We awoke (eventually) to another sun filled day, our last full day in Bicheno. After a slow start (again) we decided on a visit to the 'East Coast Natureworld' which is located a short distance to the north of Bicheno on the Tasman Highway. We set off about 9:30am and only took a few minutes to arrive outside the park and to be greeted by a very pretty stone garden and water feature in the car park of the premises. Having examined this feature and 'one of us' deciding that is what she wanted 'the other one' to build in our front yard when we get home to Western Australia, it was time to make our way in and visit the animals.

To call this a 'wildlife park' is possibly misconstruing what is really in the park, as the animals were anything but wild, they all seemed to be extremely friendly to us. There was a really good array of Australian animals and quite a number of birds in good sized averys. The ducks, geese, fowl, and a variety of other such birds were wandering free within the park among the Kangaroos. Fortunately the many snakes were restrained within their enclosures and we unanimously agreed that we will leave the feeding of them up to the owner of the park, as he told us he has to get in with them when he feeds them.

We first had a brief look at the enclosures close to the entry before one of us decided a bag of feed for the animals and birds was a necessity as they all looked 'so longingly' at us as we walked past them, although most of them did actually follow us. We really did become popular then!

At 10am it was feeding time and the kangaroos had to compete with all the ducks and other free roaming birds for their share of the food. Not that they really had to worry to much because the amount of food they consumed out of all the visitors hands would have kept them going for quite some time. All the Kangaroos, in fact all the animals were extremely friendly and did not appear to have any fear of people. Then it was time for the Tasmanian Devil to wake up and meet the people, assisted by the park owner who picked up the 'devil' and held him for all to photograph and to show that this devil (named 'Snapper') was in fact well trained and very friendly. Although the photograph attached shows her with her mouth wide open, she was really a bit of a pussycat in nature. The owner took time to describe the life of the devil and was informative, not only about the devil but about the park itself and many of the other aspects of keeping a wildlife park.

We continued around the park, including the walk through avery and many other enclosures before returning to the cafe at the entrance where, you guessed it, 'one of us' wanted to sample the scones and cream, so that was the next activity we had to undertake. This 'wildlife' park was well worth the $12.80 entry fee and we would recommend anyone passing this way take the time to stroll around with the animals, particularly if you can make it at feeding times which are 10am and 4pm.

After departing the East Coast Natureworld, we drove back into Bicheno and took a walk up the hill in the centre of the town to 'Whalers Lookout Rock' where there were good views over the town itself, the harbour and also a boat harbour area called 'The Gulch'. More Photographs were taken from the lookouts on this rock and then 'one of us' decided it was time to head back to the caravan park again. I'm sure this had nothing to do with the fact that she and Judy then took a walk to the shops, both returning with more bags of goodies. It appears that the locals consider it to be a hot summer day as the temperature has reached about 26 degrees and that must be hot for this area where the average is 20.5 degrees during summer and 16.5 degrees during winter.

In the morning it will be time to 'hit the road' again and head off to St Helens for the next few days.

'Snapper' the Tasmanian Devil

Having a bit of a gossip with the locals

The Gulch - Bicheno

Saturday 20th March 2004

On the move again, departing the Bicheno Caravan Park at about 10:30am after our usual 'early' start.

We set off north along the Tasman Highway which was fairly easy going as the highway didn't stray to far from the ocean, keeping the range of mountains on or left. On arriving at the junction of he road that gave us the opportunity to either continue up the coast or head into the mountains to St Marys, we of course chose to take the high road.... This road changed dramatically and soon became a narrow winding uphill grade for about ten kilometres with a steep drop off on one side and the mountain side on the other. There were signs along the way saying that large vehicles should blow their horn when approaching the many sharp bends in the road. The driver was told there were some really good views over some deep valleys but he was also told he wasn't allowed to look, just in case he strayed off the edge of the road, so he just has to take their word for the terrific views. We passed through Elephant Pass without sighting any elephants and then came into the town of St Marys where some of the shops were examined in some detail by the girls whilst the 'other one' poured the cups of tea.

From St Marys, we rolled down St Marys Pass, again twisting and turning around steep drops and cliff faces, but the view was well worth the drive. At the bottom of the pass we turned north again for another sixty kilometres, passing through Scamander and Beaumaris before reaching our destination of St Helens.

Once we settled the caravan into the Hilcrest Caravan Park we took Judy 500 metres down the road to her cabin at the Cockle Cove cabins, which are great value accommodation. Then it was in to town for a quick look around. The purchase of a few non essential items such as food and a few essentials like a new cask of Stanley Lambusca white wine and a bottle of Shiraz Cabernet to go with the roast port and vegetables that are on the menu for tonight..

Main street of St Marys

St Helens Southern view from waterfront

Sunday 21st March 2004

After completing our domestic chores and refilling two gas cylinders this morning, it was time to set off and explore.

We initially decided we were going to head off north, but ended up traveling south instead and followed the coastline, with our first stop being at a beach lookout and parking bay. As we pulled into this parking bay, we came up behind another Heritage Caravan that was almost identical to ours and it was registered in Narrogin, Western Australia. After stopping and chatting for a while with the owner of that caravan, we eventually took some photographs of the beach and moved on again, eventually calling in to another beach called Dennison. This was a good long expanse of white sand and if the weather had have been warmer it may have tempted us.

On leaving this beach, under the directions of 'one of us' we set off up Elephant Pass again and stopped for our first lunch at a rather scenic bend in the road up the mountain. After lunch the girls had to climb up a steep bank to prove they could do it. Then we continued up the mountain until we reached Elephant Pass Pancake Restaurant and we weren't allowed to go passed it without calling in for pancakes with berries and chocolate milk with cream and ice cream!!!! Having consumed this 'second' lunch there was a need to walk some of it off so we started to walk the 800 metres down a fairly steep roadway to Blueberry Cottage Gardens. On the way Judy had a trip of her own, ending up sitting in the middle of the road in the dirt. Fortunately no damage was incurred and we all continued down to the garden.

On arrival at the garden we were greeted by the owners (Dave and Trudi Matthews) who are very pleasant people and they provided information about the garden and many other aspects of living in this part of Tasmania. They maintain a web site on which people can view the garden at www.blueberrycottage.com After a pleasant half hour or more we made our way back up the hill (without any more trips) and continued our drive into St Marys again.

From St Marys we took an unsealed road north of the town until we came across a road that had a sigh on it saying ' South Sisters Lookout' and being curious people, we had to see where it went to. Well after traveling some distance on a very rough (almost 4WD) road up the mountain, we came to a path that lead us even further up to the top of the mountain where we stood between huge towers and antenna that looked over the surrounding mountains and valleys. It may have been an effort to get there and the valleys were quite hazy, but it was worth the effort. We doubt that it is listed of most tourist maps.

With our day getting close to an end, it was time to climb back down the hill again and head for home and although we were not sure where the road would lead us, we eventually made it back out onto Tasman Highway and back to the caravan park. We had survived another day.

Part of Blueberry Cottage garden

South Sisters Lookout