Pyengana

We left St. Helens under overcast skies, with the weather forecast predicting a 70% chance of rain. Our journey along the A3 Tasman Highway to Pyengana covered 27 kilometres, and I enjoy these short drives.

Pyengana offers two camping options: the Pub in the Paddock and the Pyengana Recreation Ground, less than half a kilometre apart. The pub allows free camping, while the recreation ground requests a donation. Given that the camping area at the recreation ground is quite spacious, we decided to stay there. Unfortunately, the weather worsened, with strong gale-force winds and rain blowing sideways. I’m relieved we aren’t driving in these conditions, especially on these rough roads.

We had heard about Pyengana Dairy, known for its automatic milking system that allows cows to come in for milking by themselves. We were eager to see this in action, especially since the dairy is famous for its fantastic cheeses and milk products. It was the first dairy in Australia to use a robotic milking machine. These machines utilise lasers to locate the teats and udders, attaching with suction. Each cow has a collar monitored by a computer that tracks how much milk she produces. Other dairies in Australia are now implementing similar robotic milking systems. Afterwards, we ordered coffee, which we both agreed was the best coffee we'd had in Tasmania to date and bought some cheese before heading back to the van, where the rain and wind continued as before.

We had planned to visit Mt. Paris Dam, about 30 kilometres away, but much of the drive was along unsealed roads. Given the current weather conditions, we decided to cancel our plans.

In Tasmania, roads are classified as A, B, and C based on their condition. However, we discovered that even A-rated roads can be in poor shape, featuring uneven surfaces, broken edges, and narrow sections where the bitumen is several inches higher than the surrounding roadsides. The A3 Tasman Highway we drove today, from St. Helens to Pyengana, exhibited all these issues.

We prefer to have lunch out and eat something light for dinner so that we aren’t going to bed on a full stomach. So, we decided to head over to the Pub in the Paddock to see what was available for lunch. Ros enjoyed her glazed pork with mash and vegetables, while I had a black Angus steak with garlic prawns. We followed this with beers and wine before returning to the van and bunkering for the afternoon as the wind and rain continued relentlessly. We were surprised that our batteries had risen to 95% given the terrible weather outside.

That night was the most frightening night we have ever spent in the van, so neither of us slept. The gale-force wind gusts hitting the side of our van were intense, and the sound of the rain pounding against the fibreglass cladding was deafening. At one point, we thought the van might tip over, and we even considered trying to move it, but we quickly realised it would have been impossible.

The next morning, we packed up and headed to Bridport a day earlier than planned, as the wind was beginning to pick up again. The road was littered with leaves and small tree branches as we made our way up through Weldborough Pass and down through the small village of Weldborough.