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When we put the first incarnation of Real Tasmania together I started a blog to describe what and how I felt during the three months we were on the road. This part is the start of that journey, the beautiful South Coast.
I call this first part?
The Journey into the Unknown
For months we were living like caged animals, stress building and building to the point of physical sickness. Life was taking twists and turns. So many things were happening. We needed to get away from it all so while sitting in the car one day we decided to just go. Almost immediately the stress seemed to fall from my shoulders. We arrived back at our house, after making the decision to leave, with smiles on our faces. Smiles seemed to be a thing of the past, now they were back.With a new outlook on life we packed our things, rather hurriedly, and moved out. It was a couple of days before we could get right away from Hobart and the stresses associated with it. In the meantime we stayed for a night at a caravan park, in our tent, and also a night in a hotel...I preferred the tent to the hotel.
I wanted to see all of Tasmania. I wanted to see it now! But where do we start? After a looking at the map for a while we decided to go south, to Cockle Creek. The drive wasn't an extremely long drive, but there were some twisty bits that required some concentration. I love driving especially on the roads in Tasmania. At times we slow down just to do a bit of sightseeing while driving, not exactly what a driver should do but, hey this is Tasmania, and sometimes you just have to.
Magnificent sights hit me as we drove south along the highway. The green forested hills and mountains, the dolerite sticking out of the mountains above the trees. The snow on the high peaks...I wasn't expecting that. We needed a bucket for all the drool.
Upon reaching the southern shores I was again amazed at the difference between one part of Tasmania and another. The waters of Recheche Bay were flat and the sun glimmered off them. The beaches were white and the trees were so green and the sky overhead just took my breath away with its stunning blue colour. I was in sensory overload. It smelled fresh, not like the smog of cities. I took many deep lung full's of air.
We drove along the dirt road looking for a place to camp. We came upon Finns Beach and slowed. The campsite here was empty so we drove in and looked at the view that this site gave us. My first thought was, 'We have to stop here, it is gorgeous.' It looked out over Recherche Bay through a framing of trees and bushes.
For the first time in a long time I felt relaxed. After pitching the tent we grabbed a drink and the camera and wandered around the area and along the beach, and then returned to the campsite and sat in our chairs and watched time go by. No-one was here to hassle us and it felt to me that we were the only people in the world.
There was one thing I was dreading...the pit toilet. After using them in other states I had never wanted to use one ever again. To my surprise this one was clean and I was actually looking for a flush button.
As the day neared its end we got a fire going and ate dinner. The sounds of the night were starting to rise. Every noise seemed louder than when we lived in our old house. I know this is because there are no walls to block them out. I sat in my chair in front of the fire, closed my eyes and listened. Wavelets were rolling up and down the beach, birds chirped their last songs for the day, crickets chirped as well. Nature was putting on a great orchestral piece which I cannot remember hearing before.
The night sky was beginning to show. Stars flickered and they were nice to watch. At one point I saw something moving on the ground. We grabbed the torch and tried to find out what it was, but couldn't see it in the darkness. It might have been a possum or quoll or something like that. We went back to watching the stars and every now and then had a look for the creature, especially after hearing noises in the bushes.
I was beginning to feel really tired. I think it had something to do with the lack of stress that was on me at the time coupled with the driving and also the peacefulness of the area. It didn't take long for me to drift off to sleep once snuggled up in the sleeping bag.
In the middle of the night Anna nudged me and said, "Have a look outside." I sleepily made my way to the door of the tent and squeezed myself halfway out of the fly. I was looking along the ground; I thought she had seen an animal or something wandering around. I didn't see any animals. There was a glow where the fire was the evening before. "That's nice," I said. Then I looked up. The site of the stars in the sky was magnificent. They were bright and they illuminated everything around me. They were better at lighting the area than street lights. "@#$#@" was all I could say as I gazed into the night sky. I will never forget that sky, and have been looking for skies like it ever since, with disappointment.
We woke before sunrise the next day. The sunrise was stunning. The sun broke over the clouds in front of it and created a bridge of light across Recherche Bay. Everything turned orange as the day dawned. We spent most of the morning checking out what was at Cockle Creek. It is a beautiful spot with water, mountains with snow, beaches and soft white sand, plenty of rocks to climb over, and trees as far as the eye can see.
It was a great place for us to spend a small amount of time. I would like to check it out further and see other parts of the area we did not see the first time. I was excited and wanted to see more of the state. We had considered staying at Cockle Creek for the night but did not have a fuel stove at the time. Cockle creek is a fuel stove only area and you are not allowed to light fires. We moved on to another beautiful area, Hastings Forest on the Esperance River, not too far north of Finns beach.
Finns Beach
Part 2 - ...and the snow kept coming.
The site we chose was sheltered on three sides, with the fourth being open and facing the road. It was still quiet and scenic. The views, from the campsite, were of the forest. If you walked down the road a little way you could see the Hartz Mountains. I watched the cloud starting to form behind them and thought that there may be a little rain on the way. It didn't eventuate the first night we were there.
There were many small birds in the area. I quite enjoyed seeing them and watching their rituals. My favourite little bird has to be the Superb Fairy Wren. The male is a gorgeous blue and the female is just brown with a hint of blue through her tail. There was a pair of these nesting in the bush somewhere beside our campsite. Every morning and evening they would come out and hop around very quickly finding food for themselves, and presumably their young. They were so cute to watch and very hard to photograph because they do not stay in one spot too long. I couldn't remember what they were called so I named them Mr. and Mrs. Chippy Chippy. The female is very vocal and it sounds as though she is nagging her hubby.
Other people came and went over the next couple of days; I think the rain scared them off. I was enjoying seeing the rain and feeling it splash on my head. The only thing I didn't like was that I couldn't get my shoes dry. I hate the feeling of walking around in wet shoes.
That night it felt really cold so we had an early night. It seemed to get colder as the night drew on. I heard what I thought was rain hitting the tent and dismissed it because it was raining for most of the day before. Nature called first thing and I sleepily climbed over Anna and out of the tent. I didn't have any shoes on...it felt really cold on the feet. I looked down and there I was standing in the middle of a pile of snow, which was right outside the door of our tent.
"Honey, we've been iced on," was the first thing that came out of my mouth. I was still half asleep. Upon returning to the tent Anna said, "Its not ice, Sweetheart, its snow." I knew it was snow but wasn't thinking straight when I said ice. We still laugh about that moment. You just had to be there to experience it.
Snow fell in waves all morning. At first it was just light snow showers but as the morning went on it became clear that it was going to keep getting heavier and heavier. It was already cold enough and I don't think I could have handled another night here, if it was going to be any colder than the night before. We tossed up whether to stay or leave. Eventually we packed our things and left this yummy little spot for the warmth and sunshine of the North East coast.
Esperance River
