It was love at first sight as we made our first foray onto the shores of Tasmania. We were greeted with a gorgeous sunrise, pinks & yellows lighting up a sky blue canvas. In only a matter of minutes we were out of town & into rural Tasmania. Our first point of call was to be George Town, at the mouth of the Tamar River. I decided not to follow the road selected by the Garmin & chose a more direct, though apparently slower route. The road was narrow but well maintained & we headed into lush, green farmland with a spirit of adventure. It doesn’t take long to realise the timber industry is pretty big here. I reckon at least 50% of the traffic we encountered were logging trucks. Like your stereotypical caravanner I was taking my time along the winding roads, enjoying the scenery & the sight of these behemoths appearing larger than life in the rear camera was enough to make me a little nervous. Luckily, there are many verges along the road to pull over & we took full advantage of these. At one point we slowed down to pass a group of people loitering by the side of the road. I asked them what’s up & they said they were with TARGA. They appeared surprised & a little insulted when I pled my ignorance. I was to learn it’s a car rally & they were closing the road at 10am. With a few hours up our sleeve before the appointed time we didn't give it a second thought & resumed our travels.
We arrived at the gold mining town of Beaconsfield, now famous for the 2006 disaster where two miners were trapped underground for a couple of weeks. The now defunct gold mine is in the centre of town. As walked around I recalled the TV images coming through at the time . The peaceful park across the road a stark contrast to when the media scrum were housed there. The local townspeople were very friendly, smiles & hellos thrown around willy nilly. I was even honoured with a 'g'day cobber' from one gentleman. We refuelled with some meat pies from the bakery & I envisage it becoming a regular occurrence in Tasmania. After all...whats better than a hot pie on a cold day?
It wasn't too long till we reached George Town. It was buzzing with activity, tractors carrying hay bales & a general hustle to the local inhabitants. We just entered a roundabout as a police-tape wielding officer was closing the road & we realised the starting line for the TARGA rally was here. Once safely through the barrier, it was not time at all before we arrived at Low Head Holiday Park. There were just a handful of other campers here & we had our pick of the many grassy sites available, each with a view of the harbour & we got down to the business of setting up. Afterwards, the effects of lack of sleep were hitting me & I lay down for a much needed nap while Tomoko ducked into town for supplies. We spent the late part of the afternoon exploring the beauty of Low Head which overlooks Port Dalrymple. We were still mesmerised by the scenery & Tomoko couldn't hide her delight and excitement at being in Tasmania. I meanwhile, had one eye on the water for any potential fishing spots where I could wet a line.
The next day was clear & I ventured out in the chilly dawn to go fishing. I drove around looking for a promising spot to fish, eventually coming to a break wall at the mouth of a small harbour. There was a station wagon parked at the end & I could see a couple of blokes up to something. I sauntered over to see what they were up to. One of them, Harry from Darwin was floating a massive squid with the current, hoping for a kingfish while the other was trying to catch more squid for bait. They were a friendly duo & Harry pointed me to the most likely spot to catch a squid. I rigged up a new squid jig kindly donated by my Janno (thanks mate), read the instructions on the back of the packaging & threw out as far as I could. I waited for a couple of minutes for it to sink to the bottom & on retrieval discovered I was on. In no time at all I had the big bugger onto land, myself & the other blokes barely able to believe I had caught such a cracker on my first ever try. Harry showed me how to clean one & with my enthusiasm brimming, got my line back in the water. I actually felt a little guilty that I had caught their potential bait so I was hoping to make it up to them by getting them a few. Unfortunately, it was an anomaly & I was to catch nothing more that day. I still had the 'creature of the deep' though & proudly returned to the van to show Tomoko the spoils of victory. Snug & sleepy in the warmth of her dooner she didn't care much for my efforts though did perk up a bit once breakfast time came around.
In the afternoon we visited Launceston, about 40 minutes away. Theres a pretty stretch where we passed through vineyards overlooking the Tamar River. We stopped at a caravan accessory shop where I finally sourced a new hand pump for the van & made our way to Cataract Gorge & Basin. Tomoko had spotted it in a brochure & was keen to ride the world's longest single span chairlift. We strolled around the pretty walking trails & gardens. Tame peacocks foraged among the landscape & are deft at evading the efforts of overly enthusiastic kids trying to run them down. By the time we got back to the van we were pretty knackered except maybe for Shaka who slept like a baby in the ute.
With plenty of ground to cover in our 5 weeks here we plan to mostly stay 2 or 3 nights at any one location. After two nights at George Town we departed for the Waterhouse Conservation Area, near the north-eastern tip of the island. We paused at Bridport, a small seaside village for another bakery hit & Tomoko lucked onto some fresh scallops (they were shucking them while she purchased). We found the turnoff & pulled over to check out the many sheep grazing on the adjacent property. Tomoko loves sheep & it's her dream to one day have a couple as pets. I must say, I too am becoming quite fond of them (but not in the romantic NZ/Tasmanian way if you know what I mean).
The road to Waterhouse went from bitumen to dirt & the going slow as we dealt with some of my pet hates - corrugations. The landscape also underwent change from rustic sheep & cattle farms, to salty marshland & lastly to coastal heath. We climbed over a hill & gasped as Waterhouse Island came into view, set in a deep blue ocean. It was a stunning spectacle. We passed a couple of camping areas - Herbies Landing & Village Green but continued on to Casuarina Hill. We hadn't seen a single soul on our 20 minute ride here & it appeared we had the camping ground all to ourselves as well. I got out & surveyed the area before deciding on a sheltered spot under some trees & a stones throw from the beach. The unhitching rigmarole complete, I fished a rocky outcrop with a soft plastic, hooking a 45cm flathead on my second throw. I am beginning to think that Tasmania is making me a look like a better fisherman than I am.
