Friday to Monday

We finally said goodbye to Cosy Corner North on Friday and headed out towards Scottsdale.  The road again took us through mountains and lots of forestry plantations.  The valleys were green hills everywhere with cattle or sheep grazing.  Such pretty scenery.   We called in to Halls Falls to have a cuppa and enjoy a walk through the bush to the falls.

Halls Falls

 Arriving in Scottsdale we found the free camp ground on the eastern edge of town and decided to set ourselves up there.  Water is provided throughout the park along with toilets, cold showers and hot at $3 for 3 minutes but as we have our own we can save even more money.

Scottsdale is a little like New Norfolk with a good sized shopping centre including a Woolies supermarket and a Chickenfeed so we do some shopping to stock up again.  As we are still free camping I shop to suit what we can cook and reheat without the microwave.  

Saturday after some early showers cleared to blue skies with a light wind, we head out for a drive around the area.  We headed up to the coast at Bridport which is a little town where the tide goes out a loooooong way.  The fishing trawlers were sand locked as the tide had left them high and dry.  We drove out to the esplanade and checked out the local beaches where there was a girl guide camp happening for the weekend.  Interesting to see the types of tents etc they use now compared to what was used back in the 1980’s when I was involved with guides. 

We drove on towards George Town at the eastern side of the mouth of the Tamar River and called into the Information centre where we chatted to a couple of locals.  They provided us with the necessaries and we headed off to the lookout just a couple of km’s up the road.  This was the site of a signal station that was used to pass messages from Low Head pilot station regarding shipping movements, on to Mt Direction where they were then signalled on to another station and from there to Launceston.  Originally the signalling was done by flags and then with the introduction of the electric telegraph the system updated to the new system.  It was interesting to read how the messages took only 8 minutes from Low Head to Launceston via the flag method.

view from old flagstaff

George Town was settled by a boatload of convicts with soldiers, 1 free settler, a doctor and Lieut. Colonel Paterson being sent from the mainland in 1804 as there was concern by the NSW Governor of a French invasion of Van Diemen’s Land.  It is the third oldest settlement by Europeans in Australia with only Sydney (1788) and Hobart (1803) preceding it.  Originally called Outer Cove and then York Cove it was given the present name and declared a town in 1811.  The first map was published in 1813 showing the city centre streets with the same names they carry today.  When the Second World War ended the population was around 300 however owing to the industrial growth of Comalco, Temco and other smaller but important industries there are about 6,500.  There is a big focus on tourism and displaying the heritage connected to this settlement and this all provides opportunity for further growth.  Many of the original buildings are gone however those that remain are displayed in all their glory.

At Low Head the lighthouse is the oldest continual operating lighthouse in Australia. 

From George Town we drove down beside the Tamar River along the East Tamar Highway until we turned off to travel through to Lilydale where we find a stag deer with his harem.  

 Again driving through mountains and beautiful green hills we arrive back to Scottsdale from the west.  The autumn trees are now turning, especially the poplars and myrtles beside creeks and rivers.  The poplars stand tall with their mix of yellow and green leaves providing a scenic backdrop that is worthy of a painting whilst the myrtles spread their branches to provide shade and shelter for the cattle.  You can tell that this happens as the bottom of the foliage looks as if it has been pruned whereas in fact the cattle have chewed it off.  Unfortunately these scenes are only on view as we drive along and there is usually no-where to park to be able to capture the scene with a photograph. 

Sunday we decided to do the shopping and have a rest day in camp.  There were quite a few vans and motorhomes also camped in the park along with some hardy souls (young of course) in small tents and wizz bangs (camper vans).  We went for a walk through the park (North East Park) and explored along the creek and checked out the huge gums with the black cockatoos flying in to roost each afternoon.  There are also numerous resident ducks that appreciate a treat of bread from your fingers.  The park has been in existence since early in the 1900’s and in 1988 the local Lions and Apex members set about restoring the picnic facilities and building more toilets etc.  The end result means that travellers have wonderful facilities to use for little or no cost and this of course means that the trip is more affordable.  The afternoon is clear and sunny and I took advantage and pulled out my spinning wheel and spent an enjoyable time sitting in the sun and spinning some fleece I bought in Bothwell.  The clouds started to build up later in the afternoon and the evening found us with showers and strong winds that continued throughout the night.  Monday stayed wet and rather cool with a breeze that was rather chilly.  The weather forecast is for more rain so we decide that we will head out tomorrow as we are into our last week now.