Saturday
It has been raining off and on all night so we weren't holding out much hope for good weather on a very busy day. By the time we dragged ourselves out of the cosy cabin it had stopped and there were patches of blue sky poking through the clouds. After our crunchy nut and coffee we packed up the car and tried our luck at spotting elusive platypuses in the nearby creek but there were none to be seen. We set off to a nearby walk just outside Strahan in a place called People's Park. It was only a 20 minute return trip to the very scenic Hogarth Falls, through rainforest ferns and moss covered trees. After our early morning stroll we had a quick walk around regatta point which is across Macquarie Harbour from Strahan. The West Coast Wilderness Railway station is located here but the area was deserted and we had no intention of going on it so we moved on. We ended up taking a wrong turn and wound up in a less that appealing looking cul de sac so we had to make a hasty u turn before we attracted any unwanted attention from the locals. Our destination before the morning was Queenstown, a short 45 minute drive inland from Strahan. About halfway along the windy road to Queenstown we stopped at a viewing point with views across the rainforest covered mountains. As we were there a car pulled up and out jumped a couple who had been at the play the day before. We said our hellos and goodbyes and were then both heading in the same direction. We followed them all the way to Queenstown where we eventually lost them. We parked up and had a wander round the town while we waited for the visitor information centre to open. Queenstown is an old copper mining town but now, with the mine closed down, there isn't much life around. To pass some time we walked the steep, short walk up to Spion Kop, which is a lookout in the centre of Queenstown. It was named by soldiers returning from the Boer War and has mining heritage exhibits along the way. After strolling back down and visiting the visitor information centre in search of wifi to book a room for the night we had a look at the miners siding that doubled up as a water fountain, while the old man from the info centre spied on our every move from his doorway. We hadn't managed to get internet access since leaving Stanley, so we hadn't booked any accommodation for the evening coming. We'd been told the park had free wifi but when we got there we couldn't find any, so we returned to our car to leave town. The highway out of Queenstown climbed steeply into the mountains and was incredibly windy. After about 5km we saw signs for a view point called Iron Blow, which we had also read about in our guidebook. We pulled in and followed a short road to a small car park where we could see a walkway jutting out from the cliff. The walkway allowed us to look down into the gaping, water filled hole of a former open cast goldmine as well giving spectacular views of the rust coloured mountains that are unique to this area of Tasmania. We carried along the highway as we had a couple of walks to do as well as having to find accommodation for the evening. The first walk was Nelson Falls and was only a 20 minute return but it was well worth it, springing up from nowhere where the wonderful Nelson Falls which were much larger than we had expected. We didn't linger and we're back on the road in no time continuing on to Donaghys Hill. This walk was slightly longer at 40 minutes. We took a few carrots to snack on along the way and made our way up the slippery pathway to the top. The panoramic views of the rainforest were excellent and there was signage at the top showing the names of the mountains and ranges we could see. In one direction we could also see the Franklin River which lends its name to the national park we were in, the Franklin – Gordon Wild Rivers National Park (bit of a mouthful!). After an average start to the day the weather had really picked up and it was quite warm on top of the hill. The day was getting on so we tore ourselves away from the lookout and headed back down to the car. Our plan for the evening had been to find accommodation in the town of Derwent Bridge, which is named because there is a bridge crossing the river Derwent in the village. We pulled up at our first target and were pretty pleased when we entered as it looked pretty cosy and there was a fire burning on the bar area. The lady informed us she had no rooms left though, she did give us a suggestion of a place down the road though. We drove the short distance to the next option and the slightly miserable lady there informed us that she only had spa chalets left at $235. We politely declined but she told us that there was a town about 30km down the road where we may be able to find a room. It was called Bronte Park and was actually the town we had originally had down as a stopover in the first place. I use the term town very loosely though. It was more of a hamlet only there to offer accommodation for people either just passing through or visiting a nearby lake to fish. The first place we found was called Bronte Park Heritage Village. Here we struck gold. The cheapest room they had was $100 for the night, which was an absolute snip compared to anything in or around Derwent Bridge. We took them up on their offer and got shown the room. It was a motel style room but almost like a log cabin at the same time. It had a kettle and an ensuite bathroom, so we were pretty happy with the find. The only drawback was a lack of self catering facilities but we treated ourselves to dinner in the restaurant instead. We tore ourselves away from the warm log fires and went to bed with our own heater on as it was freezing outside. We'd only been asleep a couple of hours when the most horrendous, ear splitting noise started going off. It was sort of like when someone presses a self destruct button in a James bond film, like a siren. Neither of us had any idea what was happening but I scrabbled to get the light on while Charlotte rushed over and unplugged the heater we had left on. I stopped for a short while and we relaxed until it started blaring again for a shorter time. After another short break it went for even less time once more. We heard muttering out in the hallway, so we opened our door and stuck our heads out. The lady who checked us in was walking down the hallway. She apologised and said it was a fire alarm and they think it was from a chimney somewhere on site. We had assumed it had been a fire alarm but it was unlike any we had ever heard before. Eventually, after all the commotion and panic, we managed to get back to sleep.
