Free camping at Liffey Reserve

We were hoping to find some friends whom we knew was camping at Liffey but sadly we didn't find them so in the end we decided to stay at Liffey Reserve anyway.

Liffey Campground

Liffey Forest Reserve is located in Tasmania’s North West, just south of Deloraine just about 70km from Launceston. This reserve is a part of World Heritage Area. The camp site is on the banks of the Liffey River, a quiet meandering creek at this point.

I had hoped to see the Liffey waterfalls nearby and to go on one of the bush walks would have been great, but to be honest I was totally out of it still after my operations let alone the bad kidney infection I current was suffering from though the antibiotics had kicked in.

Rob found us a lovely sunny spot adjacent to the river. All in all we were just here to have peace and quiet. One of the things I did want to do in the quiet spot was catch up with some washing and the easy access to the creek was wonderful. Before anyone gets their arms up in the air, we do use biodegradable detergent and we use it very sparingly. Most of our stuff just needs to have our body odor washed out since we rarely actually get dirty.

Reading in the sun for some time out to recover

Surprisingly (or maybe not) I did not even want to socialize at all, just hibernate and recover some energy and Liffey Reserve filled this need fantastically. I did chat briefly in the morning with a group of hippies that were just packing up.

Liffey Falls

On our first full day there we went for the short  drive to the Liffey Falls after a late sleep in. It is a very narrow windy dirt road which is really not suitable for caravans or big rigs. It still involved a 45 minute slow walk including the return. The bottom falls are beautiful 5 tiers with lots of luscious ferns and moss on the surface of the rocks and surrounds. There are 3 other falls along the way but Rob walked to these on his own since I was still weak and really had no energy. I quite enjoyed sitting in the sun at the first falls whilst he wandered off.

Part of the walk to Liffey Falls

After this we drove up to the Great Lakes which is at a high elevation. The road is windy with a few sharp hair pin bends. The ground was white with heavy frost. All up it was a 160km round trip by the time we  got back to the Liffey Reserve for another quiet night at the camp.


After a decent cuppa and such Rob went across to chat with another motorhome couple that had arrived but I cozied up on the bed with a book which I hardly read before sleep overcame me after so much travelling.

Stanley and The Nut

When you drive along the highway past the turnoff to Stanley, you can't help but notice "The Nut" which is an ancient flat-topped volcanic rock that at a huge 143 metre (469 feet) height it dominates the skyline at a great distance. So we knew we just had to stop there on our way back from the far west coast of Tasmania.

Stanley is just 120km from Devonport

Stanley is the second largest town in this region with just 600 people is mainly a fishing port that juts into Bass Strait which separates Tasmania from the mainland Australia. It is only 22 km from Smithton situated on a long peninsula.

We wanted to have a good look at the town and The Nut up close. The Nut dominates the town of Stanley.

Rob and I took the chairlift that takes us to the top which cost us $15 each, though you can walk it if you are more energetic than us. You can even walk up from the town, right to the top of "The Nut".

It is an easy 2km walk to make the circuit up the top, but definitely make sure you are dressed warm as it is understandably windy up there.

One view looking down from the circuit walk atop The Nut

 
Stanley is such a pretty town with lots of historic and beautifully preserved buildings. There is a definite holiday destination feel here with lots of B&B's around and holiday rental apartments to choose from. It is a lovely spot to take a few days quiet break for what ever reason.

The Presbyterian Church

Stove Top Blackberry Slump

Rob and I  thoroughly enjoyed the fresh fruits during our Tasmanian trip especially the wild blackberries found alongside many highways and by ways.

A bowl of Blackberry Slump

Many bowls of fresh berries are consumed just as they are but it is nice to cook it up as something special. Here is a simple dessert you can cook on the stove top - my Blackberry Slump.

By the way, these dumplings are more like a cake mixture. Think of the whole dessert as more of a blackberry self saucing pudding. Some even call it a Grunt. It is so yummy no matter what name you give it.

