Follow Up - WD My Passport Wireless

In the spirit of one of my favorite podcasts (Accidental Tech Podcast, atp.fm ) who love their FU (follow up). I purchased this wireless hard drive before leaving for my Tasmania Trip predominantly to back up photos from my camera's SD card and then share them wirelessly to my iPhone and iPad. This failed pretty dismally mainly because the drive was so slow to copy photos from the card that it ran out of battery once before finishing the copy. The card was class 10 in speed and only had about 950 x 14 megapixel photos (roughly 5 MB jpgs each). I don't regard this as an excessive number of photos, so taking more than the 5-6 hour battery life to copy them to the hard disk was very disappointing. The next evening I set the copy up with the drive plugged into a 12 volt power source in the car and let it run while I slept. The copy worked fine. 

When I got home I noticed a review stating the same problems (http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2014/12/mypassport-wireless-review-a-hard-drive-after-photographers-hearts/) and suggesting that it would be speeded up by a firmware update. So I went through a couple of arcane ways of updating the firmware one of which finally worked and found that it decreased the copy time substantially to around 2.5 hours for the same 950 or so photos (for comparison this copy took less than 5 min on my iMac). This is better but still not ideal. Also, I found that the iPad app to connect and download photos to the iPad was not wonderful with it being very slow to show thumbnails of the images and then not being able to actually put it into the Photo Roll where I needed the photos to be so that I could upload them to my daily blog. It was much easier and faster to read the SD card in the iPad SD card adapter and load them into my blog that way. I guess I now have a rather expensive 1 TB wireless hard drive that I'll have to find another use for. :(

A Sampler Tour of Tasmania. Executive Summary.

Over the 22 days of this trip, I travelled almost 8,000 kms, including roughly 3,500 kms getting to and from Melbourne, leaving 4,500 kms of travel around Tasmania itself. Fuel was by far the most expensive part of the trip and I spent around $1,500. The average fuel economy for the whole trip was almost exactly 12 litres/100 kms which was not too bad considering the car was loaded up with camping gear and the Oztent was on the roof. I took just over 1000 photos with my Sony alpha DLT and another 250 photos using the iPhone 6 plus all of which have now been location tagged using the track I recorded using the Hema Explorer app on my iPad. 

As I said earlier in these blogs 18 days is not nearly enough time to see the whole of Tasmania properly and I now have a list of places that I can come back and spend much more time exploring. This includes the Arthur-Pieman Conservation Area and the whole north west corner, the region to the south of Hobart, the Bay of Fires and the north east corner, Hobart itself and the districts between it and Launceston. Next time I will aim for a warmer time of the year, probably February when the school holidays are over and hopefully I will dodge the bloody winds. 

The things I enjoyed were the beautiful scenery and pleasant little villages which seem to pop up almost anywhere. The bakeries and coffee shops in these small places are very good and I think I consumed an above average quantity of pies during the trip and came away with a hankering for curried scallop pies. Also, the local produce cheese, ham, bacon, etc. was very good and the seafood was exceptional and I am already missing the simple meal of flake in a thin batter and chips cooked to perfection. The national parks on the whole seem pretty well run and the 2 month pass for $60 is good value, otherwise it's $24 per day per car to enter most of the national parks. Camping in the parks is a tad on the expensive side but they do seem to offer good facilities. A lot of the conservation areas also offer free or cheap camping but only provide minimal facilities. Most of the caravan parks in the towns were nice, if a little expensive but at the end of a hard days touristing I find that a hot shower is required to aid in easing the aches and pains that seem to becoming more common as I am getting older. 

The road to and from Melbourne via Sydney is a relatively easy drive with dual lane separated highway existing for about 2/3 the distance. This is a great improvement over the old Newel Highway which I used to drive regularly when I lived in Melbourne. The ferry over to Tasmania is an exercise in waiting at different points of the boarding process and sleeping in the ocean recliners is not a comfortable experience. I think next time I may splash out a bit of extra cash to upgrade to a cabin. The experience of the ferry is great and they must employ a huge number of people, to get the cars and trucks loaded, work in the bars and restaurants on board and generally be pleasant and helpful. 

All up it was a very pleasant couple of weeks and I look forward to returning at some point in the future. 

