And in came the rain and those roaring forties

So we wake his morning to a full-on storm. I mean rain, not showers with the wind behind it. In this weather it is easy to imagine how a ship's captain could not hold his vessel against the raging of mother nature. And with the seas whipped up, we have a better view of some of the rock hazards. Bigger waves are breaking off-shore on hidden dangers. Altogether very bleak. We hear the coach arrive to collect the tour group as we live in bed a few minutes longer to ward off the cold. Slowly the other rooms empty and before long, we are the last room to leave.

We have received an email from the airline saying that due to operational requirements our flight is now departing later. We are now leaving King Island at 17:25 with arrival back in Wynyard at 17:55. From there we have a half hour drive to our accommodation in Penguin. I have managed to get in touch with Bruce Harpley who lives a few miles away in Ulverstone and we are catching up for breakfast tomorrow morning en-route to Launceston. 

Gen again went into the Bakehouse for our breakfast and hooray, has managed to get me a Crayfish Pie (at $15!). It is delicious. In a soft curry sauce, which is what the Taswegians seem to put all their seafood in for pies - think fish, think prawns, think scallops (roe on) and now also think crayfish (lobster)! It had plenty of crayfish - both in big chunks and smaller pieces generously spread amongst the sauce. She bought herself another egg and bacon roll - both had been cooked to order. She enjoys her roll and I made sure I left her some of that scrumptious pie to taste!

Given the unpleasant weather today we decided to drive along the other fully sealed road on the Island. We had wanted to visit the Cultural Centre but as the main 'tourist season' (March) is done, it is now only open by appointment. 

You know, there is a huge opportunity going begging here. The motel, which is for sale, is very tired and the restaurant is under different management. Yet the coastal location is supberb overlooking the rolling sea with private access to a small rock sheltered beach. I have no idea what the sale value is, but even if it were $1M, another investment of $500K+ to revamp the rooms, restaurant and the grounds (including the access road) and you could have a great return with groups - and especially golf groups. But I digress (again) 

Naracoopa is sited on the east coast about halfway up the coast and the mid-point between Grassy and Cape Wickham where we went on our first day. 

Naracoopa reminded us of many of the sleepy coastal townships that can be found right along the East Coast of Australia. In fact, it reminds me very much of Woodgate of a few years ago. There is one street fronting the beach with most of the homes being holidays homes that are deserted at present. There is evidence of some newer building works happening - you know the time - those slip, sultry buildings in the colour of their surroundings so as not to compete with the landscape - filled with timber and glass. Personally, I can't imagine that in a few years they will remain as schmick. The timber will cop a lot of weather, as will the tin rooves like we have seen elsewhere on the island, and although I would love to be sitting in a warm house looking out through large picture windows - but honestly, keeping them clean against all that salty water would be a *itch to clean! (Gotta love our textured Kosciusko glassed windows back home - they require little cleaning!  😉)

Just "a few kilometres north", remembering the mud map as opposed to anything accurate, near Sea Elephant Bay, is supposed to be Blowhole Beach. So off we set. The road is on the map, so we are safe, albeit somewhat sandy. Gen does a great job navigating the potholes (and then we come on some Council workers doing some grading!) and when we get out to Blowhole Beach there is already one car there. Given the soft sand and the rain, it is decided that Gen will go have a look and see whether the walk is Maria-doable. She comes back in less than 10 minutes to say that if there is a blowhole, she can't find it, nor can she find any landform that would even remotely look like it could produce a spout of water of any form. By now, there are another two cars parked here - and we cross paths with another couple of people that we've seen a few times over the last two days. 

We are the second car to leave and we turn left back towards Naracoopa and not continuing on an increasingly challenging road further to Sea Elephant Bay. There is a sign advertising coffee, but like other operators, I guess they have headed for the mainland for winter - closed. So a quick nip down to the long wharf where once there was sealing prevalent, but no longer.

Turning back for Currie we opt to stay on the fully sealed road and this time not take the scenic route. Gen is now sick of gravel roads and sandy tracks - she can now say "been there, done that!" Its getting late for lunch and although we have loved the great pies from the King Island Bakehouse, we are also craving something that is not a pie by now. One of the three golf courses on the Island is next door to the motel where we stayed, so we called in there to see if we could get some lunch.

