look out over the river. It also has a grassed area with a BBQ and small shelter put up by the local Rotary Club and I decided this would be my camp for the night. I spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening (with dusk not starting until 7.30 pm due to daylight saving) reading, watching people fish, working out various ideas and plans for tomorrow and contemplating taking more photos.

Organised tea and started writing the blog before sorting out photos from today. There seems to be a few mosquitoes at the moment so I will delay setting up the tent until it gets dark and hopefully the mosquitoes will go away. Tomorrow the plan is to head towards Stanley and see which of the lighthouses on my list I can find.

 

                                             Mersey Bluff Lighthouse - coastal side view

                                            Mersey Bluff Lighthouse - coastal side view

                                            Mersey Bluff Lighthouse - inland side view

                                                       Round Hill Lighthouse

                                                      Table Cape Lighthouse

 

                                 Tulip Farm tulips with Table Cape Lighthouse in background

                        Tulip from Table Cape Tulip Farm patch near lighthouse

                          Tulip from Table Cape Tulip Farm patch near lighthouse

                      Tulip from Table Cape Tulip Farm patch near lighthouse

                                                Seagull from my campsite in Wynyard

Day 10 - 3rd October

Lilydale to Beechford

Distance Travelled - 116.6 km

After going to sleep around 1 am it seemed way to soon to wake up as the clock showed 8 am. Struggled out of bed a little bit later and had a shower and some breakfast before going to the main house about 9 am to see what was happening. Michelle was ready to go so I packed the car and followed her to Lilydale Falls.

The falls are only about 5 minutes drive from their house and are quite beautiful. There are 2 sections of falls and although not running overly fast they still looked very picturesque and sounded nice. There was a lot of large ferns and tall trees in and around the falls making it significantly cooler than the carpark area and the muted sunlight struggling to get through the canopy of leaves and branches made the sight of the waterfall area even nicer. Michelle commented that the water level in the bottom pool was significantly lower than she has seen it before. Given the beauty of the falls at this level I can only imagine that it must look so much better with more water in the system.

After a short time there we headed our separate ways, Michelle back home to grand final festivities and I went off in search of lighthouses. I started my trek by initially going back to Launceston to visit the information centre and grab some methylated spirits from Bunnings for my cooking stove.

Having completed those tasks I headed towards George Town, the Low Head Lighthouse and the Tamar River leading lights. Having gone back to Launceston, the drive to George Town was primarily on highway roads so not particularly inspiring. Arrived and went to the local information centre and spent some time talking to the woman there getting information about access points and possible camping spots.

After having my curiosity satisfied I went off and found the Low Head Lighthouse. Wandered around the area for a while looking at some of the buildings and taking some photos of the lighthouse before heading back towards town a little to where the leading lights are. These are 2 separate lighthouse buildings, smaller than the nearby Low Head lighthouse and work in a similar fashion to the ones at Port Melbourne and Lady Bay lights. The idea behind them is that the pilots of the boats line up the lights from the 2 small lighthouses and by keeping on that path are able to make safe passage into harbour.

Having taken photos of them I headed out to Beechford where I found a spot to camp in a park there, hidden back from the road. I spent the rest of the afternoon listening to the Eagles get thumped in the Grand Final and reading my book. Later in the afternoon / early evening I went for a walk along the nearby beach for half an hour or so just as it was starting to darken down for the night. Went back to the car and had tea before writing the blog, sorting photos, reading, listening to music and setting up camp for the night.

Tomorrow I will head towards Devonport and the Mersey Bluff Lighthouse and see what develops from there. Daylight savings starts here tomorrow so I will need to take that into account and remember to put the appropriate time pieces forward.

                                                            Lilydale Falls lower

                                                              Lilydale Falls lower

Lilydale Falls upper

 

Low Head lighthouse

 

She Oak leading light - Tamar River

 

Tamar River leading light

Day 7 - 30th September

Dimboolan to Station Pier, Melbourne

Distance Travelled - 355.6 km

Finally went to sleep at about 1 am after spending a lot of time just laying in the tent listening to music on the ipod. Woke at 6 am to the sound of chirping birds but thanks to being under cover it was still relatively dark and I was able to get back to sleep for a while.

Finally got out of bed at about 9 am and had breakfast and packed. The tent and bottom sleeping bag were still a bit damp from the condensation so I chose to use the time sitting in the sun reading and having a coffee. When everything was dry I packed the last of the things and headed off into town to find a place to post my blog.

The lady at the information centre / Community Resource Centre type place was very helpful and also a very keen photographer. She had some amazing photos of some of the local birds putting my feeble attempts to shame big time. We talked photography for a while before I set off from town at about 10.30 am.

Meandered along the highway stopping at a few shops in some of the towns to just kill a bit of time and have a peruse. Travelled through Horsham, Stawell and Beaufort to name a few. Nothing spectacular but a pleasant enough drive.

