DAY 14 - December 23, 2022 - From Sheawarter to Corinna

DAY 14 – December 23, 2022 – From Shearwater to Corinna

It took us some time to load the cars and get everyone rounded up. But we did quite well timewise and we left Alex’s parents’ house at 10:30am, direction Hagley for the funeral.

Alex’s extended family is rather large and many people came to the funeral; lots of relatives living nearby but also some people who came from the mainland. The burial service was held first in a small cemetery and then we drove to a nearby church for the religious service. Afterwards, we all gathered at the RSL (a club for military personnel) to have lunch. Alex’s grandmother served in the Australian Air Force during World War II. She was born in 1923 and lived a very long and productive life.

At approximately 3:30pm we were on the road to Corinna. From Hagley, it is a 3–4-hour drive, depending on how many stops we would take on the way. We decided to take the scenic route to enjoy Tasmania’s wilderness.

Scenery photos taken from the car

Black Bluff Nature Recreation Area

We stopped at the Black Bluff Nature Recreation Area to stretch our legs and take some photos as the scenery was gorgeous. Beautiful clouds and light across the wide-open spaces all around us.

Below is a photo gallery of the wide-open scenery

Almost There!

The last 50 km of the drive was on a silica road so our speed was a bit slower – and there were lots of curves. We arrived in Corinna just past 7:00pm. The place was not full yet as people tend to take their away-from-home vacation after Christmas.

The scenery reminded me of the Southwest in the US – wide-open spaces, big skies, empty roads! I just love this feeling of freedom, away from it all!! And the temperature was perfect… nice to feel the sun on our faces…

Hard to believe that after so many months of planning we were in Corinna!

At the reception, the attendant explained the facilities, what water to drink/not drink, the activities around the area, etc. He reminded us that there is no cell service at all and no Internet access in this wilderness area. It is as if we were at the end of the world in the Western part of Tasmania, near the Piedman River. We later learned that most of this isolated and vast wilderness (mainly a rain forest called the Tarkine forest) remains unexplored for miles and miles.

Below are the photos of our cabins: The left cabin is where we stayed with Jess and Alex. The middle photo is the cabin for Rupert and Norelle. The last photo shows the water tank that collects the rain water for each cabin.