We woke up pretty early, still getting over the awful noise of the fire alarm. Breakfast was set up in the dining room, so we helped ourselves to some items. The same lady from the night before came in while we were eating and apologised again for the alarm but we said it was fine. We set out almost immediately after finishing breakfast, as we had another busy day ahead of us and no accommodation booked yet again. Our main goal for the day was to visit Lake St.Claire National Park, which was back down the road, just North of Derwent Bridge. There were a few walks in our book within the park so we had decided to do one. We'd picked out one called the Shadow Lake circuit which was an 11.5km walk that said it should take between 4-5 hours. We set out at quarter past 9 when it was still very cold underneath the canopy of the trees. It very quickly warmed up and we were shedding the layers we had piled on that morning. About 2 hour in the path split with one heading up a mountain and one continuing on to the lake. We took the lake option and made good time across boardwalk hovering over marshland. On this stretch is where the one and only slip happened. I got too confident with my foot placings and slipped on a moss covered rock. Fortunately, I got away with only a small scraze on my arm. We reached the lake around midday and we were pretty much bang on time to finish in 5 hours. We fancied a rest though and found a seat on a rock at the edge of the lake and tucked into our picnic we had brought with us. It consisted of carrots, apples, cereal bars and some nuts and was throughly enjoyable along with the fantastic warm weather and the amazing views across the lake, we moved on, descending back down towards the finish line and completed the walk at quarter past 2, exactly 5 hours after starting. Including our half an hour lunch, we made pretty good time. We were passed along the way by a few people who seemed to be running the route but we were in no hurry. We made ourselves a couple of sandwiches when we got back to the car and while we ate them, considered where we should try and find a room for the night. We set out with the intention of driving all the way to Hobart, which was about 2 hours 30 minutes away but we did have the town of New Norfolk down as a possibility. We would see what we felt like along the way. The road was hilly and very windy and this wasn't helped by a couple of mad Asians who were driving very erratically and were poking their selfie stick out the window every now and again. Fortunately, they seemed to notice their stupidity and pulled over to let us pass. We eventually pulled into the town of New Norfolk and decided it looked like a pretty good place to hunt down some accommodation. As with before, our first stop was a disappointment, as the camping grounds had no cheap cabins left. The very nice lady at reception offered to phone a place called the Bush Inn for us though. The result was positive and we told them we'd be up in a few minutes. She told us it was a really old building and where we could find it before we took off. We found it easily and were given room number 2, which had the highest bed ever made in it and an awful lot of mirrors. It was a nice, old building but there was something about it that made us feel slightly uneasy. It was a pub and although we didn't know it's age at that point, it was clear it had been around a while. Food options were limited for us as the pub didn't serve food on a Sunday, so we had to make use of a pizza menu the man who had checked us in had given us. The owner, Don, ordered them for us and we ate them while watching Doc Martin on the TV. We were in bed by 9 but despite needing to catch up with blog writing didn't fancy staying up too late in this hotel. Despite a few thoughts lingering in our minds, we were fast asleep by 10, ignorant to everything.
James and Charlotte
