Towards Launceston,

With the school holidays starting on April 12, followed closely by Easter and Anzac Day, we have postponed our visit to the coastal fringe above St Helens until after the holidays. This means we will only have three weeks left before boarding the boat for our return journey to the mainland.

So, with that in mind, for this period, we will now head towards Launceston and include the Midlands with the towns of Ross, Oatlands, Campbell Town, Jerico and Bagdad.

On Monday morning, April 7th, we headed to the Iron House Brewery, which offers accommodations at White Sands Estate and allows camping up to two days. Mr. Goggle mentioned that the restaurant was open seven days a week, so we drove 54 km to find a camping spot. Luckily, we didn’t disconnect the van as usual because upon walking over to the brewery, we found a sign indicating that it was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Bugger, so off we went to the recreation grounds in St. Marys instead.

On Tuesday, April 8th, we experienced the coldest night in Tasmania. We didn’t run our diesel heater in the evening, and when we checked the van’s interior temperature at 6 a.m., it was only 3.8 degrees Celsius. Meanwhile, the outside temperature had dropped to  -1.5 degrees. We turned on the diesel heater, which remained on until we left St. Mary's. This brought back memories of the years I spent living in Canberra, where I would use a credit card to scrape ice off the windscreen, just like I did that morning.

We traveled through Fingal and Avoca on the A4 Esk Main Road for 119 km before joining the Midland Highway on our way to Evandale. It felt great to be back on the highway after a week of navigating narrow roads with steep drop-offs at the edges. After that, we took a minor road to our next campsite at Old Macs Farm. The fees are $20 per night for an unpowered site, and amenities include access to water, rubbish bins, and a dump point. We initially booked for seven nights, and depending on how much we get to explore, we’ll decide whether to extend our stay. 

Freycinet and Maria Island

After staying in Geeveston for over a week and seeing the sights, we had to contend with a few days of inclement rainy weather. On Wednesday, April 2, we headed north along the Huon Highway towards Kingston and through Hobart.

The drive through the Huon Valley was easy as we descended into Hobart and crossed the Tasman Bridge. Although traffic was busy on Macquarie Street through the city, we stayed in the middle lane without any issues. 

We continued along the A3 Tasman Highway as far as Sorell before turning off toward Buckland, where we initially planned to stay behind the hotel. However, since we were making good time, we decided to keep going, passing through Orford and on to Triabunna. We thought it was early enough to secure a spot at the RV Park across the road from the Spring Bay Hotel and the boat harbor. The fees are $10 per night, paid at the local takeaway shop. There are no facilities—just a piece of ground. Currently, there are ten vans here, with probably room for another five.

We booked a boat cruise to circumnavigate Maria Island (pronounced Muh-rye-uh). The tour lasts eight hours and includes a two-hour guided walk of the Darlighton UNESCO World Heritage-listed convict precinct.

After waking up the following day and checking the weather forecast for our boat trip on Saturday, we saw that wind speeds were expected to exceed forty kilometres per hour. Considering that Ros is prone to seasickness, we decided to cancel the trip even though she has medication from the doctor. We then booked the ferry to Maria Island on Friday.

On Thursday, April 3, we drove the 112km to Freycinet National Park to hike to the Wineglass Bay Lookout. Although the weather forecast predicted some showers, we had a lovely day with no rain and scattered clouds. We left later than planned and didn't reach the car park for the walk until 11 a.m.
The walk is a 3.1 km round trip, including approximately 400 steps, and is 1.6 km to the lookout. Unfortunately, our photos cannot truly capture the beauty of the view below.

After the walk, we drove to the lighthouse and walking platform at Cape Tourville before heading into Coles Bay to refuel. 

The 226-km drive and the 5-km walk left me quite tired, so we turned in early that night, as we had an early start the following morning.
Maria Island is a thirty-minute boat trip from the harbour at Triabunna. We departed at 8:30 a.m. and took the return ferry at 2:30 p.m. During the day, we walked over 10 kilometres to explore several sites, including Historic Darlington, the convict station established in 1842, the convict-built reservoir circuit, the Painted Cliffs, the Oast House, and the cemetery containing the first burial from 1825.
The Commissariat Store was built by convicts in 1825 as the penal store.

Sitting above the bay is the Darlington Probation Station. Built in 1830, the penitentiary is one of the few buildings remaining from the first convict period, which occurred between 1825 and 1832.

