Mon, 9th Feb, 2015 Bethune Park, Meadowbank Lake to Lake King William (Lake St Clair walks)

5.30am it is 15 degrees so slept in till it warmed up. Had a cuppa with Leanne and Rick before they set of to explore Mt Field Nat Park. Entered the Cash Cow competition on Sunrise – haven’t been doing my lotto so you never know.  Public holiday today. It is now warmer and the sun is shining with no wind. The Lake is mirror-like.

Across the bridge which is only one lane on the bridge bit.

Through open fields and dairy cows as we head through Ouse and over the Ouse River. There are lots of power stations on the River Derwent which has created all these lovely dams for camping and trout fishing.

Lots of power lines heading to Hobart.

Up hill (400m elevation) and down dale (200m) as we head through the Central Highlands area again.

Up to 500m then down to 250m and Wayatinah Power Station with its big grid right beside the road.

Through natural forests and plantations to elevation of 630m. Stopped to collect some firewood from the cleared forestry area.

Passed a couple riding a tandem bike!!! Onto the plateau at 680m to pine plantations.

Crossed a very full canal at the turn off to the bottom of Lake King William. Steve missed an echidna crossing the road.

Big pipes called Penstocks at the Tarraleah Power Station turn off.

Great lookout over the power station way below us. We are at 630m above sea level.

Lots of information and photos.

More penstocks on the other side to another power station below.

All the power stations along the Derwent Catchment line. The hydro-electric scheme started in 1934 when they started construction of the Tarraleah Power Development. The last power stations on the river were commissioned in 1968. There were 16 dams, 10 power stations, a number of weirs, canals, flumes, tunnels and pipelines created to fully use the water in the Derwent River. The 10 power stations have a total capacity of 515 MW (megawatts) and produce about 27% of Tasmania’s electricity.

More info and photos.

Engineering plaque.

A plaque beside the lookout – sad story.

Drove through Tarraleah, 1960s buildings. Down the side of the hill to the Nive River below (410m elevation). Looking across to the next power station before we cross over the river.

The Nive River.

Stopped at the picnic area for lunch though you can’t get down to the river. More info about Tungatinah Power Station.

Up the hill on the other side to 720m with a few 180 degree corners but wide enough. Not like the range we did down to the Forth River. Passed Tungatinah Lagoon which is man made then Lake Binney (rockfilled dam). White water canoing area at the bottom of Brady’s Lake to Lake Binney. Onto a plateau to open pastures pass a very large Brady Lake then Bronte Lagoon. Lots of fisherman here. This is the top end of Bronte Lagoon.

Vast flat pasture land. Passed the turnoff to Miena and Great Lake – only 35 km away.

Down to 620m to cross the Nive River again.

Up to 690m across grazing land. Through scrub land to 730m into State Forest area. Gentle climb to 830m then down to 770m (having fun watching the elevation on the GPS).

Leanne & Rick rang to say they are going to head up tomorrow to meet us. Passed the Wall in the Wilderness as we head into Derwent Bridge. Will wait to see the sculptures tomorrow with them.

Stopped at the Derwent Hotel to ask about stopping there. The chap said we can park in the carpark overnight. There is another free camp on the edge of Lake King William so we headed out of town to check it out. All the other places along the way have had name signs but this one didn’t. We passed a boat ramp sign then another one and next we were entering the Franklin-Gordon World Heritage Area so we found a spot to ‘just’ turn around. It was so tight that the stabiliser bar unhooked and fell down. Luckily Steve heard it and stopped to hook it up again. Back to Derwent Bridge which is the name of the town with a bridge over the River Derwent. This time I walked in to check out the boat ramp and found out it was the camp area but the Lake is so low you can are looking at the original river course of the Derwent before the dam was put in.

Backed up into a cleared area with a view over the “Lake” and river. They cut down all the trees where the Lake would cover when it has more water in it.

All set up with room for Leanne & Rick too.

Unhooked and headed back into Derwent Bridge to go to the National Park of Lake St Clair. Rather fancy centre.

Weather forecast for yesterday. Tonight is supposed to be down to 6 degrees – out with the winter woollies again. At least the fire rating is low so we can have a fire tonight.

