Goodbye Tassie...

A good nights sleep at Ulverston Caravan Park but we worked out why the caravan across from us was vacant with a "For Sale" sign on the window.....the train line running close behind it and the train that went through at 3am hooting and hooting and hooting. The train line sort of zig zags through town close to the coast and has no fencing....at all.

Anyway, the beach next morning was brisk but pretty and the tide was out as you can see below.

We headed back toward Devonport and the delightful Turner's Beach. Mick had a fish in the clear estuary then we had a swim....the water was a lot warmer than last week up here....we floated with the tide...very relaxing. Then it was off to 'The Berry Patch' where Mick and the chef supervised the cooking of our lamb pizza in the outdoor wood-fired oven......delicious.....before we picked our own strawberries.

A drive to see Port Sorell, where they know where to camp in a very relaxed style and the views are extraordinary!

Now we are in the line to board the boat for the return trip to Melbourne.

Back to the coast

No luck fishing! But luckily we were equipped with our fishing licences as we received a visit, during dinner, from the local police who also act as fisheries officers. Very friendly...they must have a huge job in that lake area as there are numerous fishing shack villages surrounding the lake along with camping areas.

The swan family were out this morning as we fished. The mother would dip to the bottom to bring up beak fulls of green weed which the babies would then gobble up. Found a large friend as we packed up the tent and yes Emily we checked behind the sun visors in the car as the windows were down an inch overnight!!

A very scenic drive from Miena to Deloraine then onto Ulverstone on the coast. Very windy and rain predicted so we have opted for a cabin tonight by the sea.

Fishing!!

Finally we have reached a decent piece of fishing water in the Western Tiers. Apparently we should have bought a boat!!! So say all the fishermen you meet here and it is probably true...these are big expanses of water and the edges are soft and difficult to fish from. The creeks and rivers on the other hand seem to be very overgrown. A learning curve.

A quiet nights camp at Penstock Lagoon...watching the black swans gracefully dive for food.

We are loving the tremendous variety of native flowers out and flowering gums. We found these amazing gumnuts today.

Oh and today we visted the quaint Georgian village of Oatlands and bought some freshly ground flour made at their Callington Mill. Also found this topiary.....

Oyster Bay

Next stop was Oyster Bay to spend two nights with Dave & Maree. We haven't seen them for many years and enjoyed their company and hospitality at their new property by the water. The oysters as you will see below were huge and Tess their dog is still beautiful!

They took us to the Huon Valley to see the Tahune Airwalk....amazing! The trees are enormous.

Mt Feild National Park

A beautiful camp area here....we needed to stay a few nights to do all the walks. Saw Russel Falls in daylight and at night with glow worms in the rainforest nearby. This place comes alive at night with many pademelons coming close to camp, possums the size of wombats meandering around and ringtail possums hanging off the tiniest of branches to get to the seed pods on the wattle trees. Also some small low flying bats zoomed close to my face. Mick lost two shortbread biscuits to a hungry possum....we left the box on the picnic table when we went for a walk to the glow worms!!

A raspberry farm shop on the way provided us with a delicious dessert that night. Light rainfall combined with a dusty site made for a messy pack up the next morning and a surprise find of little muddy footprints up a pole and all over the tent.

Lake St Clair and more...

It has been tricky to get time and phone service to update the blog. We visited Lake St Clair and witnessed many walkers completing the Overland Track walk.....they also stood out for various reasons...enormous packs on their backs, dusty clothing or they were heading to the showers in a hurry!!! What a huge effort especially considering how hot it has been. Lake was quite choppy and scenery is very different from the other end of park. Coffee and customer service at cafe rates a 3/10.....

Highlight of the day was seeing a young tassie devil exploring close to the road and it was alive and well instead of squashed!! Too quick to get a photo though.

Next stop...Mt Field National Park.

We are back in contact with the universe...

Two days without phone reception is wonderful yet strange.
So...back to Wednesday and our visit to Cradle Mountain! It was spectacular like all the guide books advise. We walked around Dove Lake and opted out of the walk to Crater Lake because it was very very hot and exposed. Saving that for next time.
Our night stop was going to be on Lake Burbury but when we arrived in sweltering Queenstown we changed plans and had two nights in Strahan instead. Gorgeous weather for swimming at Ocean Beach, which is across from Hell's Gates, where the water has the tannin stain but is clear too. Then to Henty River up toward Zeehan to look for brown trout and a cool swim. Off to Lake St Clair now.