On to Hobart!
So finally back to my travelogue. After leaving Strahen we headed back to Queenstown, then over the mountains to our next stop at Richmond. Its a bit long trip but we plan some stops along the way as we cross through the wilderness regions of Tasmania. The weather is rather cold and wet when we leave but improves slightly as we pass through Queenstown, stopping for some scenic views of the famous moonscape terrain.
Over the ranges and past Lake Burbury, one of the earliest of the hydroelectric dam lakes and through the Wild Rivers National Park. Stop part way for a short walk to view the Franklin River, but by the time we climb to the look out there is horizontal rain and then snow. Once more Siobhan learns a lesson about why we hassle them to dress appropriately. Lunch in the rain in the car then onto Lake St Clair.
The views from a short walk by the lake promise to be magic but when we get there they are magic for a different reason, snow! Wild rivers plunge into the lake and we briefly walk the end of the overland trail, so now we can say we walked both ends of the famous overland track, just not the bit in between.
Lake St Clair has an impressive ranger station and cafe so we settle down for hot chips and hot chocolate to wait out the storm. Then it is on to Richmond and after surviving the traffic jams around the Derwent we eventually arrive at old Richmond town, only to discover we weren’t really sure where our accommodation was. Fortunately Richmond isn’t too big and after 3 laps of the town we eventual find our luxury accommodation amongst the orchards and vine trellises, avail our self’s of their lovely restaurant and settle in for the night on the edge of the country side.