Yes, we can. It is fairly basic fare but my burger and Gen's battered fish (Gummy = shark) and chips was fresh and crisp. This restaurant is being operated by people of Indian descent - if only I could be sure that the curry on offer was not too spicy, I would have preferred to give it a go, but alas my mouth and stomach take so little heat these days.😪

We continued down to Beach which is just beyond the motel, down the next dune so to speak and found the other big industry here - the King Island Kelp Factory. 

Bull kelp is harvested from the beaches of King Island by independent contractors. At present there are only 6 licensed harvesters, who must take only from what mother nature has 'donated'. They cannot harvest from the rocks. The kelp is dried on high, hanging S shaped hooks, then racks to air dry, before being fed into wood fired kilns for dehydrating. Most of the Australian supply is shipped to Ireland for processing into Alginate Acid which is used extensively in the food and pharmaceutical industries, just to name two.

One last destination to visit before we leave this interesting destination. Located close to the airport, we visited the award winning King Island Distillery. Owned and operated and Heidi Weitjins, this was a gem of a find. They distil King Island gin, vodka, brandy and  limoncello. Gen is really taken with the Ruby Grapefruit Spirit, and thankfully they can arrange post, so we relieve them of some of their stock (hic). One gin in particular is interesting. Heidi's partner is a cray-fisher and they took a barrel of their gin and aged it at sea! It has a different taste - no doubt influenced by the cask being exposed to the salt-ladden air. The cellar door is actually their distilling plant, and as we taste and discuss each sample with Heidi, her partners are beginning to bottle the last of the Gin from that sea-aged barrel! We drove right past it at first, following google maps which takes you beyond it. The trick is to follow the signs, even if it doesn't look like a cellar door! More evidence of the poor maps.

At the Airport, we leave the car, with keys in the ignition, as per instructions, and head into the terminal. We are early by about 2 hours, but really, there is little else to see given the remaining time. There are only 9 people booked on the plane, so again they have allocated the back row to us. BUT, there are about 40-50 people at the airport terminal. We see two jets - a Sharp Airlines and a REX plane plus a number of smaller planes. Turns out, we watch 4 other planes leave before ours lands, disgourging another tour group, and is ready for departure. Our plan is flying to Launceston via Wynyard.

Gen is very very tense - it is very cloudy and she is apprehensive about possible turbulence. One belted in, she grabs the seatbelt from the seat between us and wraps it tightly around her hand. I tell her that the trick is to try not to get too tensed up and suggest that she hold my hand instead. "But I don't want to hurt you" she says. You won't I tell her. The take-off was a little bumpy, but it was surprisingly smooth thereafter. I keep asking her if she can see land in an effort to keep her mind off her fear and she visibly relaxes. Finally we see land and can identify The Nut at Stanley and Table Cape just a little further east before we touch down.

So, King Island done and dusted. I am glad we went, but it was nothing like what we were expecting. All I can say is that the marketeers have done a fabulous job. For the Island itself, it needs some major investment and renewal.

Back in the car, or as Gen 'lovingly' refers to it, the POS, having paid the ridiculous sum of $12 for 3 days parking, we head back through Burnie and further east to our overnight stop in Penguin. The motel is right on the main road, with a rail line plus freight train behind us. The unit is HUGE and well set-out and supplied for someone with mobility challenges.

The story of The Nut

Following our disappointing night last night, we returned to our little cabin to continue our search for accommodation when we arrive back on the 'big' island on Wednesday night. We had booked a unit at a motel between Wynyard and Burnie, but after driving passed it the other day, we cancelled it. They are at the back of a pub that is in the middle of nowhere (figurtaively speaking of course) that is surrounded by industrial units. And on our way back last night, it is lit up with neon signs highlighting Gaming and Licensed. Yep, very glad we cancelled it.

This has always been the way that I have travelled, with a start point and a finish point/date and little else planned. That flexibility has afforded me some wonderful opportunities that would have been missed if I had already locked in other plans.
Covid however, has put a big damper on this style of travel. Without the opportunity to travel internationally, everyone craving an 'overseas' trip is presently travelling in Tasmania. I kid you not! And so, we are struggling to find accommodation at short notice.  So today we abandoned plans to come back to Burnie and will travel a little further east to stay for the night we arrive back in Tassie at Penguin. Then we are moving on directly to Launceston for 4-5 days and will do day trips in the region. Staying in Penguin will also provide opportunity to have a morning catching up with Bruce in Ulverstone - its been many many years!

