The Road From Bruny Island, Derwent Bridge, Lake St Clair & Surrounds

Linda and I left Bruny Island on the 10am ferry to Kettering on Monday the 12^th Feb. It was an easy run through Hobart, not like going through Sydney. Filled up with gas at BCF, Moona. Only $25 for the 9 kilo bottle which you would expect in a major city. We paid $39 on Bruny Island. When we ran out of gas on one bottle I found the second one was empty. I don’t know whether the second bottle of gas was empty because of the failed gas lead that became evident or because I neglected to refill the tank after our last trip.

We motored on nicely and although I needed diesel there were no convenient fuel stations on my side of the road. I had looked ahead and saw there was a United at Hamilton. What I did not realise was that Hamilton was such a tiny town and I did not leave enough margin for error if this little town servo was out of diesel. Thankfully it had fuel. It was only a 24 hour machine though, no operator, so if the internet was down you could not get fuel. Fortunately the internet was working. It gave me a scare though when it would not work because the machine said there was no receipt paper. But then it worked. Phewww. So filled up and filled the jerry can for good measure at a good price.

The plan was to possibly stay at a caravan park on the way to Derwent Bridge as we needed to wash clothes and get water. I rang ahead to where we thought of staying which was Wayatinah, and found that the town had an alert to boil all drinking water. Whilst at Hamilton, after getting fuel, we also stopped for lunch and found we could also fill up with water. So we filled with water and decided to push on to Derwent Bridge, leave the washing till later, and catch up with Kay and Derek.

However, on the way it was great to stop off at Tarraleah and view the amazing Hydro Electic Development there.

At Derwent Bridge a good spot to camp for free was at the Derwent Bridge Hotel. All they ask is that you buy a beer at the pub. Awww, OK, so we did that. The pub has the biggest fireplace I have ever seen.

That evening we went with Kay and Derek to Lake St Clair which is the southern lake of the Cradle Mountain area and had nibblies and drinks whilst watching the late afternoon colours on the lake and mountains. It was a really peaceful setting.

After getting back to camp the cold really set in. We were in high country now so we had to dress appropriately. Nothing like the drizabone to keep the cold out.

The next morning we went back to Lake St Clair and did various walks around the lake and in the bush.

Whilst walking I came across a black snake which would have been a tiger snake. I was to slow to get a photo but took a photo of the same kind at the information centre to give you an idea. The funny thing was I was speaking on the phone to my daughter Jacquie who rang to see how we were going on the trip. I told her that there was a snake on the track in front of me so she sounded a bit worried. Derek also came across a bigger black snake. He got a video but unfortunately my videos are not up loading on the blog. I will put it on facebook.

I was amazed to have a wombat cross the track in front of me as well. There was a European couple ahead of me and the wombat nearly ran into them. They were thrilled and so was I. It disappeared into the bush before I could get a photo. I have only ever seen them dead on the side of the road or on the tele.

After getting back from Lake St Clair we had some lunch and Linda and I went to ‘The Wall’. This is a display by a very clever artist who carves and sculptures with wood. He has a wall 100 metres long and has done carvings on both sides out of huon pine, all indoors. The detail in the carvings/sculptures is amazing. You are not allowed to take any photos so I have none to show you but if you googled it you would probably get to see some of it.

After viewing The Wall we headed off to Queenstown. On the hop a bit to keep up with Kay & Derek having only three weeks to travel. The scenery on the way was amazing. Just a couple of photos and save more for the next post, ie Nelson Falls.