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How do I choose just 1 photo to sum up the wild north west of Tasmania?
I can't.
The diversity in the landscape here is phenomenal! We drove through dense rainforest to amazing mountain lookouts to white sand roads boardered by low lying scrub to untouched rocky seascapes full of broken driftwood. Whilst in between we saw a stunning waterfall in the middle of a town, thick green rainforest with moss coated trees and rocks, rich multi-coloured rivers meandering through dense scrub, a pub in the middle of nowhere and we found the edge of the world.
So I could only choose 1 photo. The photo above was taken at the edge of the world and I feel that it captures the Wild North West of Tasmania.
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BOAT HARBOUR
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We needed to get away for a few days. 2022 has been a very bad year for both of us, but for me in particular. Moving to a new place was exciting, but soon went down hill fast. I found myself miles away from a beach and in the most coldest place that I have ever had to endure.
I started a new job only to be layed off at the end of my probationary period with a stack of unfounded lies that challenged my character and work ethic.
Before I started working for JJs Waste they had employed new management all 'gun ho' wanting to change things up. So of course there were three long term members of this rubbish company that decided to go all at once. Good on them! Haha. That is when management found themselves without good staff and employed minimal people to take over, expecting them to pick up the process and run with it. Before they employed me they had gone through 12 other Admin Staf who all left because of the work load and poor management.
There were very little process flows to refer to. Pfft! Who runs a wanna-be multi-national company with no step by step processes in place? So of course there were processes that I did not know had to be done in my role. I was expected to come in and bring the accounts up to date whilst answering phones with the other couple of staff members and debt collecting. Most days the phones ran riot.
I don't need to go into any more detail. I am sure that you get the drift. Thank you for listening to my rant.
By now, I was dearly missing my children. All this, plus I had a big fall in the shower, broke the glass shower door which shattered all over me and cut my back to pieces. Then less than a week later, I was picking the tops of the celery in the garden and my back zinged. That is how I describe it when something goes out of place in my back. It feels like a zing up my spine and then a day later is starts to hurt. This time it was the worst I ever had to endure. Now, 3 weeks later I am still suffering from back pain. No wonder I needed a break away!
A big thank you to hubby for standing by me and trying to comfort me. Without hubby, I think I may have taken my life.
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HEAVENLY FARM B&B
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After we decided that we needed a few days get away, I had my work cut out for me as I was going to be looking for accommodation just a week before Christmas. I wasn't going to muck around and headed straight for booking.com. That is when I found Heavenly Farm B&B right up north-west near the beach at a great price of $100 per night. We were also looking for a place that is pet friendly and this B&B fitted that requirement too.
Lilliana who runs the place could not have been more accommodating. She made us feel at home immediately and took to Tookie as well. She couldn't wait to have some pix of Tookie to add to her facebook page, explaining that she is one of the very few B&B's that are pet friendly. She was also very excited because Tookie was the first bird that has stayed at Heavely Farm. We took him to see the farm animals, goats, chooks, geese and a llama.
Lilli's whole house was decorated with Egyptian artifacts and peacocks. I couldn't deal with a place like this. Too much cleaning and dusting for me.
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1ST DAY OUT - TO THE TARKINE RAINFOREST
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TROWUTTA ARCH
Trowutta Arch where we were headed today is located in the Tarkine Wilderness which contains the largest cool temperate rainforest in Australia. The Tarkine Wilderness extends out to the west coast and the landscape changes dramatically along the way. More about that later.
I get upset that the Government still allows logging in the forrest and also mining. What is it with that? Why can't they just leave the wilderness places to be?
Hubby walked through the rainforest and down to the natural rock arch which lead to an inland sinkhole. I decided to walk slowly and play with macro photography as I am still trying to get used to my Canon 60mm macro lens. This rainforest was so lush with moss and lichen. Just gorgeous.
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STANLEY
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| Stanley Nut |
On the way back we headed to Stanley to check out the famous Stanley Nut Chair Lift.
Wonder where the name Nut comes from? I googled.
Some say it is a shortened version of its Aboriginal name, Moo-Nut-Re-Ker. Others say the side of themassif was 'a hard nut to crack' when it refused to yield to explosives during construction of a breakwater.
Taken from https://parks.tas.gov.au
We didn't go up in the chair lift. Just looked like any other chair lift. You can see it in some of the photos below above the cute old fashioned buildings that line the main street of Stanley.
We were actually interested in the seafood here that everyone raves on about. We found the restaurant and seafood take away place which ended up just being a glorified fish and chip shop. No fresh seafood. 😕
So we headed up the hill to the main street and found a seafood shop where we were able to buy some frozen prawns. Frozen..... pfft!
The shop that I really liked was the Povidore shop. OMG! I was in heaven! We bought some cheese, crackers, pate and wine to have back at the B&B overlooking the valley and sea.