The Oast House was used to dry hops for beer—even convicts were allowed to drink beer.

In 1886, a Parliamentary party visited the Island. The Island had been leased to an Italian, Diego Bernacchi, for 10 cents per year provided he established specific industries. One of his enterprises was to build The Grand Hotel, which opened in 1888 and was advertised as the 'Riviera of Australia'.

The remains of The Grand Hotel:

The remains of the hospital site from 1843.

The cemetery's first burial was in 1825.

We were surprised to only see a  few Cape Barren Geese and no wombats. When we first arrived, the overcast weather may have caused the wombats to stay in their burrows.

We decided not to cook that night and went to The Fish Van in Triabunna. Ros ordered a hamburger with the lot while I thoroughly enjoyed my Blue Grenadier, which I had never tried before. The panko-crumbed scallops and calamari were simply divine.

We left Triabunna just after 9 a.m. on our way to the Pondering Frog, 84 km away. This café serves delicious Chinese food, and we enjoyed lunch there on our first day. We planned to stay two nights, exploring Bicheno and visiting the Devil's Corner winery for lunch on Sunday. 

The Pondering Frog allows camping for up to seven days at $10 per night. According to Wiki Camps, potable water is available. However, it looked fine after checking the water quality in a bucket. Even though I used an inline filter, I was surprised later when filling our bathroom sink to find the water was slightly coffee-colored. Thankfully, I only filled one and a half tanks for showering.

During the night, the forecasted gale-force winds arrived, shaking the van with the stronger gusts, even though we were tucked away behind some shrubs. Rain also began as predicted just after lunch, but thankfully, the winds have decreased.

The Huon Valley

The Huon Valley is located just south of Hobart and includes key towns such as Huonville, Cygnet, Dover, Franklin, and Geeveston.

We chose to stay in Geeveston at the CMCA Park. As members, we only pay $7 per night to camp in a grassy area with a water supply, a dump point, and rubbish collection.

The weather for the first three days has been characterised by cold nights and lovely sunny days, with daytime temperatures around 23 degrees Celsius. The coldest morning so far has been just 3.5 degrees.

One day, we returned to Huonville for lunch at Willie Smith's Apple Shed. The apple orchard covers 115 acres and four generations of apple farmers have tended this orchard. We shared two plates of food, and while Ros enjoyed an alcoholic apple cider, I chose the non-alcoholic version. I also bought some alcoholic apple cider to take home and enjoy in the evenings or on days when I didn't have to drive.

Initially, we planned to tow our van to camp at Cockle Creek. However, after considering our options, we decided that our campsite in Geeveston was much better. Instead, we opted for a day trip. The weather forecast for Friday, March 28, predicted sunny conditions with a high of 25 degrees Celsius. So, we planned to drive south to Cockle Creek, the southernmost point accessible by car in Tasmania and Australia.

In 1792, the French explorer Bruni D’Entrecasteaux sailed his two ships, Recherche and Esperance, into the bay and named it after his ship, Recherche. During the 1830s, four whaling stations operated at Cockle Creek, where the oil was used for lighting, cooking, and soap manufacturing. The bay also served as a stopping point for ships transporting convicts to Sarah Island in Macquarie Harbour. In the 1940s, a sawmill operated in the area, and remains of this venture can still be found scattered along the track.

After returning from Cockle Creek, we made the right decision by not towing the van. The sealed section of the road was twisty and narrow in places, and we nearly had a serious incident on the dirt section when an old Nissan Patrol driving at speed crossed onto our side of the road on one of the corners.

At one point, we were one of three Bushtrackers camped here in Geeveston. 

The last two days have been overcast, and yesterday, we experienced rain in the morning. Today, Sunday, March 30, is also cloudy, with a chance of more rain. Unfortunately, the forecast for the upcoming days isn't looking very promising either.

Due to less-than-ideal conditions, including overcast weather and the same forecast for the next three days, we decided to travel 28 kilometers to explore some walks, particularly the Tahune AirWalk. This cantilevered structure is suspended 50 meters above the Huon River, offering a bird's-eye view of the river and the surrounding forests.

The Huon walk is a thirty-minute loop that was very disappointing, as there was no mention that a fire had gone through the area in 2019 and that the vegetation has not yet recovered. There was only one Huon Pine signposted around this walk.