Date
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The longest day of the trip. 99 Bends, the Lyell, then up Lake Dobson Road for Tarn Shelf. Leave Strahan at 7:30 and it works comfortably.
The Coffee Shack, or something bought the night before
Find itHungry Wombat Cafe, or the Derwent Bridge Wilderness Hotel
Find itThe lodge restaurant - the only kitchen for 90 km
Find itSaturday. The lodge restaurant is the only dinner for 90 km, so tell them you are coming and roughly when. You also miss Salamanca Market, which is unavoidable on this shape.
Weather needs signal. Everything else works offline.
The Franklin and Frenchmans Cap below.
Trailhead in MapsOn Gordon River Road. Mossy horizontal scrub.
Trailhead in MapsRestored rack-and-pinion steam line to Dubbil Barril. Would eat the morning Tarn Shelf needs - one for a return trip.
Open in MapsCantilevered platform over the flooded open-cut, plus a short steep climb for the moonscape view. Both free.
Open in Maps100 m of hand-carved Huon pine. Unexpectedly moving, and the thing to sacrifice today.
Open in MapsCantilevered platform over the flooded open-cut that started it all, at the top of the 99 Bends.
Open in MapsSealed, accessible, 20 min each way to a big fall on the way up the pass.
Open in MapsDense, chaotic photographic record of the mining town. Idiosyncratic and worth it.
Open in MapsRoadside boardwalk to a wide rainforest fall. Best after rain.
Open in MapsDeepest lake in Australia and the south end of the Overland Track.
Open in MapsSix enormous pipes plunging down the hillside. Art-deco company town.
Open in MapsAustralia's oldest surviving asylum complex, now antique shops and a restaurant. Bleak and fascinating.
Open in MapsBeside the historic railway station, vintage fit-out.
Open in MapsSalmon eggs benedict, and locals rate the coffee highly.
Open in MapsFuel, pies, coffee. Assume limited hours.
Open in MapsHuge open fire, big timber room, solid pub food.
Open in MapsCreekside on the B61, platypus sometimes visible from the deck.
Open in MapsClosed Tue and Wed, so Saturday works. Set menu about $220pp, allow 3 hrs, reservations open four months ahead. Two minutes from your bed.
Open in MapsIf the Agrarian is booked out.
Open in MapsNothing here is scheduled. This is what else is on today's road, roughly in the order you pass it - for when a walk gets cut short or the weather turns.
Creekside on the B61, and platypus sometimes visible from the deck. Check the hours.
Open in MapsSealed, accessible, 20 min each way to a big fall on the way up the pass. Do it on the climb.
Open in MapsCantilevered platform over the flooded open-cut that started the town. At the top of the 99 Bends.
Open in MapsBig water against bare hills, 15 min east of Queenstown. First real stop on the Lyell.
Open in MapsRoadside boardwalk to a wide rainforest fall. Best after rain, and only 20 min.
Open in Maps25 min loop through myrtle at the river crossing that started the blockade.
Open in MapsTwo roadside pull-offs where the highway crosses the divide. Big, bleak and worth slowing for.
Open in Maps100 m of hand-carved Huon pine. Unexpectedly moving. WATCH - this is the stop to sacrifice today if you want the dam at dusk.
Open in MapsDeepest lake in Australia, and the southern end of the Overland Track. Platypus Bay and the Larmairremener tabelti cultural walk both start here.
Open in MapsSix enormous pipes plunging down the hillside, in an art-deco company village. Photogenic in a way nothing else on this route is.
Open in MapsQuiet hydro lagoon just off the highway. Good leg-stretch on a long transit.
Open in MapsSealed, short walk to where the Junee River comes straight out of the mountain - the outflow of Australia's deepest cave system. Better done tomorrow if today is tight.
Open in MapsBoardwalked loop through twisted mossy horizontal scrub. The most atmospheric 20 min on the road.
Open in MapsWhere the rainforest gives way to buttongrass and the Sentinel Range appears to the south. Unmarked pull-offs; take one.
Open in MapsFirst proper sight of the lake. Also your turn-back point if the day has run late.
Open in MapsShort loop across the road from the lodge. Something to do with the last of the light.
Open in Maps140 m down the face - the highest commercial abseil in the world. Needs booking, and it would replace the drive rather than join it.
Open in MapsLake Dobson Rd, 16 km each way. Inside your limit, and worth it.
325 km · 5.4 hrs driving · Strathgordon - Pedder Wilderness Lodge