What can I say, this has been another day in Wonderland. I left St Helens this morning thinking there were still things I wanted to see, the bay was beautiful and the weather was perfect. But at this rate, I'll not be half way around Tasmania by the time I have to leave.

So I left St Helens with Launceston as my destination. When I saw it was 160 Km (100 miles) to Launceston I thought “I'll be there for lunch”. Leaving St Helens the road climbed into some hilly country that gave way to rolling farmland.

Farmland near Pyengana

At Pyengana I left the highway to visit St Columba Falls.

St Columba Falls

The falls drop about 90 metres and were okay as falls go, while the setting was sheer magic. As others took photos from the walkway, I scrambled through the undergrowth in search of the magical shots I was sure were waiting for me. My instinct was correct, I found myself in a world of loveliness without a tripod. A rushing mountain street scattered with moss covered boulders enclosed in a cold climate rainforest.

Scenes from a railforest stream, above and below.

                                                                                           

I skipped the cheese factory, I've seen one before, and their agenda is to see slabs of cheese. Tempted as I was, the Pub in a Paddock with a pig that drinks beer failed to lure me through the farm gate. It literally is a pub in a paddock in the middle of nowhere; a pretty nowhere mark you, but a beer swilling pig smacks of animal abuse. I guess its beer drinking has saved its bacon, although it may yet die of sclerosis of the liver.

At Weldborough I stopped for a walk in a myrtle forest and stayed to take photos of this magnificent place. It was another cold climate rainforest of Myrtle trees and Tree Ferns, while everything seems to be covered in mosses.

Fern Trees

Mosses

By then it was lunch time, and I was nowhere near Launceston. From then on the road was impossibly narrow with nightmare sharp hairpin bends that seemed to go on forever. Mercifully there was very little traffic, but I had to keep me wits about me as I wrestled my brick on wheels through the curves.

The more I though about staying a night in Launceston, the less I liked the idea. I've been to Launceston before, anything I see there will be a repeat of my previous visit. Getting around in a city in a camper van is no fun, I know that from Hobart, and parking is terrible. I decided to skip Launceston and drove on to Deloraine.

Tonight I'm in a caravan park wedged between the Meander River, although it look like a creek, and the railway line. The caravan park is operated by the Apex Club, it's cheap and has basic amenities. There is no community kitchen, which is a shame, because my gas bottle is empty. I bought half a cooked chicken for dinner tonight because I couldn't cook anything.

My plan for this evening was to catch up with emails, but I have a dodgy internet connection. As it is, this is my second attempt at writing this blog, I lost the first one as I was about to post it.  If it works this time, I'll go to bed and count myself lucky.

Finally, I must eat a few words from yesterday's entry. Today I drove on a divided dual carriageway, and I saw an overtaking lane. I bought my miniature half chicken at a Woolworths, and today I saw a couple of banks, not something I've seen in any of the places I've been lately. And lastly, I saw a Police car booking a motorist in a car with Tasmanian plates. Perhaps it was a scene staged by professional actors, because it wasn't the same Police car I saw every other days this past week. What a give away ...

This entry is posted without a final review, I want to get it posted, so please excuse any errors you may encounter.