GRAND TOURING IN TASMANIA

GR AND TOURING IN GR AND TOURING IN TASMANIA TASMANIA

BY RAY WHITLOCK

After last Camp Coffs in March 2021, which as usual was great. Especially to catch up with friends and the making of new ones, not to mention the great wheeling organised by Jeep Action Magazine and Coffs Coast Jeepers. We went back to the Gold Coast for two weeks to clean up the J10 and make a few adjustments before hooking up the camper trailer to the WK2 Grand and heading to Tasmania for 11 weeks.

Having been to Tasmania 27 years ago on a 10 day fly drive holiday and seeing all the normal tourist hotspots, we were more than keen with the Grand and camper trailer to hit the roads less travelled.

On the Spirit of Tasmania, we were closely watching the weather to determine whether we go east or west when we arrived at Devonport. Fortunately for us it looked like the next two weeks were going to have good weather down the west coast so that's where we headed.

The 6.30pm docking allowed us to travel approximately an hour to Burnie for a quick overnight stop. From Burnie, along the coast to Smithton and then onto Montagu, we finally got off the black top then south to Marrawah and further along to Arthur River.

Being only a couple of days before Easter, we decided to set up camp there hoping to secure a good spot before the locals arrived for the traditional Easter camping. At $6 per couple per night and word from NP rangers of an endless supply of firewood from the beach, we were surprised there were very few campers or tourists for the entire time. If it had been the mainland, this place would have been packed.

We then explored south from Arthur River to Temma and north on the 8km return walk to Church Rock. Highly recommended.

While at Couta Rocks, just north of Temma, a local said, “Lap it up, I haven't seen it this good in 30 years.” big call, but the weather was stunning.

After four days it was time to make tracks. Heading south from Temma was the starting of the Balfour Track. Not possible for us being on our own and towing a camper, but we did have a little peek and it looked very wet and very challenging.

Continuing south, we were told by NP rangers the road to Corinna was in very poor

condition and reports of a camper trailer upside down in the middle of the road. By the time we got there, the camper had been removed but there was a Ford Ranger that didn't come off any better.

Corinna is a tiny village on the Pieman River with the only crossing being by ferry that can only transport one vehicle and camper per trip. From there we headed to Granville Harbour, passing the Climies Track, which again, we were unable to do. Granville Harbour is a wild, quite remote, fishing village.

Then, onto Zeehan, where we saw a number of vehicles being recovered from the southern end of the Climies Track and looking a little worse for wear. Further to the coast to picturesque Trial Harbour.

Travelling back 30kms to Zeehan, we decided to go east to Rosebery which passes by the entry to the 14km Montazuma Falls track which is not possible when towing, however we were itching to get on the dirt so we continued on and set up camp at Rosebery, returning to the track early the next morning.

We met three people at the start of the track who informed us that 100m along there was a tree down, they didn't feel like removing the tree but we were keen. After tree removal, we ventured in to find that we were the first in with the track being extremely muddy, full of water, lots of rock and very narrow which suited us fine. After traversing mud holes, step ups and off cambered sections, we had gone about 10kms in when we encountered a deep mud hole with a very off camber rock ledge exit.

After about four attempts, each time getting increasingly close to panel damage, we decided to back out. Backing out was quite a challenge. We reversed more than a kilometre

before we could attempt a six point turn.

Even though we didn't reach the end, the 2.5 hours to do 10kms was fun.

With about 2kms left back to the entrance, we encountered a young family in a Landcruiser heading in with their parents behind them in a brand new D Max. We told them about our challenge. They were already overwhelmed by the first 2kms they had travelled and had not expected it to be so tough. They too decided to back out.

Back in Rosebery we decided to do the 18km return walk along the old tram line to Montezuma Falls which is regarded as the highest falls in Tasmania.

Next stop Queenstown, fuel and supplies and then onto Strahan. Yet again the weather was perfect for a day out on the big 'Red Cat' in Macquarie Harbour and up the Gordon River. After one more day relaxing at Strahan exploring the beaches, it was onto the little town of Derwent Bridge where we discovered the Wall in the Wilderness - an absolutely incredible display of timber carvings by a local artist. A definite must to see.

