Thursday 4 April 2013

9. Day 4 Wakey Wakey - Zeehan - Strahan - Burnie

Day 4 is here, Tuesday... wakey wakey up and at 'em!  Well it was sure good to head off... even though it was a bit cloudy...   but managed to get away from Zeehan at around 10am (yawn).....  and headed back to Strahan - just to say I'd been there! 

Once we got to the village... we motored on around to where the train station is... I think that's where the train heads off on a half day sight see... no time for that this time round though....


A view back over the township was pretty okay.....


And back in town.... a view of some of the accommodation up on the hill as well....



There were a few boats and things parked up and lots of tours to be taken too....


Speaking of tours... there was this mighty bike.... woo hoo...... wow!   What a beauty!



Yep, yep, yep.... I'd sure like one of these......


Ole Al does the bike tours to any where and everywhere at a mighty reasonable price too!  He was really chuffed to meet me!  And I was chuffed to meet him too!



After dreaming about bikes.... I headed up the hill and found a mini shopping centre....



Then a swing by, past the Golf Club.... 

 
 
Well, come lunch time it was time to head back through Zeehan.... it was getting very cloudy... and started to rain.....
 
Back along the coastal road... a lovely pic of me I thought!  I look a bit like a news reader eh!
 



I rocked up into Rosebery... a small community township... and yep, that cloudy stuff is sure low eh....


A lot of wet roads.... and another view.... of the hills that you can't see!  Hee hee....


 
Time to move on... and before getting to Waratah... we came across a turn off to Murchison Dam....  at least for the record... I can say I got to visit a dam....
 
 

 
It was a pretty awesome sight....
 
 
And it was a long way down....
 
 
We were surrounded by big mountains too....
 
There was another sneaky peek view of another mountain....
 
 
 
There were lots of winding roads.... but the road wasn't too busy.....
And so on to Waratah.... a bit off the main drag... but worth a visit.....  It is soooooo split in two with this river come valley thingee....
 

Ah yup... definitely in Waratah....


And so it was bye bye Waratah... and hello to Burnie.... well, between Somerset and Burnie.....
settling in for the night at Ocean View Motel.... supposedly at Burnie... about 10 minutes or so out.....


I was looking forward to my ocean view.....  but the cabin was way down the back....
Heeeeyyyy.... time to unpack!

So, my ocean view took me across the road to a sort of beach.... and a rail road line as well.....
I do miss the sun though.....


We took a burn into Burnie and found a supermarket and bought some salad and stuff, you know.. the healthy stuff.... then came back... had a bit of tv and off to beddy byes ready for my next day, Day 5.

So it's ni-nights from me and ni-nights to you... this is Stan the Man signing off on Day 4!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Wednesday 3 April 2013

8. Day 3 New Norfolk to Zeehan

So here I was... 10am... leaving New Norfolk and on our way to Zeehan... via the Russell Falls, Lake St. Clair, Queenstown... and because of running out of time... direct to Zeehan.   (Strahan was earmarked for the next morning).

Map 1 - heading to Russell Falls & Derwent Bridge (near Lake St Clair)

Map 2 - from Lake St Clair to Zeehan
 
So we got to Russell Falls... just a short stint off the main highway from Westerway and wowee... what a good place it was....
 
The trees were sooooooooooooooooo tall....
 
 
 
 
And Russell Falls was amazing... there I am!
 
 
There was plenty of water running that day and it looked ever so pretty!
 
 
On the way back I sort of made friends with a wallaby.... cute & fluffly.... I think he was on his way .....
 

 
 
After that I continued on my journey and passed a rickety old building.... ginormous it was...
 


 
 
I also passed an old church, one of many that were in and around the townships.
 

 
 
Look at these huge pipes.... I think they ran from the Tungatinah Power Station...  
 
 
 
There was a turnoff from the main road to Binney Lake.... here I am, all strung out, but hey!  What a view!
 
 
 
At Lake St Clair, I took an easy walk to look at the lake.... well, there before me was a pretty fat black looking bird... perhaps it was a crow... I do not know!
 


Yup, yup.... taking in the view over Lake St Claire... with those big mountains in the background.


Well, time was passing by... still heading to Queenstown, and on the way... what a pretty picture... more hills, blue sky and lots of greenery...

 
 
Here I am again... just checking out these mountains....  and still on the way to Queenstown....


A lovely view methinks!

 
 
Before Queenstown, I got a chance to go to Nelson Falls, a short walk through a track.... tadaaaaa....

 
I just couldn't resist...  landing in the middle of a fern... pretty cushiony methinks!

 
Just before Queenstown was a drive up to the Iron Blow Lookout....  and what a sight...  I was exhausted just looking......


I could see far, far away....


And a clever shot close up of a mountain with weird shaped rocks and funny white saucer things... like space transmitters or something!

 
 
You know.... when you look on a map... nothing really tells you about how steep the roads are, that is, until you approach Queenstown... all the way down, down, down... (sounds like a Coles advert!)... down, down down...to Queenstown... sort of like in a valley... sort of.... I could just imagine wheeling down it on my bike... seriously though... this was a big down hill!
 
Here is their Post Office standing proud....


And a street view showing some mountains in the distance... hhhmmm, bet they get their fair share of snow in the winter!

 
After a nosey around at some street addresses.... and some house fly bys...  given that houses are very cheap here... well, it was off to Zeehan....  finally arriving at the Heemskirk Motor Hotel.  Yup... was a bit cooler too!  Just taking in the view.... while the check in thing happens!

 
 Ah yes, after all that travelling it was time to have a mini rest... reflecting on the day.... day three.... a very long day three at that.   


 We had a meal in the restaurant... which was yummy... then drove around the township... and yep... then it was tv and bed.... ready to start Day 4 the next day, Tuesday....... back to see Strahan via the coastal road... then back through Zeehan and up to Burnie.... ho hum... I'm tired thinking about it all.... night all!