Some of what I written about in my previous posts has been about the weather being unkind to us, so I am starting this one on a very positive weather note! Our trip to Maria Island was blessed with the most perfect weather for walking around the island – the sun shone and the wind had dropped to a nice cooling breeze.
Boxing day was a bit of a write off for us, we visited Salamanca Market but were disappointed with what was on offer and we were both feeling rather tired after our non-stop travels, despite drawing breath in the Hobart hotel. So, we headed straight for our campsite at White Beach, about 11 km from Port Arthur on the Tasman Peninsula. It seemed that the wind was following us.
Christmas Day! I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and an enjoyable festive season. We arrived in Hobart yesterday from Bruny Island and are staying at an apartment hotel (The Old Woolstore) where Kerena is currently cooking Christmas lunch/dinner. But a lot has happened since my last post ….
Even the best laid plan can take a turn in a different direction, either for the better or for the worse. In our case it was for the worse, at least initially as it worked out OK in the end. But more about that later.
Tarn Shelf Walk
The weather forecast for today was not that great and it certainly lived up to expectations. Looking out of the hut window at 8 o’clock, we were surrounded by thick mist, or, probably more accurately, the cloud base was lower than us. Rain was forecast for later so we decided to tackle the Tarn Shelf walk. We had planned to do this last year when we were here, but the weather got the better of us then.
After a very hot night in the hotel with no air conditioning or even a ceiling fan, we got out of bed to have breakfast and packing the car before strolling across the road to the railway station from where the West Coast Wilderness Railway departs. We had booked the Wilderness Class a couple of months previously and had looked forward to this treat for some time.
Our early move south turned out to be a good decision – according to locals, the weather has been exceptionally good – getting up to 30 degrees today. At long last we both had a very good night’s sleep and felt the better for it. We managed to get out of bed at 07:00 to be greeted with a clear blue sky and a warm 22 degrees.
From Day 02 to today the wind was unrelenting and seemed to get stronger as the night wore on. Having had very little, if any, sleep, Kerena and I agreed at 3 o’clock in the morning that we would forgo a further sleepless night of forecasted high winds at Arthur River in preference to heading to Queestown, our next planned stop.
Well, I honestly though that the worst weather we could expect would be rain, but the wind has been non-stop since we arrived in Arthur River – can you imagine trying to set out a salad without your lettuce leaves blowing away! Or more to the point your tent! Yes, the wind is getting up to 40km/hr tomorrow and we are planning an excursion north.
OK, so it is now day 2, but yesterday was pretty busy with arriving, travelling, setting up camp, making dinner etc, but more of that later.
With breakfast out of the way, back to Thursday: we left Gisborne at just before 16:00, having had some fun packing the car, and arrived at the ferry terminal before 17:00, boarding was straightforward and our cabin was ready for us. The crossing was ‘as smooth as’ except for when we crossed the Heads and for a bit after. As a result, Kerena did not suffer too much from sea sickness. Disembarking was also painless, just a bit of a wait for the security biosecurity and Covid 19 checking.
It was with much relief and excitement that my partner and I heard the announcement last Friday that the Tasmanian border had been opened. Relief, because we had booked the ferry, with fingers crossed, a couple of months in advance, and excitement because of our planned four week circumnavigation around the island state.