Blackberry Slump

Dumplings:

1 cup SR flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp butter
1/3 cup milk  

Berries:

4 cups fresh blackberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon lime cordial
1/3 cup water
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest

Serve:

With cream or vanilla ice cream for topping

Instructions:

In a medium sized bowl,* whisk together the flour, salt, and sugar. Cut the butter into small cubes and add to the flour. Cut the butter into the flour until the flour resembles breadcrumbs. Set aside until needed then add the milk all at once and stir until the flour is just moistened form into 6.** balls.

In a large saucepan, add the berries, sugar, cinnamon, lime juice cordial and water. Bring to boil and stir a few times to coat the berries. Once the berry mixture is boiling, drop the 6 dumplings onto the boiling fruit around the edges of the pot. You should have enough dough for 6 dumplings. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for 25 minutes, without peeking at the dumplings. Place dumplings in serving bowls and top with berries. Serve with cream or ice cream. Serve hot or chilled.

Hints:

* I used my middle size saucepan rather than carry extra bowls in the motorhome
** Handle the dough as little as possible will help ensure that the dumplings are as light as possible

Free camping at Tall Timbers, Smithton

After another night at Green Point we woke up to a lovely but very windy morning. Sadly we had to move on as we had to get the car sorted out. The mechanic we'd been talking to, wouldn't come out as he didn't believe he could help us and so we had to look for help from another source. Rob thought we'd try an Auto Electrician instead.

Car troubles in paradise - our car is stuck on the extreme left

Car Troubles & Blackberries

We found an Auto Electrician pretty quickly just on the outskirts of Smithton. He was out on a job, when we rolled up but we thought we'd stay put and make a cuppa whilst we wait. He soon turned up.

In the meantime there was this huge hedge of blackberries, I had spied bordering his property with a vacant block of land next door and so it doesn't take much to guess what I wanted to do. Yep - more blackberry picking once we had permission and assurance that it hadn't been sprayed. Gosh! I got so many blackberries off this bush that it would keep us going for ages. Truly, I filled about 3/4 of a bucket with blackberries, plenty to eat now, to make a blackberry buckle for dessert and lots to freeze for some desserts later on! Maybe I will make some Blackberry Muffins... oh there are so many yummy things one can make from berries!

Just the start - I ran out of bowls and had to grab a bucket!!!

Oh by the way, Rob and the electrician worked on the car and it got fixed in nearly no time. It was a faulty brake fuse which we replaced. Apparently there's some mistake with the wiring between the wiring of the 24 volt and 12 volt inverter and then when the motor home brakes are applied it does something to the fuse on the car and makes it short out when it shouldn't. (I have told you before that I am not very car savvy!) Anyway the guys have disconnected the wires so that it wont happen again. We'll get our auto mechanic back home to fix it proper when we get there eventually.

Smithton

It might seem a heck of a long way from Devonport or Hobart, but really Smithton is only 135km west of Devonport. It is the largest town in this region with something like 3,500 people. We had lunch in town. We wanted to meet up with the MMM ministry team with whom we worked with way back in Hobart and when we discovered that they were working just behind the main street, we decided to walk there and meet up with them to check out how things were going with them. We were prepared to volunteer again if they needed us. Happily for them they actually had too many volunteers (that doesn't happen often though), so we just said hello to our friends there and let them get back to work and we would continue with our holiday.

Mobile Maintenance Ministry is a worthy volunteer organization to link up with

There is a new and official free camp in close to town but I think many campers don’t like it as it is a large area of bitumen. We didn't not when we had heard rave reviews of a place called Tall Timbers which has only been open to free campers for a short time.

Lots of room for free camping at Tall Timbers - we're on the extreme left

We decided to stay at the beautiful setting at Tall Timbers just on the edge of town. This place is amazing. It is a huge park like area adjacent to the actual resort. There's a duck creek running between us and the resort proper. There's plenty of room to park on the beautifully mown and well maintained lawn. We can use some of the resources of the resort if desired for a small fee, such as the restaurant, laundry, indoor heated pool/spa, the gymnasium and the tennis courts. (The pool/spa/gym was just $7 each for 2 hours use.

