After relatively slow start, we drove into the town centre so we could use the internet. I wanted to upload my blog and a few photos to FB. Lynn wanted to catch up with emails. Yesterday, when we did the same, we got a quick connection and good speed. Today it was steam-driven! I managed to get my blog uploaded, but pictures were impossible. Sadly, Lynn got news that we were expecting, her friend in France, Lesley died last night. It wasn't unexpected and it was a mercy that it came so quickly, but it's a rather sobering and sad start to a day.
We headed to the NP, the turn-off is only 3 km outside town and headed up, a secondary road lined by rather nice houses. Eventually, the surfaced road gave out about the same time as the smart houses and we headed 7km up a gravel road. We saw several birds on route including the now familiar families of Splendid Fairy Wrens. The males are bright blue.
We reached the park entrance, which operates on an 'honesty box' system for those without a pass, and parked the car. There is really only one trail from this end of the park and that is to a water-hole about 10 minutes away. It's possible to continue to the Douglas river gorge, but the track would be too uneven for Lynn.
We were encouraged by the sounds of several birds, but the deep undergrowth proved to be a spoiler for actually seeing them. We did a short loop path, which we had entirely to ourselves, which had signs explaining the tree names. We did catch fleeting glances of stealthy birds, but our only sighting of wildlife was an unidentified small bronze coloured skink. I did manage to find a Yellow Wattle Bird though. It looks a bit weird with wattles that look like teardrops hanging off it's face. The ten minute path took us over an hour!
The water hole was rather pretty and might have been inviting for a swim, but the breeze was cool. We met a Scottish lady who was intrepidly hiking alone, but couldn't find where the trail continued to get to the gorge. I had just found the trail for her when two other hikers appeared and showed her the route. She told us she had good balance, but needed assistance crossing the creek. I hope she had a good safe hike.
Back at the car park, we were about to leave when I spotted a Green Rosella in a tree opposite the car. It looks and acts like a parrot and, very obligingly, was eating in the tree in fairly plain view. I think Lynn got some good photos, but I failed as I'd left my camera back at the house.
Back at the main road, we decided to turn north and found a parking spot by a beach access point. After our sandwiches, we continued North up the coast until we turned off on the road to St Mary's. The road climbed quickly and we found ourselves negotiating an alpine style road in a Eucalyptus forest. Eventually we made it to Elephant Pass and dropped down slightly into the very pleasant town of St Mary's.
We stopped refreshment at the Elephant Mountain Fudge shop! It was a bit quirky, but very pleasant. We realised as we left town that the railway had once reached here and when we got to the next town, Fingal, we found out why. The area has always been a coal-mining area although these days it's a shadow of its former self. Fingal is a town in decline with lots of 19th century wooden buildings, most of which are in a state of disrepair or abandoned. There are efforts being made to preserve and restore some of them. The town originally was built by convicts.
We headed back towards St Mary's, but took a short side trip to Cornwall. This is another ex mining settlement, but they've made an attempt to capture the history of the place with pictures and a small memorial to all the miners that ever worked the mine. It's possible to see traces of the place in its heyday, but now, it's a bit of a sad place. Next to the old settlement is a modern mine still operating but in a reduced capacity.
We continued on through St Marys and found free wifi at the library. This enabled me to upload some photos. After that, we had an abortive attempt to find a State Reserve. We gave up after driving 4-5 km down a gravel track.
The road took up through St Mays Pass, which turned out to be equally spectacular as Elephant Pass earlier. Back at sea-level, we headed south to Bicheno, stopping for a paddle in the sea en route. We would have stopped for a beer tasting at Iron House, but the tasting room was closed for the day.
There was only one thing for it, go back to our apartment and get a beer from the fridge.
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