2021 Tasmanian Trail
Tyenna River at Westerway
The image in this post is of the Tyenna River at Westerway and had I of stayed on track I would have crossed this river, or more specifically swum it, given it was so high. I camped just outside of Westerway at the point where the old railway track crossed the road as it allowed access into the pine plantation.
It’s the same every time; you find a spot to camp only to get up and walk on the next morning and find a much better spot about another 500 metres away. I know there’s not much you can do about this and there are times you walk on and don’t find anything suitable.
I spent much of this day walking towards New Norfolk passing through the towns of Glenora and Bushy Park. They may well have been twin towns – they were really just an extended row of houses with Glenora having the school and Bushy Park having the shop come post office come petrol station. I am yet again staggered at the friendliness of the people in these country towns and at Bushy Park after buying up on food I was offered a free fresh pastry. I would have loved to take up the offer but wouldn’t have been able to walk after eating them – I would’ve ended with a sugar comma they looked so rich.
I headed on towards New Norfolk taking the road route and later in the afternoon hit a brick wall. Decision time. Rather than staying around 10km short of New Norfolk I opted for a lift into town and I’m hoteling it for three nights. Usually I do two nights to allow me to do the podcast but the post office doesn’t open until Monday so I’m here until Tuesday morning to allow me to pick up my drop box, sort out what I need and press on. Having said that the COVID news is a bit concerning and only seems to be getting worse.
I’m glad that I did get a lift in because many roads in Tasmania aren’t made for walking. Between where I got picked up and town, there was nowhere remotely possible to set up a tent without hopping a fence into someone’s paddock which typically contained livestock.
Lastly one final blast from the past – all I can think of when walking past the Derwent River is Derwent pencils. I know they are produced in the UK but for some reason I have always associated them with Tasmania. Go figure.
The image in this post is of the Tyenna River at Westerway and had I of stayed on track I would have crossed this river, or more specifically swum it, given it was so high. I camped just outside of Westerway at the point where the old railway track crossed the road as it allowed […]