Mole Creek

 10 - 11 December 2021

We disembarked from the Spirit of Tasmania in Devonport early and were yet to decide where we would go. We wanted to delay our arrival in Hobart until Sunday so we had a couple of days to fill in. After a quick discussion as we drove away from the port we made up our minds to head to Narawntapu National Park for a walk and to consider camping.

It took just over 1/2 hour to travel to the national park from Devonport and contemplate what we would do. We decided that a walk around the campground for a look and then the walk to the bird hide would be a good start. The parks pass we purchased on our last visit to Tasmania was still valid so we didn't need to get another one yet. After a look at the campground, and considering what we might do for the next few days we decided that we would just go for the walk and then set off for somewhere else. We had all day to fill in anyway so were in no hurry to get settled.

The walk to the bird hide is an easy 30 minute stroll but there wasn't much bird life on the water - just a few black swans and a some ducklings, without an adult nearby. Mick took some photos and then we headed back towards the visitor centre. Along the way he spotted some potential subjects in the grassy area so spent some time there with the camera.

We decided to go to Mole Creek to camp as we had never stayed there before and reviews suggested the caravan park was a good place to stay. It was still early so we took some back roads through Sassafras and enjoyed the country scenery. On the way to Mole Creek, we stopped at Melita Honey Farm in Chudleigh for some local honey and a honey ice cream. The ice cream is a favourite of Mick's and it was a warm day - so why not? 

We arrived at Mole Creek well before lunch and after much deliberation settled on a creek side site. There was a fire pit adjacent so we purchased some firewood for the forecast cold night. We hadn't had a pub meal for some weeks so decided to celebrate our arrival in Tasmania with lunch at the local. Nice pub, nice meal and still most of the day to explore - or not.

After our very early start to the day onboard Spirit of Tasmania we both needed an afternoon nap before going out for a drive. We had previously visited the famous Mole Creek Caves so headed in a different direction to investigate a possible camping spot. The campground at Honeycomb Caves looked nice enough but there had obviously been lots of rain recently and the track was in very bad condition. In good weather it would be a good spot with lots of bush around. From the campground we followed the sign to Westmorland Falls only to find that the walk to the falls is a 2 hour return walk. We decided not to as it was getting late in the day. 

Back at camp we organised dinner and lit the fire. It was lovely to be able to have a fire on a cold night. We didn't use all the firewood before bedtime so we had another small fire in the morning while we had breakfast. We had made up our minds to move on so we gifted the remaining wood to the neighbours.

The weather on the east coast looked to be nice enough so we decided on a night at Scamander before going on to Hobart.