For the next few days, we based ourselves at Smithton. We chose to stay at a free camp called Tall Timbers RV Stop - a large grassed area adjacent to the Tall Timbers Hotel/Motel. It's a popular spot for travellers. Must be fully self contained and self sufficient to stay there. There were easily 50 rigs there each night. We stayed for 2 nights there.
After landing there and setup, we had our regular 'Dunch' which is what we call it - Lunch/Dinner in one meal. We find it convenient to have 2 meals a day. Given we still had 6-7 hrs of daylight, we decided to take a drive called the 'Tarkine Drive'.
The
Tarkine drive is a 200km loop around the NW reaches of Tasmania with
several attractions along the way. We took about 5 hrs to do the drive
and we only made a few stops. There are several lengthy walks to some
of the attractions which we didn't have time or the agility for (well
one of us didn't).
Sink Hole
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| Couta Rocks |
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| Couta Rocks |
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| Judy spotted this local wombat grazing by the side of the road |
Next day was as windy as all hell! Maximum wind gust recorded was 80 kph. We bunkered down in the van all day.
Next morning we awoke to a minimum temp of 2 degrees. Packed up and moved on.
Next stop was Arthur River. We camped up in the Manuka Campground which is a designated campground located in the larger Arthur-Pieman Conservation Area managed by Tassie's Parks and Wildlife Service.
Beautiful peaceful camp in the scrub, we were well separated from the other campers throughout the campground. Situated just out of the small village of Arthur River. Each evening, a couple of friendly local pademelons (mum and bub) visited us as we sat by our campfire.
First evening we were there, we ventured out to Gardiner Point, AKA 'The Edge of the World'. The elements put on a show to behold! Gardiner point is on the outskirts of Arthur River township and is where the river meets to Southern Ocean.
We took a leisurely cruise down the Arthur River which included a BBQ lunch 14 km upstream before returning home about 5 hrs later - $105 each.
On the return trip, Boris (from the cruise) threw out fish to feed a couple of local sea eagles. What a magnificent creature!
We thought it was great value and a wonderful experience.
Next Morning, I went back out to Gardiner Point for a dawn shoot while Judy was still snuggled up in bed. Some good quality golden hour light meant I picked up a bag of 'gems' to share over time.
We decided to move on and back track towards Devonport to collect our lost property from our boat trip over and onwards from there.
GPS: 41°2'31.2873" S 144°39'53.8201" E
