added a much needed rail to the stairwell.

Gidday all,

Well we have been in the gingerbread house for a month now, how time flys. Have been busy here and not a lot to report on the blog lately. The place is looking good, cleaned up and most of the odd jobs complete. The weather has been warmer lately with only a couple of cooler days and nights thrown in, or are we turning Tasmanian?

Last week a thunderstorm sparked a lot of fires through lightning strikes over to the west coast and around Cradle mountain area. Loongana is safe but we get the smoke haze drifting over some days. Tassie is verging on drought status at the moment, everyone is praying for rain. Even the many lakes are the lowest they have ever been.

                                               Even planted some tomatoes and squash

                                            The gooseberry is fruiting, only a couple though

Nearly only two weeks till our friend from Queensland arrives for a visit, can’t wait to show her our favourite parts of Tassie. Not a lot of time to see them all but the east coast is fire free so far, so we will go for a tour. Will have to come back for the rest later.

 

 

Gidday all,

Christmas has been and gone, we had a quiet one up at the house. We were invited to lunch at a locals house down the range a bit, so off we went for a few hours. Made a new friend with a gentle giant of a dog, had a wonderful Christmas lunch and good company.

 

New years eve was also quiet, had a meal and some drinks with friends down the fire shed, but were in bed early, so much for the party life.

The jobs on the house are getting done, have put up a handrail on the front steps and fixed up numerous other small things. The duck has moved in and is loving it. Had better stay off the wood stove if it knows what’s good for it.

Weather is warmer lately, in the late 20s last few days. The nights are cool, down to 7—8most nights. Very nice.

 

 

We have been in the Gingerbread house for less than a week now, and nearly settled in. Spent most of that time cleaning up and doing odd jobs that the toll of years of temporary residents and long periods of sitting empty have taken on it. It’s now coming back to life.

The homes fires are lit. The woodstove cooked our dinner and the fireplace warms the rest of house. Been dry and warm, Tassies say hot, while we cleaned and mended and weeded, tonight it cool the morning will be cold till the sun comes out.

The stove warms the water for hot shower and dishes. The water in the tank is good enough for washing but not drinking as there is a lot of tannin in it. Lucky the truck tank is full.

Spotted wombat poo cubes under the house. Nice and fresh. The next day we noticed it all flattened out which means the pooer was female and the male came along, it smelt good and rolled in it.  Noticed wombat diggings of burrows. Might be we will see the babies before we go.

 

 

                                     our driveway through the forrest to the Gingerbread house

Snow on the bluff

Gidday all,

 

Well it’s that time again, the monthly fire meeting at Loongana. We rolled up at the shed and set up camp out back in the familiar spot. Had a good arvo catching up with the locals and finalizing some details for taking over the Gingerbread house up the range a bit for a while.

 

The Gingerbread house, a great little cottage in the Myrtle forest of Loongana, a hideaway from civilization and a great place to stop and embrace nature. It will be our base for the coming weeks and while there I will do some repairs and maintenance as a thank you for its use, and to insure the cottage lives on into the future, as most people who stay there do. Such a privilege to be to be entrusted with its care.

Have to head to Burnie to pick up some supplies and materials for alterations to the truck and cottage then back to the mountains for the Christmas break.

 

Gidday all,

A nice few days at Lake King William, only a couple of passers-by to disturb the solitude. Time to move on though, packed up and headed off northward. Through Brontie Park and on to the Great Lake.

 

Thought we’d treat ourselves so headed for Sheffield, there is a shower at the visitor information place there. Arrived and promptly showered, then walked around town and found a café for lunch.

Sheffield, the town of murals, they have a competition every year for mural artists and they are on display around town all year. Some very good pieces amongst them.

The duck needed new shoes.

 

 

 

Gidday all,

After a week of patchy weather, it was time to move on. Hit the road toward Queenstown, more winding mountain roads and spectacular scenery. Next stop Roseberry, called in to stock up on veggies and stuff, then off again. Closing in on Queenstown, snaking down the hillsides, the sulphur scarred surrounding mountains stood out amongst the rest of the landscape.

 

Early mining and ore extraction methods have left a devastating legacy to the surrounding countryside. It will take several generations, still, to recover, if at all.

 

Was getting late, so, we found a sports oval and parked up for the night. Off again in the morning driving eastward through the Franklin/Gordon world heritage area to Derwent Bridge. Just outside of there is Lake King William, a place we have camped before.

Drove up the dirt track to the banks of the lake. The water level was down quite a lot from what we remembered. Found our old campsite and set up. The water was way down, just a puddle now, don’t know why, maybe the dry last couple of years. Still, it’s a nice spot. Will spend a few days and then start going north back towards Loongana. Have got phone reception for a change.

Gidday all,

Corinna, an old settlement on the banks of the Pieman river, now home to a small, low key, accommodation / tourist setup. An old boat takes tours up the Pieman river and there’s a barge, which is the only way to cross the river. We have been there before, so had a look around and boarded the barge to cross the river and head on southward.

The weather forecast for the next week or so was for rain and windy conditions, so down the road was Reece dam, another place we had camped on our first trip here, a nice place beside the water. We arrived and set up camp. Ended up spending the next week there. No one in sight the whole time. The weather alternating between cold, showering, and bright, sunny days. This is Tassie.

 

          

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Ended up spending ten days at Sundown Point, a few cold, wet days but mostly good, relaxfull, sunny days. Found some aboriginal carvings in the rocks, we were told they were there but took a while to find them.

 

Made our way back to Smithton to stock up on supplies and water because this is the closest town with a supermarket and it’s not that far anyway. Then back to the west coast.

