Duck Reach, Launceston.

With the new vehicle and phone being a Samsung Galaxy S10+ we headed off to the Duck Reach Power Station here in Launceston about 15 minutes drive from home.
A bit of history below of the Power Station that was, it's now used as a museum.
There are many walks to be done there.

The Duck Reach Power Station was built by the Launceston Municipal Council and generated hydro-electricity almost continuously for 60 years - from 1895 to 1955.  It was the first publicly owned hydro-electric power station in Australia and one of the earliest in the world.

At its peak the station had a capacity of 2,600 horsepower and could produce two megawatts of electricity, enough to light 1,200 homes in Launceston.  In the 1920's, Duck Reach powered unprecedented industrial development in Launceston and set the model for the later hydro-industrialisation of Tasmania.

The new vehicle is similar to the old one but a 2019 model.  We have to get as close to 3,000klm before we set sail later next month so the vehicle can have it's first service.  We had had the old one for 4-1/2 years, it was time to trade it in whilst we could get a good trade-in price.

One can walk down the steep path over the swinging bridge to the power station, we didn't.
The photos below are a view of part of the Gorge which goes a fair distance to the Cataract Gorge.
Testing the phone camera.

The hills

Since we bought our new vehicle we have travelled each weekend to put mileage on the vehicle so it can have it's first 3,000km service before we head off to mainland Australia later in July.

This past Saturday we left home about 10am and arrived back at 5.45pm in time to head out to dinner with my husbands sisters and brother in law at 6.30pm and we arrived back home at 1.15am.  Yes, stayed out late :) had some fun after dinner at eldest sister in laws.  Dinner was lovely at the restaurant, one we have been to often lately.

The photo is of a view as you can see looking east on top of a hill near Exeter - see map below.

In the evening

The beach at Bridport faces the east.  The sunset isn't the best, taken from the caravan is the first one the others taken across the footpath.
This is the last of the February/March holiday.
More photos to come in next post of day trips taken the other week.

All packed up.

After several days in Bridport in March we packed up and headed home.

The caravan below is an Avan, never seen one so small.  The second photo is our caravan ready to take back home.

The walk

After St. Helens we travelled to Bridport to stay several nights.
Bridport has some fishing but is a good tourist/holiday spot.
Bridport is a small town and it turns very busy in the summer, the caravan park will be full and the town comes alive with visitors.

We went for a short walk along the flat path and back to the caravan most days whilst we were there.
The footpath was just below our caravan, this is some of what we saw on that walk.
These photos were taken with my old phone, Samsung Galaxy S9 plus.

Lake with the tin mine blues!

Little Blue Lake is not far from Derby and Gladstone and is a natural phenomenon resulting from the pioneering mining days of South Mt. Cameron and surrounding areas in the Far North East of Tasmania.  Originally a mine hole, the lake reflects a vivid aqua blue from the minerals in it's base.
The lake is acidic but I've seen photos of people swimming in it, which is not recommended.

Posted a photo of the Lake in 2018 taken by youngest son here.
Our visit was the first.

More sea.

A drive down the road at St. Helens where the boat ramp is, but couldn't get parked anywhere so we continued on another road to a beach where the sand dunes are, much fun on those apparently.

The first photo was taken from one of the streets with houses, the second is the sandbar which can be dangerous, few have lost their lives going in between that bar.

The day was rather cloudy back in March on our east coast.  The area looks rather rugged, and at the sand dunes the beach there one has to make their own track through to the beach.

Binalong Bay, Tasmania

Another trip we did whilst staying at St. Helens was to Binalong Bay a small hamlet at the southern end of the Bay of Fires.  Mostly a holiday place with a beach or two.

This Statue has always been there since I can remember.
My husband and I once pitched a hired tent just beyond the sign in the green grass on a very hot summers day.  We got sunburnt and had to pack up and go home, that was in 70's, inside the tent was too hot and no where else for shelter from the sun or heat.  We never went tenting after that :)

More orange lichens at Binalong Bay on the East Coast of Tasmania.

Beaches at The Gardens.

Ah! The Sea, and how beautiful it is in this area of The Gardens. The sand is very fine and white.

As one drives along the gravel road you see a sign or two to the beach, so we ventured down one of these roads a very short distance and came across this beach within The Bay of Fires which goes for some distance up and down the east coast of Tasmania.

In some of these off roads there are camping areas with loos, so hence the public are permitted to 'free camp'. Each morning they wake up and can see the sea, a few steps and in the water.

The Gardens, Tasmania

The Gardens at St. Helens plus part of the Bay of Fires.

One of the day trips we did when staying at St. Helens was to The Gardens, some of the road was gravel but was ok.  The Gardens is a pretty area and the carpark was full, so we waited until a space was free.  The photos are of the view at The Gardens in The Bay of Fires area.  

The orange lichen on the granite boulders makes them uique but that's not the reason it's called Bay of Fires.  The bay was named by Captain Tobias Furneaux in 1883 in response to the many Aboriginal fires he saw burning on it's shore.

At St. Helens, Tasmania.

We left Devil's Kitchen and continued to travel up the highway and stayed at Swansea for several nights then onto St. Mary's at the fairly new NRMA Caravan Park for several days.

St. Helens is the largest town on the north east coast of the Island, on Georges Bay.  It's known as the game fishing capital of Tasmania and is also well known for it's oysters.  St. Helens is about 160 km from Launceston which is not that far away obviously.


The flat area of the Caravan Park in St. Helens on the east coast of Tasmania.  These buildings are cabins which are rented out like a motel room but cabins have facilities for cooking.

Photo below is part of the park on the flat, most of the park is up hill.

Above photo is of the amenities with a wall this end which means you have to walk to the other side to enter.  They are lovely and clean and have fans going all the time plus music.

Outside the camp kitchen below and two photos of inside the camp kitchen.  There is a separate building that is the games room.

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