Queenstown, our next stop, is a town in the West Coast region of the state. It is in a valley on the western slopes of Mount
Owen on the West Coast Range. The drive from Derwent Bridge is a dramatic entrance to town with the Lyell highway descending steeply via switchbacks. Pretty hairy descent on wet, slippery roads with a van on our back. It rained all the way from Derwent Bridge and rained pretty much the whole time we were in Queenstown.
The legacy remains of Queenstown's history of gold and copper mining. The moonscape surroundings are a testament to that.
We stayed at the Queenstown Cabins and Tourist Park, a small but spacious, clean and tidy park and reasonably priced at $45/night. We stayed 2 nights (Friday and Saturday).
Although it rained most of our stay, we did have some scattered respite, long enough to enjoy the sights of the area so we spent Saturday exploring.
We took a trip on the Wilderness Railway which we'd recommend if in the area - an informative and light-hearted commentary of Queenstown's history is provided along the ride.
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| Changing the points to bring the loco to the other end of the train for the trip home |
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| Judy tried her hand at gold panning. Plastic pans! I'm sure if there was ever gold in those tubs, it would have been found long before today. |
After returning from the train ride, we headed back toward Derwent bridge to check out Nelson Falls - yep, chasing waterfalls again! We drove past the day before, but due to the weather, decide to give it a miss. It's a 45 minute easy walk to the falls and back. The falls were pumpin' hard! The walk takes you along the eastern bank of the Nelson River through dense rainforest - one of the nicest walks we've done.
Along the 30km drive back to town, we checked out a few places we could stop at with the van the previous day in the rain.
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| Horsetail Falls |
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| The ruins of the Linda Hotel |
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| A misty scene on the side of the Lyell Highway |
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| "The Iron Blow" - an old copper mine pit. Don't ask! |
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| "The Gravel" - Queenstown's local AFL field - the playing surface is gravel. Ouch! |
Before we make our way north towards Devonport, we head to Strahan for a couple of days stay - See you in Strahan!
