Saturday 18th May 2019 – Federal Election Day
Well what a night at Mathinna. We had decided to call it a day a little short of our destination and stayed at a freebie camp at Mathinna Recreation Oval. Once we had chosen a place DB went for a walk and was talking to a couple of guys set up over yonder. They told him a group was coming for trail bike riding tomorrow. Oh no!
Anyway it was dark and too late to move on so we just had to deal with the constant flow of arrivals up till about 11pm and the noise of drinking and shouting. Oh well at least DB has learned to sleep through some noise these days.
We had decided on an easy dinner because of our late afternoon tea and the cold outside. We were in for a cold one. The forecast was for 0-1° overnight so we put David’s sleeping bag upstairs for extra warmth. Luckily as the low was actually -2°. We both slept in thermals, beanies, socks and gloves most of the night. We were toasty in our little tent. Every time you moved the new spot was icy cold.
It was too cold to get up early as it was still -1° at 7.30am. We finally got up about 8.30ish and on our way by 9. Too cold for showers so we just had breakfast and got on our way. We were headed for the Ben Lomond National Park to the 2nd highest mountain in Tasmania ‘Legges Tor’ 1574m. Luckily you can drive almost to the top. This was a great drive with beautiful scenery, followed by a tricky switchback section called ‘Jacob’s Ladder’.
At the top there was an Alpine Ski Village where we followed a nice track to the top. An easy 4km return walk. Quite easy for a change.
We then headed on our way to Devonport via Sheffield to see the finished mural competition. I managed to get there, wan’t sure if there would be time. Then we headed to Devonport toot and then head to the boat. For once we were early but instead of just driving straight on we had to join the queue which took about 30-40 minutes to get on board. Anyway, all good, we have had a lovely time again in Tasmania and still have lots more left to do next time. We are now on our way to the mainland. Not sure which direction we will head tomorrow. Only time will tell.
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- Mathinna Recreation Campers before the sun went down..
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- ..The crowd arrived during the night and this is the number of campers when we woke up.
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- Lucky for us we were a little bit away from the crowd. See the ice on the front window of the car..
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- ..and the roof of the tent..
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- ..and the bike tyre..
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- ..and the bike seat. It was soooo cold.
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- The fog was settled very low as we drove just out of Mathinna
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- Warning signs as we headed on the ascent to Legges Tor in Ben Lomond National Park. Lucky we are in May.
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- First view of Legges Tor – 1574m
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- Lookout just before starting our way up Jacobs Ladder..
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- ..as we head up the switchbacks of Jacobs Ladder. The cliff is sheer beside the road. Another warning about falling rocks.
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- Looking back down through the valley.
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- The pools of the water as we walked up the Summit Line Walk Trail were all iced over..
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- ..the ice was a couple of mm thick.
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- It was a lovely relaxing walk albeit all uphill.
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- The icy pool
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- The mountain was quite rocky and arid.
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- Adding my rock to the pile at the summit of Legges Tor
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- Looking out across the top
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- A pleasant stroll back down the well formed paths.
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- View from Watchtower Lookout.
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- View of the switchback road of Jacob’s Ladder from Watchtower Lookout..
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- ..and again showing the sheer rock face..
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- Looking back up the sheer rocks from Watchtower Lookout..
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- View from Watchtower Lookout.
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- ..and again..
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- ..path to Watchtower lookout.
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- Warning sign about falling rocks again before we descend Jacob’s Ladder.
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- Heading down Jacob’s Ladder
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- Some of the beautiful scenery at Evandale on the way to Sheffield..
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- ..and some more scenery at Elizabethtown on the way to Sheffield..
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- One more look at Mt Roland. Not climbing him again today.
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- The winner of this year’s entries in the mural competition.
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- One of this year’s entries in the mural competition.
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- Another one of this year’s entries in the mural competition.
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- I saw this one in more detail today. Look how above the line is modern day life and below the line is the same but from olden days.
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- Another one with hats from all different nations with our Australian animals.
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- Entering the Spirit of Tasmania. We weren’t last today.
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- Watching as the level rises before we can head down the side.
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- We travelled from Mathinna to Devonport via Ben Lomond National Park and Sheffield – 231km
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- We have travelled far and wide over Tasmania this holidays. The black lines indicate where we have gone.