Scrubby Creek Forest Camp to
Distance Travelled - 215.5 km
After what felt like the coldest night so far I got out of bed at 7 am and went for a walk through the forest to see if there was anything worth taking photos of. I am sure plenty of people might have thought so but nothing caught my eye. Got back just after 7.30 am and had a breakfast of cereal and coffee before packing up and heading off even though the tent fly was still reasonably wet after a very heavy dew last night.
Drove through to Genoa and stopped there where the rest stop was beautifully bathed in sunlight. Got the tent out and set it up to dry whilst I sat and read for a while. Once the tent was dry I packed up again and headed off.
The drive through to Cann River, the turn off for Point Hicks Lighthouse, and very much enjoyed the winding roads through forests, very nice viewing even though driving was on a highway.
Got to Cann River and went for a walk through the town and found a place with free wi-fi and was able to post the blog. Left there and headed out to the lighthouse which is 45 km the town with the last 25 km or so on a very pot hole ridden and fairly ravined road from rain over the last month or so. It takes about 50 minutes to drive out there. After parking the car there is a 2.2 km walk up to the lighthouse.
I arrived to see the tallest mainland based lighthouse in Australia, apparently Gabo Island is the tallest in Australia being taller than Point Hicks by by 3 metres. The lighthouse keeper / caretaker / ranger / campground supervisor was there and was very chatty. He offered me a tour of the lighthouse even though it is not the scheduled day and I gladly took him up on the offer.
The inside was very cool. As well as being the tallest it is also the only one where there is no central column / support for the staircase which is cantilevered off the walls. This is because the weights originally used to turn the light, much the same as a grandfather clock, came down the centre of the tower. After climbing the 152 steps to the top I had a very grand view of the nearby ocean and national park.
After descending I chatted to the keeper for a while and then watched a few whales swim past, went and had a look at the remains of a shipwreck near the lighthouse and then walked back to the car. Headed off and found a place for the night at the Bellbird Hotel. They offer a camping spot out the back. After talking to the owner he let me stay under the carport so that the tent will stay dry overnight. Had a nice hot shower and tea in the hotel and wrote the blog in the comfort of the dining room whilst waiting for tea.
After tea I will sort photos and make plans for the next few days. The next few lighthouses along the coast are on islands and so the nest one I might be able to access is Wilson's Promontory. The information I gleaned today says it is well worth the 18 km walk to get there but I need to ascertain if it is 18 km both ways or total. If it is one way I will have to plan carefully to get there and back in the day. Tomorrow I will keep driving down the coast and see how I go.
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