Tassie Trip: Part 3 Cradle Mountain to New Norfolk, 27th Oct - 1st November 2019

                                         We leave the cooler high-country and head south to Zeehan. 

The rain on the way only stopped us doing one option that we could have done, and that was to ride on the steam train at Tullah. I had planned the trip to be there on a day it was running but with the rain and step access onto the train looking a bit tricky we gave it a miss. A quick visit to the local sewerage pond for some bird spotting sort of made up for it (maybe Lynn didn't think so). 

Another thing we couldn't do, because of roadworks, was get to the camping spot at Lake Mackinsosh that I had seen on Christine and John Coulson's Facebook page.

The wildflowers along the road to Granville Harbour were very profuse and added a lot of colour and interest.

Zeehan was just as quiet as on our last visit, maybe quieter. The local garage was only a 24 hour credit-card operated one, but that did keep the price of fuel down, When we arrived at the motel, latish Sunday afternoon, there were no cars and we thought that wasn't a good sign. When we came back on the Monday afternoon, after our drive, the place was packed, all the miners had gone home for the weekend and were back at the motel for the working week.

The Wall In The Wilderness, at Derwent Bridge, was an amazing place.

I can't remember a motel ever being a 'memorable occasion' on a holiday before but the one we stayed in at New Norfolk sure was. We actually booked the Junction Motel by mistake, the story is much too long to go into here, but we're glad we did.  Looking at the info, on the web, I got a good feeling about it when I read that one of the reasons you could get thrown out, other than bad / noisy behaviour etc, was that if 'he just didn't like you'., that was good enough for me. On this trip we only took a couple of photos of the accommodation we stayed at but, further on in this blog, there is a total of 28, yes 28, of this place.

Walking around the old New Norfolk Insane Asylum was interesting as was our visit to Mona the Museum of Old and New Art.

You will notice that there is a lot of driving on this trip, over 5,500 kms in Tassie alone (over 7,700 in total), that's because: 

1. I did plan to cover as much of the state as I could in the three weeks we were going to be here.

2. (as above) To go to places we hadn't been to on our previous three visits.

3. There wasn't a lot of places you can get a wheelchair to, so it meant keep on driving until you do.

4. I love to drive, especially in Tasmania where there's the best variety of road conditions, over a            smaller landmass, in Australia, and with less traffic. 🚙 🚙 🚙 🚙 🚙 🚙 🚙 🚙 🚙   

 Click on photos to enlarge. 

                                                                                  

 (PbL) Photo by Lynn

( click here to go to part 1 )

Couldn't get to John Coulson's camping spot at Lake Mackintosh because of roadworks.
Sunday 27th Oct

Wee Georgie Wood is a 1924 Fowler built, 610mm (2ft) narrow gauge steam locomotive.
 Tullah.

The road to Granville Harbour.

Wildflowers seen along Granville Harbour Rd. 
 ClockwiseTop:       Patersonia sp.       Sprengelia incarnata, the pink swamp-heath.       Epacris sp.     
Possibly pale form of Melaleuca squamea, the Swamp Honey-myrtle.

Wildflowers seen along Granville Harbour Rd.
 ClockwiseTop:     One of the native peas.             Philotheca sp.      Bauera sp. possibly rubioides, the River Rose.     Melaleuca squamea, the Swamp Honey-myrtle.

Granville Harbour

We just had to have a look, Granville Harbour.
'Sticky Beak St'

Coastal brush, Granville Harbour.

Stick-ing together.  Granville Harbour.

Lunch, on a powerline service track, overlooking a mine site at Twelve Mile Creek.
We only pick the best spots to eat.

This waterfall could have been the overflow from a water storage lake for the mine.
Seen from our lunch spot.

Gaiety Theatre, Court House & Police Station and Post Office in the main street of Zeehan.

This building use to house the Van Diemen's Land bank, it operated from 1889
but went bankrupt two years later and was forced to closed down in 1891.
 (information supplied by the West Coast Heritage Centre. Zeehan. I couldn't find any info on Google)

From the right: Gaiety Theatre (former Grand Hotel),  Court House, Post Office, School of Mines and the building that was constructed by the Commercial Bank of Tasmania in 1899. It's pretty quiet here on a Sunday afternoon.

Main street Zeehan.
I used a very old SD card in the camera to get this effect.  (my photo digitally altered )

Front door of the Central Hotel, Zeehan.

Central Hotel Zeehan.

The Central Hotel as seen better days, but.............................

.......................comes alive at night. 
(digitally altered )

A face behind the broom (bushes).

"Come on you two, I was here first"

St Luke’s Anglican Church. This concrete church, built in 1909, replaced the original church built in 1891.

Monday 28th

Miners Siding, Monument to the Miners, Queenstown.

Miners Siding, Monument to the Miners.

Miners Siding, Monument to the Miners.

The Abt Railway to Strahan was opened in 1897.

A road linking Queenstown to Hobart, the Lyell Highway, was finally opened in 1932.

West Coast Wilderness Railway (Queenstown Station).

West Coast Wilderness Railway puffs into Queenstown.