Travelling for over a month necessitates that some of the boring 'normal' daily activities to be done. While I don't scrimp on holidays, I refuse to spend much of our budget on continually buying new clothes! Ergo, washing is a must. Staying in self-catering accommodation provides opportunity to make our own breakfasts (and other meals if preferred) and provides options for laundry. Once we have had our breakfast of crumpets with honey and some of the fabulous cheese we have been lucky enough to purchase, Gen takes herself off to the laundry which is conveniently opposite our cabin. 

Washing on average once a week has worked well. But you are never in the right place at the right time - one place requires $1 coins for washing machine and/or dryers, other require $2 coins. And it is almost always the ones we don't have - oh, for some consistency!! The actual cost of a load of laundry is $4 per load, plus an additional $4 if you want to put it all through the dryer. We prefer to not use dryers and were thrilled that there was a clothes line outside the back of our cabin WITH some pegs! We travel with a small twist line that doesn't require pegs, but haven't had to resort to it yet. 

The day is beeyootiful! We are headed for a top of 21, there is. little cloud cover and only a gentle breeze blowing. The washing is gently dancing on the line as we head west towards Stanley. It takes us a bit to get going this morning, and we blame the ennui of our slack day yesterday!

Stanley is a 66 km drive that will take us about 50 minutes snaking our way west along the coast. Its a drive through beautiful countryside, rolling hills and far off mountain ranges to our left, with coastal beaches and rocky headlands to our right. There are dancing lights across the waters as clouds move in and out of view - its truly looks like diamonds sparkling. 

Gen has been telling me all along of her first visit to Stanley and how proud she was that she had walked the path up The Nut rather than take the chairlift. She did that because she has a fear or heights. We come around a bend and there it is - The Nut. We are 38 kms away, and it fills the centre of my vision. It is enormous! As we draw nearer, you can see the path zig-zagging up The Nut - it stands out clearly and the people 'walking' up the path look like ants! We have also been told that Hurseys is a really good seafood restaurant. 

Daylight saving ended in Tasmania in the wee hours of this morning. When we arrived in Stanley it had just gone 12 noon. We see the big Crayfish that signifies Hurseys, and given our light breakfast, decide that we should have lunch first given that they are only open for lunch between 12 and 2 pm. Lunch will also fuel our trek on The Nut. We enter the premises through the takeaway shop. There is a lift to the first floor restaurant. As the lift doors open you are greeted with magnificent views across the small port to the sheltered bay. The restaurant is spotless, well laid out and we are met promptly by a young waitress dressed in a simple, smart black uniform with the company logo embroidered in red.

She asked if we had a reservation, and as I looked around the restaurant, there was only two other tables seated, I answered no. We were shown to a window-side table and left with menus to contemplate our hunger and how best to satisfy it!! There were Specials Boards around the room. Now, their speciality is Crayfish, or as we better know them - LOBSTER! And as the saying goes, "when in Rome . . ."

In the end, we order a Cold Seafood Platter that included a half medium lobster (1.1kg whole), prawns, pickled octopus, smoked salmon, salad and sauces; and another half medium lobster that was served with chips and salad. OMG - there was so much lobster crayfish. It was so white, so succulent, so moist, so delicious. Gen tackled (some of) the prawns, octopus and salmon and I think perhaps a mouthful or two of the salad. The rest of the salad and the chips went to waste. Honestly, we should have thought to tell them not to serve the 'sides'. It was quite wasteful, but if I had tried to eat anything other than the crayfish, then I am quite sure that I would have been sick. The service was impeccable and the meal delicious. Great value for money too.

