Mon, 8th Dec, 2014 Cooee Point Reserve to O’Neills Creek Picnic Reserve, Gowrie Park (Devils Gullet, Lakes and Dams sightseeing)

Packed up – brighter morning with a light breeze 18 degrees. New couple, from Bribie Island area pulled in, just off the ship.  They had a very rough trip over.

Drove into the Post Office to post my Christmas cards etc. Back to the van for a cuppa then off we go. Up through Upper Burnie going south through farms and timber plantations. Lovely scent coming in the window from all the eucalypt. St Valentines Peak (1106m) in the distance.

Altitude now 550m. Across Hellyer River upstream from where we were the other day. It flows west and joins the Arthur River which meets the ocean on the west coast. Lots of trucks loaded with logs.

Passed the “Fingerpost” but we couldn’t see anything so will have to find out why it is called that when we come back to Waratah. A little further on is Fossey River Rest Area that we were going to stop at for the night. There is a nice picnic area but nowhere for the van really as it was designed for tents only. Lucky my plans are flexible. Will go to the next spot on my list. There was a miniature water tank with information about the Tasmanian Farm Trees. There is a state of the art tree nursery at Somerset. It produces up to 10 million eucalypt seedlings annual.

Good information room lined with pine so smelt lovely. Lots of info about Waratah (down the road) and up to Wynyard (on the coast). Interesting info about the railway and mines. The largest nugget of gold ever found in Tasmania weighed 243 ounces and was found in the nearby Rocky River in 1883.

Still overcast and cool as we are at 630m. Had lunch then headed further down the road to turn off towards Cradle Mountain. Passed the Hellyer Gold Mine – told Steve he should have been trying out the detector here!!! Climbed up the range to the crest of Black Buff Range at 930m and stopped at pullover for a great view of Cradle Mountain etc. This area has recently been burnt. The clouds are parting so we have great views.

Steve waited with the engine running to cool down the turbo after the big climb up the range. I walked up a road under the power line. There was a walking track called Penguin Cradle Track which wandered over to another hill and when I looked back down to the truck I could see where it went up the other hill too.

Amazing views. It is cool but lovely. Only have a t-shirt on and jeans, funny not to have a jumper on. This World Heritage land is the only surviving grassy valley of its kind.

The direction dial tells me what’s what. Lovely view from the top over Lake Lea and grasslands to Cradle Mountain (1545m 17km away) and Barn Bluff (1559m 21km away) then to Vale River.

The partly subterranean Vale River runs through the Karst landscape with hundreds of sinkholes and caves allowing the water to flow through a maze of underground streams, occasionally welling up again from deep underground springs to rejoin the main river. At the edges of the valley floor the open grasslands meet a solid wall of old-growth rainforest. The last credible sightings of the Tasmanian Tiger were made in these forests.

We will follow that road to Cradle Mountain.

Down the range to the river and grassland (800m) and then climb again to 890m. Down another range which looks just like Kuranda range. Looks over to Lake Gairdner where we were looking to camp. As we were heading down though we saw the turnoff which is a very tight sharp turn onto a very narrow dirt road so gave that a miss and kept going. Stopped at Moina to ask questions at the Tavern (720m). The lady said the locals don’t like people stopping at the lake to camp as they leave a mess and leave fires unattended. Not happy. She said if we do go down and meet a local they won’t pull over for us so I decided that best not to push it!!! She said to go to Gowrie Park which was 16km further on. (Free camping not as easy in the mountain region.) Unfortunately she didn’t mention it was straight down a steep range to the Forth River (150m). We crossed this river after we left Devonport. One lane bridge.

Across the big bridge and straight up the other side, another very steep climb and a few very tight hairpin turns. The poor truck’s brakes were not smelling so sweet. Steve will have to do a pad change soon!!! Not too keen to take the van over that again. Through Cethana (460m) and down again to Gowrie Park. Amazing rocky topped mountains here, obviously get covered in snow. Three mountains here, Mt Claude, Mt Van Dyke and Mt Roland.

The rest area is beside the Rodeo Ground. It used to be free but now the Council is charging $5 a night. Have to park on the concrete area only and be self contained. Parked the van and filled in the form for one night to start. 

Had a cuppa then decided to go for a drive to check out some camps near some Lakes on the way to the Walls of Jerusalem National Park. Climbed up another hill and stopped at the Round Mt Lookout (690m). Lovely view, no wonder the truck was struggling.

 Looking back over Gowrie Park valley.

There is a 2 hour walk from here to Mount Claude. Down the hill and up again (glad Steve is driving) along Oliver Road through the Mersey Valley Forest Reserve. Stopped at the Lookout (660m) to look over the Mersey Valley.

The sign is a bit old and worn out but shows all the power stations and all the mountains in the area.

Clouds hanging over Mother Cummings Peak.