Mount Lyell No. 5 was one of the original steam Abt locomotives on the line.   
   PbL

   A 1939 DP rail car. One of only four rail cars built by Waddingtons in Sydney,
this DP was the only one originally fitted with a diesel engine
Link to see the Abt and DP rail car in action.

Atlas Copco boomer H121, a hydraulic face drilling rig, on
display at the Miners Siding, Queenstown.

Almost a full load for next winter.

The art deco Paragon Theatre was built in 1932 and it’s motto was “the city theatre in the country'.

Too late, you have missed him. Paragon Theatre entertainment.

Street art on the side of the Paragon Theatre.

Street art by Brainfoetus.

I can't go past a nice lacey curtain.

Hunters Hotel, built in 1898.

Queenstown Post Office was built in 1902, with the clock tower added in 1909.

Queenstown from Spion Kopf Lookout.

The combination of tree removal, for use in the smelters, and the smelter fumes (acid rain, for about 40 years), mostly contributed to the stark state of the surrounding mountains for many decades.

Queenstown Oval, built in 1895, it is infamous for its gravel playing surface.

Q Bank Gallery Art Precinct, Queenstown.

Eating the Sunrise.     
 Q Bank Gallery Art Precinct

Q Bank Gallery Art Precinct

I think T.G. is Tom Gerrard.
 Q Bank Gallery Art Precinct, Hunter St, Queenstown.

More work by Brainfoetus.  Q Bank Gallery Art Precinct

Q Bank Gallery Art Precinct

Q Bank Gallery Art Precinct

83 Batchelor St, Queenstown. There's no place like gnome.

Lynn, the human crash-barrier.   
At a lookout on the climb out of Queenstown.

Looking down on Queenstown from the lookout.

Queenstown Airport

Strahan

The path went over the old rail tracks which made for easy pushing of the chair.
Strahan. 

Going for a ride.       
 PbL

Botanical Creek, in the People's Park, on the way to Hogarth Falls. 
Strahan.

Looking up, in the People's Park.

Aristotelia peduncularis, also known as Heartberry.

A bracket fungi.

Could be Cyttaria gunnii, commonly known as the myrtle orange
or beech orange (fungi) sitting on a bracket fungi.

Soon to be awake.

Hogarth Falls

Customs House was completed in 1900, and was originally used as a government administration
centre during the town’s peak as a major shipping port.
 During the early 1980s, the first floor of Customs House was the meeting place for
conservationists during the historic Franklin Dam campaign.

Bonnet Island Lighthouse, Macquarie Harbour.

Entrance Island Lighthouse and Hells Gate at the mouth of the harbour.
Not surprisingly Hells Gate got its name from the convicts who came to Macquarie Harbour,
 the original convicts' claim that it was their point of 'entrance to Hell'.

Wind blown sand and Macquarie Harbour.

Tuesday  29th

The view from Whaleback Lookout.

Morning coffee near the bridge over the Wilson River (Lake Pieman on Google maps).
Boat launching spots make for good spots to stop for a break.

Morning coffee near the bridge over the Wilson River (Lake Pieman on Google maps).

Come on Tas Water, how about you pull your finger out.           
  'FIX OUR DAM   TAS WATER'

In the Waratah Museum park.

In the Waratah Museum park.

Tulips in the Waratah Museum park.

Deserted in Waratah

Looking back along Corinna Rd (could be near Savage River).

Looking forward along Corinna Rd (could be near Savage River).

Going for lunch at the Tannin Restaurant at the Tarkine Tavern, Corinna.

The Pieman River Cruise aboard the flat-bottom tinny, the Sweetwater. 
PbL

The river was named after a convict called Thomas Kent, a former baker with the nickname 'The Pieman'.
The other story is that the 'Pieman' was a convict, transported to Macquarie Harbour, who escaped and killed and ate his companions to survive.  (I wonder if he had a mate called 'tomato sauceman')

              Steps to the Board walk to Lover’s Falls.                     
  PbL

Along the track to Lover’s Falls.

Lover’s Falls

The Rivers are stained black with tannin which is released from the vegetation.

Huon Pine

Savage River, where the wreck of the SS Croydon still lies.
 In 1919 the steamship Croydon, built in 1896, sank while carrying some 12,000 feet of logs.

Savage River reflections.

The Tarkine Rainforest.

Tarkine Tavern, the Arcadia II (boat) and the “Fatman” barge which allows vehicles to travel from north or south across the Pieman River.

Lynn didn't want to get off.

Tasmanian pademelon.

Tannin Restaurant at the Tarkine Tavern, Corinna.

Corinna Uber.

Aboard the “Fatman” barge taking us across the Pieman River.

Crossing the Pieman.
(I just noticed that the life jackets were locked up.......handy)

Zeehan to New Norfolk, Wednesday 30th .

Horsetail Falls walking track.

Horsetail Falls walking track and Horse-tail Falls.

Horsetail Falls walking track and the road out of Queenstown.

Resting after the steep climb up from Queenstown.

I have never seen so many bracket fungi on the one tree trunk.

