Mountain River - July 2014

Di and Robert had plans for a wassailing weekend in the Huon Valley.  On the Saturday we had a date with Kat, Philip, Austin and Sophie at the Huon Mid Winter Feast at Willie Smith's cider shed.  It would be good to ride our bikes there, as there was no parking at the site.  

It was a lovely sunny day when we arrived at Misty Hill Rd.  Sophie was still suffering severe jet lag from her flight from Europe the day before and her riding legs were quite out of condition.  But she was up for a ride, so we jumped on our bikes and enjoyed the mostly downhill ride along Mountain River Rd and the short stretch of highway to the cider barn.  

The place was buzzing, with people in pagan mid winter kit all over the place, kids dancing around the maypole, music, an Argentian bbq and lots of food and drink stalls.  The MONA event organisers were doing a great job.

Kat and Philip had got a head start on us and could recommend some good first choices.  The food and mulled wine were great. We enjoyed the best mid winter costume competition, and then watched the huge bonfire being lit.

While there was still good light on the road, we rode back to Mountain River, this time the ride was mostly slightly uphill (!).  After a lovely dinner and more wine, we fell into bed in Wanda.

The morning news was full of the airline disaster in the Ukraine, but the crisp winter morning was beautiful.

All too soon we were heading home again, to get some Sunday tasks done.

Lucky escape on Bruny Island, October 2013

It had been ages since Wanda had had a decent trip away with Di and Robert.  Of course, she had had an eight week winter getaway up to Queensland with her good friends Austin and Sophie, which was great fun, and a quick trip to Mountain River for Philip's 50th birthday party.  It seemed like the "Show Day weekend" would be a good chance to hit the road again.  And it tied in with Di's "walk-a-month" schedule, which had a walk to Fluted Cape on Bruny Island listed for that Sunday.  

So we managed to leave the house at about lunchtime on Friday (what's the rush?) and headed south to Kettering, joining the queue for the 1.45pm ferry. 

The wind was high and cold, funnelling up D'Entrecasteaux Channel and blustering down the inlets (all at the same time!).  The captain amply demonstrated his skill getting the beast lined up with the jetty at Roberts Point.  

First stop was the Bruny Island SmokeHouse (BISH) which we managed to find open for the first time in several visits to Bruny, hurrah!  It looks like a very nice spot for a snack and a drink.  We picked up some Sardines with Chili, some smoked wallaby, and some interesting looking Pomegranate Syrup. Then we pulled into Get Shucked for fresh oysters.  The shop was being enlarged to offer sit down meals and drinks, and it should be great when it's finished.  But today sales were being made from a caravan, and the blustery conditions were making life difficult for the staff.  There was a group of cycle tourists enjoying the oysters - it looked like they were on a gourmet bike crawl, because we then ran into them again just down the road at the Bruny Island Cheese Factory.  There we bought some excellent Tom and Saint cheeses, and beautiful sourdough white bread.

We found a good spot for lunch, the camping ground on the Neck. This looks like a quiet and pretty place to camp.

We headed further south, towards Alonnah, where we tried out the general store for fresh fruit. The weather was still blustery, with passing showers. We continued south through Lunawanna and onto Lighthouse Road.  We were heading to Bruny Island Camping, a private campsite/caravan park that Robert had found on the web.  The location looked great, on Cloudy Bay, right next to the South Bruny National Park, and we had booked in by phone while on the ferry.   

The driveway into the caravan park should have been a warning.  It was sandy and rutted, and when we got to the park's office, it appeared to be someone's bush shack.  There were no directional signs on the driveways, and cheerful Philip came out into the rain to say hello and tell us we just needed to back up to the other drive and head down towards the beach on the other side of his house.  We asked if there was any risk of our getting bogged, and Philip reassured us that we would be fine.  And anyhow if we did get stuck, he had a 4 wheel drive and a tractor to haul us out.  When we got to the site, it was a sandy pad, which he assured us was well compacted and quite safe.  