From Derwent Bridge through to Hamilton and onto Hobart, we discovered many little creeks and beautiful misty lakes. After a couple of days in Hobart, we headed down through the Huon Valley to Cockle Creek, this being the most southern point in Tasmania accessible by vehicle and what a fabulous spot.

Back then to Huonville before heading down the eastern side of the Huon River through Cygnet around the bottom and back up to Kettering where it was time for another barge to Bruny Island.

Bruny is quite different to mainland Tasmania, appearing to be a little drier in its terrain. Only 65kms long with quite a few camping options and spectacular beaches, it didn't take us long to see all of Bruny Island. One track we found of interest was Coolangatta Road heading west to east up through the mountain rich in forestry history. Oh, did I say how good the oysters were? Some of the best I have ever eaten.

Once off Bruny, we decided to wander around inland Tasmania for a while.

Whilst in Richmond we found this little flat fender. Heading north through Oatlands, Campbelltown and a few places in between, we made our way to the east coast to have a few days at Friendly Beaches. Yes, that is its name, in the Freycinet Peninsula National Park.

From there it was north through Bicheno, up Elephant Pass to St Marys down the north pass to St Helens and up to Binalong Bay in the Bay of Fires. Camping options in this area are plentiful.

Fifteen kilometers north west of St Helens, we were back on gravel to Policeman's Point, Ansons Bay and Eddystone Point with its spectular lighthouse and coastline. The massive blocks used to build the lighthouse were cut from the rock on the shoreline.

From local advice, we were told of great camping in an area called Stumpy Bay with Camp No. 4 being the pick and once again not a soul to be seen. After exploring the area north to Poole due to a battery issue in the camper, we headed through Gladstone to Derby for an auto electrician. Derby was quite a surprise after finding out it is on the international circuit for mountain biking.

Justin, owner operator of Brooks Motor Works, took care of our problem quick smart. While walking through the town we came across this Wrangler which happened to be owned by Anthony, son of Justin. What a great setup he has done on this car. He really enjoys putting it through its paces in the extremely hilly area of Derby.

After two nights in a free camp right on the river in Derby, we decided to continue our trip back east again heading to the most northern remote point of Tasmania, Cape Portland and camped at Lemon Beach, Petal Point Campground. After exploring the beaches in the area it was back south to Gladstone then west to Tasmania's best kept secret, according to the sign, the village of Tomahawk at Ringarooma Bay.

Our next camp was at Casuarina Hill Camp 3 in the Waterhouse Conservation Reserve. The seagrass in this area is so prolific it washes up to a metre thick in some places on the water’s edge, probably with the aid of such large tide fluctuations. It is also legally gathered by the locals, at approximately 100kg per household, and used as garden mulch.

At the next town, Bridport, we considered transporting the car and camper over to Flinders Island on the freight ship but after getting a quote of $1500 one way this idea was quickly discarded.

We then travelled through Georgetown onto Low Head, the eastern side of the Tamar River mouth then down to Launceston for fuel and supplies, up north along the western side of the Tamar River through Beaconsfield, the locality of the infamous mine disaster, to Greens Beach to set up camp for a couple of days.

Approximately 10 kms back through the historic ruins of York Town starts a gravel road to Narawntapu National Park which is a very interesting drive when wet. Some good camping in this national park but for us it was back to Greens Beach, pick up the camper and move onto to Deloraine. What a pretty, very interesting town with camping on the river bank a short walk from the main street.

The next day we went due west to Mole Creek and some gravel roads north to Sheffield, a town known for the murals painted on the buildings.

After chatting to a couple of locals, the next stop had to be Lake Barrington, Kentish West, beautiful free camping on the

edge of a huge lake used by the locals for skiing in the warmer months. After a couple of days it was north through Lower Barrington and Spreyton to Devonport where the trip started.

With still four weeks in hand and an interest in “sea glass”, one of the best places to find this, we were told, was Penguin Beach, smack bang in the middle between Burnie and Devonport. After scouring the coarse sand and gravelly beaches in this area, this information was spot on. We had no idea why there was such a concentration of glass there.

