This is a trip report in three parts, with some extra posts on the side.
So we went down to Queenstown Friday night, leaving from Ulverstone. It's a bit of drive: 250km/150 miles 3.5 hour from Launceston via Cradle Mountain or 260km + 6 minutes from Launceston via the NW coast.
(Or Google tells me, 260km 3h 23mins if you go through Cressy and past the Great Lakes, but no one every goes that way and I wouldn't have considered it as a possible route.)
Whichever way you go, there are narrow, winding mountains roads, and long stretches with no towns, no houses, no mobile phone signal (either Optus or Telstra). We arrived just before 11 pm, so the drive was also in the dark and of course it was raining. And it winds on and on and on forever, with an occasional road sign to assure you that you actually making progress.
Then all these lights appear. No occasional flicker or isolated light as you get closer, just come around a corner and lights right across the view, and then along one side and this tall, shining tower thing on the hill.
The Empire Hotel, where we stayed.
( Read more... )
So we went down to Queenstown Friday night, leaving from Ulverstone. It's a bit of drive: 250km/150 miles 3.5 hour from Launceston via Cradle Mountain or 260km + 6 minutes from Launceston via the NW coast.
(Or Google tells me, 260km 3h 23mins if you go through Cressy and past the Great Lakes, but no one every goes that way and I wouldn't have considered it as a possible route.)
Whichever way you go, there are narrow, winding mountains roads, and long stretches with no towns, no houses, no mobile phone signal (either Optus or Telstra). We arrived just before 11 pm, so the drive was also in the dark and of course it was raining. And it winds on and on and on forever, with an occasional road sign to assure you that you actually making progress.
Then all these lights appear. No occasional flicker or isolated light as you get closer, just come around a corner and lights right across the view, and then along one side and this tall, shining tower thing on the hill.
The Empire Hotel, where we stayed.
( Read more... )
