TRIP REPORTS
We booked into the Beach Caravan park which has a
magnificent camp kitchen which we made good use
of. Being a full moon we had a beautiful moon rise
over Bass Strait, what a difference 24 hours makes.
Highly recommend the park.
to overnight as we were booked on the river cruise
the next morning.
Peppermint Camp, with toilets, a cold shower and a
large covered B.B.Q. in the centre of town. I went
for a walk along estuary after dinner.
Day 3 - 20th
8.30am. Start and headed to Table Top Lighthouse
and Lookout, missing turnoff and taking scenic
route. A pleasant agriculture area where two of the
main crops are Tulips and Poppies. We continued
West along the coast visiting Sisters Beach, a pretty
place with lots of bird life an according to Lael good
coffee.
Backtracking to the coastal highway we continued
on to Stanley and the Nut. All except James (who
walked both ways) took the chairlift to the summit
and the mandatory circuit walk, which passes
through a Mutton Bird (Shearwater) rookery the last
chicks leaving for Siberia, and enjoyed the
spectacular views. Lael and Joy took the chairlift
down and proceeded into town for lunch, the rest
walking down and picnicking in the park.
After exploring the town and wharf area we headed
west, stopping at Smithton for a gas hose, before
proceeding toward Cape Grim(which has the
cleanest air in the world). As time was short we
headed south to Marrawah(last fuel before Zeehan)
Day 4 - 21st
A lazy morning as we had until 9.30 to be at the
cruise office. I took the opportunity to walk the river
estuary to the ocean and along the beach, literally
hundreds of logs which have washed down the river
are beached in the estuary and the ocean beach.
All met at cruise office to have coffee and pay for
tickets, apart from our group only one other couple
on M. V. Reflections for the trip.
Owner and Skipper Rob has been running the trip
for 28 years and was very knowledgeable and
entertaining. We travelled up river for 16 kms to the
junction of the Franklin River, neither river is
navigable past the junction.
Rob had pointed out various bird life on the way
including two pairs of Sea Eagles, both of which had
lost their chicks this season, Rob blames the heat
stating that water temperature was very high at 24
degrees. Their nests are huge, and are renovated
and reused each season.