The Robbiebago II at Tall Timbers, Smithton

I can't say that there was anything that grabbed my attention at Smithton itself. We loved using Tall Timbers as our base and we were very comfortable about leaving the motor home there whilst we did some sightseeing around the area.

Ratatouille Mixed Baked Vegetables Camp style

Ratatouille in my book is a cross between baked vegetables and a vegetable stew and is perfect for any season of the year! I was just bursting to use my Dream Pot again. I do take it into the house kitchen, but I just don't use it anywhere near as much other than for homemade soups & casseroles. So this is a great recipe to crack the drought with.

Yummy & Helathy Ratatouille

Ratatouille is usually made with vegetables and herbs with no meat or meat broth added. There is nothing complicated about it other than learning the spelling!

Ratatouille Recipe

1 splash of olive oil
3 cloves of chopped garlic.
1 small handful of coarsely chopped celery.
1 small handful of coarsely chopped onion.
1 small handful of coarsely chopped leek.
2 chopped green onions
1 zucchini cut into large bite size pieces
1 yellow squash cut into large bite size pieces
1 long Chinese purple eggplant cut into large bite size pieces
2 coarsely chopped plum tomatoes.
1 capsicum cut into large bite size pieces
2 tablespoons of tomato puree
2 cups vegetable stock (Approx only)
2 tablespoons of tomato puree.


 HERBS
3 pinches of thyme.
1 bay leaf.
1 pinch of oregano.
2 pinches of marjoram.
2 pinches of tarragon leaf.
6 chopped fresh basil leaves.

1 pinch of rubbed sage.
1 pinch of cayenne pepper.
1 pinch of paprika.
3 pinches of chopped Italian parsley.
Season with sea salt and black pepper.

Method

1. Heat a large sauce pot over medium heat. Add oil and garlic and saute gently until it becomes a golden color.
2. Add the celery, onions & leek. Saute and stir, till the onions turn clear and translucent.
3. Add 1 zucchini, squash, eggplant, tomatoes & capsicum. Saute the vegetables, till they just start to become tender, stirring occasionally.
4. Add the herbs & continue to stir the stew.
5. Add just enough vegetable broth to almost cover the vegetables. (The stock should be about 1/2" less the level of vegetables.)
6. Add the tomato puree & bring the stew to a gentle boil.
7. Move to the inner pot of the Dream Pot
8. Gentle stir the stew occasionally.
9. The ratatouille should be ready after 2 hours. Remove bay leaf and serve.

Note: Try not to overcook the vegetables! The vegetables should be cooked tender, but not mushy. The slight loss of color should not be of first importance in a rustic style ratatouille. It is the flavor and texture of a rustic ratatouille that counts!

The Edge of the World

We wanted to cover the north western part of Tasmania and so we decided to hitch up the car to the back of the motor home and drive right through to the furthest point west then slowly work our way back visiting places on the way.

Green Point

We camped at Green Point just 3km from Marrawah. This is a free camp but more like a car park, it is mostly a gravelly/bitumen top though there is some grassy surrounds on which people were also camping as much for room as for the grass underfoot. This place didn't appear to have any restrictions against camping on the grassy area and it certainly allowed a lot more people to fit in this way which was rather busy at the time we were there.

The beach at Green Point

You can't actually see the beach  from the camp ground as there is a grassy sand dune between us. There is a park just 100m down the road towards the beach that has a toilet, water and a cold water shower. There is also a gas BBQ and a small playground in the park too.

A very colourful sunset at Green Point. Robbiebago II at bottom left.

We unhitched the car, settling the motorhome into a spot  and so we could go off sightseeing down south a little to "the edge of the world". We intended to leave first thing in the morning leaving the motorhome and pop back later in the day.

