Tuesday, 10 April 2018                         Derwent Bridge   -   Strahan

Robyn writes:  Another huge day on the road in Tassie! We were up nice and early this morning, as we knew we had quite a bit of travel to get through before lunch time. By the time 8 o’clock rolled around and breakfast was on in the hotel (included in our tariff) we were pretty much packed. They provided us with a good breakfast of toast, cereal, fruit, and you could boil your own egg. I put mine in for 3 and a half minutes, and it was awfully undercooked. It was THEN that our friendly hostess commented that at such a high altitude, you need to boil your eggs for at least another full minute…..oh well, you live and you learn! After a chat with our friendly hosts (who actually hail from Kingaroy – they used to run a newsagent there) we finished packing and set off just before 9 towards the west.

 Goodbye, Derwent Bridge Wilderness Hotel!

Stunning scenery along the road

As we’d bought the 24-hour National Parks parking pass yesterday, we were able to plan to do two short walks along the way to Strahan. We stopped first at Frenchman’s Cap – here we had the choice of the 3 to 5 DAY, extremely arduous climb to the top of the mountain, or the 15 minutes return to the Franklin River. Wisely, we decided on the latter! So, we clambered down the mountain trail to the river, where we found an extremely cool suspension bridge. Only one person at a time, but we really enjoyed it. The Franklin is only a small river at this stage. Then we headed back up the hill (quite steep) and arrived, puffing and panting, back at the car to continue our trip. About 25 km further along was the second walk we wanted to do: Nelson Falls. This was about 20 minutes return on very good paths; not steep at all. The falls were really quite spectacular, lovely to see. After admiring the wonders of nature, we realised we were running a bit short of time so headed westward once more.

Suspension bridge at the Franklin River

Nelson Falls

This leg of the trip was some of the most spectacular scenery of the whole holiday so far – the mountains of the west coast heading into Queenstown and Strahan are quite incredible, and we were constantly pulling up to gape in amazement. We wished we’d had more time to do more of the walks to see them properly. There were kilometres of winding road as we went down, down, down the mountains. Truly amazing scenery.

 Sadly, we just didn't have time for this - a walkway around the mountain you can see to a big waterfall. On the 'next time' list!

 Coming into Queenstown

Spectacular mountains!

We made good time, and arrived in Strahan just after quarter past 12, in plenty of time for our steam train ride we’d booked at 2.15. We were able to book right in to our unit at the Regatta Point Inn, located conveniently right next to the railway station! We had lunch there, then organised our stuff for the train and strolled over in plenty of time to board.

Strahan station

The train was packed – heaps of tourists anxious to see the wilderness. The ride took 4 hours and wound its way up into the mountains along the King River. Along the way we had three stops to refill the loco with water (and for toilet breaks & short strolls in the forest), and were treated to commentary which told us the history of the railway. (It was established to move out copper from the Mt Lyell Copper Mine.) An incredible feat of engineering and construction, considering it was done without any modern equipment – just pickaxes and shovels to build it. At the second and top stop, the engine was turned around for the return trip, which the two engineers did by hand on the turntable! A great trip with wonderful scenery and lots of history as well. The line still goes all the way to Queenstown, with a weekly journey all the way from end to end - maybe next time! We arrived back in Strahan just as the sun was setting.

 Along the edge of the bay

 Then along the King River

Our engine - named Mt Lyell No. 5

 Turning the train by hand
 

 Rainforest walk under a bridge
 

Stopped at Lower Landing Station

 

Robyn and the engine

 

The Iron Bridge
 

 

Soon after, we went looking for a few groceries and our evening meal. A peek into the window of the Regatta where we are staying revealed a room full of grey heads – a busload of senior cits were enjoying their dinner! We decided to look elsewhere, and soon discovered that everyone else in Strahan had the same thought. The first café we tried had a notice up saying that they were booked out, and their earliest table free was at 8.15. Bugger!

We went next door to the Hamer Grill in an old hotel, and the lad there promised us a table by about 7. We took that, whipped our groceries home, got changed, headed back and were seated straight away! For such a busy restaurant, they were amazingly quick with our meals. Lex had a delicious (and not spicy) jerk chicken. I ordered the butter chicken, and it was the spiciest one I’ve ever had! I was actually having trouble eating it, so in desperation asked the waiter for more yoghurt raita to try to put the fire out. This must happen quite regularly, as he apologised to me about it later and said I wasn’t the only one!

Anyway, after our meal (I had to have an icecream scoop to stop the burning) we headed home, feeling quite exhausted. Having fun is very, very tiring! Tomorrow, we are going on a Gordon River cruise so hoping that might be a bit restful…..