Early that evening we were disturbed by the sound of a wild animal climbing over the van. We hurried outside to find a cute possum hiding behind our awning. He circumnavigated the van before climbing a nearby tree to keep an eye on us. We later heard it trying in vain to gain access to our rubbish bin outside. We took Shaka for his pre-bedtime walk & spotted several wallabies in the undergrowth. They were much smaller than anticipated. The roadsigns certainly depict animals of much larger, frightening proportions.
The next morning we awoke to another cloudless, picture perfect day & spent the day exploring our surrounds. On the way in I spotted a calm reefy area at Blizzards Landing & thought it a good opportunity to test out my new steamer & diving gear. Visibility was excellent & apart from my an initial shock of cold to my head & feet, felt little discomfort. In fact, I was pretty cosy. Unfortunately, there was not an abalone or crayfish to be seen & after half an hour I returned to shore. The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring the many coves & beaches in the area. The possum didn't return that night, probably figuring it wouldn't be receiving a feed from us & switched their attention to some new arrivals.
Reluctantly after two days here, we left for the Bay of Fires on the east coast. We experienced a range of conditions on the way - passing through sheep & cattle farms, down long stretches of dirt road, winding through mountain ranges & passed towns that you would never know existed had they not appeared on the Garmin (Boobyalla was one that I was looking forward to & quite frankly it was a disappointment). We stopped at a lookout only to see a tree line as some bright spark planted a row of trees in front. We did meet Vincent, a friendly local who was showing his friends around. He pointed out a nearby Tasmanian Pepper bush laden with fruit. When dried, the fruit are apparently sweet at first with a peppery aftertaste. They are even exported to Japan to be used in wasabi. Also, the leaves are similar to bay leaves. He talked us through how to prepare them and we collected a couple of handfuls to try.
By mid afternoon we had arrived at St Helens, a sleepy village & the closest town to stock up on supplies before heading to the Bay of Fires. We found a fresh water supply at the recreation reserve and had a refreshing hot shower at the marina. For $2 you can immerse yourself in 3 minutes of delicious, perfectly heated water. After a few days in the bush, a hot shower never felt so good. Throw in groceries, diesel & firewood & we were ready to search for our next camp.
It was quite late in the afternoon by the time we arrived at the campground at South Cosy Corner. We are beginning to learn that it takes a lot longer to travel the same distance in Tasmania than on the mainland. It's a combination of sightseeing, doing chores and taking it very easy on the unfamiliar roads. Once again the campground was virtually empty & we parked in a large, flat site under some trees with a partial ocean view. We took a dusk walk on the beach & were amazed by the whiteness of the sand. The whiteness is attributed to the high quartz content from the granite coastline, the granite boulders themselves covered by an orange hue, which is actually lichen. Tasmania does do sunsets very well and the Bay of Fires is no exception.
As per the norm, I rose before dawn & sought out a rock ledge I had spied the night before. First throw of my soft plastic yielded a hookup, the fish spiralling into the air acrobatically before being landed. I had never seen the species before. I figured it might be an Australian Salmon but couldn't be sure. Not surprisingly, I had no idea of the legal length or bag limits but decided to keep it anyway & find out later. Next throw I was onto another one & as it looked like I was going to get amongst them this morning, raced back to the caravan to get my Tasmanian Fishing Handbook for identification. Indeed they were salmon & they continued to be on the bite, though more sporadically. I ended up with six keepers, the largest at 38cm. Tomoko was a happy camper with the arrival of fresh fish but was a bit perplexed as to what to do with them all. She prepared them in a variety of ways – marinated in a miso paste, semi-dried with salt and my personal favourite - raw, with a dash of soy sauce & wasabi.
With a forecast of a cloudy day, we decided to head into the countryside, specifically Pyengana. As lunch time approached we visited the Pub in the Paddock, a hotel set on a farm. Outside was a trio of two pigs & a sheep, going by the names of Priscilla, Pinky & Princess respectively. Priscilla & Princess were very friendly & we enjoyed giving them a pat & feeding them some fresh grass. Pinky was not as sociable preferring to wallow in the mud to bellow & snort. The pigs are famous for a their love of a beer, though we were later to learn it's considerably watered down . Tomoko & I found a table in front of the fireplace & shared a plate of steak & veggies. Talk about scrumptious.
With our belly’s full we briefly visited the nearby cheese factory but with our appetites satiated, didn’t feel up to cheese tasting. Instead we decided to walk it off at St Columbus falls, at 94 metres one of the biggest in Tasmania. We walked through a forest dominated by massive tree ferns. It is prime habitat for the believed-to-be-extinct Tasmanian Tiger & there are several reported sightings in the area each year. Come to mention it, Tomoko did see something scurry off deep into the forest...
The following day was a very special one – Tomoko’s 37th birthday. I am often reminded by Tomoko of the time I momentarily forget her birthday so was determined not to repeat my sins, even wishing her a happy birthday in advance the night before. Upon wakening I sang happy birthday to her & repeatedly did this throughout the morning, eventually being ordered to cease by the birthday girl. We went to lunch at the beachside café in Bingalong with sweeping views across the bay. As the day came to a close Tomoko was gifted with another spectacular sunset & the promise of new adventures. Until then...adios amigos.