Moss

Liverworts

Nelson Falls

Lunch at the bridge over the Collingwood River.

Collingwood River

Artwork on the the Collingwood River bridge.

Artwork on the the Collingwood River bridge.

Could be Archeria comberi - Pink Mountain Heath   (???)

Celery-top pine  -   Phyllocladus asplenifolius

Common Heath  -  Epacris impressa.

From the King William Saddle Lookout.

King William Saddle, from the lookout.

The Wall In The Wilderness creator/designer, Greg Duncan, aims to carve the history of the
highlands in 100 metres of timber, most of which will be in rare Huon Pine.
The sculpture depict the history, hardship and perseverance of the people in the Central Highlands.
 (photos are not allowed, these taken off the web and from his book) 

Wall In The Wilderness.  (photos taken off the web and from his book)

Bush-fires welcome us to new Norfolk.

Fire-fighting helicopter.

The Junction Motel, New Norfolk................a motel like no other.

So much to look at........................

.............................so much to take in.  Outside settings like no other motel we have stayed at.....................................

.......................and inside the reception / restaurant areas it got better.

The owner (Tim) told me that if I bought something from the local markets, that I liked,
 he would pay me for it and add it to his eclectic collection.

The meals were great and very reasonably priced.

The motel dining area.

Even had a photo of his mother on the wall.

Thursday 31st

The Salmon Ponds.

The Salmon Ponds. 
Originally this hatchery was built to receive salmon eggs (ova) sent from England.
Expected that once released, the fish hatched at Plenty would return to the
Derwent River, they didn't.  In 1864 a small number of trout eggs were included
with a shipment of salmon eggs and they were later used to establish hatcheries
throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Brown Trout at the Salmon Ponds.

The Salmon Ponds.

A Rhododendron at the Salmon Ponds.

A platypus in the Plenty River that runs past the Salmon Ponds.

Brown Trout and eel in the Plenty River .

The path to Russell Falls.

A small log on the path to Russell Falls.

Somewhere to get into if it rained.

Would have made a good feature in the garden.

Russell Falls

Russell Falls

Curly tops. 
 Unfurling Tree Fern fronds.

A small trout in Russell Falls Creek.

A Forest Raven at Russell Falls.

The Old Schoolhouse, built 1856, in Hamilton.
Designed to accommodate 80 children in 2 rooms as classrooms on the ground floor. 
The second storey of the building was used as the private residence for the Headmaster.
This was our accommodation while in Hamilton on our first Tassie trip in 1998.

St Peters Church of England Hamilton, built 1837, is one of the oldest existing
 churches in Australia. The church has only one door, the reason for this was,
apparently, to prevent the convict congregation from  escaping.

We came across this Tasmanian Tiger breeding farm.

Back to the Junction Motel for some relaxation.

Some local ale at the end of this 30+C (86+F) day.   
PbL

Pork buns and salmon something.....all yummy and would have again. 
This was a great place to stay.       
 PbL

I think this part of the Royal Derwent Hospital, (originally
New Norfolk Insane Asylum and later Lachlan Park)
 which closed in 2000. Came as a bit of a shock to see on my
late afternoon drive around the town.
More surprises the next morning.

Friday, 1st Nov

The building know as Olga, part of the New Norfolk Insane Asylum.

This all could be part of the antiques centre in the old hospital grounds...........
........there was so much 'stuff' to look at.

The Nurses Home at New Norfolk Insane Asylum.

The windows on the bus go smash, smash, smash.

There were at least 7 old Leyland P76's here. 
The wedge with a large boot, able to easily hold a 44 gallon drum.

The Iris flowers were the same colour as the machinery.

'Willow Court' is a stone building which was built as a military hospital in 1830-31.
Only one room wide, with wide verandahs, Willow Court was originally
conceived by Governor Arthur as a location for invalid convicts.

We went to Mona, the Museum of Old and New Art.   
Flat Bed Truck, Trailer and Cement Truck, 2007, by Wim Delvoye.

Mona Confessional, by Oliver Beer.

The exhibits had no labels, and this fellow wouldn't to tell me what they were.

I found its shadow more interesting.

Sternenfall / Shevirath ha Kelim, 2007, by the German artist Anselm Kiefer. 
Steel, lead and glass sculpture.

On your bike.............if you can.

"Don't be scared Lynn, you shouldn't feel a thing"

There's always light at the end.

Making visitors part of the show.

Ever have that feeling that you are being watched.

Looked like a radio version of R2-D2.

I liked the architecture.

Box seats.

A chubby Porsche.

What does it all mean? 
PbL

A cabin, wherever you want it.

We bought some wood in Richmond.

Richmond

Richmond

You can no longer get the classic photo of the St John the Evangelist Catholic Church through the arches of
Richmond Bridge because of the trees............................................

...................so here it is from our 2007 trip.

A family of Tasmanian Native-hens.

The River Derwent near Dromedary.

Click here to go to Part1

Cameras:  Canon PowerShot SX70 HS and Samsung S5  (phone)

Photos edited in Picasa, On1 and ArcSoft PhotoImpression 6.5