Well the road trip finally began, and I have to say I believe it began at Coles Beach in Devonport. That was where I stayed manys a night sleeping in my car while living in Tasmania. From here in June 2010, I left behind Tasmania on a four state road trip north to Queensland. 5 Read more about Australian Road Trip Part 1: Leaving Coles Beach, Devonport, Tasmania[…]
We didn’t stop at this remote location on our railway through the Tasmanian wilderness. It was once a train stop known as Campspur, but it’s no longer a stop. There is a platform there but no station. Steel house structures remain to show where the “campsite” and buildings (rather huts) once were. What Read more about West Coast Wilderness Railway Part Six – Campspur[…]
So from our peak at Rinadeena, it was time to head downhill from the mines and into an area, barely a village named Dubbil Barril, note the strange spelling as opposed to Double Barrel. The rainforest route on the way down was totally amazing, we past gorges. We must have gone Read more about West Coast Wilderness Railway Part Five – Cow Dairy at Dubbil Barril[…]
WEST COAST WILDERNESS RAILWAY PART FOUR – LUNCH AT RINADEENA (RAINDROP) So I left behind the remote mining village of Lynchford, for this lifetime at least. This is where the train tracks got steeper and became a railway incline, as part of the famous “rack and pinion” system. I had already been on the Read more about West Coast Wilderness Railway Part Four – Lunch At Rinadeena (Raindrop)[…]
It’s sounds a bit silly if I say “I’ve always been interested in railways”, because I say that about so many things. But there is something inspiring about being onboard a train. There’s history, character, atmosphere, geography, music involved in train journeys. And Michael Palin has a series called “The World’s Great Train Journeys.” I Read more about Don River Railway[…]
Bruny Island is one of many islands off the coast of Tasmania. Obviously it’s Australian. Again I decided to visit there as I wasn’t sure how long I’ll stay in Tasmania and whether or not I will ever be in Tasmania again after this long stint on the island. Bruny Island is situated on Read more about Backpacking in Australia: The Magic of Bruny Island, Tasmania[…]
WEST COAST WILDERNESS RAILWAY PART THREE – SEARCHING FOR GOLD AT LYNCHFORD The journey from Queenstown to Lynchford is probably around 12 kilometres. The magic had already begun as soon as we left Queenstown. We were travelling on a track through the middle of nowhere. A work of engineering genius, which had taken years Read more about West Coast Wilderness Railway Part Three – Searching For Gold at Lynchford[…]
I had only 40 minutes in Queenstown, and although it was small, I quickly looked at what I wanted to see. In the end, just walking round the town for 30 minutes was enough time to “see” it all, if not experience an overnight stay in this quite remarkable little enclave. I Read more about West Coast Wilderness Railway Part Two – Queenstown[…]
I have always enjoyed railways and train journeys. As a kid it was spotting the different stations on the Bangor – Belfast train line. My home country of Northern Ireland is hardly blessed with a lot of train lines. I grew up about 5 miles from the nearest station, and my birthtown of Newtownards Read more about West Coast Wilderness Railway Part One – Leaving Strahan[…]
I have always loved ships. Ever since the days of getting the St David or the Galloway Princess from Larne to Stranraer or from going out boating with my mate Peter Bell and his step -Dad Ken Taylor on the Impala yacht in Ringhaddy. Then in 2008 I worked on the Isle of Wight ferries Read more about World Borders: Sailing from Melbourne to Devonport on the Spirit of Tasmania Ferry, Australia🇦🇺[…]