A Sampler Tour of Tasmania. Day 21 and 22

The ferry pulled into the dock in Melbourne before 06:00 but I wasn't able to drive off it until nearly 07:30 when I let the GPS app navigate me out of Melbourne to the Hume Highway. The weather was a typical Melbourne spring day grey, dreary, overcast and chilly. This changed the further north I headed as it warmed up and the clouds cleared. My first stop was the outbound service centre at Wallan where I refueled the car and had a bit of breakfast. Then it was back onto the nice boring dual carriage way highway for the easy cruise to Sydney. I stopped in at Holbrook for a quick lunch and found an unexpected submarine in the local park before continuing onto Goulburn for some more fuel. 

At this stage I knew I didn't want to try to get through Sydney and its Friday arvo peak traffic so I decided to stop at Moss Vałe for the evening. This wasn't such a good choice as the caravan park was a bit disappointing with no toilet paper or hot water in the men's amenities. 

I was up and gone by around 06:00 the next morning and once again the phone GPS app got me through Sydney with no problems. I stopped in at the fake Ayers Rock for some fuel and then continued north. The good road finished a bit before Kempsey but it still wasn't too bad a run. A quick lunch at Coffs Harbour and then the final run home. Once again with minimal traffic and no real delays. I pulled into home just on 17:00 NSW time. It had taken me 11 hours to travel almost exactly 1000 kms. A quick unpack of the car was followed by a collapse into the comfy lounge chair and then a hot shower and an early night in bed. Home Sweet Home. 

A Sampler Tour of Tasmania. Day 20

My final day on Tassie started with some glorious if very chilly weather. I ended up staying warm in the swag for a bit longer than usual but once the sun was up the day started warming up nicely. Then it was time to cook breakfast and pack up camp. 

I was on the road before 08:00. I headed west to Liffey Falls, the road was a little rough and twisty but it was well worth it. The falls are only 20 mins or so walk from the car park and there are a few little cascades before the actual falls making it a very pleasant stroll. 

After that I headed north to Delorane before heading west to Mole Creek Caves. I visited two caves - The Cathedral and King Solomons Cave both smaller than a lot of other caves I've visited but well worth the look. There were bonus glow worms in the Cathedral cave tour. 

After that it was into Delorane for a late lunch and the venison pie was quite good. Then north towards Devonport and the ferry. On the way I wasted some time visiting the beaches at Port Sorell and Hawley Beach and then waited for the ferry to board. 

It was the Spirit of Tasmania I this time not II but I ended up in the same parking garage in the bowels of the ship. 

I had their buffet dinner and it wasn't too bad, however after a night of sitting in their Ocean Recliners my bum is pretty numb. The trip was calm and uneventful, now time for the long drive home. 

A Sampler Tour of Tasmania. Day 19

The day started out clear and pretty chilly but not too much wind. I had a nice breakfast and headed off to explore the Highland Lakes via Poatina. There is a hydroelectric station here and that means that there will be a steep climb up to the hills behind it, roughly 1000 metres in only a couple of kms. 

Up high in the hills it got very cool with the external temperature dropping to around 7 deg and then the wind chill factor from the strong winds needed to be subtracted from that. Needless to say I didn't get out of the car very often to take photos. I had a look at Great Lake and then turned off to Arthur's Lake before taking a rather narrow unmaintained track to meet up with the turnoff to Interlakan. This small spit of land between two lakes is quite picturesque and the camping grounds seemed pretty good. 

From here it was back to the main highway at Tunbridge and turning north before taking the backroads to Cressy as they followed alongside the Macquarie River. At Cressy I had an early lunch and caught up quickly with Chris, one of the Overlander forum folks. Then it was north to Launceston where I went to have a look at Cataract Gorge which is very close to the centre of town. 

This is a beautiful spot for a picnic and a walk.  As I was feeling somewhat energetic I ignored the chair lift and walked along the track across the swaying suspension bridge to the lookout on the other side. The gardens here are very nice but not all that quiet as the Peacocks were making quite a bit noise. 

Then it was a quick walk down beside the gorge before returning the kiosk where I indulged in quite a nice cappuccino before heading back to camp. 

Along the way I took the chance to refuel the car for the last time before returning to the northern island tomorrow night. Back at camp I had a relaxing few hours watching the ducks annoy other people and the fishermen steadfastly not catching fish. 