A bit of backtracking to Launceston for three nights allowed us to explore the nearby towns of Perth, Longford, Evandale and St Leonards. We then headed east again through the new wine growing area of White Hills, past Ben Lomond National Park with the spectacular zigzag road to the top which we drove 27 years ago.

Turning left at Upper Blessington, we took some very steep and interesting forestry tracks with riverside camping along the way, back onto the black top at Mathinna south to Fingal, east to St Marys, south through Elephant Pass again to Lagoons Beach. Once again there was free camping next to the beach where we hooked into Australian Salmon in plentiful numbers, some of the best surf fishing we have ever done. We spent several days fishing and enjoying this beautiful spot.

Once again with local knowledge under our belts, we headed south to Triabunna to take a trip across to Maria Island Caravan Park for two nights. The park was within walking distance to the boat. Maria Island is a fantastic place if you want to get up close with wombats, they are everywhere all day long. We hired a couple of pushbikes, which was a great way to see the island, and slept well that night.

We then went back through Swansea, Bicheno to Lagoons Beach again because the camping and fishing was that good. Another four nights at Lagoons was cut short by yet another battery issue, this time the deep cycle in the rear of the Grand.

We then travelled 55 kilometers up to St Helens for one night, battery sorted, then back to Lagoons yet again for another six days. We couldn't eat all we caught so we kept other campers fed with these beautiful big fish.

With our 40ltr Engel stocked with salmon, we headed north through St Helens then west to “The Pub in the Paddock” staying at the Pyengana local community camp ground for $5. This was well worth the 12km drive to St Columba Falls in the area.

From the Falls we had hoped to take the 4 x 4 track from Mt Victoria to Ralph Falls, but unfortunately the road had completely disappeared through recent floods and was impassable. From Pyengana through the Weldborough Pass, another mountain bike area, through Derby, Scottsdale, Lilydale over the Tamar River via the Batman Bridge to Turners Beach between Ulverstone and Devonport.

Again with local knowledge sourced at Lagoons, we heard that Trowutta Arch was a must do. This certainly was not an easy place to locate with phone, car and VMS GPS systems and of course back over to the western coast again about 50kms south of Smithton.

We stopped to ask the locals if we were on the right track, when we came across this little beauty of a gem in the rough, after talking to the owner, he informed me he has two more CJ10 all of which were factory diesels. He told us he had copies of Jeep Action magazine and that we were only a few kilometres from the arch.

Trowutta Arch was formed after the roof of a massive cave collapsed many many years before. A small lake is in the middle of it, which was very unusual. It was a very cold, short walk from the carpark.

Ulverstone is known for its small crop farming, in particular onions, which are grown for the Blue Banner Pickled Onion Company in the area. They come highly recommended, particularly the chilli flavour. They are so crunchy. Also in the area we discovered a fantastic bakery which we frequented probably way too often.

With a week to go, the weather forecast coming in from the west wasn't looking pretty with a massive low heading our way and predicted 6m seas in Bass Strait. Coupled with the increasing Covid lockdowns in Victoria and a timely email from the Spirit of Tasmania offering unexpected vacancies on the ship due to cancellations, we decided to grab it and go six days earlier than the booked return passage. Victorian and New South Wales border passes had to be obtained before boarding the ship.

While waiting to board the night passage back to the mainland, it looked like the predicted weather system had arrived early, the storm that passed was wild including the first few hours of the eleven hour crossing. When docking in Port Melbourne, we were told we could not stop except for fuel until we got to the NSW border. Luckily this had been anticipated and we had filled up in Devonport.

Refuelling at the VictorianNew South Wales border towns of Albury and Wodonga, we decided to head straight home, a gruelling 17 hour drive only stopping for short breaks.

Phew, we made it.

We had travelled 7,337 kms around Tasmania. What a special place in Australia. The camping arrangements in national parks and recreation areas were abundant and not locked away from public access. Other states and territories of Australia could take a leaf or two out of their book.