Thurs 9th. We awoke to rain and increased winds and surf
activity so Chris and I went off to find the laundromat and did the washing and
drying before returning to the van. By
evening the rain had eased and the winds too, so we headed off to view the
Little Penguins (previously known as Fairy Penguins). We were advised to be there just after 8 but
the tour started at 8.45pm with a talk about the Penguins and then we wandered
along the boardwalk to view some of the chicks and then the parents coming in
to feed them. It was an arduous journey
up the rocks for the parents but the young were waiting for them and
calling. At 10pm we headed back to the
van.
Fri 10th I was told by some of the
other campers that there were Little Penguins that came in on the other side of
the camp grounds so we decided we would go for a walk tonight and see if we
could find them.
We found a baby Penguin in the fifth concrete Hutch along. Waiting for his dinner 😃
Today though we went
out to Table Cape to view the Tulips (unfortunately they had finished flowering
and been harvested – but there were Liliums being picked).
Liliums
Table Cape Lighthouse
There were lots of Poppy fields out this way. Some still with a few flowers and almost
ready to be harvested.
We then went back into Wynyard and the Visitor
Centre. They had two great displays
here. One of old vehicles and the other
was photography.
We then went to the café
for a very late morning tea and Chris went to post parcels to family.
Murals in the main street of Wynyard
We then drove out to Hellyers Gorge via the A10
and through Yolla
The hedge at Yolla School
[an Aboriginal word
meaning Mutton Bird] – twisting, turning,
up and down road. The Gorge was not at
all what I expected. I was thinking a
deep gorge but it was just ?? a small bank with a small/shallow/narrow river
running through it. There were four
motorhomes parked there taking advantage of the free area.
Starting the walk to the Gorge
arty-farty shot of moss and lichens
Hellyer Gorge
a giant fern
A tree arch along the way
After this we travelled
on to the area known as ‘Fingerpost’ [because of the posts with ‘fingers’
pointing to all different places] and then up the B18 back to Burnie. Chris decided that if we had the choice she
would rather travel on the B18 with the van as it was straighter and more
gradual climb/descent as opposed to the A10. This may be one of the straighter roads
we will travel on over the next few weeks. On arrival back in Burnie we found a
park in town (everywhere is pay parking) and then toured the streets. We stopped at Hudson Coffee for a coffee and
then up the street and down along the oceanfront and then back up to the car
before returning to the van.
Sat 11th. We moved on
to Arthur River today as we are booked in for a River Cruise tomorrow. We camped in the Manuka Campground for $13
per night with fresh water available and toilet amenities. We drove out to ‘Edge of the World’ Lookout
and witnessed all the timber washed up on the shoreline and rocks. Apparently this is the aftermath of the
floods last October – so much timber and such big trees.
an sculpture in the front yard
part of the road into Arthur River
Our camp spot at Manuka Campground Arthur River
Some bush near the van
Houses over-looking the Arthur River
Lots of 'Red Hot Poker' plants in Tasmania - great for weaving
a panorama of Edge of the world
Darryl and I at Edge of the World
I found a snake....... or is that a dinosaur?
We then drove down Couta Rocks and back up. There are rubble strips across the road in
certain areas to try and deter the Tassie Devils, Pademelons and Wallabies from
nearing the road. Pademelons are very
small wallaby type animals. Tassie
Devils are on the ‘endangered list’ – so every effort is being made to try and
slow the decline of the animal.
Unfortunately, there is also a cancerous mouth tumour which is starting
to affect the animals.
Pamorama of Couta Rocks
During the afternoon,
we have had squally showers and high winds with some heavier rain.
Sun 12th we headed in to the cruise
at 9.45am. The wind was blowing and the
seas were up. (We were told that there
were 3metre waves out the front). 9
passengers were on the white boat by 10am to witness the red boat leave on
their tour. The skipper had taken off
from the jetty and left his deckhand on the Jetty. (The deckhand is also his
wife). We saw him bring the boat back in
bow first to the jetty and she attempt to climb on and nearly fall into the
river. He then reversed the boat out
into the river and down toward the bridge before bringing it back in to the
jetty at a 45-degree angle, and two of the male passengers came out, in the
rain, and helped pull the deckhand onto the boat as she clambered over the
bow. The waves were coming in at a rate
of knots and the wind was blowing at about 30knots whilst all this was
happening.
We moved out from the jetty at 10.15 am and
made our way up the river, as we went around the first bend, the wind eased and
the waves were decreased. As we
travelled up the river we witnessed White-breasted Sea Eagle being chased by
Black Wedge-tailed Eagles and then being fed by our skipper – Rob Chandler.
The 3-metre swell at start of day
up around a corner
Sea Eagles nest
White Bellied Sea Eagle
Black Wedge-tail Eagle
part of the Arthur River
Our mooring that we came back to for lunch
White Bellied Sea Eagle
our luncheon camp kitchen
Mum and baby pademelon
our warm fire
arty-farty Moss/lichen
pretty flower
The water fall
enticing an eel to come up
Rob pointed out different vegetation, damage
by the floods, different rock formations and local camping spots along the
river. He kept an eye out for the blue
Kingfisher but we didn’t have any luck.
We travelled 15km up the river to the junction with the Frankland River
before turning around and heading back to his jetty. Rob and his wife Kaye own 50acres along the
river and have built boardwalks, shelters and a lovely spot to have lunch. During lunch, we had the pleasure of seeing
two adult Pademelons and a joey come in for some feed from Rob. After lunch we then did a tour up along the
creek to the waterfall before returning to the boat. The ‘old man ferns’ grow
at a rate of 1 metre every 150 years.
Some of the ferns we passed were greater than 5 metres tall.
The weather remained
good for our lunch stop, but once we returned to the boat we encountered
another squally rainstorm followed by brilliant sunshine and then drizzle. As we were approaching the second to last
bend in the river, Kaye rang to say the seas were up to 7metres high and the
winds at 50knots, so everyone had to come into the cabin and be seated for the
docking at the jetty. As we docked at
4.15pm, there was another squall come through and the waves were pushing the
boat up against the Jetty. Once we were
secure we sat and waited for the squall to pass before heading for the
car. Once we were safely in the car, we
headed out to ‘Edge of the World’ but it was so wild and woolly out there that
we didn’t leave the cars but went back to the vans.
seas at our return
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