A Sampler Tour of Tasmania. Day 18

I was awake pretty early as I didn't sleep all that well over night as the huge gusts of wind were making a racket in the trees but thankfully not affecting the tent or the car awning as I was sheltered. I read for a bit staying warm in the swag and then got up to have coffe in sun but sheltered from the wind. Then it was time for a quick breakfast and pack up before heading off a bit before 08:00. The lady walkers from yesterday seemed much happier with a fine but windy day rather than the drizzle from yesterday. I went back towards the entrance to this park and stopped for a few photos with a blue sky and then continued onto towards Gladstone. 

On the way I dropped into to Musselroe Bay and found the campsites absolutely exposed and pounded by the winds, while the ones at Stumpy Bay seemed quite protected and would have been nice. 

The weather theme for the day would be nice blue skies but bloody windy making it very uncomfortable. Then it was onto Tomahawk and across to Bridport where I had a very nice flake and chips overlooking the beach but in a nice warm car. 

From there I went to Bellingham and across to George Port where I did some shopping and had a nice coffee and lemon slice for afternoon tea. I then explored the old lighthouse at Low Head before deciding to head inland in the hope of getting away from the wind. I headed south to Launceston and then went a little further to Longford and I'm staying at the Riverside caravan park, a lovely little spot, it is still a bit windy but no where near as bad as the coast. 

I'm giving the Oztent its last couple of nights of serious use, hopefully it will survive the winds til the end of this trip.  Those ducks were very pesky and just managed to avoid being dinner for this evening. 

A Sampler Tour of Tasmania. Day 17

Slept in a little bit as the weather was overcast and there had been a heavy dew overnight, so I wanted to give the poor old Oztent as much chance as possible to dry out. I cooked a lazy breakfast and then slowly packed up but was still underway by 08:30. I headed north stopping in at a few little places on the way for a look, Chain of Lagoons, Little Sister, Falmouth, etc. eventually got to St. Helens and drove out to the point before coming back to the Information centre to get a map for the Bay of Fires. Then had an early lunch and headed out to Binalong Bay. The weather was overcast with occasional drizzle and I didn't really get the full appreciation of what that bay looks like with several very white beaches between rocky headlands. I really need to come back and see this part of Tasmania in fine weather. 

I continued along Binalong Bay towards The Gardens and there was access and camping spots just behind these lovely beaches. From The Gardens I took an old road that the ladies at the Information Centre assured me didn't exist across to the more major gravel road to Ansons Bay, stopping in at Policemans Point along the way. Ansons Bay is another sleeping looking village situated in a sheltered bay, perfect for summer holidays. I then continued onto the Deep Creek camping ground in the Mount William National Park. Just as I got here it started to rain heavily so I drove around a bit looking for a good spot out of the wind and as I was about to set up the rain dropped off to drizzle. I setup the awning and the little tent in a spot that was nicely sheltered from the wind. 

As I was relaxing in my chair under the awning four older lady walkers came into the camp ground and had to set up their tents and cook dinner without any shelter, I felt very sorry for them. The drizzle continued for several hours and will probably go all night, although the forecast was for a mainly sunny day tomorrow. As the sun has gone down a number of animals have come out to feed in the camp ground. I've seen rabbits, wallabies and a wombat. 

A Sampler Tour of Tasmania. Day 16

The day started out beautifully with not a cloud in the sky and more importantly no wind. I got changed and headed south straight away as I wanted to get the walking out of the way before the weather had a chance to change. I turned off the highway to Freycinet National Park and continued on to Coles Bay where I had a quick look around town. Then it was off to the car park at the start of the walking tracks and it was about 07:30 as I started the walk to Wineglass Bay lookout. I was just out of the car park when I was accosted by a wallaby and her Joey and they seemed to be expecting food in return for the right of passage to the walking track. I continued on and started climbing the million or so stairs to the lookout. 

Along the way is a lookout for Coles Bay which is pretty nice in its own right, but I pressed on, eventually getting to the top of the hill and then found there was more stairs to the lookout. 

The views were spectacular and certainly worth the effort of walking up there. I rested for awhile and took a photo or two before heading back down a different track as they have a Wrong Way Go Back sign. 

Half way down this track I came across another feeding wallaby but he was much shyer and scooted away as I got near. I got back to the car park about 09:00 and immediately went in search of breakfast at a little coffee shop in Coles Bay and I heard the first kiwi accent in a couple of weeks and it sounded strange, after being so used to it on the Gold Coast. 

