Julian & Ali Travels


Kelly Basin to Trial Harbour		February 15 -16

		We follow the remains of the train track, with track removed, to the Bird River Bridge.

		An impressive engineering fete.

		We lost count of how many cuttings.

		A car park before the bridge. A map. With the original train line.

		A photo taken in 2019 had boardwalk on the bridge. Now the bridge is closed.

		We take the bypass. A substantial bridge.

		As with all the rivers we've seen, the Bird River is tannin stained.

		Dense rainforest.

		We like the tree ferns. And never tire of them.

		The walking track a bit narrower. A few boggy bits with detours. A couple of cyclists left their bicycles half way. Not the rail track they expected.

		East Pillinger was built by North Lyall Mine under the manager Crotty. The end of the line. West Pillinger a little further on, the government town.

		Kelly Basin. MacQuarie Harbour. Sarah Island just beyond.

		East Pillinger was built to supply bricks and other supplies to the mine. It was abandoned when Strahan, also with rail line, was developed. This is the remnants of the bakehouse.

		An updraft brick kiln. Fired in two halves so one side could be warming while the other cooking. There are at least four of these. That's a lot of bricks. I have no idea where the clay to make the bricks was quarried.

		We couldn't find the NLM stencil (North Lyall Mine). These bricks have an indent for mortar. The bricks at Sarah Island are older, and have no indent. The track to the boiler was overgrown. The hour was late. And the sole of Ali's boot decided to part company from the upper. I borrowed some chicken wire from track maintenance for a temporary fix. It lasted the 6km return walk.

		I missed this on the way in. To the right is concrete. One end of a short bridge.

		Still enough light. We returned to the car park about 17:30.

		But tired after a long day. We really shouldn't, but we decide to stop in the car park for the night. The bees and march flies leave us alone.

		Next day back through the cuttings.

		A different light. Another fine day.

		Back to good road.

		This time we stop at Darwin Dam. Looking north. We haven't really looked but it seems there's more than one dam to contain Lake Burbury. There is no flow through this one.

		Past Mt Jukes. More of Lake Burbury in the distance.

		First stop in Queenstown is to return the key, number 11, to Parks and Wildlife. In the red locked box.

		Past the old railway station.

		Ali stopped in IGA while I admired the post office. We also filled a fuel tank, emptied a loo cassette, and filled water tanks.

		We feel like a few days rest at the beach. We are headed to Trial Harbour. On the way pass the Henty Erratics. Boulders of Owen Conglomerate carried a few km by a glacier.

		Through Zeehan.

		We divert to the Spray Tunnel. Along another disused rail line.

		We really don't have the energy to explore. There's probably all sorts of interesting "stuff" to investigate.

		So we do what everyone else seems to do. Walk through the tunnel, turn round, and walk back.

		On the way out, the shaft is covered by a grill, the concrete supported the head gear.

		Towards Trial Harbour. Past a Nickel mine.

		The beach is all the way to MacQuarie Heads.

		Trial Harbour now a holiday destination for shacks, which really are better than shacks.

		The camping area is about full. We squeeze into prime real estate. Sheltered by vegetation, a view through rear window of the ever changing sea. Passers by admire our expertise in managing to squeeze in. We will stop for a few days.

		A quick stroll across the rocks below our camp. There are overnight camp sites, and there are destinations. We think this is a destination. Enough to hold our attention for a few days. Just watching the sea may be sufficient.

		The beach has red, white, and black rocks. But more of that later.

		The kelp moves a bit in the water. The weather has held up well. We expect rain and some wind tomorrow.

Gateway

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