Lewisham to Red Orchre Beach 2017

Today Carol is leading us on a coastal walk from Lewisham to Dodges Ferry/Red Ochre Beach and return.

It's a beautiful morning as we park at Gwynns Point in Lewisham. I may have been in Lewisham once a very long time ago, but I bet it didn't have the number of houses it does now.

Plenty of parking near the jetty

The track starts just here

Midway Point and hills beyond

 It's a coastal path and we soon meet our first obstacle which was a fallen tree blocking the track. Crawling under was the best method, something we don't look forward to on the way back!

That's Five Mile Beach over there

Who was Samuel Thorne? I hear you ask

Searches tell me when the Governor opened the reserve and the fact that there IS a reserve named after Samuel, but very little about him. I did find out the following.

Samuel THORNE was a former Royal Marine in Collins' original expedition to Port Phillip and then the Derwent, founding Hobart Town. After leaving the Marines he was granted land first at Muddy Plains (Sandford) and
then in the Lewisham / Forcett / 'Lower Ferry' (Dodges Ferry) area and some descendants have stayed in the area to this day. 

 Now you know.

There are some nice boat houses around the shore...

...but don't forget the locals are keeping an eye on you

Looking back

The water is quite clear

Yes, you can see Mt. Wellington from here

That's Dodges Ferry in the distance

 But before we make that trek all the way to Tiger Bluff and around to Red Ochre Beach, we stop for Morning Tea.

Setting up for Morning Tea with one good and one very dodgey bench.

Our view across to Sandy Point

Someone didn't enjoy their tea.

An ex--fish

Bob isn't walking with us today which is unfortunate as we had a visitor. One whose owner is also called Bob.

I'm dedicating the two photos below to 'our' Bob.

He's very old and nearly blind but his nose works and he's enjoying his walk with his owners.

Break finished, we continue on. Erosion is a problem here and various methods have been adopted to overcome it. With little success it seems.

Elaborate anti erosion construction. It does have a comfortable bench, though

We move up from the shore to a higher track that runs behind the houses

This house has an impressive collection of thongs (flip-flops in other parts of the world)

Back to the beach

As it's summer and all the schools are on holiday, and this is a beach area, you can excuse the crowds that make it challenging to walk together, weaving in and out of family groups.

But this is Tassie. We don't have to worry about all that.

Tiger Head Bay

On we go, soon coming to Dodges Ferry. The plaque below tells the story.

The story of Dodges Ferry

One of the ferries

Ralph Dodge

We walk on, along the foreshore before again moving to a track above.

Interesting sandstone cliffs

We come to civilization above. It also illustrates the variety of Tasmanian seaside shacks.

We move back down and come to, what appears to be, a barrier. Peter decides to explore while the group divides into road walkers and adventurers.

Peter leads the adventurers

Easy walking so far...

...gets a bit tight just about here

Myself, skillfully navigating the rock wall

It's easy street from here on

We come to a parking area for cars and boat trailers who launch from here.
I have to say, I know safety is important, but I'm getting sick of all the signs that now clutter up public areas as if people aren't capable of thinking for themselves.

These large warning signs block the view

"Don't, Tell, Have?, Ring" - Too many orders!

This is interesting, as are the signs below

 Soon the others arrive by road, guided by Carol. While we admire the playground, Carol offers us three options for the next section of the walk. Easy, easyish and adventurous. After a bit of discussion, an executive decision is made and we head off towards ... the adventurous. This actually turns out not to be bad at all, We do walk along cliff tops, but not too high.

Playground at Tiger Head Bay

Heading up the hill into the unknown

After weaving around some fenced rights of way, we meet the track

There are a few drops down to the rocks

This and the following are for Tas

Photo and identification by Renate

There were many interesting grasses here, and Renate has supplied the photos below.

A bit overgrown

Soon we come out just above a small rocky beach and here we stop for lunch.

Lunch spot

Most bring their lunch, some prefer to scavenge

Gnarled old root

Gnarled old blogger

Gail enjoys a view over the Spectacle Islands Nature Reserve

Spectacle Islands

 There is some activity just out by the island, a couple of kayakers.

A good day for it

We round the point after lunch to Red Ochre Beach. This is where the crowds are with a large group of children on the beach. Off shore, a boat is giving them rides.

What's happening?

We walk down to the beach, around all the children and start making our way back to Lewisham.

Blue Lagoon

The tide is coming in so we have to climb

We make our way back to the cars, but not before crawling under that tree again. It was a very interesting and pretty walk plus the weather was perfect.

We had 15 walkers and covered 11.12km in 4:27hrs

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