Then I took a drive out to the Lighthouse at Cape Tourville and walked around the boardwalk there for some more spectacular views back into Wineglass Bay. 

On the way back I stopped in at Sleepy Bay and walked down to have a look, once again a lovely little spot. At Coles Bay I stopped in at the bakery for an early lunch and had another curried scallop pie, it was OK but not as good as the one on Bruny Island. I then stopped off at a few places within the national park for some photos including the Friendly Beaches which had a superb beach and there were actually people swimming although they looked a little chilly. The camp site there also looks like it would be a great spot to spend a few days. 

I got back to Bicheno mid-afternoon and had another look around the town including The Gulch and Blowhole. 

Then it was time to refuel the car and do a little shopping to tide me over for the rest of the trip. I went back to camp and found the tent still standing which is a good thing and had a relaxing afternoon repacking the back of the car, cleaning and repacking the fridge, charging various electronic devices and planing where to go for the last few days of my visit to Tassie. The clouds had started to come back over when I returned to Bicheno but there hadn't been any rain or wind, so I'm hoping I can get packed up in the morning before the next lot of rain comes through. 

A Sampler Tour of Tasmania. Day 15

The day started out nice and fine although some clouds came over while I was cooking Brekky. I headed off for a drive to explore the forests inland from Bicheno, so I went south and took the turn off to Campbell Town. Along the way I stopped off at Lake Leake which had a nice camping ground and seemed to be oriented to boating and fishing. The water level in the lake seemed to be lower than normal as there was quite a few exposed trees. I continued on to Campbell Town which looked quite a nice little historic village, there were quite a few antique stores in the Main Street and as it was morning tea time I found a coffe shop and had a excellent cappuccino and vanilla slice. I wandered around the local park for awhile taking photos of the local carvings. 

Then I headed north and realised that Launceston wasn't all that far away, but I turned off towards Avoca and saw my first evidence of Tasmanian police on the open roads, with an Audi (who had overtaken me earlier) pulled over. I then headed towards the strangely named town of Royal George before heading on into the forestry reserves looking for Hardings Falls. After the occasional wrong turn I eventually found the falls and wandered out to the lookout. Unfortunately you couldn't see much of the falls so I headed back to the day use area and had some leftover pizza from dinner last night for lunch. Then I followed the "4WD Only" sign to explore more of the forestry and the back of the Apsley national park. The road was fairly easy although narrow and I kept expecting there to be a major blockage somewhere to stop me going any further (e.g. Tree across the road, impossible hill climb, vast sea of mud, etc.). 

When it came the blockage (on a side track I thought would head for a camping area) it was pretty mundane and was simply the bush growing back over the road. At this point I had to do some creative reversing before getting to a point where I could turn around, thankfully the shortie doesn't need much turning room. 

Then it was back to the main track and following it for a few more kms until I was back on the main Tasman Highway and heading back into Bicheno. 

I returned to the tent and noticed that the wind was getting much stronger so tightened all the ropes up and walked into town to the food and wine festival. I tried some of the wines but most were Chardies or Pinot Noirs neither of which I really like, so I had some quite nice food as an early dinner. 

The wind kept getting stronger so I headed back to the tent only to find that a strong gust had ripped the awning off the front of the Oztent, leaving the rest of the tent still standing. 

I tied the tent down with a few more ropes and moved the car to try and block a bit of the wind and then settled in for a lazy afternoon reading and watching the tent shake. As night falls the wind is dropping off in intensity, so hopefully it will be fine for a walk in the Frecinet national park tomorrow. 

A Sampler Tour of Tasmania. Day 14

I woke up to a dull and dreary and drizzly day and promptly rolled over and went back to sleep for awhile. After an hour or so the drizzle stopped and I got up and packed up the tent and hit the road, Brekky came a little later in a nice warm bakery in Dunalley. 

Then I took the back roads through the Wielangta Forestry where there was a well organized Mountain Bike race happening, luckily I managed to miss them all. Then it was back to the highway at Orford and north to Triabunna before stopping at Swansea for lunch. The weather was still overcast with the occasional shower of rain and the chill wind was starting to pick up, so it was the perfect day to be driving in a nice warm car. At Swansea I found a nice little Fish and Chippery and decided to try their seafood plate consisting of half a small cray fish, a couple of prawns, a rather plump oyster and a few lettuce leaves for garnish. It was apparently, the first day of the commercial cray fish season and the cray was particularly tasty and juicy. 

