Sunday 7th March 2004

Another moving day today, from Stanley down to Queenstown a total distance of approximately 270 kilometres traveled over a period of about six hours.

We left the Stanley caravan park at 9:54 am and set off back east through Edgecombe Beach, Hellyer, Boat Harbour, and Somerset before turning south through Elliiot, Yolla and stopping for morning tea at Hellyer Gorge.

After this stop and a walk around the river at Hellyer Gorge, we wound our way back up the mountains and continued south over numerous rivers and passed the Cradle Mountain turn off, lake Roseberry and Tullay before stopping in Roseberry for a quick bite of mediocre take away for a late lunch. We then continued over the Spitt River, Ring River, Henty River and Henty River as we wound passed Mount Murchison before arriving at out final destination of Queenstown.

The whole journey was extremely scenic and although a great deal of the way we were winding up or down hills, it was well worth the experience.

Once in Queenstown we set up the caravan after getting Judy's room sorted out and then took a short drive down into the town to see what it had to offer. The town itself does not have a great deal in the way of good shopping facilities, however we did book out fares on the Queenstown to Strahan railway for Tuesday Afternoon. We would have preferred a full day return trip, however they are booked out until later this week and we will be gone before the full day trip was available.

Now it is time to settle down after the 'stress of the drive', put our feet up and relax for the night.

Monday 8th March 2004

First things first today and it was considered important to ensure we have our accommodation booked ahead for the next three weeks, at least until Judy flies out on her way back home. We have found it a little difficult to get a cabin with all facilities as well as a powered site in the same caravan park or location and today did not prove to be any different. After ringing a number of parks and other types of accommodation we finally managed to get what we need up until 24th March but still need to arrange the last few days at Launceston. We have been told that since the third 'Spirit of Tasmania' ferry has started it's run, accommodation is getting more difficult to book and in our case, requiring the two styles at one location, it can be very difficult. However we have managed so far and will sort the last days out soon.

Once that was organised, we set off on the way to Strahan along the 'long and winding road'. The scenery was different again from what we had previously traveled, with the trees becoming shorter and the country becoming more like bush than forest. There were sections of low grassed areas as well and the mountains gave away to hills, then close to Strahan it became fairly flat (for Tasmania anyway).

Strahan itself was quite a clean and tidy little town with all the appearances of a tourist centre, which is what it is of course. We had our lunch sitting in a car park across the water from the main town centre before moving on, driving around the town then setting off for Zeehan.

The drive to Zeehan started out on very flat country then slowly wound between some mountains before climbing into the lower levels of those mountains. The town of Zeehan was relatively small and had all the attributes of an old mining town (which is quite natural because that is what it is). After driving around Zeehan we set off back to Queenstown which took us back onto the same road we caravanned down to reach it the day before. This road wound it's way through the lower slopes of a few very high hills (or low mountains) before climbing over the last mountain ridge and descending into the centre of Queenstown.

At this point, 'one of us' was not feeling very well and needed some prescribed medication, unfortunately it was a public holiday so no doctor surgery was open. On the off chance, (at Judy's suggestion) we attended the local hospital that we had discovered and were extremely pleasantly surprised by the service and attention provided. There was a doctor present and the visit would have not been more than twenty minutes whilst at the same time providing all the assistance needed, including the medication to fix the problem. Having visited South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania, we can say without fear of contradiction, the medical services in Western Australia with their advanced centralization strategies have been left far behind in the provision of services to the patient (who is their customer) and they could learn a lot by looking at what these states do.

It was then about 4pm and time for 'one of us' to put their feet up and rest, so Judy returned to her motel room and for the others it was back to the caravan for the rest of the afternoon.

Tuesday 9th March 2004

The main event for today was the Abt Steam Train journey from Queenstown to Strahan. Unfortunately we were unable to obtain a ticket for the 10ap journey so had to wait until 3pm before we could board the train. The Abt Steam Rail used the same route that the copper mine used to transport copper ore out of Queenstown down to the port in Strahan. It was first built back in the early 1890's and was the result of hundreds of men working with picks, shovels and wheelbarrows, a far cry from today's methods. As a section of the track has an incline of up to 12 to 1 upwards, there was a need for a method of winding the train up and down the steep inclines and that is where the 'Apt' came from as it is the system of cog and sprocket gears that the train uses to assist it up the incline and to slow it on the way down.

This journey first wound around some mountain slopes and through re growth timber that has started to re-establish itself after the original construction of the track. During this time all timber in the vicinity of the track was either used in the construction of the railway or used to fuel the smelters at the copper mine. The story goes that there was no tree left standing because they were all used for this purpose. (and around Queenstown, anything left standing died as the result of the copper smelting fumes etc.)

Just before the half way mark of the 35 km journey, the Abt rack and pinion centre rail came into play and the train used this system to wind up the steeper slopes, over the top of the summit and down the other side. to a siding called Dubbil Barril (Yes the spelling is correct) where the steam engine was turned around on a turntable and towed the carriages back to Queenstown. We then changed to another set of old style carriages and were towed to Strahan by a small old diesel Engine that was used on the same track from about 1957.

The new Rail was completely restored and completed by April 2003 after falling into disrepair and being sold up in the 1960's.

Once we reached Strahan we had an hour and a half to fill in (which was done very comfortably in the local hotel with a meal and a glass of wine before being brought back to Queenstown in a bus with a video screening that outlined the history of the line and the restoration of the system for today's tourists.

There is a lot more that could be said about the rail system and the day, but time and space does not allow, so tomorrow it is off to Snug, just south of Hobart.