Tasmania's Westcoast

What a lovely green and protected camp spot it is, feels almost too good to leave, but, alas its time to move on as there is nowhere to go anyway, only wilderness to the south of Arthur River.  I need to drive back the way I came in, passing by Stanley, then through Wynyard, from there south again to Rosebery where I spend the night and give my rig a good wash.  On my way south I made a brief side trip to the town of Waratah, but that is just another mining town, the mine still a going concern. 

 

Waterfall at Waratah

It came as a real surprise to me when I saw so many mines on my route through this part of Tasmania.  Little did I know that Silver has been mined here since the 19th century.  Now of course its Copper, Tin, Zinc, Lead, also Silver and some Gold and I have been told that only Western Australia produces more base metals.  Naturally, a lot of the mining activity has left some real scars in the landscape, quite shocking to see in such pristine landscape.

 

Yellow borders of flowers along my path

To check out Cradle Mountain I need to turn left from my north / south highway and head east to visit this popular and also tourist laden sight.  Its really cold, everyone wearing jackets and many have knitted caps to keep warm.  I also take a walk along the lake front but am glad to return to the shelter where I can catch the bus back to my parked vehicle.  Its a nice place - if only there were less tourists.

 

Its cold and windy near Cradle Mountain

From Rosebery I drive on the coastal tourist town of Strahan (pronounced Strawn) where I spend the night by the local Golf Course, quite a nice location, away from all the activity around the foreshores.  Fishing and Crayfish is a large industry here and I witnessed about a ton of live crayfish and giant crab being loaded on a refrigerated truck.  The lady writing up the weight schedule said it was all destined for China, to be shipped by air the same day.  The crayfish she tells me go into suspended animation once they are packed with ice, to arrive at their destination still alive and fresh.

 

Some of the local produce of Cray

 

The foreshore at Strahan

The forecast for today is early 30s for this part of the island, with Hobart to go to 33 degrees C.  Definitely a day for a powered site so I can keep cool for the day, so decide to leave my spot at the Golf Club and drive on to Queenstown, yet another old mining community located at the bottom of a valley with a great view up the mountains across the valley.  I follow the road over Mt. Jukes to take me to Lake Burbury.  Its steep inclines and declines all the way, winding, winding, winding.  Unfortunately, due to the weather change there is quite a lot of smoke from some bush fires that is obstructing my views, much of the beauty visible only through a haze of smoke.

 

This is the "flatter" part of the road up

 

This gives an idea of the smoke in the air over the lake

Its also a very gusty wind that has blown even my chair right against the fence in front of my Motorhome.  I am plugged into power, aircon running, so I am feeling quite comfortable writing my blog.