We've now been to the "end of the road"Nov 4, 2009
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From Burnie we headed west and spent time looking around Waratah, spent a night on the banks of Lake McIntosh, just beautiful, and then made our way to Zeehan where we spent 4 or 5 nights. Not a lot to see in Zeehan, apart from the excellent museum but we tripped around in the rain and saw the Pieman River, Corinna, Reece Dam, Lake Plimsoll and Tullah. We had intended to go on to Queenstown and stay and do the Wilderness Railway and Gordon River trips, but there is a great shortage of boarding kennels in this area. When John enquired about a kennel with the park owner at Zeehan she said she would look after Brodie for us, which was great, so we stayed in Zeehan and did the trips from there. We thoroughly enjoyed the Wilderness Rail trip, had a great guide, very informative and amusing. Our Gordon River cruise was just as good, went out as far as Hells Gates, then returned to Sarah Island for a guided walk to see the remnants of the convict settlement and then 15 ks up the Gordon River. All this time it was still raining. After these enjoyable days we moved on to Strahan and then Queenstown with the intention of staying a night, but when we got there decided to keep going. The landscape at Queenstown has to be seen to be believed. Barren rocky hillsides, as they say, like a moonscape. It must be the time of the year, but everything seemed to be closed or only open a few days a week around the area, we were hoping for a bit more life and sunshine as we head south east. On our way across the Franklin Gordon Wilderness area we found the "Wall in the Wilderness" just near Derwent Bridge. This "wall" has been carved from 3 metre high sections of Huon Pine, depicting the pioneers and is just magnificent. The detail in each section is unbelievable. Just a pity they wouldn't let us take our cameras inside. Spent the night in Hamilton beside the river and arrived in Hobart on the 25th. We stayed about 14ks north of Hobart and in the time we were there, we drove to the top of Mt. Wellington for the magic views over Hobart, etc., went to the Cadbury factory, which was a real chore for me! Also went for the drive to the Gordon Dam and to Lake Pedder. Hurrah, we had 2 days of sunshine, but it didn't last. Spent a day in Richmond and Sorell before we moved on from Hobart. Headed to the Tasman Peninsula for a few days to go to Port Arthur and for another cruise, this time from Port Arthur, via Tasman Island to Eaglehawk Neck. Before those excursions we took a drive from where we were camped at Dunalley as far as Eaglehawk Neck and saw some interesting sights - tessellated pavement, Tasman Arch and the Tasman Blowhole - no competition with Kiama's blowhole. The day we went on the cruise it rained and rained and the sea was rather choppy. The crew handed out ginger tablets for seasickness before we headed out so we took advantage of the offer just in case! Despite the weather we had a wonderful day and then the next day we were lucky enough to get a warm sunny day to go to Port Arthur. We all know its history, but today it is really a lovely quiet, peaceful place and we really enjoyed the day. We were able to take Brodie with us and every time we turned around someone wanted to talk to her. From Dunalley we headed north again to Hobart and then south again to Franklin to have a look around that area. Drove as far as we could - to Cockle Creek - the end of the road. Today we've come back to Kingston, John is judging here on Sunday and then we're headed back to Hobart for a few more days.
