She’ll be coming ’round the mountain when she comes……

By ShellOctober 10, 2015

Today we said goodbye to come of the most beautiful places on Earth – Strahan, the Macquarie Harbour and the Gordon River – not to mention the Wheelhouse Apartment, where we stayed and had this view!

On our way out of town we passed the Police Station….. I must say that we felt much safer for knowing it was there. Bless its heart.

Then it was up and over the mountain for us. The first town we came across was Queenstown. I think, after driving through this quaint little town you would either have to have been born here, never learning how to get out or you were transferred there for a shit load of money and you have your eye on leaving very shortly. I think I could live in most places, but if I had to live in Queenstown, I’d cry every day.

It is a little bit like the towns people have given up with most of the shops having closed down or windows boarded up. Lots of houses have been neglected and are in dire need of a paint or have been left to fall down. Having said that, the scenery and surroundings are quite beautiful in their own unique way. The town is set into a gully of bare rock mountains where they mine for tin.

We did stop and get out of the car briefly to have a coffee and luckily found the best place in town – the railway station housing the West Coast Wilderness Railway that runs from Strahan to Queenstown.

Lovely coffee and we shared a lovely fresh scone with jam and cream.

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Then we hightailed it out of there, passing this lovely house on the way…. Gnome City!

The real magic comes from high up on the top of the hill where you can look down at Queenstown from a distance….

And if you squint through these letters that spell out the town….. it possibly even looks a bit better….. probably not though.

Half way to our final destination for the day – Lake St Clair, was a lovely little stop – Nelson Falls.

Another walk through a cool temperate rain forrest…

Along a babbling brook….

Surrounded by gorgeous, tall trees…..

All leading to the most pristine waterfall.

Every time I say to Me Jenny, let’s take a photo – she says “oh, ok, but they always look the same!” Whatever!

We also stopped to look at the Frenchman’s Peak that was dotted in snow. I’m always excited when I see snow. Growing up in WA will do that to a person.

It had been recommended to us to stop in the Derwent Bridge Hotel for lunch.

It’s a lovely big old tavern with a big open fire and pool tables etc…. we got there at 2.05pm and noticed the sign that said

“Lunch form 12-2”

We raced in thinking that surely 5 minutes would be ok, but inside was one lady going back and forth between the kitchen and the tables who wouldn’t make eye contact with us and at the bar was an American man who was ordering a large round of drinks from the only bar tender and shouting over to his friends about how glad he was that they had dragged him off that mountain, because: “Oh man, I’m really hurtin'” ?

So….. by the time he had faffed on about whatever part of his body was achin’ to the guy behind the bar, by the time we asked if we could still order lunch it was nearly 2.15 and the kitchen was closed.

Bastards.

So we were forced – yes, that’s right, I said forced to dine at The Hungry Wombat Cafe just up the road a bit.

The lady greeted us by saying, “We don’t have any fish, no steak and no veggie burgers. There’s no pies left and we’ve got 2 spinach and feta rolls left.”

Moving right along……….

Our accommodation for tonight is such a picturesque spot.

The Pumphouse Point Retreat at Lake St Clair.