Sometimes things don't go to plan. We quickly found that our car wouldn't go back into gear from neutral. It was going nowhere. At first Rob thought it was the solenoid playing up. We are insured and we called the mechanic in Smithton. He couldn't come out straight away. He advised that 3 different things to try including checking the fuses. Rob and some friendly free campers all tried different things in the meantime to set things right but to no avail. Eventually the mechanic rings and says he can't make it until the next day esp as the car was not blocking traffic, causing danger and we had accommodation!

How we tow the car behind the Robbiebago (this was taken in Newcastle)

Following advice that it was possibly a fuse problem and fiddling some more we managed to at least get the wheels unlocked but still not into gear. (I am so  happy that it is yours truly - who is almost completely hopeless with cars - who found the extremely hard to find set of fuses above the accelerator in, what appears to me, to be a stupid place and certainly one that is not easy to get to! Go figure!).

There is a plaque at the site.

Anyway, we decided to use the motorhome to sight see in, leaving the car behind as the mechanic was not going to come after all since we could hitch the car and bring it to him. So off we went to see the Arthur River and The Edge of the World lookout, which was only about 20km away. The ocean at this point is wild and rough. No wonder they call it the edge of the world. It is a wild place. When you stand there and look west, there is nothing but ocean until the east coast coast of Argentina - more than half way around the world!

Another motorhome is arriving at the Edge of the World

We had some lovely hot chips for lunch and a good look at the Interpreter's Centre at the Ranger's Office which also had a small but interesting display in it.

The mouth of the Arthur River is strewn with logs that have washed down.

We went for a bit of a drive further south since we believed that a cruise was not going to offer us a different experience to what we've already seen and done down on the Gordon River, we decided to save our money. We weren't terribly impressed with the area, but you've got to look and maybe we were a bit put out by our car experiences and just weren't in the mood for sight seeing. The road through the Tarkine Forest appeared to be open but we had to get back to the car at Green Point and anyway we didn't know if the road was suitable for a motor home. 

This Pacific Gull put a lot of effort in trying to crack open this oyster shell to no avail.

So back to Green Point we went. After spending some time walking the beach and we sat and watched the hard work of a Pacific Gull (like a large seagull) trying to repeatedly crack open a oyster shell by flying high and dropping the shell onto the rocks. After watching dozens of attempts, the Pacific Gull finally gave up and dropped the oyster into the sea and flew off to find an easier way to get dinner. We walked back up to the camping area and went blackberry picking for fruit for immediate consumption as well as dessert for later. Yum.

Vegging out in Forth

Forth is a quaint little farming village that's just a hop, skip and jump from Devonport (11km) and 110 km north-west of Launceston, making it a fantastic spot for the first or last night on or off the Spirit of Tasmania.

The Forth River and bridge

The campsite is on the banks of the Forth River, just beside the bridge. The actual camping area is on the perimeter of the Forth Recreation Ground. This well appointed and shaded campsite has plenty of room to park a caravan or motorhome. There is a toilet there as part of the Recreation Grounds. It is within walking distance to a fuel station with a small selection of groceries and the local pub.

The Forth Pub

The first time we were there there were about 20 RVs and still it didn't seem crowded. The second time we stayed there, was just before we were to leave Tasmania. It was much busier the second time as there was a Blues music festival being held there on the weekend and a lot of early birds were there for a fun filled weekend. It was sort of a pity that we didn't know about it early on and that we had pre-booked our return trip to the mainland, but then again, we are not used to lots of loud noise even a lot of pleasant music might be more than we can handle now.

Whilst staying in Forth, we visited nearby Latrobe and the House of Anvers chocolate factory, which also has a fabulous history and museum of chocolate.

House of Anvers Chocolate Factory & Museum

We also visited Deloraine where there are some small sculptures in the main street that are perched on the top of 1 metre high posts (about 3ft). These small figures refer to some historical reference to the town.

Just one of the Deloraine Street Sculptures

We said goodbye to Tasmania and headed off to our final trip which was to empty all the wastes before lining up to embark on the Spirit Of Tasmania so as to head home quickly ready for Michelle's postponed operation.