I then had a drive around Swansea before heading north to Bicheno. I booked into the caravan park for two nights to explore the area. 

According to the weather forecast the cloud and rain will ease tomorrow and be fine on Sunday. So I'll explore the inland forests tomorrow and come back to Bicheno for their food and wine festival in the afternoon and then on Sunday I'll go and have a look at the Freycinet National Park and hopefully the weather will be sunny. I walked around Bicheno for an hour or so before having Pizza for dinner and then rugging up and getting ready to go off and see the Penguins this evening.

 

A Sampler Tour of Tasmania. Day 13

I awoke to find a very dull and dreay day, it wasn't actually raining but it looked like it would. So I stayed warm in bed for a bit longer than normal before having some Brekky and going for a drive out to Fortesque Bay. The road through the forest wasn't too bad and the camping ground at the end of the road looked quite nice although the bay itself looked grey and uninviting due to the clouds. 

Then it was back to Port Arthur where I arrived after the first rush of visitors and was able to wander in without waiting. I had a ticket for the 11 am Harbour cruise so I went for a short walk around before heading down to the boat and having a cappuccino while waiting for it to set off. 

In the Harbour was a large Dutch registered cruise ship and they were transferring passengers on their own tenders/life boats to have a look around Port Arthur, this meant there were a whole heap of customs people there to make sure they didn't bring anything unusual to shore. 

The cruise around the Harbour was only about 30 mins but was very pleasant and informative. After this I wandered around the rest of Port Arthur for a few hours looking at all the ruins and some remaining buildings. 

During all this time there was the faintest drizzle and I was glad I had brought my old water proof rain jacket as it kept me nice and dry.  

After more than three hours of walking around I headed off for a drive around the rest of the peninsula. Stopping for fish and chips in Nubeena and then heading to White Beach before heading north to Saltwater River and onto the abandoned coal mine at Plunkett Point. I finally had a look at a very nice camp site at Lime Bay before heading back to camp. Not long after getting back to the tent the rain started to come down harder and persisted like this for few hours. So I cooked dinner and got prepared for an early night in bed but the rain had stopped and I'm hoping it holds off until after I get packed up in the morning. 

A Sampler Tour of Tasmania. Day 12

The day started fine with blue skies and no wind, so I slept in a little as there was no need to get everything packed up quickly, this also included a leisurely Brekky. 

I then visited a few other parts of Bruny Island that I had yet to get to and ended up in Advenure Bay having a curried scallop pie for morning tea. It was excellent. Then I started to drive back to the ferry to head back to the main island and to make a detour into a Jaycar store in Hobart to get a replacement inverter so that I could charge my camera batteries. The GPS app on my iPhone handled this well and then got me out the other side of Hobart and heading toward Port Arthur. In Sorel I stopped for a pie and to refuel the car before continuing on. 

I stopped off to look at the Tessellated pavement at Eaglehawk Neck and then Tasman's Arch and a couple of blowholes but the swell was so weak today that there was hardly a splash at all.

 I had a quick look at the Visitor Centre at Port Arthur and will head back tomorrow for a few hours wandering around. I then checked in at the Port Arthur Caravan park and set up camp, before having a nice warm shower and doing my washing and settling in for a relaxing evening. 

The weather today had been the best of my trip with the car thermometer saying it got up to 24 degrees with hardly any wind. 

A Sampler Tour of Tasmania. Day 11

I got up early and as there had been no rain overnight the tent and ground sheet were nice and dry, I packed them up quickly in case any rain clouds came along. Then it was off to the camp kitchen for a leisurely breakfast before going for a sightseeing drive around Southport and the forests near it. I ended up at the Hastings cave and thermal springs Visitor centre about 08:30 but it wouldn't open until 10 so I decided to make an earlier than planned start towards Bruny Island. 

Driving back up to Huonville, I stopped in at Geeveston for morning tea at a great little bakery, they had some interesting sounding pies (e.g. Scallop pies) but I settled for a boring old sausage roll and that was pretty good. 

At Huonville I took the turnoff to Cygnet and continued around the coast to Kettering. The scenery was very nice with some great little places to camp if I had more time. When I drove into Kettering I went straight to the ferry terminal and just got the ferry that was about to depart to Bruny Island. The trip is not far and only took 20-30 mins, with the crossing being very calm even though the wind was making the water a bit choppy. 