Lunch done, we headed the couple of streets to The Nut chairlift building. There is a cafe at the base, but we decide that we need to walk off our lunch before we have a Valhalla Ice Cream. Gen looks up the path and is amazed that five years before she had actually climbed the path. It is very very steep. There is no way that I could have walked any of it. It was enough of challenge to walk the incline to the chairlift office! Gen has gone very quiet. Knowing that I can't walk the path, and wanting to make sure that I saw the stunning views from The Nut. She also understands that I am going to need assistance in getting on and off the chairlift with my crutches. So, facing her fears, she came along with me on the chairlift. The young man at the base station explained that he could not stop the chair, but could slow it down. He was calm, which was important in reassuring Gen, and we managed to take our seats without incidence. He radioed ahead to the top station to advise that we would need assistance. She went quiet, very quiet. I tried to reassure her, encouraged her not to look up or down, but the look around at the level where we were. It was not a long ride - there are four numbered pylons only.

We arrived shortly at the top without incident and alighted without problem. At the top of The Nut, there are a number of walks that can be taken. I want to try to get to the closest lookout which is a 250m walk. I managed to get about 200m along the undulating path before we are met with a flight of stony steps without any handrails. I don't dare to try to go further. Gen is disppointed, me not so much - it is what it is, and I was pleased to be able to do at lest part of it. But I don't want to let my lack of ability to hinder Gen revisiting the walk she had previously done. So I returned to the chairlift station and waited at a picnic table. Gen intrepidly set off on the circular path around the top of The Nut that is 2.2km in length.

I watch people come and go, those who have come up on the chairlift like us, and others who arrive red-faced with the exertion of the steep walk up the path. There were older groups, quite a few mature ladies travelling together, a surprising number of families with young or teenage children and lots of Asians travelling this part of Tasmania.

There is surprisingly little wind - just the occasional eddy. Its surreal because even when there was a wisp of wind, there was no sound. The tussocks of grass sway gently and silently. The only sound you can hear was the intermittent chatter of excited children "I'm on the top of the volcano!" "No, not quite yet, but nearly," was the patient reply. Adults speak in hushed tones, as if so not to break the spell of this place. And from way below us in the town there is the sound of a vexed dog, barking constantly at something that was irritating him.    

I do not really enjoy the downward trip, that feeling of leaving your stomach behind has never thrilled me, but I try to remain very calm so that Gen did not pick up on my jitters. Just look at the horizon I tell her, following my own advice - don't look down. The view is absolutely amazing - it truly is. You can see bay after bay after inlet and in the distance, cows grazing in fields and further away, mountain range after mountain range. 

We arrive safely back down at the base and settle in for a coffee and a Valhalla Ice Cream. Delicious as always. Gen drove around the outside coves and past the convict remains of The Highfields. At this time on a Sunday, they are now closed so we head for our home base in Wynyard. En-route we take the coastal route off the Bass Highway to come back into Wynyard and make a quick detour to have a look at the Table Cape Lighthouse from the lookout on the next point. From this point you look across almost 100 klms of coastline from beyond Ulverstone in the east to Wynyard below us. Its is amazing. And all the rocky outcrops in the sea are good evidence of the importance of this lighthouse.

Back at the Leisure Ville Holiday Park Gen collects the now dry washing.  We spend a bit of time rearranging our luggage to take what we want to King Island tomorrow. As night falls, we head back in to Burnie to fuel the car, and to try to find the little penguins. The main season is from September to March during which time a volunteer organisation takes free guided walks to the nesting dunes. We follow Google Maps to where the centre is, are briefly mistaken for someone else as we slow down and wind the window down to ask directions (Oh, you are not who I was expecting. Do either of you smoke?  No mate) - we hurry off before we are implicated in anything less than savory! (wink wink)

Finally we read between the map lines and find ourselves down at the shelter used by the guides. Locked up as tight as a barrel, deserted for the season. We do get out, we hear what we think are the penguins and our patience and persistence is paid off. We spend the better part of an hour taking night photos, trying not to fall over in the dark - thankfully the path is very even and flat. We watch and make noises with about 2 dozen little penguins - how very special!

The night sky is very dark tonight, showing lots of stars, but there is too much ambient light to get good photos - perhaps we will be luckier on King Island. We phone Antony to wish them a good holiday. They leave for Chinchilla at 5 am tomorrow morning for a week and are taking all 5 of their telescopes as well as their astronomical cameras with them. They will get great photos I know - they gifted me a print from their last trip there, for Christmas.

Off to King Island at 8am tomorrow - watch out for the food porn.  Can't wait!