Tasmania - day 26 & 27

Day 26

Today we were back on the road again.  We travelled from Strahan to Devonport. 

Strahan to Devonport

No photo’s taken , we were too busy concentrating on the road, it was a long winding road with little opportunity to stop until we reached the coast.

Day  27

Stanley, Wynyard and Penguin

This morning we did a bit of exploring along the north west, of Tasmania again it was fabulous to drive a road were you could see the ocean most of the time and when the ocean was out of view we could see the gorgeous green rolling hills and rich red soil.  We decided to head straight for Stanley.  I decided to torture Marc a little bit and dragged him out to Highfields historic home.  Highfields was built in 1832, for Edward Curr the Chief agent for the Van Diemen’s land company.  It is a lovely regency style home.  The house is still in the process of being renovated, but it was lovely and the Tasmanian parks and wildlife service has done a lovely job with what had been done so far.

Highfields

Part of the Kitchen in Highfields

This Rooster looked pretty contented

Stanley itself is a really lovely little town, full of lovely little historic buildings, we caught the chair lift up to the top of the nut, and walked around it’s perimeter looking at the gorgeous coastline.

The nut as seen from the window at Highfields house

Stanley from the Nut

The gorgeous coastline around Stanley

We had a lovely lunch at the Stanley Hotel then headed east to Wynyard where we visited the Tulip farm where I had a ball taking lot’s of photo’s

The tulips

The gorgeous rich red soil of northwestern Tasmania.

After the tulip farm we had a look around Wynyard and followed the coast road through Penguin and Ulverstone.

It was a great day, and Miss S and I stood and watched the spirit of Tasmania sai out of Devonport in the evening.

We are a little sad that we will be on her in two nights time sailing home and our holiday would be over.

Catch you later

The Knights

Tasmania - day 24 & 25

 Day 24 started bright and sunny and we were surrounded by snow, it was nothing to hear thumps during the night as the snow fell from the tree’s overhead onto our rooftop. It was beautiful but cold.

Our Car

After we had scrapped the snow off the windscreen and packed up Bridget we were back on the road, destination today Strahan

                                                          Cradle Mountian to Strahan

On the road in Cradle Mountain country (after the snow plow had been through)

Looking at the map you would think that this trip would have been a quick trip, but it took us around four hours of serious driving. The roads were winding through mountainous terrain and Marc was tired and a little grumpy by the time we arrived in Strahan.

We did stop off at Queenstown, we had planned to have lunch so Marc could have a decent break but the only shop we found open was the local IGA so we grabbed some drinks and snacks and got back on the road.

The main street of Queenstown looking up at the mountains

Driving into Queenstown, it was interesting to see the denuded landscape

(sorry it is a crappy photo, car was moving at time)

not much else happened today as we all took a well earned rest.

Day 25

Gordon River cruise

Strahan

Today we decided that we would spend our day found on the World Heritage Cruises boat at just after 9am ready to cruise up the mighty Gordon River and around Macquarie Harbour.  We settled into our comfy seats and the captain took us out in to the harbor our first scenic adventure was a trip through Hell’s gates. Hell’s gates is the narrow channel that vessels entering the Macquarie harbor pass through. In the convict times there was a penal settlement on an island in the middle of the Macquarie harbor called Sarah’s Island. This settlement was were the worst offending, most escape prone convicts would be sent. Since Sarah island was known as hell on earth the convicts dubbed the entry into this harbor Hell’s gates and the name stuck.

Hell’s Gates

After Hells gates we cruised further into the harbor with our next stop at a commercial fishing farm. 

 The Fish Farms

The fish farms are full of Salmon, if you look closely at the photo you can see a boat with a guy “hosing” the farm, this water actually contains the pellets that feed the fish.

The easy way to fish, they scrunch the nets up and use a large fish net scoop to catch the fish.

The next stop was Sarah island.  During the year 1822 – 1833 Sarah Island was the place for “secondary” punishment, the place where the uncontrollable and escape prone convicts would be sent.  Later Port Arthur was established and Sarah Island was closed.  During it’s time Sarah Island was known as a living hell on earth.  Today it is a lovely quiet peaceful place.

Sarah Island

After Sarah Island we headed up the Gordon River

The gorgeous Gordon River.

It really was a lovely day, the river was gorgeous and we had the opportunity to go for a short walk through the rainforest in the Gordon river. It was a really lovely day the staff on the World heritage Cruises were really lovely and very informative.

We are back on the road again in the morning so it was pack up time again.

Catch you later

The Knights

Tasmania - day 23

Miss S here today writing my first blog post so I hope its well enjoyed;

After we all had a lovely  two day at the Mole Creek we took off on our way up to Cradle Mountain and what secret enchantments do the mountains behold?

The view from Mole Creek Caravan Park.

On our way up we were aware that there was snow on top of the mountains but to the extent we were not sure the snow capped mountains were a gorgeous sight we were under the impression that we were staying on the bottom of the mountain and would certainly not be privy to any snow. But as we rose higher and higher up the mountain we started to see our first sights of snow falling there wasn’t really much to begin with and we really did think that that would be it.

Our first sightings of snow in the mountains.

 But it seems that more and more snow just kept flooding at us at every turn of the corner.

The lovely snow just kept increasing and increasing.

We were all quite gob smacked at our arrival it was a snowing wonderland and it seemed that every building car and caravan had quite copious amounts of snow on there roofs, windsheilds, windows, door handle and everthing else that you could possible imagine.

The car after just a few hours.

The Camp kitchen.(where we spent most of the evening by the fire)

After playing in the snow for a few hours I decided to take some photo’s I think their quite lovely just to toot my own horn!

Some Moss

Some Fungi

We caught a shuttle to Dove lake which on a clear day shows clear and fantastic view of Cradle Mountains however we had a more well…. Majestic view we had lovely mist and falling snow to add to the already spectacular scene.

The most fantastic thing I’ve ever seen Cradle Mountain.

Mr M had proclaimed it “the best day of the holidays” although he uses this term lightly it would seem however I couldn’t agree more!

It really was a lovely day tomorrow morning well be heading off to Strahan !

Catch Ya Later MAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTEEEEEEE!!

The Knights

Tasmania - day 22

Today was designated a day of rest, we planned to do very little. So we all had a bit of a sleep in, I layed in bed and read my book and took a long shower.  After breakfast we headed into Chudleigh to  have a look at the Honey farm, we tried some of their wares, and walked out with lot’s of honey.

After Chudleigh we headed back to Mole Creek and out to the Marakoopa caves. The caves were very interesting and the cave guide was very informative, he guides us through the caves explaining about the rock formations, stalactites, stalagmites and the history of the caves.

Stalactites

the frog pond, this little pond was about 20cm deep and the water was crystal clear

Not much else to show you, packing up in the afternoon back on the road again tomorrow

Catch you later

The Knights