Site : Captain Cook Caravan Park
Caravan Park Rating : 6 / 10
Facilities : Just across the road from the beach. Terrible showers - $1 for 5 minutes but you spend the first two minutes waiting for them to get hot. Best thing about it though - in the generously sized camp kitchen there is a fireplace, that adds 2 points onto the score!
Not surprisingly, Tom and I were very ok with the idea of skipping brekkie and leaving the cow-dung-paddock. We ventured off, unsure of where exactly we were heading. The closest Information Centre (or more commonly referred to by us as an Inspiration Centre) was in a town just ½ hour from Hobart called “New Norfolk”. New Norfolk was quite a strange little town, we got the feeling that the townsfolk were all quite bitter & twisted and weren't very welcoming to new comers in a Troopcarrier. The volunteer at the Inspiration Centre was still flying the flag for her beloved town. She informed us the price of a return ferry to Bruny Island to be around $30 return. Considering we had expected it to be closer to the $100 mark, we were pleasantly surprised and decided to make route to this tiny & intriguing island just south of Hobart.
The directions the lady gave us seemed to me to be quite the long route around. I noticed o n the map what seemed to be a much more direct track along a gravel road. So, we scratched out her directions and decided to make a path of our own to the Bruny ferry terminal.
The directions the lady gave us seemed to me to be quite the long route around. I noticed o n the map what seemed to be a much more direct track along a gravel road. So, we scratched out her directions and decided to make a path of our own to the Bruny ferry terminal.
Upon entering “Jefferies Track” there was a rather small and unassuming sign that simply read “Road not suitable for 2WD”. Of course, we didn’t even blink an eye, and why would we?
Initially, I thought that the sharp corners could have meant that in the wet these could be quite slippery and dangerous for 2WDs. As we ventured further along the track, I began to realise that they should have been slightly more descriptive in their sign – this was no ordinary gravel road. It didn’t take long until we were cranked in 4WD and our speed was lucky to exceed 4km/hr.
My heart was beating a million miles an hour... what the hell were we doing here? We were up in the woods, with the clouds so thick that we could barely see the road infront, we had no charge on our mobile (which probably wouldn’t have had reception anyhow) and there was no response on any channel on the UHF. I knew there was no turning back once we had passed through a stretch of drops so steep, slipping off the track would have meant rolling the Troopie. There was literally no turning around... we couldn’t possibly have been able to even if we wanted to.
The adrenalin was pumping, my emotions were so torn between fear and excitement. What if we got stuck and couldn’t get out? Would one of us stay in the car while the other ventured off into the woods in what felt like pitch black at 2:30pm on a Thursday afternoon? As all of these thoughts were rushing through my head, I saw an object ahead that made me feel like all of our worlds came crashing down in one fell swoop. Right amongst the darkness of the woods, a black cat crossed our path. Blair Witch, Saw I, II and III eat your heart out – this was god damn petrifying. Next thing we knew there was something on the roof tap, tap, tapping away trying to get inside – bloody hell, Ivan Milat eat your heart out.
I rolled up the windows, locked the doors, Tom put on a brave man face and went out to remove the loose snap strap from the roof racks. Only to return to the car to tell me to bloody well calm down. “I’ll calm down, when you get me to the safety of the sweet, sweet bitumen.”
The adrenalin was pumping, my emotions were so torn between fear and excitement. What if we got stuck and couldn’t get out? Would one of us stay in the car while the other ventured off into the woods in what felt like pitch black at 2:30pm on a Thursday afternoon? As all of these thoughts were rushing through my head, I saw an object ahead that made me feel like all of our worlds came crashing down in one fell swoop. Right amongst the darkness of the woods, a black cat crossed our path. Blair Witch, Saw I, II and III eat your heart out – this was god damn petrifying. Next thing we knew there was something on the roof tap, tap, tapping away trying to get inside – bloody hell, Ivan Milat eat your heart out.
I rolled up the windows, locked the doors, Tom put on a brave man face and went out to remove the loose snap strap from the roof racks. Only to return to the car to tell me to bloody well calm down. “I’ll calm down, when you get me to the safety of the sweet, sweet bitumen.”
Of course, considering I’m still here to blog about it today, we made it to the beloved bitumen, with huge smiles on how faces. What an adventure! A stupid and irresponsible one perhaps but what an adventure!!
The other end of “Jefferies Track” had a very descriptive indication of how rough it was. Perhaps they should consider putting the same sign at both ends, now that would just make sense, wouldn’t it?!
A lot of other travellers in Tassie had been ranting and raving about how beautiful Bruny Island is and how it's worth the ferry ride over to have a look. I can only assume they went there with much better weather than what we had. Either way though, anywhere with cheese factories, wineries, fresh seafood, penguins and white wallabies on it had to be good regardless of the weather.
First things first, as soon as we got off the ferry, we headed straight for the cheese factory. Apparently, the French word for cheese is “Tomme” so the Bruny Island Cheese Factory put a little bit of a swing on his cheeses...
The cheese is delicious. And interestingly too, the Bruny Island Cheese Factory is the only cheese factory in Australia that makes a cheese using unpasteurised milk. We managed to find a little dent in the budget to treat ourselves to some damn fine cheese. And, the man must have liked us because he slipped an extra two cheeses in the bag for us as a lovely surprise.
The other end of “Jefferies Track” had a very descriptive indication of how rough it was. Perhaps they should consider putting the same sign at both ends, now that would just make sense, wouldn’t it?!
First things first, as soon as we got off the ferry, we headed straight for the cheese factory. Apparently, the French word for cheese is “Tomme” so the Bruny Island Cheese Factory put a little bit of a swing on his cheeses... The cheese is delicious. And interestingly too, the Bruny Island Cheese Factory is the only cheese factory in Australia that makes a cheese using unpasteurised milk. We managed to find a little dent in the budget to treat ourselves to some damn fine cheese. And, the man must have liked us because he slipped an extra two cheeses in the bag for us as a lovely surprise.
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