The Final Leg – Devonport to Geelong

 Spirit of Tasmania – Devonport to Geelong

13 – 14 August 2023

After way more time in Tasmania than we had originally planned we had the latest renovation at a point where we were ready to leave and head north. We had spent almost the whole of winter in Tassie and were pleasantly surprised at how nice it had been – by all reports it had been a very mild winter so we considered ourselves lucky. In between renos and general house and garden tasks we had managed to get in some family celebrations (both girl’s graduations, birthdays, and a wedding anniversary) as well as a few weekends away.

We had spent our last few days in Tassie on the West Coast at Strahan, and as expected, the weather wasn’t great. We went for a wander in town, but, being the “off season”. We had booked a 6:45pm sail, so had most of the day to fill in on our way to Devonport.

We took out time leaving Strahan and made our first stop in Zeehan for coffee. From there we continued on to Rosebery where we had lunch in a nice park. We then drove a short distance out of town to Stitt Falls. The walk to the falls was about 30 metres so only took a couple of minutes to a slightly underwhelming waterfall – but it did fill in a bit more time.

We drove through to the turn-off to Waratah and drove in to have a look. We went for a short walk to the Waratah Falls viewing point. We also walked a little way along the river then continued back towards the highway. We decided to take another detour to go to the north coast via Hellyer Gorge. We’ve visited several times and it’s a good spot to spend some time. The day was clear, but cold, and we walked down to the river and noticed the water level was much higher than usual, making access to the walking path almost impossible. We returned to the carpark where Mick spent a long session trying to photograph some birds.

From Hellyer Gorge we drove north to Burnie then continued along the Bass Highway to Devonport. For once our timing was perfect. We had timed our arrival coincide with the start of boarding instead of check-in as we usually do. We were checked in and through security and quarantine checks with very little waiting. We were directed to a lane (one of about 20 that were all mostly full) and pulled up beside a birder  who Mick had met in South Australia a few years ago, and had stayed in touch with via Instagram. We knew he had been in Tassie but it was quite a coincidence to be stopped right beside him in the queue to get on the boat. After a really quick chat and an invitation to join us for a drink, our lane was directed to board – we had only waited a couple of minutes.

Once settled into our cabin we made our way to the bar and were joined by Chris for a couple of drinks and a chat about birding. He gave Mick a few tips for our travels through Victoria and South Australia. We had dinner and returned to the cabin for a very comfortable, calm crossing. The biggest downside of a 6:45am sail is the very early wake-up call.

Mick had a couple of birds he wanted to chase on the way between Geelong and picking up the camper trailer in Bendigo so we were pleased to be on the first vehicle deck to disembark and on our way to Barwon Heads in search of the Double-banded plover. We found the beach and walked along for quite a way without success, turned around and went on the opposite direction and found them not far past where we had entered the beach. We should have turned left instead of right. Mick spent a while lying on the sand taking photos before we set off again.

Our next destination was Castlemaine so we stopped in Daylesford for brunch at the bakery then continued on to the Botanic Gardens in Castlemaine. This time we were searching for the Powerful owl. Mick has looked for this species in various locations without success but this time his perseverance was rewarded with some good photos of the owl with a galah it had caught.

The next stop was Bell’s Swamp near Neereman. This time the target species was the Australian Painted snipe. Again, Mick was successful in sighting the bird – three for three, so all in all a great day’s birding, even though he didn’t get a great photo. We had a quick lunch by the swamp and headed into Bendigo to pick up the camper and settle in to the caravan park. We had decided to stay in Bendigo for its proximity to Bell’s Swamp and also the Greater Bendigo National Park.