The rain continued on and off, so we settled in with a little champagne, causing some envy I think amongst our neighbours, looking a bit bedraggled in their tents and huddling around campfires. We did wonder how Philip was getting away with charging $60 pn!    When the showers eased a little, we walked down to Inlet Beach,a pristine jewel on Cloudy Bay, ringed by national park.

Dinner was a yummy vegie curry, followed by green tea and Christmas cake (these days we're drizzling rum into the Legacy fruitcakes as soon as they appear in the shops).  The high wind continued all night, blowing the cold showers through regularly.  We were parked right next to untouched bush, with good birdlife, so the view from Wanda was great.  Next morning we made a slow start, waiting for the showers to clear. Our camping neighbours decided early that the weather was not going to improve, and went home.  Then Robert had an incident with the furniture, hitting his head very hard against the underhang on the overhead cupboards.  We sat quietly for a while waiting for the bleeding to stop, but then decided it was quite time to go.  

And you can guess what happened then.  The back wheels spun in the sand, and Wanda didn't move.  Cheerful Philip was fetched, with shovel and timber pads, and trusty 4WD.  The shovel and timber idea didn't work, so the 4WD was then tried.  Phew!   Wanda eased out onto terra firma, and we headed up to his house, where he gave us back our second night's fee (!) and we set off towards the main road.  And got bogged again.  After another tow by the 4WD we really did manage to leave, with lessons learnt all round.

The unsealed road to the south was in pretty bad condition, with corrugations and millions of potholes.  It was with some relief that we pulled into the carpark for Cape Bruny Lighthouse.  Here the wind was magnified ten times, especially when we climbed the hill to the old lighthouse.  This building was built in 1836, and the light commenced operation in 1838.  It has now been replaced by an automatic light, located nearby.   The weather was extreme, with bitterly cold winds arriving from the snow clad mountains to the west, and intermittent showers being driven across the headland.  

The lighthouse Museum was open, containing fascinating insights into how the original lights worked and the lives of the keepers.  For example, each lamp used 600mL of sperm whale oil per hour, and needed to be continually replenished.  There were some eight lamps burning all the time!

Back in what now felt reassuringly like civilisation at Alonnah, we had a Bruny Island gourmet picnic lunch in Wanda, parked at Sunset Bay, with winds battering the van and great views across the choppy channel.

Driving around to the other side of the southern part of the island, sticking to the sealed road, we reached Adventure Bay, where we planned to stay Saturday night.  At the far end of the beach, we checked out the start of tomorrow's walk to Fluted Cape, and visited the monument to Captain Cook, who landed here in 1777.   The private caravan park located here (Adventure Bay Park) was closed, which was unfortunate because it looked like a prime location.

So we returned to Captain Cook Caravan Park, and obtained a nice grassed plot, with power and water, for only $30 pn.  What a bargain!   After a yummy dinner, we slept soundly, unworried about the odd shower.    

After another lovely cooked breakfast from Robert - scrambled eggs, tomatoes and mushrooms on toast - we packed up and proceeded to the carpark at the start of the Fluted Cape walk to wait for our walking companions. We had decent weather compared with the last couple of days.  The winds were lighter - Bruny Island adventure tours were loading up a boatload of seal watchers, whereas yesterday all voyages had been cancelled . Showers were still predicted but likely to be fairly light.  This was lucky, as Robert had forgotten to pack a raincoat - what!?

Lyn, Sophie and Brett arrived about 10.40 to join us for the Fluted Cape Walk, and you can read all about that in Di's Walk-a-month blog.  

Cockle Creek, 11 May 2013

The weather was looking good for the weekend, so we decided to head south to do the South Cape Bay walk.  We left town late in the morning, stocking up with goodies at our favourite deli, the Hill St Grocer.  It was a pleasant drive down through Huonville and Franklin, and we arrived at Geeveston in an hour. 

