Off to Tasmania now!

Got a phone call from the car rental company checking what time we were coming in as they closed at 6. Seemed very keen to ensure they got away on time today.

So of course Murphy’s law dictated that today was the day our flight would be delayed! We suspected that the car rental employee had something on that night and was determined not to be in a position where they might have to stay behind later so the phone was diverted to ‘after hours’ from about 3pm onwards. The short story is we ended up stranded at Hobart airport with no hire car and no way to talk to anyone about it and facing a $70 taxi ride to our motel and public transport was a 2 hr ride each way.  We bit the bullet and caught the taxi hoping we could sort it out in the morning. We suspect that there was a keenness to avoid being ‘dobbed in’ as the next day we got a discount, a refund on one of the taxi fares out of petty cash and a free GPS unit. Still not happy it had mucked up our previous night’s plans and caused a bit of worry but better than nothing.  I won’t name and shame as firstly they are far cheaper than competitors so that’s what you get and secondly I am still waiting on a reply as to why they didn’t refund me as per their policy when we had to cut the trip short and gave the required notice. Watch this space. But my tip is if you are hiring from a company that picks you up from the airport then make sure you don’t have a flight close to closing time.

The lovely and helpful staff at the Riverfront Motel in Hobart made up for that unpleasant experience anyway.

After sorting our hire car we stocked up on some groceries for the trip, got a good value breakfast and coffee from the Tasmanian chain Banjo’s bakery  (famous for it’s scallop pies and smoked salmon rolls) and hit the road.  Headed north west through some very beautiful scenery on the highway towards Derwent Bridge through Mt Field National Park. One could spend a couple of days on a small stretch of road just stopping at every waterfall and waterfall walk so it might be best to pick the highlights such as Montezuma Falls, Russell Falls and Nelson Falls. The rainforest and falls were ‘Lord of the Rings’ magical and atmospheric.

We stopped at the Franklin River Nature trail. It’s super short so may as well do it although it wasn’t as good as I maybe expected. As Aussies the Franklin River wilderness evoked memories of the activism required to save this incredible pristine wilderness from being dammed back in the 80’s. Driving through, it was apparent how beautiful this forest was and what little access there was, so jumped at the chance to get a ‘taste’ on the trail. Lovely little track but didn’t seem to be particularly representative of some of the wild areas we’d driven through.

The drive through to the west coast and Queenstown was beautiful and time should be allowed to enjoy it and stop to drink it in. Tassie is full of awesome picnic spots so crazy not to self cater and stop for picnics along the way – not to mention it being good for the budget.

Queenstown is an interesting place to drive through – the hillsides are scarred by mining giving the place a bit of an apocalyptic feel.

We drove on through to Zeehan as we were staying at the Zeehan Bush camp overnight. I’d googled about the camp and it didn’t look that great and looked like it was actually in town not in the bush but it would do. When we got there I was pleasantly suprised that it was actually in a very lovely picturesque setting. The camp has great facilities with a shared kitchen and lounge area and pretty camp sites.

The owners are very lovely, helpful and accomodating. People comment on Zeehan seeming a bit sad and ghost town like. Yes it surely has seen better days but don’t dismiss it. Much of the ‘empty’ buildings are part of a great heritage centre that is a museum to the early days of the Wild West Coast and it’s mining history. If you stay at Zeehan bush camp you get discounted entry.  Zeehan is also a great base for exploring the West Coast and a cheaper option than Strahan as a base for the famous Gordon River cruises and you can buy the tickets from the campsite owners who are super helpful and kind.

1st January- Started off 2018 with a world heritage Gordon river cruise. Fantastic day trip that was suprisingly good value.

We hadn’t actually planned to do this – we were going to be off hiking.  Sadly by this point I was starting to realise that the plantar fasciitis in my left foot was only getting worse. It had been escalating since training in my hiking boots instead of runners for this trip. More on that in another post.  And yes, as every good doctor does I had been ignoring the increasing pain thinking it was something else.

My lovely husband saw my distress and knew me well enough to know I’d probably push myself not wanting to let him down so he insisted we rearrange some plans and go on the boat trip today instead. Good call because it was really good.

The tour of Sarah island was a highlight. I’d done this cruise as a small child and we only went past it and were told dreadful tales of what they then called  devil island. Our fantastic tour guide Kye presented a much more balanced view of the tales of this once convict island as we walked around the ruins of the convict settlement. Her father did the research that led to these tours and wrote some interesting books on it. If you want to buy them and have the money go direct to the author make sure you take your money onto the island and buy them from her rather than from the boat. My other tip is to take some warm wind and sprayproof clothes for this tour even if its the middle of summer – this is the wild west coast after all and the wind chill on the boat is considerable.

The boat takes you through some really wild stretches of river and rainforest that are inaccessible by any other way.  It is beautiful and wild.  The tannins in the river make it a dark deep colour which on a still day results in perfect reflections. Sadly the weather was a bit rough this day but it was still beautiful and it gave us a feel for what it was like for early explorers facing ‘Hell’s gate’ at the entrance to Macquarie harbour with the wild antarctic winds whipping up the ocean.

Deep into the river’s reaches you get a chance to get off and wander through the rainforest on a track – just make sure you don’t get left behind!  It also includes a lunch and is well worth it.