Tasmanian Off Road Adventures Tag-a-long tour

Week 3 4WD tag-a-long . Tasmanian Offroad Adventures.

Mon 14th January
Meeting at Burnie, we joined 5 4WD's led by Mark from Tasmanian Off Road Adventures. His son Ryan (10) joining us on his first tag-a-long trip. Mark and Brad had met during Camp Quality 4x4 fun but we had already booked on the tag-a-long .In the other 4WDs, Adam and his son Bailey (14) in Ranger from Melbourne, Dan, Stacey and their girls Amelia (9), Thea (4) in their Patrol from Coffs Harbour; and Craig and Nicole , Clordella (8) and Lincoln (6) in their Land cruiser recently moved to Tasmania from Brisbane.

We had a bit of a drive to Arthur River. Driver's needed to purchase a recreational driving permit. Then the fun began! A short beach drive to get us started before heading towards the Sandy Cape Beach track.

 Well known for hazards such as quick sand, it is advisable to travel in convoy. The beach was amazing, such a long stretch of beach with very few previous track marks, we were the only ones on it at the time. Large unbroken sand dunes to the left, ocean to the right, seagulls flying, waves crashing, magic! Up to Sandy Cape lighthouse and one of the cars, Dan in a Patrol drove the steep rocky track right to it. The rest of us walked.

 Arriving at camp around 430pm we set up in a quirky remote camp ground sheltered by the wind. A communal camp ground with a fence and hut made out of pallets wrapped in plastic and a toilet not plumbed in but flushed with a bucket of water.

Overnight Brad and I were woken to noise, looking out through the swag window Brad spots a Tasmanian Devil crushing his teeth into an empty beer can. The teeth marks very visable in the morning!

15th January
Packing up camp and heading back on the Sandy Cape Beach track.
Mark demonstrated how not to start the day , got stuck in the sand as he wasn't in 4WD! Brad used his winch to pull him out, Mitch being part of the recovery team!
The beach so different from the previous day, so much softer to drive on. The ocean was spraying mist and we couldn't see the patterns in the sand dunes.
Today we tackled a well known track called the Balfour track . Well known for it's large puddles particularly the 'canal' with it's soft bottom, gets many vehicles stuck. It seemed the water levels in the puddles were lower than normal and we had no issues. Mitch loved this track, he loves a good puddle to drive through!

Arriving into camp at Corinna, a beautiful little 'resort') in the wilderness. Many of the old buildings and history remains in tact.

16th January
Waking to a tranquil setting, the river acting like a mirror with reflection of trees on the water.

We all went on a small Barge (2 cars at a time) to cross the river for our days adventure. A short trip but really beautiful.

 
With air down we hit the Pieman Heads track. This one my favourite! Starting at Granville Harbour, where many free camperd were set up. A beautiful spot, but incredibly windy ! Following the coast, uninterrupted views of the ocean with interesting rocks and plenty of bird life. As for the track, there was something for everyone ; Beach driving, Soft sand , hard sand, rock climbing, driving through puddles.

All the boys favourite parts of 4WDriving! Xavier favourite is beach driving, Mitch puddles and Josh rock climbing.
The end of the track is Piemans Heads, a remote shack town. We enjoyed a long lunch here to explore and the boys had a swim in the cold bay!

Arriving at Zeehan Bush Camp, a caravan park that has some decent facilities for it's location. The Bathrooms have old style brass tapware and old newspapers on the wall . Zeehan was the third largest town in Tassie in the early1900 . Has some grand old buildings as a result, but now a fairly quiet town.

At night, Mark took us to an old mine that has glow worms living inside. A spectacular sight, when the torches were turned off.

17th January
A well known 4WD track, we took on Climies Track. Considered a hard track, one not to be taken on your own! 7 hours to drive 20 odd km!

An early diversion we took a track to the left across the mountain top to a short, steep walk to an old mine (Cornwall Mine) and a spectacular view of the ocean. The West Coast is scattered with old mines known as adits, which are small tunnels carved into the rocks that the miners used to spend their days looking for tin, silver, and gold . Dark, cold and claustrophobic with a reasonable fear of it caving in, not the most pleasant work conditions.

A challenging 4WDriving, rocky and a bumpy ride. Lots of big wash out and decent hill climbing and descenting through the rocks and wash outs. Mark describes the largest incline as Narley hill, aptly named! It was epic! Definitely one to walk first, plan and drive with a spotter. All driver's managed it, including Brad in our Navara!

The track is well known for Granite creek, a flowing river crossing on the edge of a cliff. Thankfully there is now a bridge but we did arrive in time to watch someone successfully drive it. A scary drive, with high risk. A memorial for 3 people who lost their life going over the cliff as a warning to drivers.

All drivers feeling exhausted, and a sense of accomplishment on completion of the Climies Track. This one was Brad's favourite track.

 

18th January
Montezuma Falls Track
A different track again, previously a tram line closed in 1932 only 2m wide and channels through valley of a rain forest. Remnants of bridge across the creek and an old mine to explore the track has been carved out of rock and clay, its a muddy slow 14km with some challenging sections. At the end, the magnificent Montezuma Falls, one of the largest waterfalls in Tassie. Breath taking! Photos doesn't do it justice!

Sadly this was the last day, and the last track. Tasmanian Off Road Adventures Tag-a-long tour was fantastic! We loved it. Mark led a great trip, calm , knowledgeable and friendly! Highly recommend to anyone wanting to experience west coast of Tassie. Some 4WDriving is essential as is having the right equipped vehicle. On our trip we had some very experienced 4wdrivers who would not have tackled those tracks alone. Well worth the cost. The itinerary, permits, camp grounds all taken care of. We were lucky to have such a great group, small numbers, with 8 kids ranging from 4-10 the kids had a ball, even exhanged emails addresses, friends forever! I am sure we will meet again, for another 4WD and camping adventure! 

 And look what the bumpy tracks do to our boys!!! (And their mum!)