This walk heads out from the main carpark area of the southern end of Douglas Apsley National Park, not too far from Bicheno on the East Coast. National Park fees apply as mentioned in other National Park blogs. Again, it is one of Tasmania's 60 Great Short Walks. The time required said 2-3 hours but we did the return in 2 hours walking time. From the carpark, you head past a drop-loo, its the last one for two plus hours so use wisely! Walk pretty much straight and you head past a campsite and on down to the Apsley river. We were a bit unsure where to head when we got to the river, then worked out that we actually needed to cross it. The rock hop here can be tricky if you want to stay dry, there are a couple of places where it looks like it might be possible but there are no completely dry routes. We nearly turned back at this point as we weren't sure what to do. In the end, we grabbed a few rocks to add to what were there to make stepping stones to cross. It looks like plenty of people do this, except that the water has washed previous routes away.
After crossing (carefully) you rise up a long, steep and slippery route. This is not an easy part of the track, take lots of breaks and watch your footing. There are many areas where the track is covered with slippery roots and smooth/sloping sheets of rock that can be easy to slip on. Take a wider track and go slow. When at the top there are lots of gums and from here the route is much easier, mostly flat before a rock-step descent to the Apsley Gorge. This part is much easier than it looks although, again going down the man-placed steps can be a long drop, so watch where you put your feet.
Down at the gorge there is the potential for a rock hop over the river and along the gorge but we didnt do that in winter, the waters were reasonably high. There is advice near the carpark on how to go about taking this option to basically return a different route down the gorge. Either way, its a scenic place to hang out and have lunch. Very picturesque and peaceful.
Returning is MUCH easier. The steps up make this a breeze, actually a nice ascent as you can look back to the gorge as you rise up. The flat along the top, again is easy and a nice place to just look around you. The descent back to the river is a lot easier but in places the route is less obvious that on the ascent. Again, those flat sheets of rock can be slippy, take your time. It isn't strenuous, like the original ascent might be considered. Cross back over the stepping stones that you made or used earlier in order to return to the car park.
On our relatively frequent travels up the east coast we often head to the Iron House at the White Sands Estate. Its after Bicheno, on the way to Scamander, and not too far from Four Mile Creek. The hillsides here are becoming evermore dominated by the vines of the Iron House winery and will someday be a huge player in Tasmanian wines as their fields of vines literally grow each time we go by and there seems to be no sign of stopping! The Iron House itself is on the old Cray Drop Inn site and is now White Sands Estates where there are accommodation and restaurant facilities available. We haven't stayed there but from all accounts its somewhat modernised from the days of the Cray Drop Inn, there is a nice looking pool, games room, movie room and sporting opportunities as well as the main restaurant too. If you are lucky, when you head towards the main Iron House building, you might smell the brew that they are making as is has its own beer microbrewery, with beers that can be drank, taken away or often bought in bottle shops in Hobart. As mentioned with their winery, it wont be too long until their vines are mature enough to yield a good size harvest. As it is, there is a small amount of sparkling wine available from their early or first harvest. One that we might well sample at Christmas. The building is modern and wide open glass fronted in order to take in the view of the beach. One thing to note, on a sunny day, sunglasses inside are a must, the walls are white, glass expansive and shade, very little. This said, i have no issues with doing this as the view is stunning. On a sunny day, in any season, this is a great place to look out from and enjoy the view whilst eating or drinking.
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The menu is aimed at full meals although many options can be scaled up or down to suit being an appetizer or main. The beef burgers are huge and juicy, with a good amount of fries. They are very tasty if you're feeling hungry, and the price is excellent for the meal. The 'fish and chips' are light yet crunchy and again are sold with a good amount of fries, plus a pot of tartare sauce. The last time we went to The Iron House, we had chili muscles as a starter, and salmon and baby BBQ ribs. The salmon came as a huge, just on the edge of cooked (just the way I like it) on a bed of grilled vegetables. The ribs came as a sticky stack of 12 or 13 with standard fries and coleslaw. Whilst the fries were normal fayre, the ribs were delicious and were clearly in a homemade BBQ sauce. Very tasty indeed. We don't normally go the whole hog, but we actually had a desert to share as well. This was a chocolate cheesecake, with macaroons and a porter toffee ice-cream. This was a big desert, one that we had to share. I'm not normally a huge desert person, but this one was excellent. I did, however, have a beer tasting paddle to finish, this used to be free but is now $5, unless you buy a 2L growler re-fill (which we did). As the Iron House is part of White Sands Estate accommodation, you can head down onto the beach right here so its a nice place to walk off your big meal. If you do this, do note that there is a bit of a rock scramble, if you want to walk the whole length of the beach, unless the tide is out.