It is a lovely drive down the mountainside to cross the Mersey River (330m) in the Mole Creek Karst National Park. The Mersey River flows to Devonport where we docked on the Spirit of Tasmania. Climb up again then turned off towards the Lakes. Decided to turn off to Devil’s Gullet while the sun was out as the brochure I saw this was magnificent view. Along a good dirt road which is used for logging as there was a sign to put UHF on channel 17. They log the eucalypt forests here.

Looks like the snow stops the trees growing up to far (970m).

Very rocky now beside road.

Into World Heritage area to see power lines!!

Drove into Devils Gullet carpark (1150m).  Followed the boardwalk (530m length) over wet marsh area.

Nice path to follow over the ridge.

Onto the platform, limit of 6 people – glad there is only us!!

Great info about the area.

Picture I got showing the platform we were standing on.

Magnificent views at 1250m over the forests.

220m drop to the floor below. There was a good breeze but not cold (sun out) – had to take my jumper off.

Glad there is a high rail – awesome rock formations to the right.

Looks like they are ready to fall.

Looking to the left and across the canyon.

  

Peering through the floor to the canyon floor.

Amazing views over the forests to the mountains – Cradle Mountain is out there somewhere. Mt Ossa is 35kms away (as the crow flies) – it is Tasmania’s highest mountain at 1617 meters.

Fisher River winds its way through the valley. Tasmanian Hydro scheme has diverted a lot of its water.

Unusual looking plant.

Little lakes everywhere!!

Followed the road further down just to see where it went, as we do!!! Met a water channel and flume part of the Tasmanian Hydro system.

Then it turned into concrete wall channel to a pipe then more channel. They collect the water coming off the plains from when the snow melts on the mountains. Eventually got to the end and found Lake McKenzie. Hydro Tasmania created the lake in 1972 by damming the Fisher River. Large drawdowns in water level (up to 10 meters) during summer can be common. Info board about fishing etc so must be well used, though it is very low at the moment. It lies within the Central Plateau Conservation Area (World Heritage Area) managed by the Parks & Wildlife Service (PWS).

 Climbed up the stairs to the top of the dam wall. Very big long wall.

Looking back over the canal system.

Central Plateau where they collect the water from.

Back along the road and stopped at the old Scenic Lookout sign called Fisher River Lookout – this one is like the one at the Mersey Valley lookout – handpainted and needing some attention. The mountains have that blue haze like the Blue Mountains caused by the eucalypt oils being released. Would be lovely to see with snow on the mountains.

Looking down over pipeline that we saw going off the first concrete thing we saw along the road which measures the water sent down etc. The pipe goes to Fisher Power Station. Locked gate on the road to the power station so we headed back – now 6pm and still bright sunshine.

Back on the bitumen (450m) and heading to two lakes to check out the camp areas. Down to the Mersey River (300m).

Upstream the river is dammed and becomes Lake Parangana.

Lovely clear sky now, fresh but not cold. The first camp area is nice though you don’t have lake views. Not really enough room for our van though. Further on the next camp area is more open.

Turned into Magg Road to find Arm River waterfall (1.5km walk).

The path is not well maintained as there were trees down everywhere but it was a lovely walk.

The waterfall was beautiful with a log over the whole river making its own natural dam.

Followed the path down the river edge which got a bit boggy and narrow.

Onto the bridge where I found a leech trying to latch on my leg!! The path goes off here for an interpretive walk which was another kilometre so we left that and headed back to the truck.

Stopped at Mersey River White Water Rest Area which is lovely.

There is a white water canoe course set up with a plaque about an Olympic canoeist opening the course.

Further down to Lake Rowallan where they are working on the dam wall. Two more camp areas here but not very roomy. Another power station around here too.

The Walls of Jerusalem can only be accessed by a very long walk so we didn’t keep going down the road. Looking at the map it would be an amazing walk as the area is covered in lakes but not for us!!  It is now 8pm and still light but decided to head home. Glad I made dinner in the Ecopot before we left. Passed the Gad Falls Walk with Crystal Falls but Steve decided it was late enough!!!

Lots of rabbits and wallabies as we drive home.

Back to the Mersey River bridge where the Mole Creek Kratz National Park has a camping area. Drove in the very narrow track and found two lots of campers in tents as there is no room for anything else. The end of the road was a bog hole so turned round on the narrow track and headed back out. So no camping for us down this way so glad we have explored today before heading down with the van as I had planned to use these camps!! Glad we did a drive to check it out first.

Back to our van and the Council lady was there checking the payments so glad we did that before we left. She thanked us for doing the right thing. She checks in the morning too to catch the quick overnighters who don’t pay. We are draining our water into a bucket and parked on the concrete as the signs says but another van had arrived and was parked on the grass with their water going out onto the ground – so go figure!!!

Enjoyed out Indian Curry Beef at 9pm!!!