On Bruny Island I headed north to Dennes Point for a look and that part of the island is quite rural with lots of sheep and cattle in evidence and then on the way down south I stopped in at the Bruny Island Cheese shop for a few samples as well as a toasted ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. The coffee milkshake was excellent. There is a long sand dune joining the ends of the island together and at the start is a lookout at the Penguin Rookery. The stairs to the lookout are numerous but the view is pretty incredible.

 I continued on down the west side of the island, finally getting to Cape Bruny and the lighthouse there. The roads were pretty good gravel roads until the start of the national park and then they got pretty rough. The view from the lighthouse was stunning but the wind was almost too strong to walk into, so I didn't stay too long at the top taking photos but headed back to the nice warm car. 

I went and had a look at the camp site at Jetty Bay and decided it would be sheltered enough for me to set up camp, even though it was only 4pm. This gave me some time to relax a bit and also rearrange things in the car as I had been getting a little slack with putting things back in their correct places. I was also able to get this blog written up ready to post tomorrow as there is no phone signal here. 

A Sampler Tour of Tasmania. Day 10

When it wasn't pouring with rain overnight it was blowing a gale. I was pretty protected and was warm and dry in my swag within the mini-tent under the awning. However next morning packing up wasn't good. I was awake early and got everything ready to go but put the wet tent and ground sheet under the camp kitchen roof to give them a chance to lose some water while I had some coffee and toast. I chatted to a German couple who were riding their pushbikes north to Devenport and the ferry later in the week. It made me feel much better that I had a nice warm car to sit in while I travelled.  I was going to walk to the falls but it was still drizzling so wouldn't have been any fun at all so I  put the still damp stuff in the car and headed south to Hobart. It was an easy drive and as I got to Hobat I refueled and then set the GPS app to take me to Mt Wellington and as usually happens I didn't listen to the instructions closely enough and got in the wrong lane and ended up going over the big bridge when I didn't need to. Once I was back on course there were signs saying the road to Mt Wellington would be closed tomorrow for some visiting dignitary and the road crews were patching potholes, painting posts and generally slowing down traffic. At the top it was cold, bloody cold. The weather app said 1 deg and felt like -9 deg with the wind almost too strong to walk against. I took some photos and got back in the nice warm car and headed back down the road and south. 

I got to Huonville around lunch time and found a great cafe/bakery with superb pies, then it was off to Woolies to stock up on a few foodstuffs. Then it south again where I stopped in at Dover for a quick look and found the caravan park which had been recommended to me the pervious evening. It was a bit early in the day so I continued south to Cockle Creek which is supposed to be the southern most point in Australia that you can drive too. 

It was a great looking place but the last 20 kms of road to get there was a pretty rough dirt road with lots of potholes. I went for a walk out to the whale sculpture and I was going to camp there but the wind was so strong that it would have destroyed either of my tents, so I returned to the little town of Southport which has a caravan park behind the pub. 

The wind wasn't nearly as bad here and I managed to find a spot behind some trees that acted as a windbreak. Unfortunately, almost zero phone signal so the blog posting will be delayed until later. Tomorrow I'll head off to see the Hastings cave and hot springs before heading over to Bruny Island. 

A Sampler Tour of Tasmania. Day 9

Well today started much more pleasantly with no overnight rain, making packing the tent up a better experience. I left Queenstown pretty early as I wanted to make it to Lake St Clair before 9 am where they have a ferry which runs the length of the lake and back. I got there about 08:30 but found that they didn't have enough people to fill the ferry so it wasn't going to run, forcing me to do some exercise and go one some of the short walks. It was overcast and chilly when I left but gradually the clouds receded and the wind dropped off to leave a very nice walking temperature. One of the walks was called Platypus Bay Circuit, so I thought I may finally get to see a platypus in the wild but I failed dismally. I went back to the Visitor Centre to get a coffee at the Cafe but it was full of a couple of bus loads of tourists, so I moved onto the the little cafe at the servo in Derwent Bridge and had a wonderful homemade pie. 

I followed the Lyle Highway south, stopping off to look at a few lakes and dams on the way before turning off to Mount Field National Park. 

Russel Falls camp ground looked nice so I made a plan to come back to it for the evening. Then it was onto Lake Pedder and the Gordon Dam. Unfortunately the clouds had started to come over so the scenery wasn't as bright as it could have been, but it was still pretty spectacular. 

