North and East

Maria Island was high on our places to visit while in Tasmania. One of Judie’s convict ancestors was imprisoned there between 1827-1831 so she has a link with the island. Our trip started with a very frosty morning. We had to scrape the ice off the windscreen and the frost alarm was going off in the car. I didn’t know how to turn it off as I hadn’t heard it before so the drive in to Triabunna, to catch our cruise boat to the island, was a bit noisy!

Although a bit chilly the cruise around the Island was with blue skies and calm seas. We also had two hours on the island. I’ve never seen so many wombats roaming around during the day! All up we were out for about eight hours so were pretty tired by the time we got back to camp.

Orford was our next destination where we met up with Judie’s cousins Wendy and Jen and their partners Brett and Chris. There was lots of laughs and we all had a great time!

We gradually moved up the east coast to the Pondering Frog. A great spot for an overnighter but also close to Devils Corner winery. Had a tasty lunch and sampled some of their wines.

We decided to stay in Scamander as our next stop as we were a bit concerned about getting a camping spot in Bay Of Fires. In the end it was a good decision as things were a bit cramped in the park, which is run by Parks Tasmania. There’s a location dubbed “Millionaires Row” that overlooks the Bay of Fires. Nice views but everyone was jammed in with an almost constant stream of vehicles driving past – not something we would have enjoyed.

Leaving the coast we headed up the steep and winding road to Pyengana. Camping was at the local recreation grounds on well maintained grass. The annual football match was on that weekend so everyone was busy getting things ready for the influx of visitors. We went to Columba Falls which are some of the highest in Tasmania – over 90 metres. On the way back we stopped in at the Pub in the Paddock and had a few drinks with the locals. Very entertaining listening to a local farmer’s banter with his neighbour who was a teacher in St Helen’s. The young female bartender was also good friends with the farmer and the teacher and told us about the three of them getting into a local festival on a family ticket.

Bridport is a nice coastal town and the caravan park takes up most of the foreshore – around 4kms! It’s also where the barge that services Flinders Island departs from. The port is in the river and when the tide is out all the boats (including the barge) just sit on the mud, waiting for the tide to arrive.

After another hilly and winding drive we arrived at Myrtle Park. This was one of the nicest camping spots we had on the trip. Our camp was right beside the St Patricks River with some of the local platypus putting on a show for the campers. We also used this as our base for our Ben Lomond drive. An interesting drive up Jacobs Ladder!

Launceston is a city that has gained a reputation for its food so we were keen to sample some of it. Had a fantastic lunch beside the Tamar River at Mudbar Restaurant. We also visited the radio museum and were given a tour of their community broadcasting studio.

Our drive along the Tamar valley took us to Georgetown near the rivers mouth. There is a Bass and Flinders Maritime museum there and the Norfolk replica is housed within it. The Norfolk was the boat that Bass and Flinders sailed from Sydney to Tasmania and circumnavigated the island proving it was not joined to the mainland. The Norfolk replica is made from huon pine (recovered from the Gordon dam) and celery top pine.

Deloraine has been a regular breakfast stop for us after getting off the Spirit of Tasmania (SoT) but this time we stayed for a few days. On one of our days, we drove to Liffey Falls where we took some photos. After lunch we drove on to Bracknell where Judie has a number of colonial forebears buried at both the local cemetery and the old graveyard adjoining the Presbyterian Church which is now a private residence. We were able to visit the graveyard via a side gate and Jude took some photos for her ancestry tree. Another day, we drove out of town to see the Alum Cliffs, Mole Creek and then stopped in at a salmon farm for lunch. ANZAC day had the centre of town blocked off for a very large ceremony which we attended.

From Deloraine we headed back to the Berry Patch at Turners Beach for our last few days in Tassie. The pizzas were just as good as on our previous visit but as it was the end of the berry season only strawberries were available for self-picking, which we did. We were happy to pick them ourselves as they taste like a strawberry should! We also went for a sail on the tall ship ‘Julie Burgess’. Jude’s cousin Brent crews on this boat and his wife Anne was also there. We caught up with both of them again the following day for a very enjoyable lunch in Penguin. And then we were back on the SoT the following day with an early start in Geelong for the drive home.