Waratah Falls

A typical small country town in Tassy. There wasn't a lot to see in this old mining town apart for these falls. The walk to the base of the falls was worth the effort though.

Reece Power Station and Dam

The journey to the Reece Power Station and Dam took us through some beautiful country side. We saw absolutely stunning scenery on the way there and the way back to Waratah, where we are currently camped. It was worth the long drive.

Corinna - the way out

After having our lunch at the Corinna hotel, we boarded the punt and headed down a corregated road, through rain forests and the west coast wilderness, towards our next destination - Reece Power Station Dam.

Corinna and the Pieman River

Corinna is a tiny historic mining town set in rainforest on the banks of the majestic Pieman River in Tasmania’s west coast. A nice place to visit, maybe take a river cruise or do some nature walks. There were some quaint restored miner's cottages to stay in for those that felt the need to explore the area further.

Cradle Mountain, Central Tasmania

The stunning scenery of the Cradle Mountain National Park. Beautiful vistas around every corner.

Lake Gairdner, Central Tasmania

We camped at a place called Lake Gairdner, which is around 30ks from Cradle Mountain. A very pretty camping area, which would be sensational in the warmer weather.
We only stayed one night but that was enough for us. We woke up this morning to see the grass totally white with frost and puddles of water on the road that were totally frozen. The windows on the car were all iced up and the dogs water bowl was iced up. At around 10:00am, I tipped out the water from the dog’s water bowl and a 15cm thick ice block (the shape of the diameter of the dog bowl) fell out. Rani said that she can’t stand this cold weather any longer, so we decided to move a little closer to the coast. Hopefully the nights will be a little warmer than minus 3 degrees. I think it's time to purchase an electric blanket!

Cold weather has arrived

We recently stayed overnight at a free camp site at Lake Moina, which is approximately 30ks from Cradle Mountain.

The temperature dropped to minus 3 degrees over night. We both felt the cold. If not for the diesel heating, I think we would have turned into ice blocks that night.

Mt Roland - Near Sheffield

This is a sight from my cousin's farm in Beulah.
We stayed there a couple of days and thoroughly enjoyed it. We even managed to help out with some farming chores such as moving electric fences and livestock from one paddock to another.

Sheffield, Tas

Sheffield - a medium sized rural town inland from Devonport.

While walking the streets, we saw many murals and other interesting sights. These are just two of the many and varied attractions in Sheffield.

Flora - Maulting Bay (near St Helens)

Some examples of the beautiful flora at Maulting Bay.

Peter's birthday

My cousin (Peter) celebrated his birthday while we were camping at Moulting Bay, so he decided to open up a nice bottle of red wine with his new bottle opener. Another year closer to retirement.

Happy Hour Again

This is one of the activities we love to participate in...'happy hour' while we are camping. It's suprising how enjoyable it can be to sit down in front of a warm glowing fire with a wine or beer and have a relaxing chat. Often we will sit in front of the fire to 9.30 pm before heading indoors.

Fishing at Moulting Bay

It was time to head off and do some more hunting and gathering for the nights meal.

Binalong Bay & St Helens Beach

The crystal clear blue waters of Binalong Bay & St Helens Beach. This is a magnificent area of coastline along the East coast of Tasmania. Wildlife abounds around every corner you visit.

A sensational place to have a holiday house.

Hunting & gathering - Moulting Bay

We decided to get back to nature by collecting our wood for the fire to cook on and keep warm as well as harvest some local oysters off the rocks at Moulting Bay (near St Helens). It was such a warm day that I decided to strip down to the waste...almost got flash-back into the camera lense from my lilly white skin.

Moulting Bay (near St Helens)

For Easter, we decided to stay at Moulting bay with some relatives and friends. This is a very popular free camp site that has no power or water, and only one toilet. You need to be fairly self sufficient to stay at this camp site.

After a very nice Easter lunch, it was time to settle back and have a nice cafe latte. As you can see from my cousin, it was very satisfying.

Cape Portland - Far North East Tasmania

At the end of this desolate road (and somewhat barren landscape), we found this beautiful beach with white sand, where you could do some camping and relaxing away from it all. Not too sure if I would go swimming though unless I had a very good wetsuit.

Heading towards the North East

Overlooking the hills and luscious green valleys towards Scottsdale.

For the first three nights, we stayed at a free camp site in Scottsdale. They provided free water and an amenities block (with cold showers) but no power.

The weather was great during the day but a very chilli 6 degrees during the night. Thank goodness for the diesel heater in our van.

Ben Lomond National Park (Ski Resort)

An incredibly rough and winding road to the summit of Ben Lomond.After we arrived, we walked around the village, then we decided to take a walk up to the summit. The temperature was approximately 0 degrees - so cold that we did not stay too long up there.

Tamar River Tour - Grindewald

A Swiss village, Grindelwald resort, which is located on the Tamar River, was the 'brain child' of a man called Roelf Vos (died 1992), who was a wealthy Tasmanian businessman who, amongst other achievements, established a supermarket chain carrying his name initially in Launceston, but later expanded throughout the whole of northern Tasmania.

Tamar River Tour - Bradys Lookout

A view down towards the mouth of the Tamar River from Bradys Lookout.

Tamer River Tour - Batman Bridge

We decided to stay at the Greens Beach caravan park at the mouth of the Tamer. From there, we commenced out tour of the Tamer River and Launceston area. Batman Bridge did have a free camp site, but due to the hilly nature of the grounds, and the size of our van, we decided against staying at this camp site.

Leven Canyon Reserve

After the long walk down the 672 steps to the base of Leven Canyon, then trudging around the base for a while, we commenced our walk back up to the car park. Rani was beginning to feel a little tired at this stage.

Hitch hiker

We were all hitched up and ready to roll when I found this little hitch hiker when doing the final check. I lifted the little guy off the caravan wheel and placed it in the garden. A much safer place to be!

Cruickshanks Lookout - Leven Canyon Reserve

Another example of breath taking scenery from Cruickshanks Lookout - Leven Canyon Reserve (around 40ks from Ulverstone). A reasonably tiring walk, but definitely worth the effort.

After the walk up to the lookout, we then walked down 672 steps to the bottom of the canyon to see a rain forest. From there, we walked back up the hill to the carpark.