We stopped in at Waratah and had breakfast. We saw a waterfall in town and read about the old battery. We also saw a water tunnel in the middle of nowhere.
Moving on we got to Burnie and went to the information centre to find where the free showers were. We took the 1km walk along the boardwalk to town and showered and then had a quick look around. Realising there was not much to do in the town we left and headed west.
The next town we got to was Wynyard. We were told about the old Fords in the information centre so we stopped there for a look. We paid the $17 and went through to see many, very nicely, restored Fords with polished brass bits. Most of the cars are owned by a man who lives in town. He really has done a wonderful job.
We got a couple of kms down the track and detoured again to see a Historic Lighthouse. Closed for painting.
Continuing on we missed the Peggs Beach camp spot and ended up at Black River camp spot. Thinking for $13 for no facilities we were better off back at Rocky Cape Tavern we returned there and set up.
The boys cooked tacos, I put on the washing and we met some people and sat around the fire for a bit. It wasn’t as cold here as it has been previous nights, which was nice.
The next morning we were super organised – no more day light savings time to contend with. We were fed and packed and headed off to “The Nut”. We arrived at 8.30am and it didn’t open until 9.30am. Not wanting the winds to pick up and we miss out we decided to hang around Stanley, which we rather took too, and kill time.
We found ourselves down at the water’s edge on the docks. I spotted a few fish and thought I could throw my line in; not having any tackle with us but bait and our rods. I threw close to the wharf and Rod was having a go at me telling me I wasn’t going to catch anything there, so I threw it out further. After about 5 minutes I threw it right in close, where I initially wanted to, and caught a fish! A wrasse I think. A couple more casts and I caught 3 in total. The 2nd fish, another wrasse, was a very good fighter and would have been worth keeping, but we didn’t have a knife to cut his throat or gut it. Oh well. Oh and once I caught the first fish the boys had a go with no luck.
We got up to “The Nut” just after 9.30am. The Nut is a rock formation on the edge of the water. Geologists think it is from a volcano, I think. There is a chairlift that goes up the edge and you can walk around the top, which we did. We saw lots of pademelons (wallabies for us) and birds. There were also some fantastic 360° views.
We left there and headed for Dismal Swamp. This place was recommended to us by many and we were lucky enough to have a voucher for it, making it a little bit cheaper.
Dismal Swamp is basically a land mass that has sunk and self drains; apparently it is still sinking. There were timber boardwalks which weaved their way through the trees with many different paths to take. Not sounding so great. Well, the reason we went is because there is also a 110m slide that takes you down to the swamp, which goes at approx 27km/hr. Quite deceiving until you hit the 2nd corner! It was lots of fun but not worth the hefty cost of $50/family for 2 slides each. We paid $40/family, although the lady was debating the voucher.
We left there and returned to our camp at Rocky Cape. We cooked roast pig for dinner and let me tell you it was one of the best meals I have had in ages. After dinner I took Mitchell fishing; well we didn’t end up fishing. I think we were given a bum steer on the jetty and squid fishing, but we did see a lot of nocturnal animals which we bought Rhys back to see also. Lots of possums and wallabies. The possums here are so placid and don’t mind you having a close up look at them.
PHOTOS: Burnie, Wynyard, Stanley, Dismal Swamp & Rocky Cape
VIDEOS:
Sliding at Dismal Swamp
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