TASMANIA: PART 1
FROM THE BEACHES, MOUNTAINS AND FOREST OF THE NORTH-EAST OF TASMANIA TO THE GREAT CLIFFS OF FREYCINET NP, YOU’LL BE SURPRISED AT WHAT OUR SMALLEST STATE HAS TO OFFER.
OUR TRIP had not started well. We were on top of Jacobs Ladder ... or at least that was what the sign said … when we were close enough to see it! We could have been anywhere, I guess, as the thick cloud that swirled around us limited visibility to just a few metres. Occasionally a wind gust would blow in a thinner patch of heavenly moisture and we would catch a glimpse of craggy rock faces above us, or the beginnings of a rugged valley below. Then all would vanish in another billow of grey matter and we were back to wondering where the vehicle was that we had just walked away from. We waited for some time for the view to improve before giving up and headed back down through the switchbacks that the ‘Ladder’ is so wellknown for.
Originally the only access to the top of the Ben Lomond Plateau was via a rough walking trail from the south, and while other walking routes followed the one and only road to the top of the mountain was cut up the near sheer cliffs in 1963. Today the route remains narrow, unsealed and with a speed limit of just 30km/h. It also rates on the ‘Dangerous Roads’ website, but they do beat it up quite a bit! Still, it is reportedly a pretty impressive drive and from the photos on social media, it looked pretty good – I guess, if nothing else, we have an excuse to go back again.
While there is a small camping area up on the plateau, we drove off the mountain and descended to a lower level amongst the rolling verdant plains of NE Tassie, where we could see more than 50 metres. With such visibility we cruised effortlessly towards Bridport.
Located on the northern coast of Tasmania, Bridport was first settled by Europeans in the 1830s with the town being established 30 years later. Gold and tin discoveries farther inland in the 1870s had the town booming, but when the Scottsdale-launceston railway bypassed the town in 1889 its economy slumped. Still, by the 1920s and the advent of the affordable motor car, the Ford Model T, Bridport became a tourist resort. That continues today and, with a couple of worldclass classic links golf courses, its popularity seems assured.
TO THE BEACH
WE HAD COME for the beach drive that stretches along the sands and across the headlands between Bridport and Bellingham – just one of the many such drives on this northern coast of Tassie.
The following morning, with light showers of rain and a strong wind, we set off. Dropping tyre pressure we slipped on to the first beach before climbing a dune that had a nasty off-camber turn close to a cliff edge that had us all puckering up in the nether regions and breathing a sigh of relief as soon as we passed the obstacle.
The sand though was pretty benign as the rain had dampened the fine stuff into a firmer base than normal, and we cruised through the dunes of East Sandy Point to drop onto the beach of St Albans Bay. The route is marked by orange markers and
THE ONE AND ONLY ROAD TO THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN WAS CUT UP THE NEAR SHEER CLIFFS IN 1963
there are a few no-go areas along the way, designed to protect important seabird and wader-bird habitat, so please stick to the marked route.
At the far end of the beach there’s a small camping area close to the sea, while the major through-route climbs onto the sandy expanse of West Sandy Point. This large area of tall dunes has long been a playground for 4WD vehicles, buggies and bikes, and for those who can’t resist the challenge there’s plenty to test you and your vehicle. We settled for finding a high, big bare expanse of dune to prop and take a few pics, before pushing on, the track dropping onto the beach for the 10km run to the small village of Bellingham.
The Little Pipers River, which can be a real trap for the unwary, was nothing more than a trickle and we splashed across it without a care. At high tide or after recent heavy rain the crossing can be very tricky, and we were told of a Landcruiser being buried in the sand somewhere nearby; although, seeing no sign of it. As we climbed on to firm sand we were waved down by a fellow four-wheeler who was stranded nearby – with just a flat battery. In no time we had him started and we were all on our way again.
TIN DRAGON
WITH OUR MORNING warm-up drive behind us we inflated tyres and headed inland, through Derby along what has now been called ‘The Trail of the Tin Dragon’. This trail runs between Launceston and St Helens and tells the story of the near 1000 Chinese who came to Tasmania in the 1870s to find their fortune in the rich tin mining areas of the north-east.
After stopping in Derby for coffee and lunch – it was raining again – we headed to the historic Moorina cemetery, where in one section a Chinese ‘burning tower’, for the sending of paper prayer scripts to the heavens, had been erected for their customary burial services.
Still, there’s little to remind you these days of how important
the township of Moorina was back in the 1880s when it was the main town in the region and an important distribution centre. First named Krushkas Bridge, after the brothers who were the first miners in the region, it later became known as Moorina, after the sister of Truganini, who is often considered to be the last full-blood Tasmanian Aboriginal.
Pushing on, we passed through the small village of Weldborough, passing the local pub somewhat reluctantly which was crowded with locals. Still on the blacktop we passed through the Weldborough Pass Scenic Reserve, notable for its impressive tree ferns which are interspersed with myrtle, sassafras and blackwood, all crowding the road in luxurious verdancy.
We took to the dirt soon afterwards and found our way to the Blue Tiers, which from 1870 until 1996 produced more than 11,000 tonnes of tin. First proclaimed a Forest Reserve in 1958 the area now protects some 5000ha of open grasslands, heathland and cool temperate rainforest, dotted with waterfalls and cut by a number of walking and mountain bike trails.
Poimena, where there is now a carpark and info shelter (the road continues a short distance but comes to a dead-end at the start of a walking trail) was once the main town in this rich mining area. However, it wasn’t your normally rip-roaring mining settlement as the one and only pub selling grog was outnumbered by two tea-totaller temperance hotels, plus the normal buildings you’d find in such a spot: a butchery, blacksmith shop and a number of stores and cottages.
Today it’s a picturesque spot and well worth a visit, even if it was cold and windy, like when we were there. From this point a couple of mountain bike trails head off through the bush