This morning we got up early which was a bit
different, normally when we are in a quiet place we find
ourselves sleeping in. We packed up and headed of further north
bound. We stoped in at Bicheno to get our laundry done, as
again we were desperately running out of clean clothes, to our
surprise there was an actual laundromat. It was the best we had
been to because our clothes were washed and dried and we were
back on the road before we new it, not like all the others where
we had to wait around all day.
We also stopped to look at the Bicheno
Blowhole as it was one of the things we remembered as being
really good the last time we were in Tasmania. The blowhole was
cool it still blew big volumes of water high into the air even
thought the sea was not really that rough, I think it would be
great to see on a really rough and windy day, you would have to
stand a fair distance back to not get wet.
We stopped for lunch at St Mary’s at a
little take away food place which was really busy, like normal
we ordered a hamburger with the lot and some chips, they were
really good. The town was a bustling and busy little country
town that had a race meet on today, I think most of the town and
others near by had turned up for the day.
From there we headed off to do some 4WD
tracks taking the South Sisters lookout and link to Scamander.
First stopping at the South Sister lookout which was normally
supposed to be one of the best in the area but of course when we
got there the mist and the rain had just started to come in and
there was absolutely no view what so ever so we decided to move
on.
The area which we passed through was starting
to show signs of the recent fires and there were still some
areas that were smouldering with the new rain. It got worse as
we went further on, the whole area was burnt out with only a few
spots where the tress were green, the trunks were black and the
leaves that were remaining were dead and withered and all
falling off.
We continued along our route which as the
guide book said would take us through some of the more scenic
forests of the area, well that might have been so before the
fires but as far as the eye could see was a landscape of black
charred trees. We passed some houses that were saved from the
fires, most with burnt out gardens right up to the houses, you
could actually see how lucky they were because the fires must
have come so close. Sadly we also passed a house that was lost
in the fire, all that was left were the chimneys and burnt out
cars. So sad as it happened just before Christmas.
We headed for another look out via the
difficult route along Docs track as chosen by John. The book
rated it as hard due to loose rocks and steepness, well that was
very true, not sure how steep it was but it was seep enough to
stick you to the back of your seat and to have all the items on
the dashboard to go flying everywhere. The car struggled to
find traction in some bits as it bounced around slipping and
sliding, but with a little bit more speed and a second and third
attempt from John, some white knuckle action and a few quick prayers
from me we made it in one piece.
Form Scamander we headed in to St Helens to
find a spot to camp. We looked at a few in the area but they
were all packed and people in every corner. We even drove past
a family which were so well set up they had a gym and sandpit
for the kiddies, John and I both had a bit of a laugh as they
right on the beach with great walks and plenty of sand but still
felt compelled to bring all that junk to a campsite so they
could sit around all day and not ever get to see what’s around
them.
Finally we found a place which was a little
less crowded just in time because John was getting grumpy
because we had already wasted so much time and fuel driving
around looking for a spot, in his words we might as well have
just stayed in a caravan park if we were going to have so many
people around us at least we would of got a shower, and a shower
would have been very nice tonight, oh well may be tomorrow.
Fire
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