We found the famous Japanese restaurant Masaaki's, at 20 Church Street, Geeveston.  It is hidden up what looks like a carpark, across the road from the Wood Heritage Centre, and behind a second hand furniture shop.   Masaaki Koyama set up the restaurant with his partner, Lucy, in May 2009, and has since become famous through his weekly stall at the Farmgate Market in Hobart.  Every Sunday, his food attracts the longest queues I have ever seen in Tasmania.  People rave about his fresh home made wasabi, and we had not yet tried it.  Here was our big chance!   The restaurant doesn't have a menu, you choose your dish from the array of sushi on display in the bain marie, while Masaaki prepares fresh sashimi to order.  We chose a selection, and  sat outside in the sun to enjoy the feast.  It was absolutely delicious, and the fresh wasabi was delicate and refreshing, beautiful.  Looking around in Geeveston, we were impressed that the town seems to have put its divisive past behind it and is moving on together as a community.

On the road again, we passed through Dover, noticing the pub's devastation after a recent fire.  We missed the turnoff to Hastings and paid a quick visit to Southport before we realised our mistake.  (My fault for relying on Mark's written directions instead of watching the map!).  Back on the C635, we passed through Lune River and soon reached beautiful Recherche Bay.  Here we stopped at the roadside plaque commemorating the successful campaign to save the historic vegetable gardens of the French explorers, and noted Angie's name on the list of significant donors (thank you, Angie!).

The road from here on was pretty pot-holey, and we took it easy as we passed some quiet little shacks and a camping ground.  The few shack dwellers about looked a bit too interested in the strangers coming through (strains of banjos?).  At the entrance to the South West National Park was this amusing reminder that this was the most southern point of Australia:

We were bound for the camping ground inside the national park, and we weren't disappointed, finding it well kept and uncrowded. 

We drove to The End of the Road, parked, and wandered out to see the Stephen Walker whale sculpture, which we really liked.  There are great views from here over Recherche Bay, and good interpretation of the site and its history. 

It was apparently a 2 hour return walk to Fishers Point, so we decided to give it a go.  This is a pleasant walk along sandy beaches and around rocky headlands to the site of what used to be a vibrant village of whalers and woodcutters.

Now all that is left is some brick rubble that apparently used to be the pilot station, and the remains of a light house. 

200 years ago there used to be two pubs and 400 people living here, it hardly seems credible.  We didn't stay long, wanting to get back before night fell (we did the walk in 90 minutes).

We found a great spot to park Wanda, just off the road, quiet and peaceful.

Robert heated up a curry, and with a glass of wine we enjoyed some TV before a good night's sleep.
In the morning we didn't get onto the South Cape Bay track until 9.20am, a bit later than expected.  The track was rated at about 4 hours, so the pressure was on, as I wanted to get back to Hobart for a 3pm Draught Busters workshop.

 The South Cape Bay track is mostly level, and mostly well made and maintained.  The first hour is spent in eucalypt bushland, skirting Moulders Hill.  The second hour through Blowhole Valley is largely level, through duckboarded marshy grasslands, with occasional treed hillocks providing some visual relief. 

 
Finally the dunes are reached, and at this point the track deteriorates somewhat. Another 30 minutes or so gets you to the metallic rocky headland, overlooking the bay, with South Cape straight ahead and South East Cape to the left.  We were exhausted, and didn't venture down to the beach.

We made it!

It is a dramatic place, with the surf pounding in from the south, and rugged coastline all around.

South Cape

Still hoping to make it back in time, we headed back along the track, but after a while it was plain that it was going to take us 5 hours, not 4.   We got back to Wanda, totally exhausted, and fell into our seats.  Robert decided the best course was to drive straight home, as if we stopped anywhere we would find it very hard to get started again.  This was when we encountered the rude driving behaviour of some local boaties, who hogged the bad road for kilometres and didn't have the courtesy to pull over and let faster vehicles pass. Idiots.