Got to the pier at about 3.30 pm and wandered up to check out a few details. Apparently I cannot take my Trangia (camping stove) fuel bottle with me so decided to take it to Lindsay and Heather's place, about 10 minutes away. It was great catching up with them again, if only for a short time. Hopefully timing will allow for a longer stay on the way back. Apparently my cousin Deanne is very keen to catch up so will try and factor that in on the way home.

Got back to the pier and eventually boarded without any hassle. Spent a few moments snapping some photos of some seagulls while waiting in line to load the car. Once on board I talked to a couple of my roomies for a bit before having a shower and writing the blog. After this I will go for a walk around the ship and have a bit of a look before we set sail. According to the announcement just put over by the captain it should be a smooth (ish) crossing.

The room looks comfortable enough and my allocation is the top bunk so hopefully the captain is right and there are no big swells to knock me out of bed. Tomorrow after leaving the ferry I will drive to Launceston and try to find a camera shop to put my lens in for a quote so I can finalise insurance claims and hopefully get them replaced. After that it looks like about a half hour drive to Michelle and Shane's so hopefully I will be there by late morning. After that there are no real plans for the day other than catching up with Michelle and Shane and seeing what the go is from there.

Day 8 - 1st October

Devonport Ferry Terminal to Lilydale

Distance Travelled - 140.3 km

Somewhat surprisingly I had an ok night. I went to bed at around 9.30 pm and read for a while and listened to a bit of music before making conscious decision to try and sleep. I took another tablet just in case and entered the realm of dream land. Woke about 1 am and could feel a slight rising and dipping of the boat but not to any significant extent. Went back to sleep and awoke about 4 am and then dozed on and off until the PA announcement at 5.45 am notifying us that we would be disembarking at 6.30 am.

I was in no rush so was the last to go through the shower and pack my gear before heading to the lounge area ready to leave. They called different garage levels to go and remove cars with my level being the last one called. Got out without any issues and went the quarantine station without a glitch. Headed off into Devonport for a quick breakfast and then drove the 100 or so km to Launceston.

Found a camera shop and spoke to them about getting a quote for the other broken lens. They wanted an up front fee of $100 (as opposed to the $27.50 in Perth) and said it would probably take at least 3 weeks to get the quote back (as opposed to the 4 days it took in Perth). I said no thanks and left.

I then drove on to Lilydale and found Michelle and Shane's place. They are on a lovely property with a very nice view. I have been put up in a wonderful self contained flat on the property which is very nice. Michelle and I spent time catching up and yakking about all things school and so on before heading out to one of the local haunts for a burger for lunch.

Came back form lunch and caught up with Shane and we all talked for ages before having a yummy chicken curry, cooked by Shane, and talking more and more until it was time for bed at around 10.30 pm. Came up to the flat, got ready for bed and wrote the blog. No photography today. Tomorrow Michelle and I are going book hunting and then a bit of sight-seeing if the weather is right. It has been a wonderful day catching up with Michelle and Shane after way too long.


Day 9 - 2nd October

Lilydale area

Distance Travelled - 0 km

After a pleasant nights sleep with only a couple of wake ups I got out of bed, showered, breakfasted and was in the main house by 9.30 am. Not long after Michelle and I were heading of to Launceston to go book hunting.

We went through several Op shops and books stores and found a variety of books we were looking for and had much fun discussing various books we had read or other stories related to the titles we were searching through. We also had a quick look through other parts of the shops for the odd bargain or that special something we might discover.

After looking through several shops and visiting a nearby, non volunteer, fire station we were on our way to Cataract Gorge - a beautiful spot not far from here. There is the river and park land and a dazzling array of plants to view plus various birds including peacocks. We wandered and did some photography and were rewarded with a very nice and prolonged display by a peacock completely fanning out his tail and trying to impress some of his female counterparts. Unfortunately, some of the young children there decided it would be great to try and get close to the peacock and dance around him making it very difficult and frustrating to try and get any decent photos. I find it somewhat amusing that both Michelle and I can have amazing amounts of patience with kids at school but that patience goes completely out the window when it comes to holiday time.

After leaving the gorge we went to a few more book / op shops / secondhand places and then went to Coles to do a little shopping before heading home. I had a quick nap and then spent time going through today's photos before heading down for tea. Shane had prepared a magnificent roast chicken dinner which we all thoroughly enjoyed.

After tea we spent several hours chatting away about all sorts of things before finally heading off to bed around midnight with just enough time and energy to write the blog before succumbing to the sleep fairy.

Tomorrow we will visit nearby Lilydale Falls before I head off for a few days to do a lighthouse run along the north coast (or at least part of it). Once I have done some of that I will return here for a day or so before heading off again - which way yet I am still not sure.

                                                           Flowers at Cataract Gorge

                                                             Flowers at Cataract Gorge

                                                            Peacock at Cataract Gorge

                                                            Peacock at Cataract Gorge

                                                           Peacock at Cataract Gorge