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2ND DAY OUT - TO THE WESTERN WILDERNESS
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WARATAH
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Fancy that? Having a town on a waterfall.
It's quite a hike from Wynyard to get here so we needed a break. I had seen the Waratah waterfall in a visitor guide so was on the lookout for a sign as we drove slowly through town. I noticed a gorge so directed hubby towards it thinking the waterfall would be located way up the gorge. We saw an information bay and small park to stopped to check it out. That is when hubby noticed the waterfall right there where we stopped. No walking to it or driving on sketchy gravel roads. WoW!!
Waratah is located adjacent to the Savage River National Park and is on the edge of the western wilderness. From here it is not too long before the road turns into a hard white narrow outback road heading towards Corinna. Aparently Waratah experiences snow a few times a year, that's how high it is.
We then drove back through town and stopped at the little museum. They charged to go in so we left that and instead checked out the little cottage attached to the museum. The Philosoper's Hut is named after a guy that found tin in the area and that is where the waterfall comes in supplying water for the tin mine. It closed in 1947.
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NO NAME LOOKOUT NEAR SAVAGE RIVER
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As said previously, the bitumen had changed to a white narrow country road. We were now out of WIFI range and heading into the western wilderness. Why white, I wondered?
There are silica mines here. Ahhh, that explains it. Silica is used in talcum powder and the making of glass and pottery. That is just a few uses. It is also used in food stuffs and medicine. It is basically a pure form of quartz. Interesting.
We were making our way on the windy road up the mountain and the view was spectacular, so we pulled off at the first bay we could which turned out also to be where a huge electricity pole was also located. One of the many that traverse the mountains around here taking electricity to the mines.
It was interesting to see a few of the red lichen covered rocks that Tasmania is famous for also here, plus a number of late blooming wildflowers.
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Savage River Mine
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CORINNA WILDERNESS LODGE
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Hubby was getting a little concerned as we had no WIFI and we far from any town. I assured hubby that we were on the right track and heading towards Corinna. Besides we had plenty of fuel and water, and prawns and rolls, plus some beers in the fridge. And..... there was a pub in Corinna.
We finally made it. There is a free ferry service here that takes you to the other side of the Pieman River if you want to continue on south towards Zeehan and Strahan.
What a nice little place! So pretty here on the river. Nothing but the pub and some lodging though. No animals allowed either..... Oooops. From what I saw on the net, it is not your usual tourist destination, however they get enough through here to obviously survive. No fuel. The closest fuel is in Zeehan. That was ok, as we had enough to get back home anyway. The Izusu is great on diesel when not towing our van.
Anyway, we had a couple of coldies at the pub and people watched. There was a group of bikies out for a day drive and some lunch at the pub. We didn't have lunch but the prices looked good and there was quite a variety of choices for a pub in the middle of nowhere. Good reason to come back. 😎
We grabbed a take-away beer each and enjoyed that with our prawns on rolls overlooking the river.
We plan to come back without Tookie and camp on one of the secluded pontoons on the river that are available or maybe in one of the cabins here. We will probably do that in conjunction with heading south to check out the southern wilderness of Tasmania. You can also do river cruises here along the Pieman river. That will definitely be on my list.
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DONALDSON RIVER
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The road from Corinna north was 2-wheeled drive dirt but winding again through rainforest until you head up to high country and then the landscape changes to low lying scrub on white solica road.
We were down low and crossed a river which looked real nice. There was a lone fisherman to the left and after crossing, to the right we pulled of into a small parking area in the forrest to check out the river.
I later found it on a google search - Donaldson River. You could camp here. In fact when we were just about to leave, a car pulled up with three overseas tourists who said they were glad that we left a spot for them as they were going to camp overnight. I hope the mozzies weren't too hard on them.
😏
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SMITHTON
This was a big day. We wanted to see what there was at Smithton.
Nothing!
We parked up next to the marsh. There was nothing here to take a picture of. Well I suppose I could have, except due to a dripping tap, I couldn't be bothered traversing the puddles of mud to take a photo of nothing.
So we grabbed a beer each from the car fridge and the rest of our pizza that we had at the pub in Wynyard the other evening and had a quick snack.
Besides, I was looking forward to some cheese, crackers, pate and wine back at the B&B.
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3RD DAY OUT - TO THE EDGE OF THE WORLD
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MARRAWAH
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I wouldn't miss this place. In fact if you check the map above, I would do the trip anti-clock wise and do Marrawah last because there is a pub here that you could have lunch and a couple of coldies to finish of your trip.
It was extremely windy though so we had to steady our cameras to get good shots.
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ARTHUR RIVER
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The Edge of the World. If you want to know more about that, check out the placard in the photo below.
This is a pretty place too. Very picturesque. after we came over this bridge, we decided to hang a sharp right, just where I am taking this photo when we came back out. I am glad that we did because at the culdersack at the end we got some nice photos of the rock out at sea.
