Tassie By Land
Tasmanians are quite proud of their island, and they should be. It is a beautiful place. There were several couples from Tasmania on the Louisiades Rally that we participated in last September, and they all told us that we must visit Tasmania or Tassie, as it is affectionately nicknamed. All of these couples were from Launceston which is the second largest city after Hobart and is located in northern Tasmania, about 30 miles inland on the Tamer River. At their invitation, we have begun our trip to Tasmania by entering the Tamer River and motoring up the river to the Beauty Point Marina.
Our friends, John and Di Joyce, were there to greet us. They have some suggested plans for the next few days which sound great. “Leave Avante in the marina and come stay at our home for a few nights. Then, you should take our extra car and do some land touring.” Tonight, however, the plans are that we will stay at the marina and sleep on the boat. Today is Wednesday, and there are afternoon sailboat races followed by a grilled dinner.
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Would we care to join the race on Allusive? The First Mate is not real fond of racing at any time, and we have just completed a 3 day passage with a very uncomfortable last night. The last thing that she wants to do is get on another boat and go racing. How about a hot shower and a long nap? The Captain is not as smart and readily agrees to crew on their boat.
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Friday, February 27th – John and Di are great hosts and plan a wonderful day trip to show us the area. We tour Launceston which is a pretty city resting on the Tamer River.
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The countryside is one of pleasant rolling hills dotted with fields and pasture land.
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We make a stop at a lavender farm, and even though it is past lavender season, the marching lines of lavender plants are still a delight to see.
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While the women browse the gift shop for all things lavender, the men relax and enjoy the view out the picture windows across the fields.
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Lunch is at a restaurant overlooking a golf course with some excellent holes bordering the ocean’s edge. “Some day,” we think, “it might be fun to play this challenging course.” “Bring plenty of balls!” adds The First Mate.
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An afternoon stop at the Jansz Vineyard concludes the day.
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What better way to end a beautiful day than with a glass of bubbles? Di and John planned a wonderful tour of the area, and we are so glad they were our guides so we could enjoy the day with them.
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Saturday, February 28th – Chris and Rodney Smart, who were also with us on the Louisiades Rally, invite the 4 of us for dinner at their home overlooking Launceston in one direction and a deep gorge in the other. We have a great dinner with them and decide to hike down the gorge tomorrow.
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The hike through the gorge is along a very easy and well-maintained walkway. Though not as rugged as we had imagined it would be, we still have a great time walking along it with our friends.
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The walkway ends at a large public park with a huge picnic, play and swim area. What a neat place to take the family! There was even a friendly wallaby who ignored our pets and soft murmurs while more intent on the apple he had found.
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John and Di are going to take their boat, Allusive, around to remote Port Davie on Tasmania’s west coast. They will be leaving in a week and sailing down the east coast of Tasmania on their way. We don’t have enough time to go all the way to the west coast, but we decide to sail Avante along with Allusive for the first part of the trip, going down the coast to Hobart. When Rodney and Chris Smart hear of this, they ask if they can go along. Their boat, Smart Choice, has been left in a marina further north in Australia, so they would need to come on one of our boats. Allusive already has an extra crew aboard, but we can make room on Avante. What a great opportunity for us! We will be cruising Tasmania with two very experienced Tasmanian couples as our guides.
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As it is still a week before our sailing departure, John and Di suggest we use their spare car and drive around northern Tasmania for a few days. They even work with us to plan an intinerary. Our first stop is Cradle Mountain National Park.
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Arriving there in the late afternoon, we go for a short exploratory hike around the lodge. To our surprise, wobbling in front of us across a wooden walkway is a wombat. It is the first we have ever seen. The First Mate pronounces it “teddy bear” cute with its rotund body and snub nose. We are amazed that it appears to neither hear nor see us or if it does, it doesn’t care.
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As it crosses the path in front of us, we quickly amend the “it” to a “she”, for popping out her reverse pouch is a baby. Now, that was one surprise. We knew that wombats were marsupials, but we assumed their pouch was upright and forward facing, not aft facing. Not to be crude, but what a dismal first view of the world these little guys get!
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In the morning, with a lunch packed, we head out for a hike to Cradle Mountain. The trail starts out rather benignly as it crosses the plain toward the mountains.
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Soon, we are in an area of beautiful mountain lakes and rugged scenery.
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Following painted trail markers, we boulder-hop our way upward.
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A trail does take off leading to the top of Cradle Mountain, but we do not have enough hours left in the day to take on that hike. Looking upward, The First Mate decides that just maybe she is high enough.
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Rugged scenery means rugged trails. Over crumbling stones and a steep descent, The First Mate makes her way down to the bottom of this trail. Ever so thankful we were for the chain!
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Down from the heights, we follow a meandering trail along a lake with expansive views up to where we were not so very long ago.
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Back at the lodge, what else after a 16km hike?
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In the morning, we take on an easy trail through the lower section of Cradle National Park. Not as dramatic as yesterday, we still enjoy the walk through the woodland and the many wild flowers along the trail.
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Finished with our short excursion, we set off to visit the scenic coastal town of Stanley. This old town is quite pretty, though we are amazed with how few people are around. That gives us the impression of a restored ghost-town, and going along with that motif, we at first have a difficult time finding a place open for dinner. Persevere we do and eventually come up with a repast at a quaint pub.
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Stanley’s noted landmark is a knob of land that sticks out off its coast. Called The Nut, it is quite striking. The many lights sparkling below us from our room this evening belie the notion that there are no people in this town.
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The amount of roadkill on the Tasmanian roads is amazing. Wallabies are obviously not real smart when it comes to cars, and the country roads are full of their dead bodies. Tasmanian devils used to take care of removing much of the roadkill from the roads, but a devastating disease has drastically reduced their population. There are still some around, and we screech to a stop one afternoon to witness a dead wallaby being dragged into the bushes by a Tasmanian devil.
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Traveling along the coastline, we make our scenic way back to Beauty Point Marina. What a wonderful few days that was, and how grateful we were with Di and John’s tour suggestions and the use of their spare car. Back now in the marina, we spend a day provisioning and getting Avante ready for a trip down the coast of Tasmania to Hobart.