On the way back to the coast we took a small detour up into the hills and found a nice spot to call home for the night.

 

Reached the turnoff to the western explorer HI way, all gravel, and headed off southward towards Corinna. This road we haven’t done before.

 

 

 

About ten km down the Balfour Track crosses the road, you can turn left and go to the deserted old mining town of Balfour, about three or four km in on the 4wd track. So we did. It was an overcast showery day, the track was small and very rough. About 2.8k in and the weather and track getting worse, we decided to leave Balfour for another day, so found a place to turn around and headed back to the main road.

Not too far up the main road we came to a creek crossing with a camp site off the road, so pulled up and set up camp.

 

Gidday all,

Left for the west coast, stopped just out of Burnie at a rest stop overnight, did a bit of shopping in Burnie next day and headed on. Followed the north coast and ducked off here and there exploring little roads leading to the beaches.

Next camp was at Green point near Marrawah on the northwest coast, nice spot but too many campers about so moved on the next day.

 

Next camp was at Green point near Marrawah on the northwest coast, nice spot but too many campers about so moved on the next day.

Did a few more side roads to the beaches and stopped at west point for lunch. The wild, west coast, the big surf with spray being blown off the crests, the wind rushing up the cliffs, a wonderful sight from the comfort of the camper cab.

 

drove down a small 4wd track down to a couple of beach shacks which dot the coastline. There are official  tags nailed to the doors saying they are registered as structures built on crown land.

 

Next stop Arthur River, the gateway to Arthur-Pieman Conservation Area. Stopped in at the ranger station and inquired about the tracks and permits required. They had a look at the truck and said due to the risk of quicksand on the beaches and closed in scrub on most of the tracks it was most inadvisable to take it on them, so we would be restricted to the main roads. Not really a problem as you can access most of the beaches this way anyway.

Carried on down the coast, again ducking down side roads here and there. Came to Nelson Bay, a little fishing bay with quite a few beach huts about. Up a rough track, we came to Sundown Point, the winding sandy track opened onto a grassy open area where the track led off down to the beach.

We decided this would be a nice spot to call home for a few days, so set up camp in the back corner, no one about. The camp was behind large sand dunes protected from the wind, which can be wild at times. Also next to a creek which winds around and empties its tannin stained water into the bay.

Washing, showering, long walks on the beach and generally enjoying the environment the order of the days ahead.

 

 

Gidday all,

Wound our way across to Launceston and found a parts place that stocked what I needed for the spring repairs. There was a Salvos store next door hwo had new inner spring mattresses going cheap, so we bit the bullet and got one for our bed. Left our old foam one with them and headed back to Devonport. Did some more looking about, then off to find a camp for the night.

Our friends just south of Loongana offered to help with repairs to the truck springs, so next day headed up and did them. All went very smoothly and now all’s good as new.

 

Fire meeting on Sunday, so up the range to the fire shed we went. Was good to catch up with the locals we had met on our previous trips and a couple of new ones. The duck seemed to enjoy herself too. Had a few beers and camped at the fire shed that night, great time had by all.

Up to Sandy’s next day and she stocked us up with salad and veggies from her garden as well as fresh eggs, great fresh local produce, love Tassie food.

We plan to head to the west coast and tour about till just before the school holidays start, then back up to our camp site on the Loongana range and hide from the holiday crowds. Well, that’s the plan so far.

 

 

Gidday all,

Left Forth and climbed the rangers to Loongana to visit our friend Sandy, while there I wandered to the pond outside the house and there swimming happily was a platerpuss, spent a long time watching him swim and dive around, how lucky. Stayed a couple of days then took off for Deloraine, they had a craft fair on, so we went to check it out. Some interesting stuff, looked around, had some lunch and moved on.

 

We knew of a nice spot not far away at Liffey Falls so headed there to spend a couple of days. Only a couple of campers there when we arrived so picked a good spot. Not long after they all left one by one, so we were left alone. Had one overcast, rainy day then the sun came out the next day so out went the washing and up went the pop up shower and we were set. Next day was cold and rainy again, getting used to Tassie weather again. I think the duck is loving it though.

Going to head back to Loongana for the monthly fire meeting on the weekend and catch up with the local crew. Have to call into Launceston or Devonport to pick up some front spring bushes for the truck as I noticed a clunk while driving and found a worn bush when inspecting the front end. Will replace them while we are back at Loongana.

 

Gidday all,

Thursday morning, drove onto Tassie soil. The seas were calm and the crossing uneventful, had to give up some firewood at Melbourne that we had in the storage boxes on the truck which I forgot about, not a problem.

 

The duck in the photo? A long story. She will be our traveling companion for the trip.

Went to Forth to catch up with our friend Rod, stayed the night and he showed us how to catch whitebait from the river. Back to cooler weather tops of around 18s expected. Will go and stock up on fruit and veg and a few other things and head to the mountains to catch up with some other friends and work out our next plan of attack.

 

 

Gidday all,

Set the GPS to a spot the other side of Melbourne and set off onto the freeway. Getting to the city bypass and it said there was an accident up ahead and it had found another route, we had to go through the city. No problems, just followed the directions and came out the other side and onto the freeway again. Sometimes you just have to trust the GPS.

 

We found a campsite in a forest about 40k from where we were headed and camped up for a couple of days. Lots of bright red parrots around.

 

Headed off on Friday to catch up with our friends at Wonthaggi. Spent the weekend catching up and seeing the sights. Went over to Phillip Island and around the coast.

The weather has been up and down, sunny, hot, overcast, cold, and windy, that was only Saturday. Will hang around till Wednesday morning then go into Melbourne ready to catch the ferry that evening. Hope the seas are calm.