Dave
and I had a few days off this week, so decided that we'd make the most
of living in Tassie and explore a new area which we hadn't yet visited -
the south-west area of Strathgordon and Lake Pedder. There isn't a lot
of accommodation in the area, so after doing a small amount of research,
we booked in 3 nights at Pedder Wilderness Lodge in Strathgordon, located about 2.5 hours' drive from Hobart.
After
dropping Moose at Best Friends Pet Resort (his second favourite home)
and meeting up with a couple of friends in North Hobart for breakfast on
Wednesday morning (I had a delicious bircher muesli at Born in Brunswick), we hit the road at around 11:30am. We drove through
New Norfolk towards Mount Field, then continued on until we reached
Strathgordon at about 2pm. After checking into the lodge, we thought
we'd go out for a drive to the Gordon Dam, one of the major highlights
of the south-west (and of Tasmania). Gordon Dam is Tasmania's largest
dam standing at 130m tall, and holds more water than Sydney Harbour. It
is an incredible sight to see, and the walk down the steel stairs to the
dam, while slightly terrifying at first, it definitely worth doing.
After
wandering around the dam for a while, we headed back to the lodge
before having an early-ish dinner at the Twelve Trees restaurant at the
lodge (which, incidentally, is the only place to eat or get any food in
the area!). I ordered the porterhouse steak with potatoes and asparagus,
while Dave had the gnocchi with lamb ragu and parmesan, followed by an
affogato with frangelico each.
The
next day, we woke fairly early and grabbed some breakfast at the
restaurant (berry and banana porridge for me, scrambled eggs on
sourdough for Dave) and thought we'd head out for a hike before the rain
that was forecast to hit later that afternoon arrived. About 5km from
the hotel was the Twelve Trees trail, which is a steep trail leading up
to a lookout overlooking Lake Pedder and the surrounding mountains. The
trail was very secluded (I think it was the first time we've done a hike
without seeing anyone else!) but the scenery was beautiful along the
way and from the top. All in all it took us a bit over 2 hours to
complete. We returned to the lodge for some lunch in our room (we had
planned ahead and bought some sourdough rolls and Pyengana cheddar in
Hobart the day before) so had a simple lunch and relaxing afternoon
watching DVDs, before heading to the lodge restaurant again for dinner.
This time, I went for the pumpkin and duck lasagne, followed by the
apple and strawberry crumble for dessert.
On
Friday morning, we woke up to the sun shining, despite the forecast for
rain, so we thought we should make the most of it and head out for
another hike. We headed to the Serpentine Dam to walk part of the Mount Sprent hike, which in total is a 6 hour
steep hike. We had only planned to walk
for an hour or so before turning around given the steepness of the hike,
however as we kept walking, the view kept getting better and better,
and the sun kept peeking out of the clouds giving an even more amazing
view, so after 3 and a bit hours, we reached the peak. The 360 degree
views over Lake Pedder and the vast forest of western Tasmania were
stunning and definitely worth the tough climb. We ended up getting back
to the car at about 5pm (with some very wet and muddy hiking boots,
sunburnt necks and aching legs). We then enjoyed a well-deserved dinner
of calamari rings to share, a sirloin steak each with potatoes and
asparagus, and a crumble for me and an affogato for Dave.
We
woke up on Saturday morning around 8:30am, and had a quick breakfast before
hitting the road at around 10am. On the way home, we stopped off at
Russell Falls at Mount Field, which is a stunning waterfall that is easy
to get to, as it is only a 20 minute return walk from the car park at
the visitor's centre.
All
in all, it was a wonderful 3 day getaway, with a mixture of
relaxation, great food and venturing out into the wilderness to get
the heart rate up. A lot of visitors to Tasmania tend to head to the
popular spots like Hobart, Wineglass Bay, Port Arthur, Launceston and
even Devonport, but I think a lot of people overlook the south-west as
an incredible option. However, I would 100% recommend exploring this area if you
want to see some stunning scenery that matches that of New Zealand or
Canada, without the mad rush of tourists that is often found at the more
popular touristy spots. It truly is one of the most unspoiled and
gorgeous parts of this wonderful state.
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