Inside the centre we checked out the info boards.

Eagle.

The last Tassie Tiger killed in the wild was in 1930. It was shot at Mawbanna in the far north-west.

Lots of great old photos.

Steve liked the old half-track vehicle.

In the other building is a café/restaurant where you can book a cruise up Lake St Clair ($60 each for 90mins).  The wall was covered in photos but no names except this one which is King Billy – who the pine trees were named after.

Walked down to the picnic shelter and then down to the ‘beach’. Lovely view. Nice and calm but not good enough for a reflective photo. Lake St Clair is the deepest freshwater lake in Australia, with a depth of 167 metres. It was formed by glaciers, with the most recent glaciation ending about 10,000 years ago. Around the foreshore of the lake is examples of glacial erratics, large rocks once carried by glaciers and left far from their place of origin after the glacier had melted.

Looking across to Mt Olympus (1449m). We were chatting with a couple from Tassie who were telling us it was the back of Cradle Mountain. They seemed sure and didn’t seem to sound like they were having us on. When we went back to look at the map it definitely wasn’t Cradle Mountain!!!

To the left we can just see the top of Mt Hugel.

Headed off to follow the walks to Watersmeet and Platypus Bay. Nice easy walk along the road.

We had a pamphlet that explained what was to see at a number site. Eg Banksias, the Ice Age, buttongrass sedgeland, burls etc. There was a severe fire through here in 1965 which burnt its way up Mt Rufus. Most of the adult eucalypts in the area were killed by the fire. The intense heat splits the woody seed capsules open, releasing the seeds onto the rich ash bed below so there lots of new growth.

Watersmeet is where the Hugel and Cuvier Rivers meet.

Then it flows on as the Cuvier River into Lake St Clair. 

 National Parks spent a lot on this bridge.

Across the bridge the track is narrow and heads up hill and then down to the shoreline at Platypus Bay. They had viewing area and information but we didn’t see a platypus.

Nice and calm. 

The waters of Lake St Clair find their way to the sea in Storm Bay, south of Hobart. On its journey the Derwent River is led through a complex system of flumes, weirs, dams, canals, penstocks and power stations, beginning at the river’s source in the south-east corner of the Lake. During the 1930s, the Hydro-Electric Commission constructed a weir to raise the Lake level by three metres, flooding the nearby Frankland Beaches and killing trees fringing the steep western shore. A pumping station was built to draw down the levels by six metres, although it was rarely used. The station, with its inter-war art deco-style pump house, has cultural and architectural value. Today it is tourist accommodation.  The Pumphouse (on left) and another building on the far shore. Eddie had shown it on Sunrise weather when she was here but I missed it. Leanne wants to come back and stay in it. Will have to find out how much to stay.  It is situated out into the Lake. Reminds me of the “Lake House” movie we just watched.

Further around we stop at a lovely beach where the old barge has been left to die. It was used during the construction of the hydro-electric scheme on the lake in 1937. It was towed to this site about 1955 and has gradually broken into pieces.

The Lake was mirror-like.

Followed the narrow track back up the hill to meet the Overland Track. We have now walked on the start and finish of it – just missing a few days walk in between!!!

Through Fergy’s Paddock which is the camp area for the Overland Track hikers. Back to the water’s edge and along the beach to Cynthia Bay.

Rocky beach back to the Information Centre. The other walks to the Mountains are 4 and 7 hours so will give them a miss.

Headed back to the van and Steve got the fire going for the bush cooker. The March flies are very annoying but don’t bite, just buzz around you constantly. Got the flyswat out as the spray we used at Tinaroo on the march flies doesn’t seem to affect them here. It is starting to cool off. Suppose to be 6 degrees tonight – some summer!! The clouds have been coming over so maybe it won’t get too cool.

A few more vans have come in and parked down by the river in the open. I wandered down for a look at the river and chatted with a chap fishing. He was from Pennsylvania, USA and was touring around for 2 weeks!! Had a lovely dinner by the fire as there is no TV reception and it was nice outside with no wind. Had phone and internet reception though so was able to catch up on some blog uploads. The van has kept the warmth from the day as it is 22 degrees inside as we get ready for bed and only 11 degrees outside. Might be a bit cool in the morning!!