Lake Pedder - March 2014

It was the Labour Day long weekend, so a good chance to get away.  Several friends had talked about their recent visits to Lake Pedder, and we realised we had not been down that way for a very long time.

We set out on Sunday 9 March.  It was an hour to the Mt Field Visitor Centre, where we bought a Mt Wedge Tasmap and asked whether it would be safe to take Wanda on the Scotts Peak Road.  The response was reassuring, so we set off in high spirits.

We stopped to enjoy the view at the Tim Shea lookout, and then stopped for lunch at the Wedge River picnic area.  This is a quiet little spot, sitting just under the Sentinel Range, next to the pretty little Wedge River which trickles away hidden inside the bush.

More photos were called for when we first reached the new Lake Pedder, at the Hermit Basin, with the Frankland Range in the far distance.

We passed the old hydro town of Strathgordon, and popped up the hill to the Serpentine Lookout.  This little hill has great views down the Serpentine Reach towards where the original Lake Pedder still lies submerged under the larger current Lake Pedder.

We drove on to visit the enormous Gordon Dam, which was a great engineering achievement in its time.

The water levels in Lake Gordon were quite low, some 5 metres below the maximum level.

We walked down the many steps and all the way around the top of the dam.  It is all very large!

Climbing back up to the road, we drove back to the Serpentine Lookout, where we parked for the night.  At one stage we thought we were going to have to share the carpark with some motorbike tourers, but they decided the ground would be softer down on the lawns of the village.

There was a curious incident with a camera.  After several cars had been and gone, Robert noticed an expensive camera sitting on the tarmac.  He picked it up and moved it to a safer place.  An hour or so later, one of the motor bikes came back, and the rider started looking anxiously around.  He was pretty amazed (and grateful) to find his camera there still!

It was very peaceful on the lookout hill, we felt very privileged to have it all to ourselves.  The views from the bedroom window towards the morning's sunrise the next morning were magnificent.

After a quiet breakfast on Monday morning, we drove back along the Pedder road, and turned right onto the unsealed Scotts Peak Road.  We had been worried that this road would be difficult for Wanda, but it was well maintained and no problem at all.   Our first stop was the magical little creatures wilderness trail, obviously built by hobbits.

We passed the challenging Mt Anne and Mt Eliza on the left, there were quite a few fit looking walking parties heading up there.  We kept motoring to the Scotts Peak Dam.

The water is beautiful and clear, with the colour of the tannins. The white and pink stones of the beach are very collectable.

We drove to the lookout hill, and spent some time gazing over the area where the real Lake Pedder is submerged, and also scanning the southern mountain ranges towards the South Coast track.

Finally dragging ourselves away, we headed homewards.