Friday 1st April 2011

Clouds are streaking across the sky this morning and there is a fresh wind blowing.  We set off to have a day of exploring and headed north to check out some falls.  We wound up high through more timber country and the tops of the trees were being whipped by the strong winds blowing.  We even felt Bruiser being buffeted around so just as well Destiny wasn’t behind us.  It would have been sideways.  The turnoff to the Meetus Falls takes us along 10km of forestry road, which is well maintained, and interesting to drive through this thick forest.  There were forestry trails for the timber trucks to use criss-crossing the falls road but fortunately none appeared during our journey.

Meetus Falls

Outside the car we needed to rug up in our coats again as the wind was icy on our walk to the lookout.  The falls were quite spectacular and the water ran over rocks all along the valley floor through heavy vegetation, which made it difficult to photo clearly.

Back out to the main road and crossing over we drove out the eastern side along another forestry road to the Lost Falls.  Not sure how they can be lost when there are signs to follow!  Again a short walk to the lookout and we look sideways at the falls.  Would be great if the lookout was on the other side of the valley as I am sure the view would be spectacular. 

We also walked to the River Pools above the falls and enjoyed the view.

River pools at top of Lost Falls

Walking back to the car and detouring again we walk to a spot where there are views through to the coast along 9 mile beach and across to the Peninsula.  There were rain showers passing through so the view was not as clear as could have been but on a clear day would be great.

Driving onto Campbell Town we enjoy our lunch sitting in the car out of the wind watching a couple with ‘gold’ detectors walking the park in the centre of town.  They stop every now and then and dig with what looks like a screwdriver and then pocket coins, bottle-tops, things to sort out later.  Maybe they were locals as the council workers emptying the bins didn’t seem disturbed by them.  Campbell Town has some lovely old buildings as the area was settled in 1821 by Governor Macquarie – the river and town were named for his wife Elizabeth Campbell.  It was one of the settlements established to link Launceston and Hobart.  Properties in this area produce some of the finest Merino wool in the world and the Midlands region is the main agricultural centre of Tasmania.  The oldest continuously held Agricultural show in the southern hemisphere still takes place every June in the showground.  It is centrally located on the Heritage Highway, with a town population of 900 and boasts over a hundred homes aged a century or more.  The Red Bridge built of red clay bricks, was completed in 1838 after only 15 months construction.  The clay for the bricks was extracted from one end of the bridge and it is estimated that there are 1.5million bricks in the bridge.  It was constructed for horse drawn vehicles only and today takes over 2million vehicles annually and no major repair work has ever been necessary.  How is that for workmanship?

Another interesting fact is that the first telephone call in Australia was made between Campbell Town and Launceston Railway Stations by a local schoolmaster Mr Alfred Biggs.   He constructed two telephones from drawings by Alexander Graham Bell.  These phones are now at the Museum in Launceston.

We journeyed back down the highway to Ross to explore the wonderful old buildings down there along with the famous bridge that is built of sandstone that was carved by two convict stonemasons.  The bridge took a couple of years to build and the two stonemasons were granted their freedom on completion.  They had carved panels depicting various Celtic symbols.

We walked the main street checking out the various buildings and admiring the skills of those early pioneers.  Of course I could not pass the Tasmanian Wool Centre that has opened in Ross in one of the lovely sandstone buildings.  As well as being able to purchase garments and check out the entire various souvenirs available there is a wool museum on display.  Wow what a place to visit for a spinner.  There are fleece samples from all various breeds of sheep (to touch) along with static displays about shearing and stories of various graziers who had settled in the area.  It was a fascinating place to visit and you could easily spend the whole day there trolling through the various collections of newspaper clippings and reading the stories of the various families.  There was also a display of fine merino wool (again touchy feely) showing the different micron varieties.  Needless to say they even had a few bags of fleece on sale and one just had my name on it! 

Church at Ross

We enjoyed afternoon tea at the old Bakery that was built in 1838 and sat inside (out of the cold wind) and enjoyed the historic surroundings.  Just to sit and touch those hewn stone walls and feel that you connect with those generations of old.  We loved it and there were lots of yummy things to eat as well.  Yes Lawrie and another bakery.