It rained in the night and was a bit showery and windy in the morning. The parks people will be praying for more rain. Only 8 degrees when we left and expected high of 14. Today was a big driving day to get from Cradle Mountain over to Orford on the East Coast. We had two options, clockwise or anticlockwise around Cradle Mountain – Lake St Clair National Park. Each about the same distance and partly over roads we had cycled three years ago.

We decided clockwise through Mole Creek,  Deloraine (Andy’s Cafe again), Perth, down route 1 to Campbell Town, across to Swansea and down the coast to Orford. From Cradle Mountain we were going in the opposite direction that we had cycled. Kevin and Owen will remember the big downhill and uphill either side of the bridge over the Forth River. The roads around Mole Creek were great. Quiet country lanes, Sunday morning so no traffic, climbing over ranges, through forests and down farmed valleys. From Deloraine it was along busier roads and from Perth to Campbell Town on the very busy highway 1, the main road between Launceston and Hobart.

CampbellTown was an interesting historic village with a red brick bridge built over the Elizabeth River, dating from 1832/34. So a little newer than the bridge at Richmond but also built by convicts. The old bridge still carries main highway traffic so has lasted well. The Richmond bridge looks quainter because years of floods and droughts have made the centre piers settle and the whole thing has a wonky appearance.

The road from Campbell Town to Swansea is a quiet rambling road that climbs over a couple of ranges. We took a small 4km side road to Lake Leake to eat our lunch.  The Elizabeth River was damned in 1883 to form the lake and provide a fresh water supply for Campbell Town. The lake had lots of tall dead tree trunks sticking out of the water which made it look as though there had been some recent disaster.

Also walked the headland at Swansea which I had missed doing with Barb and Brian as I soaked my bruised body in the bath.

We are staying two nights in a comfortable but jaded resort from the seventies. It does have excellent facilities for swimming: a spa, an indoor pool, an outdoor pool and a beach. We were feeling a bit jaded ourselves after driving for 5 hours (and a million gear changes to get the Barina over the hills) and had a lovely swim in the outdoor pool.

Warm and sunny in Orford but a strong wind. Hope the wind dies a bit for tomorrow as we have booked the ferry to go to Maria Island.