Sun, sea and sand

Welcome to Tasmania!  I had a lovely, calm trip on the ferry although it's taken a few days for Maggie to recover and talk to me again.  I don't think it was being locked in a cage for 12 hours on a rocking boat that made her so grumpy but more the lack of sleep due to being surrounded by barking, howling, yapping dogs.  Every time I passed the stairwell I could hear them, crying out their distress - apart from my little trooper who just sat there in miserable silence, waiting for it all to end.

The sunset leaving Station Pier

NOT happy, Anthea!

But end it did!  And what waited on the other side of Bass Strait?  A beautiful, big dog beach!  In fact, we seem to be doing a bit of a dog beach crawl as we wander along the north coast.  I was given an amazing site at Devonport, complete with my own deck, and a short 5 minute walk to the dog beach.  Maggie did her thing and introduced herself to all of the neighbours, any kids who came past and all the dogs in the park.  Strangely, I was surrounded by Tasmanians, not mainlanders, some having travelled amazing distances such as 50 km to be there!  When I said I was heading west to Stanley, I was told that was a big trip and I might need to take a couple of days ... it's a massive 124 km!!!  But having seen how many Tasmanians drive (slowly) perhaps it is a big trip.

While at Devonport, I visited the Tasmanian Arboretum.  What a delightful place!  Maggie and I wandered around the different areas, through stands of Wollemi pines, into asian forests and through to New Zealand (which was unfortunately full of burrs) and then to to the lake where I watch three platypus feed in the shallows.  The Arboretum has been developed on the site of an old quarry and is run and maintained by fabulous volunteers.  The place was immaculate and beautifully designed, with information boards and walkways, and a huge array of plants, birds and animals.

The Tasmanian Native-Hen - one of only three flightless Australian birds (the others being the emu and the cassowary)

Leaving Devonport, I decided to explore the Dial Range and did a convoluted day trip, discovering that C-roads were REALLY C or D or even E roads.  But Van Morrison soldiered on and we climbed the mountains, visited lakes and dipped into the valleys before finding a lovely camp, complete with my own kitchen and wedding chapel.  I used one but, you'll be thankful to know, not the other!   After a lovely evening (I'd bought Maggie a HUGE bone ... she was talking to me again!), we set off the next morning for Leven Canyon.  Here there are two lookouts as well as a track connecting the two that has 697 steps.  The question was ... should I walk up the steps or down?  I decided to go up - a wise decision in the end since Maggie found her inner sled-dog and helped me up the very steep climb.  

One day, I'm going to make a collection of all the best named places I've been to ... Nowhere Else was a bit of a disappointment since there was nothing there.

The north coast is very beautiful, with sharp, rocky shorelines interspersed with fine sandy beaches.  I've explored Penguin and Ulverstone but have missed Stanley altogether (I can always come back before I go home).  I driven through poppy fields and lily farms, dairy farms and crops of potatoes, visited lighthouses and coffee shops and have avoided most crowds (or even groups of more than two!).   I did have a brief moment (well, six hours or so) when my phone decided it had no signal.  I was ready to go to great lengths to find a phone wizard until I thought about switching it off and then on again.  This worked.  It always does.  So I have a phone again!

One assumes from the sign that people have picked the poppies and tried to make their own opium or heroin.

And now I'm in Arthur River.  The weather is glorious and Maggie has swum and rolled in the sand and even I had a swim (I didn't roll in the sand!).  Tomorrow I plan to do some walks and drive part of the Tarkine Trail.  Maybe we'll have another swim, read a book, have an afternoon nap.   Perhaps I should clean all the sand out of the van (thanks, Maggie).  Life is SO busy!