Tasmania cont.

Feb 9^th through to Feb 16^th

Campfire at Cockle creek

Old Cemetery at Cockle Creek

Yachts on the Bay at Cockle Creek

Beach at Cockle Creek

Yachts on the Bay at Cockle Creek

The end of Australia's most southern road

Driftwood on the beach at Cockle Creek

View from our campsite at Cockle Creek

Dover

The old railway line at Cockle Creek

Our neighbours at Mayfield Bay

Beach shack at Cockle Creek

The Southern Right Whale at Cockle Creek

The beach at Cockle Creek

We spent Wednesday and Thursday at Mayfield before moving on. We had a fantastic time at this beautiful campsite and really enjoyed the company of our neighbours. We had a couple camp beside us for one night only on Tuesday night. They are a Tasmanian couple, Fergie and Diana. Yes it’s true. Funny story about that. When we were camped at St Helens, Greg was talking to a neighbour and then came and told me he had just been speaking to Prince Charles. Later when I met Stan, I couldn’t believe the likeness. So when we met Fergie and Diana, particularly with their royal names, we had to have a giggle to ourselves.

Fergie and Diana are from Sisters Beach on the North West Coast of Tasmania, near Burnie.  After chatting to them for a while and also learning a lot about their travels and insightful views on where to visit in Tasmania, they invited us to spend our last few days in Tassie with them at their home, which is only 80 km’s from Devonport. It is a very gracious offer and one we might just take them up on as we will be in that area towards the end of our seven weeks in Tasmania

Our other neighbours at Mayfield, Llonda and Rosemary, as well as Martine and Sean and their kids, Nathan and Samantha made us feel like part of a family. We were very lucky to have met them as they all gave us some good information about what to see in Tassie. Thanks to Martine, instead of heading inland on our next journey, we have decided to go to Cockle Creek on the rugged South West Coast. Before we left however, we all shared a wonderful meal around the campfire, a few drinks and some great conversation. Thanks to Llonda and Rosemary for the very nice bottle of Tasmanian Sauvignon Blanc, I enjoyed it very much. They are all great company; we will miss them all, but will keep in contact to let them know how our travels are going.

Cockle Creek is a beautiful little camping ground, and after spending the most part of the day travelling and stocking up on essentials, we were able to finally find a spot and set up camp. The day was spent travelling through, Sorell and Hobart, which was a buzz of activity due to the Wooden Boat Regatta. We had to drive straight past Constitution Dock, which was extremely busy and made the traffic heavy. But we got through okay and headed towards the beautiful Huon Valley on our way to Cockle Creek.

During our journey along the Huon Hwy we drove beside the Huon River and its rural valleys, against a backdrop of forested hills, with an abundance of farms and orchards, producing such goods as cherries, apples, cheese, hops and wool. There are plenty of roadside stalls selling everything from pink-eye spuds to rhubarb jam and blueberries. It truly is an extraordinarily scenic region and a delight to drive through.

We also passed through the coastal and very pretty town of Dover and the seaside communities of Ida Bay and Moss Glen. Ida Bay houses an historic railway line.  After we had travelled along the last few kilometres of the pot holed road, which is Australia’s most southern road, we found our beautiful camp site at Cockle Creek. Cockle Creek is on Recherche Bay in the Nature Recreation area and just borders the South West National Park. We have a beautiful site, overlooking a gorgeous sheltered white sand beach with a backdrop of rainforests. Unfortunately it was very wet when we were setting up camp; in fact it was one of the coldest nights we have experienced so far in Tassie. However we got through it and woke up to a cool but fine day.

We went for a walk along the beach, through part of the National Park to view the mighty Southern Right Whale Sculpture. We saw the remnants of the old timber mill and further along , a little way into the South Cape Walk we saw the old crude wooden remains of the rail line that the serviced the mill. Back towards camp we came across the old Cockle Creek Cemetery in the coastal scrub, with tombstones dating back to 1886 to the early 1900’s. It was a very lonely, rugged and hard life they lived back then, with most deaths caused by timber mill accidents, drowning or suspected murders.

We were sitting at camp in the early afternoon, when we heard the sound of an ice-cream van no less. True, an ice cream van on Australia’s southernmost road, a goat track of a road at that, and blow me down if an ice cream van didn’t arrive. People came from everywhere; they must have made a nice little profit from that journey. And yes Greg and I bought one each, couldn’t resist.

Speaking oz slang such as ‘blow me down’, we came across a couple of steep hills on the way to Cockle Creek.  One was called ‘break me neck’ hill and the other was called ‘bust me gall’ hill.  We can understand why though, as the cruiser, with all the weight it was carrying and towing, struggled a bit at times. We must have travelled uphill all the way to Cockle Bay. At one point we were 376 metres above sea level. Can’t remember going downhill at all, but we must have as we are on the sea, but WILLDO made it.

We woke to a very wet and miserable day on Sunday, a shame for all the Tassie campers, who were utilising their long weekend holiday, so the day was spent cooking and playing 500. The weather cleared considerably during the afternoon, so we were able to go for a walk along the beach again. That night was a very clear night and we, as usual, set up the campfire and sat around it with our dinner, a drink and one of the most beautiful starry nights we have ever witnessed. Being so far south, the night sky was a marvellous spectacle.

Monday was warm and sunny so we took Portabote out into the bay and had successful day fishing. We caught 7 Flathead. It was the first time we have had the boat in saltwater and it went like a beauty, so did the fish. A nice feed, a delightful starry night again and a beautiful campfire enticed us to get the computer out and watch a movie under the stars by the fire.  Ahh! Perfect.

Tuesday was yet again a beautiful, warm and sunny day. After another walk along the beach we started to pack up, ready to move on. Michael, who owns a shack at Cockle Creek came and chatted with us for a while. He was very interesting and again gave us an insight to the area. The gorgeous, blue beach shack you can see in the photos has been owned for some years by a man who had to have it heritage listed so that it couldn’t be taken from him. Michael also told us that the population in the area was once around 6000, due to the timber mill and the whaling industry, but in recent years it has reduced considerably and probably less than 80 residents now. It has become a very popular camping area in the past 10 years or so and prior to that only a few summer campers would take up residence there. Now people come and go all year long.

Wednesday we packed up and moved onto Snug. Our plans were to head straight to Bruny Island but we are meeting an old friend of Greg’s on Thursday. Greg was in Western Australia about 30 years ago with Barry. Barry is originally from Tasmania and when we were in St Helens, Greg happened across someone who knew Barry. He was able to give Greg Barry’s phone number. As it happens Barry is in Hobart for a week and is driving down to have lunch with us.

We set up camp in the Snug caravan park. Snug is situated on the D’Entrecasteaux Channel, not far south of Hobart. From here it will only be a hop, step and jump to Bruny Island. While we were preparing dinner, one of our neighbours, a Swedish man, called Ben, started to play the Piano Accordion. Along came another neighbour, Dutchy, and he had a harmonica. They played some wonderful music together and so we were serenaded while we ate dinner. It felt as though we were on the Mediterranean. The sound was beautiful. We will be here in Snug for a couple of days and then head to Bruny Island. Cheers till next time.