Lake Pedder and Lake Gordon

9 April 2012

The weather forecast said it was going to rain throughout Easter. On Good Friday, there were thunder storms and power outage. Saturday morning I got up to find a surprisingly pleasant weather.

I had been talking to my husband about going camping during Easter. A friend of mine and her family would like to go camping too. So we made a decision that morning, packed our things and went together to Lake Pedder and Lake Gordon. The southwesterly was coming in and we knew the weather there was not going to be good but we just went.

We left Launceston at about 2pm, stopped at Campbell Town to get some supplies, drove through Bothwell, stopped at Hamilton to give my friend's little girl a break as she got car sick and threw up 嘔吐, topped up our tanks at Bushy Park. By the time we arrived at the Huon Campground at Lake Pedder, it was almost 7pm and dark.

The campsite has a good set up. Each tent site has a barbeque pit and picnic tables. There are two large (kind of communal)  picnic tables under shelter.  There are also garbage and recycling bins and toilets. Park fees and camping fees apply.

My friend's family set up a tent.  My husband and I decided to sleep in our van, as we thought it was going to be wet and thus did not bother about the tent. It rained heavily throughout the night.

It was pouring Sunday morning and some campers were fed up with the weather and decided to go home.  

We cooked breakfast in the picnic shelter and a very inquisitive 好奇的 yellow spotted quoll hanged around prospecting for 搜尋 food.  A Bennetts wallaby was around too for a very brief while and disappeared when it saw the quoll, obviously not wanting to end up being a prey 獵物.

After breakfast, we packed up and drove around to see Lake Pedder and Lake Gordon.  Photos can be viewed at: http://www.youtas.com/thread-64431-1-1.html
Though it was raining most of the time and visibility was not ideal, it was still a worthwhile trip.  The lakes are huge and the landscape is gorgeous. After all, I had not been there before.

On our way back, my husband had to stop at Maydena for lunch. He loves South West Tasmania and has done a number of big bush walking trips there. Every time after weeks of bush walking, he and his friends would get fish and chips (he calls it civilised food) in the same general store in Maydena which is the first town outside the national park area.

In the store, the little girl was looking at the board thinking about what to order.

"It's a big decision to make, isn't it?" said my husband.

"Um, ya," the little girl responded.

"You have to decide what to throw up on your way home." My husband then told the girl's elder brother to enjoy. This is him!

(Remarks: When travelling on a wet day in the bush, watch out for leeches. I found I  had a leech bite on my calf when I had a shower at home. As some people  are allergic 敏感 to leech bite, be vigilant 小心注意.)

This is a link to the map of our trip: Lake Pedder and Lake Gordon, April 2012