Then it was back to Russell Falls for the evening where I was going to sleep in the swag under the awning until I checked the weather and found that showers were forecast so I put the swag in the little tent under the awning so I should stay dry for the evening. I cooked dinner and chatted to a few people around the campfire but ended up turning in pretty early. 

A Sampler Tour of Tasmania. Day 8

The day started out badly when it started raining before I had a chance to get out of bed, not heavily but more misty. So, I hurriedly packed everything up but the rain got heavier just as I was packing up the tent, so it got pretty wet. When everything was in the car and the tent strapped to the roof racks, I had a very nice hot shower and changed into some dry clothes. I headed off towards Queenstown and had the occasional stop but the clouds and mist hid any view. In Queenstown I had a quick breakfast and started off towards Derwent Bridge and Lake St Clair, once again stopping to look at the view as the clouds had risen and the mountains looked pretty spectacular. 

I turned off the main road to go and have a look at the large dam when I got distracted by the scenery and the Paj started heading off the road and I ended up mowing down some low trees and bushes and coming to a stop beside the road and about 1 meter below the road level. 

It all happened relatively slowly and the air bags didn't go off and I was fine, but very pissed off. There was no mobile reception here so I gathered a few things together and started to walk back to Queenstown which was about 15 kms away. 

A couple of cars passed by as I tried to wave them down but after a couple of kms walking a kind fellow in a van stopped and gave me a lift back to Queenstown. There I rang up RACQ Insuance and they were able to organise with the local mechanic to have someone go out and get my car back on the road. We drove back out in an old Ford Maverick with a car trailer on the back and after several attempts we were finally able to get the Paj up and onto the road and put it on the trailer and take it slowly back to the garage. The mechanic gave it a good hose down to get rid of the mud and stray branches and put it over his pit to have a close look. Amazingly there was no mechanical damage and only the indicator light had popped out on the bull bar but it still worked, he pronounced it fit to continue traveling. I had some very late lunch in town and decided to stay in Queenstown for the evening, so went off and found the caravan and set up camp. As I now had some spare time I was able to catch up with some washing and repacking of the car. All things considered I was very, very lucky and will be concentrating much more closely on the road and less on the scenery from now on. 

A Sampler Tour of Tasmania. Day 7

It rained on and off most of the night and in the morning there was still showers passing through. As I had coffee and Brekky I watched a young couple pack up their tent in the rain, I felt very sorry for them. I got ready and walked over to Cruise Wharf through a light shower, we boarded the boat which left the wharf at 09:00.

 We had one or two light showers as we cruised out to Macquarie Heads and Hells Gate but by the time we got there the rain had finished for the day. As there was hardly any swell the boat went out across the bar and we had a look at the lighthouse which is out there. The bar is not very wide which is why they can't use it for larger commercial ships. 

Then we turned around, headed back over the bar, past Hells Gates and into the Harbour where we cruised past a lot of large floating fish enclosures holding roughly 20,000 fish in each enclosure (Atlantic Salmon and Ocean Trout). And the vessel they use to service them and deliver fish food is the old Combi Trader from Scarborough. It used to do the run over to Moreton Island a few years ago. 

After the aquaculture, we stopped at Sarah Island and were given a guided tour by the actors from a local play about the convict heritage of this little island. It was supposedly the Hell to which Hells Gates referred to and was pretty brutal in the way they treated the convicts. The actors while a bit corny at times made the whole thing seem pretty real and it was much more interesting than someone reciting a few facts about the island. 

While we cruised up the Gordon River to the landing site we had a nice buffet lunch which of course had some Tasmanian smoked salmon and a couple of Tasmanian cheeses. The rain forest here is quite different to the Qld rain forest I have seen, it much more densely packed and much wetter. 

On the boat back to Strahan, I think I ended up having a little snooze as the ride was pretty calm and the boat was cruising at about 50 km/hr. When we got back to the wharf we had a quick tour of a Huon Pine sawmill. All up it was a great day, well and truly worth the $100 or so dollars. 

I wandered back to camp and found the outside of the tent had dried out nicely and as I was still feeling snoozy had a nice lazy couple of hours reading before dinner and then writing up my blog. Hopefully it won't rain tonight and I'll be able to pack up a nice dry tent in the morning.