0
Part 10 - Onto the next stop
We drove out under crisp blue skies with just a few fluffy white clouds. I looked back quite a few times to see the mountains dwindling into the scenery. I would have liked to stay a bit longer but we had other places to discover.Our next stop was to the North West. We went through Westerway and we just had to stop at the Middle shop for a feed. They sell the yummiest food in this shop and they take great care in the handling of your food. My favourite food from here is the Sweet Chili Wrap and the chips are a decent size and all for a great price.
We turned left onto the C608 and headed towards Ouse. This was the first time we had traveled this road. It is a pretty little road with scenery that will simply amaze you, from tall stands of trees to open fields with cows in them. The road winds around hills and through valleys then past and over Meadowbank Lake near Ouse. The lake was very still that day and we grabbed a couple of shots. This road joins the Lyell Highway, which eventually reaches Queenstown.
We were not going to Queenstown this day. Instead we turned off at the C603 and headed for Butlers Gorge. This road was made of dirt for the entirety. Both sides of the road were tree lined with massive trees. Closer to ground level there were tree ferns and smaller ferns and an assortment of other little plants with different coloured flowers.
Sometimes in the breaks in the trees I could see where logging had been happening. It was sad to see. Clumps of dirt, tree stumps and small fallen trees were all that was left. I really don't like seeing this scaring but people have to live and it is a job.
The road followed the watercourse. This was a man made concrete channel, for transporting water from the dam to the power stations further downstream. At a couple of places they had built bridges for this channel to go over creeks, it looked really strange to me. Looking at the speed of the water traveling through the channel I think it would make a cool place to put in a Lilo or air mattress and float, but that would be a dangerous thing to do considering where that water was going. I wouldn't want to get caught up in those turbines for anything.
Finally after about half an hour we reached where we thought the campsites were. My first thought was that this was not going to be a good place to camp. It was not well protected. This place would have been good for caravans and motor homes. We walked around the area a little and discovered where some of the campsites were. Now it was just a matter of finding out how to get into them. After a bit more of a wander we discovered the road leading to where we were going to camp.
While standing where we were going to pitch the tent I looked up and saw the view. It looked out over Lake King William towards the north. It was such a beautiful site. The water rippled and the huge trees swayed gently with the slight breeze that was blowing. There were some good photographs to be taken here. We made our way back to the car and drove around to the campsite
Part 11- Butlers Gorge
Butler's Gorge was secluded and protected and would make a great place to spend a couple of days to relax, but not on weekends. Judging by the amount of broken glass in the area, there seemed to be quite a few yobos who liked to visit here. There was melted glass in fireplace as well. We had to do a bit of a clean up before setting up camp, I can't believe some people can leave such a beautiful place is a mess the way they did here.
We managed to get rid of most of the rubbish. The spot we had picked for the tent had a beautiful outlook over the lake. We started to set up the tent and soon discovered that the tent pegs would not go into the ground, it was made of rock. So we looked around and found quite a few large rocks in the area.
These rocks came in handy. We tied the tent to them and a couple of trees which were close by using jute. The tent wasn't going anywhere. We just had to watch where we were walking. There were a couple of times when I almost fell over the ties.
It was great to sit back in the chairs and relax with a couple of drinks, watching the water ripple in the slight breeze, after getting everything setup. This is when I first saw the largest ant I have ever seen. It was about an inch and a half long and by looking at the mandibles I think they would have given a very nasty bite.
These ones weren't the ones to be wary of though, they tended to stay away from us big humans. There was a different species, a little bit smaller, which were bitey. I watched one of these smaller ants, it walked past my foot and decided to climb it. I stamped my foot and it ran away. It then came back and wanted to climb on my foot again, so I did the same thing but this time it just looked at my foot and then went on trying to climb it. This ant died in its efforts. I don't like to kill animals, of any sort, but this one might have bitten.
The wind in this area can really blow. One night we were in the tent listening to it and it seemed to be blowing so hard. The sound of it whooshing through the trees was an eerie howl. I thought we were going to get blown away, but we didn't. In fact the tent only moved slightly, not more than a centimeter, when the wind tore through. I was amazed at the protection of the site.
With the right conditions this place becomes a magical spot. On one of the last days we were here there was no wind and the sun was shining. The lake put on a show. It had become mirrored and reflected everything, the sun, trees and the few clouds which were in the sky. Our camera battery had gone flat the day before and now we had the opportunity to take some spectacular shots. That's life I suppose. We do have plans to go back, and this time with a full battery.
We took many walks around the area and discovered many beautiful places. Tracks wound through the trees and we caught glimpses of the life which had once been here. The walk we took around the edge of the lake was fun and at times difficult. The rocks would sometimes move under our feet causing us to loose balance. This walk allowed more views of the lake and future reference for taking some beautiful photo's.
A Tasmanian Waratah on the side of the Lake
While here we only saw a couple of people. One was doing a power walk with headphones on and looking at her feet. She missed so much in the pursuit of fitness. The others were a couple doing a trip around Tassie in a campervan. They were from Western Australia. They drove up and had a bit of a wonder around the area and then had a cuppa and left. They at least saw the beauty of the area.
It was finally the day we were going to leave; I didn't want to leave this tranquil spot. This was the best place for sleeping even though the ground was so rocky. I didn't actually realize how rocky and bumpy the ground was until we were packing up. Kneeling down on the ground to gather all the gear hurt my knees.
Our next stop was to be the northern end of the lake and I was anxious to get there. I was assuming that it would be exactly like it was here?boy was I wrong?
