Day 10 - 12 July.  Travelling - mountains to the sea

The previous evening we'd booked on the TassieLink bus to take us from Derwent Bridge back to Cradle Mountain to pick up the car.  The plan hatched as the last of the red was savoured was to return to the Walls of Jerusalem (were we'd missed most of the views in April) for a few days, before an appointment in another part of the state.

Breakfast at 8am in the dining room was a marvellous affair.  Juice, fruit, muesli, 2 hard boiled eggs and 2 pieces of toast, 6 slices of raisin toast and 3 and a half cups of coffee.

We paid our account and wandered over to the Derwent Bridge before the bus arrived at 10.20am.  It was pleasant to sit and doze in the bus.  We reached Queenstown around 12 noon.  The vegetation on the surrounding hills is finally re-establishing.  A stop for lunch and a chance to replenish supplies - all I needed was a bit of chocolate and some lollies to replenish the scroggin.  We then drove on to Zeehan (recently voted Australia's ugliest town, but actually a nice and neat little town).  We changed buses and drove on to Cradle Mountain, arriving around 2.45pm.  Glimpses of Cradle Mountain.

We picked up the car and were on the way to the Walls of Jerusalem just past the Mersey Valley Olivers Road scenic lookout when we heard the 5pm news and weather.  It was not promising and would probably be no better than April when we missed the sights.  So we decided to go to the Freycinet Peninsula!

Only in Tasmania could you go from west coast to east coast, from mountains to the sea, from snow to sand in a day!

We stopped around 7pm at Campbell Town on the Midlands Highway and ordered a pizza, coffee and cakes.  Time to ring home and check that things were ok.  We then drove up the Fingal Valley to Lake Leake where, in the public lakeside reserve, we ate the pizza and had some cask cab sauv.  Friendly wallabies and 1degC.

We drove on to the start of the Coles Bay road.  It was 8.30pm, so we decided to stop and sleep just off the side of the road - a real hobo experience!  We nearly didn't see the 'Private Property' sign, so backed off a little.  Tents up and in our sleeping bags by 9pm and to sleep to the honking of nearby swans on the top of Great Oyster Bay.

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