Day 224-225 Heading East

This is the beautiful green looking area before we came over the top into the valley where Queenstown is... the difference is remarkable...just compare above with below. Just shows you what mankind can do!!!
A combination of acid rain, fire and a huge need for vast quantities of timber creates this devastated landscape.

We went o to a place called Tarralea, another hydro town which is being converted into an adventure area. Situated in the Central Highlands they have gone with the Highland feel and even a few of these beauties.
Toby and Turtle follow the Hydro Pipeline...............shades of the Golden Pipeline.

Day 223-224 Strahan

Strahan that West Coast town that has the Gordon River Cruise and Sarah Island etc... we had done the cruise at Corinna so decided that we were not financial enough to do any more cruises..and then we could not even get into the caravan park..so off we went and did a $5 Park camp on Maquaire Heads..fabulous...had a great walk right out to the ocean, with fishing men, birds and even a dead Black Snake!
Not bad hey!!
Strahan itself was very pretty and we had seen it on a very bright day which apparently was a lucky thing...very picturesque fishing fleet and trawlers as well. 
The tourist information office came up trumps as well..they helped us to extend our time on Tasmania for another 6 days to the 7th March and they also had an exhibition 
From this one you can tell the effort they have put into the exhibition..not bad for $2 each.

Day 223 Zeehan Museum

This place is a marvel... it was once the third largest city in Tasmania... now almost a ghost town but still having one of the most comprehensive mining museums that we have ever seen. We had seen a short story on this place on one of our DVD's and had vowed to go there if the opportunity arose...it's a must if you can get there. The history of the area is incredible. With mining ,logging and eventually the education in mining within the walls of this great museum. The item above and the instructions below are actually one of the first computors... have a look, quite ingeniuos!
Although we have not got a picture, this museum housed one of the largest mineral collection that either of us had ever seen... it rivalled what I had seen in London!!
Then there was the entertainment area, this was the Gaiety Theatre which is still in use occasionally, and is famous throughout Tasmania.. there are other rooms attached for bars, billiards and right next door was the Police Station, Court House and cells.
Outside, there was something familiar.... remember the wires by the side of the Golden Pipeline.. the pipeline from Perth to Kalgoorlie... well here they were again, but in the original form.. nice to piece these things together... my comment to Stephen was that being a bit or a history buff... but not from here I am having a crash course in the Australian History on the way round....
There was also a collection of the old work horse for the train buffs..these were used both for mining and for logging.

Day 223 Leaving Corinna

Well this was an experience that I was not sure about! We had the option of going over on the ferry or going the long way round that meant an extra 100k's at least. We had telephoned ahead and been told that the situation could be overcome.... well that was until we wanted to leave and the tide was out!!!! An hour and a half later......
The space between the two off and on ramps was a total of 9.2 meter's we had 10.2 meter's!! They let us off the rear wheel on the caravan but still it was a juggling act balancing the wheels and weight.... They actually had to push us off the bank as the tide was still coming in... to all the cheers of the bystanders.
Gives you some idea of how close it was.
We were asked to remove the spare wheel from  below the van to get off, but that did not happen and all was well... the bank opposite was still cheering.
Onwards and upwards!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 222- 223 Corinna

We left Dismal Swamp and arrived at Arthur River where we took  the traditional picture of Toby & the Turtle... we stopped for lunch at the look out and before we knew it we had company from W.A. Can't get anyway from you lot!!
We arrived at an old mining and timber area of Corinna... this area has been off the radar for a fair while and we are pleased to say that is still reasonable untouched. Having said that we had a terrific meal cooked by the same guy that must have cooked for us in El Questro all those months ago. The dead town is now trying to bring life back with a good restaurant and tavern and nothing much else which really suited us. They do have the old Arcadia II which has a history all of it's own and we enjoyed a fabulous trip down the Pieman to the mouth of the the river and lunch and then back to the base... and to us so much better than the Gordon River commercialism we had heard about.
This beautiful cruise was on an old 52 foot Huon Pine cruiser that had a history all of it's own.. that included war action before it came back to it's roots. It now ferry's passenger's down the Pieman River as it was originally meant to do.
Once down towards the mouth of the river we went on a walk to the actual mouth and saw amazing drift wood from upstream, when you consider that most of this wood is the famous Huon Pine it is truly mind boggling as to the money in this photo!!!
Not a bad old lady!! The next day we caught her on her way down the river again, truly graceful boat from  yesteryear.