Heading back out we continued up the hill to a sign that directed us to the edge of the world. This is obviously tailered more for tourists with toilets, signs and a path leading around to a lookout over the bay and beach.
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NELSON BAY RIVER FALLS
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From Arthur River down and around towards Trowutta the landscape is made up of rocky outcrops and low lying scrub. You can tell that the wind coming directly from the sea has played its part in creating this wilderness landscape.
We were fortunate to find this place. We made a last minute decision to pull off after driving over this bridge and what looked to be a nice creek.
Hubby discovered the falls and went down to investigate. I wasn't too keen as it was a steep hill down and nothing to hang onto for balance. So I stayed up top and enjoyed the nice views. Hubby got some good shots of the tea coloured falls here.
I later found out the name of this place by checking out the creeks and rivers on Google Maps.
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SUMAC LOOKOUT
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Only a couple of minute walk to this lookout. Nothing else here.
Tookie decided to get out and see what hubby was so interested in.
Moss and lichen on a post.
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JULIUS RIVER RAINFOREST WALK
My camera was nearly out of battery and the 12V car battery charger was not working.
😠
This is a beautiful place to spend a bit of time just enjoying the board walk, lush green rainforest and a pretty stream. So I grabbed my new lensbaby 35mm sweet optic and a couple of crystals for a play.
Well I need to practice more with the crystals. None of those photos turned out, but I got some interesting tilt-shift sweet centered photos. Shame my camera was on low battery and flashing at me because that is a major distraction whilst trying to be creative.
STANLEY
On the way back we were hungry so headed back to Stanley to check out the pub as it said on Google that you could eat pub grub from 11am when it opened.
Sadly, that wasn't the case. All they had was pizzas. So I guess we had to have a pizza. I'll be knocking off a star in my Google review. I will also knock off another star because we were the only ones in the pub and the young girl that served us our pizza didn't think to supply is with a napkin each. She wasn't real friendly either. Looked like she wanted to be anywhere except at work and chatting with nice people like us. 😏
Well thank goodness the pizza was pretty good. Went down well with a couple of coldies.
I said from the outset that if you are doing the same trip, go anti-clockwise and grab lunch in the pub at Marrawah instead.
LAST DAY - OUT AND ABOUT BOAT HARBOUR
TABLE CAPE LIGHTHOUSE & LOOKOUT
The tourist drive into Wynyard from Heavenly Farm B&B is a nice drive. There is a distillary on the way that we didn't get a chance to try. Oh well, next time.
This area is prolific with flowering fields of white pyrethrum and pink/lilac poppies. Pyrethrum is used for a natural insectiside and of course we all know what poppies are used for. 😉
They have tours at the lighthouse. I have no idea why you would want to tour a lighthouse? I guess some people are into weird stuff.... just like the bus enthusiests where hubby used to work.
😒
Anyway, whilst hubby went for a wander, I took some close ups with my new lensbaby sweet optic and a few landscape pix that turned out interesting with the tilt-shift sweet spot effect.
We drove around to the lookout which afforded us a view over Wynyard and stopped off at a smaller lookout to photo the valley surrounded by sweeping hills.
BOAT HARBOUR
This is the local beach for Heavenly Farm B&B.
Unfortunately, it was too cold for a swim so I rolled up my jeans and dunked my feet.
Mmmm, nice.
😀
There is a cafe here that opens early and shuts early too which was too bad as we never came back in time to check it out. Lilliana at the B&B said it was worth a meal here. I guess that is good enough reason to come back.
SISTERS BEACH
This place is stunning!
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There is a lagoon in which the water ranged from a rich cobalt blue to a dark blood red to a vivid orange and then lighter towards yellow. Can you imagine that?!!
Just check out the photos below.
The coloured sea ones have not been enhanced. They are straight out of the camera.
WILMOT HILLS DISTILLERY
We had spent 4 days driving around the countryside. I was missing some tastings. So I found Wilmot Hills Distillery on Google which looked like a great way to break up our journey back home.
They advertised a cheese board plus wine and cider tastings too. Sounded good.
Well it was way out in the bush and we were a little bit dubious when we arrived.
But the great hospitality from the owner Jo was undeniably warm. He wasn't really ready for my request for a cheese board, but knocked together a small one for us, only charging $15.
His distilled liquors were amazing. He had everything from Lemonchello to Absinthe and Grappa. And he was extremely forthcoming and generous in taste tests for us lol.
We had our cheeseboard and I bought a bottle of the pinot noir to go with it, whilst throwing the ball for Jo's lovely border collie dog.
We bought the Lemonchello and a bottle of Pomadores (distilled apple cider) and a bottle of Reisling which was nice too.
Jo is gradually making cabin accommodation there and showed us his first effort. I said that if he included outdoor spas, then we will be back. Jo thought that was a great idea and showed us the exact place the he would put the spa, overlooking Mount Roland. Yes please!
We will be back.
😁😍
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