Scenic Drive to Strahan
19th Feb 2023
It is a long way from Bruny to Strahan, time wise, not so much in distance by mainland standards. We leave adventure bay at 8.30 am, hoping to catch the 9.10 am ferry to Kettering. Fortunately, we arrive at the terminal just as the incoming ferry is discharging their cargo, so we have only a brief delay before we are onboard and heading across the strait to Kettering. There are only about 10 vehicles on this leg.
The ferries move at a fair speed and the total transit time is only 15 minutes. Just past half ay we see the Kettering ferry heading to the island and a lonley single handed yachtie decides toe ease the sails to get out of the way rather than take on the ferry.
We are soon on firm ground and heading towards Hobart on our way to Strahan. Unfortunately you have to still go through the city to link up with the highway west, but it is Sunday and traffic is modest.
By the time we get to New Norfolk it is time for coffee. The easiest option is to go to a Banjo's Bakery, where the coffee was surprisingly good. Before leaving town it is recommended to go to the Pulpit Rock lookout to get a great view of te Derwent Vally and the town. It is a short dirt access road and the view is certainly worth the detour.
Looking West over the main part of New Norfolk
The scenery all along this drive is very pretty and our mind start to turn towards where we may stop for lunch. We had already decided that we would pull over and have a picnic lunch somewhere, it was just a matter of finding the right spot. Timing suggested that Lake St Clair would be a good choice, so we took a small diversion in there to find a spot. It was pretty windy, and you had to lug your picnic gear through the visitors centre to get a table, or eat in the carpark, so we decided to have a quick look around and move on.
Looking North across the Lake in the direction of Cradle Mountain
Having abandoned Lake St Clair for lunch, we only had to travel a few km back on the highway to arrive at Derwent Bridge, where an ideal roadside stop presented itself. We unpacked out picnic and had a very nice smoked salmon with lime and chilli pate sandwich and a cup of coffee we brewed up on our butane burner.
Once again on the roads, we went through some pretty mountainous country, past a few hydroelectric power stations and numerous bushwalks that looked inviting but would take too long.
We did weaken at the opportunity to do a short walk, around 20 mins, to the Nelson Falls. It was a flat easy walk through the rainforest to a worthwhile waterfall at the end of the trail.
Now determined to get to Strahan at a reasonable hour, and having been without mobile coverage for some hours (very normal here, but you do constantly receive messages from Telstra that they are upgrading the network), I start getting messages that our dinner restaurant booking in Strahan has been cancelled. There is no way of sorting this out other than fronting the restaurant when we arrive in Strahan.
In the meantime, we eventually get to Queenstown, drive straight through but note a sign to the Horsetail Falls walk on the Strahan side of town. We have no intention of stopping, but are a bit intrigued by the wooden walkway that has been constructed along mountainside and around the corner we realise you can see the falls from the road anyway.
Arriving in Strahan we go straight to Risby Cove Resort to see if we can get some clarity on our restaurant booking. It turned out that the receptionist had cancelled our booking in error, had tried to contact us to rectify, but Telstra did not co-operate with mobile coverage.
It all got sorted, the receptionist had mistakenly cancelled our booking, and this precipitated an avalanche of emails and messages from the site we had booked through, stating that the restaurant could not honour the commitment to the booking etc.
Anyway, all turned out well and our booking was reinstated.
Our next task was to find our accommodation, which is self contained and called The Navigators. It turned out to be almost a one bedroom house high up in Strahan with an adjoining unit, we assume with a similar layout.
As we arrive, we have under cover parking, and there are laundry facilities in the garage, and a common BBQ area for the 2 units between the garage and the entrance.
There is a large yard with clothesline, if you don't like dryers.
With all of the time spent on the road today, we have not had a lot of time to stretch our legs, so we decide to walk the 1.2 km to the restaurant tonight as there is a path all of the way along the waterfront. Risby Cove Resort is a very modern complex right on the waterfront, and despite the fee false starts, we had a nice meal and great views out over the harbour.
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