Day 222 Dismal Swamp

Well here we go, I am now two weeks behind and as it has been raining, thought I had better do some catching up....  We left Stanley on our way down the west coast... and found a very interesting place called of all things Dismal Swamp... now you would imagine that a name like that would put you off, but we had ben told about this ancient sinkhole that catered not only for those interested in nature but also some of the thrill seekers.. The start was a 100 meter drop down at a speed of around 40k to the bottom of the sinkhole on a shoot which you can see Stephen standing on... no I did not do it but he did.!!!!!!! There was also some incredible miountain bike rides in the area...but we did not do those either!
The bottom of the temperate rain forest had some unlikely friends in the forest crayfish. These animals live in burrows and help the eco system of the area.
It is beautifully laid out with boardwalks and signs of interest.... 
There are also sculptures and fantasy items.. this one is a larger than average door which reminded me some much of the Alice in Wonderland story.

Day 220=221 Devonport to Stanley

We were unable to stay in Devenport as the caravan parks were all full... We moved on towards our destination of Stanley...on the way we stopped at Burnie and the Creative Paper Factory. We had seen this on a caravaning DVD and were interested enough to see it in person. Unfortunately we were there at the wrong time and missed out on the hands on tour were you actually make paper. They make paper out of everything.. kangaroo poo... leaves....jeans.. recycled paper etc.. the picture above is of some of their paper art.. this trio was incredible.
Onwards to Stanley, a beautiful village that looks like it has been taken out of a picture book. The area is overlooked by "The Nut" a very old volcanic table of land , that you can walk up or go up by chair lift. The views are beautiful.
Please note white knuckles... the way up was okay but the vertigo with the view on the way down caused Stephen to record the event... seems to me that he gets a perverse pleasure seeing me squirm!
This is the original building for the Headquarters for the Van Diemans Land Company called Highfield House. Very interesting, with very good interpretation... they have been restoring the property since 1989 and it is still a work in progress... well worth a look!
Got him at last... were are those tomatoes!!!!!

Day 219 Spirit of Tasmania

After a horrendous nights sleep with high winds and smoke still filling the air.... we left for cooler climes in Tasmania. We left A & A's very early in the morning to catch the 9am ferry which left at 10.15. 
We could not believe the number of vehicles that they stuffed into the ferry... we had so much time in the que that Stephen had a few photo opportunities!
Yes yours truly sitting on the ferry, we had a day pass so no seats allocated ... you find one and hold on to it... not a problem and we met a few characters too. We met a Chris Field, he had seen my bird book and struck up a conversation... Stephen  is still in wonder to the standard of Chris's pictures of raptors. It made for an interesting trip and the food was not bad either.
Going through the heads at Pt. Lonsdale, strange to see them from the other side... we visited here on our massive trip from Apollo Bay to Melbourne on the 13th December.... at least on this day the weather was calmer for our crossing ... onwards to Tasmania.

Day 215-217 Tarrra Bulga

This place is just heaven ! Tree Ferns,Giant Mountain Ash,Myrtle Beech & the most sensational fresh air! Bird life abounds, so Alison was in paradise.
We were camped at Fernholme on the banks of the Tarra river & we met a lovely couple Ken & Margaret who happened to be real Birdos. 
We got up at "sparro's" to go bird watching with Ken, we saw Lyre Birds, the rare Pilot Bird & 6 more to the collection.... best day yet for numbers of new birds for the book.
We did lots of walking and driving around, we went out to Mirboo North (to the brewery) and saw the devastation of the fire from the previous week. We travelled the Grand Ridge Road, we followed the Tarra Valley Road, we went to Traralgon and basically all the areas between. We left yesterday..yes yesterday and the fires at the Bunyip State Park were only a few smoke clouds in the distance... we arrived in Melbourne at 12.30 and by 1.30 the roads were closed and the fires began to cross the Princess Highway and destroy the areas that we had only just left. Yes we are fine.... but a bit shook up at the devastation and our near miss but fine. Thanks to our friends who phoned to check we were okay... all's well

Typing this on the Spirit of Tasmania.... next stop Devonport and the next stage of our adventure.

Day 213-215 Loch Sport

Turtle outside Judy & Peter's at Loch Sport where we spent a couple of great nights (Peter & I polished off a few bottles of Red !!) We went out on the Lakes in his little "tinnie" but it struggled with 4 BIG adults & bad weather !
They took us out to Sperm Whale Head, but the weather left a little to be desired !!! But a great time was had, thanks guys.
A quick trip back to Sale to collect our "business cards". We stopped to have a look at the historic swing bridge that turned to allow ships through to the port of Sale.
Then on to Tarra Bulga .......

Day 211-213 Port Albert

Port Albert is a funny little place, tucked away from all the traffic, very little commercialism here, so much so that Echidna's roam the streets.
We also found out were all the WA State birds have gone too! This is just a small flock of the great birds, and that is way more than I have ever seen in one place in WA...
Port Albert was suggested to us for two reasons, one the fish and chip shop and two, the Maritime Museum. We spent a very pleasant half day in this establishment, viewing all the maritime past of the area and items from the Omega Navigation System. This is one of eight in the world and is now obsolete as GPS has taken over. We were shown around by a lovely 84 year old (next week) who even admitted that she was a new comer as she had only been there for 49 years...lovely old duck!