We left Snug and drove a massive 60 klms (tongue in cheek) to New Norfolk on the Derwent River. New Norfolk is a peaceful place in beautiful surroundings and there are a couple of good look out spots, Pulpit Rock and Peppermint Hill.
Views from Peppermint Hill
Views from Pulpit Lookout
New Norfolk is also close to Mount Field National Park (more about that later) and there are also a number of historic houses but the one area that we found most intriguing and at the same time a little sad, is the Willow Court Historic site.
Willow Court, was part of the former Royal Derwent Hospital and was so named because Lady Franklin (an interesting woman..click
here for more info on her) planted a willow in the courtyard. It is the oldest mental hospital in Australia on its original site.
There are a number of buildings on the site which are being restored. Olga, which was a Boys Hospital is currently an antique and all things interesting and old shop….its going to be refurbished as a 300 seat restaurant. Not sure what they would do with a 300 seat restaurant in a little place like New Norfolk, but there you have it. But then again, there is the Norske Scog Boyer paper mill which employs some 300+ people. In the Antique shop we saw everything you could imagine from reflectors for old cars to church doors ($4000) to diving boots ($3000) which weighed a tonne.
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| Olga and some of the old vehicles that littered the site |
The Nurses Home is now neglected and overgrown. The plan is to refurbish it as 5 star accommodation. Two other buildings, Lachlan which has been converted into luxury retirement units and Lyprenny will will be converted into 1 bedroom units.
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| Nurses Home |
There is also the Patchwork Cafe in the grounds of Willow Court which looks like it could have been a church at some stage. The walls are adorned with huge, colourful patchwork covers which are designed and made by the Southern Cross Quilters.
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| Patchwork Cafe |
This is all very well, if you know about it! But to drive down a road and see all these old, derelict and dilapidated buildings with their windows knocked out or boarded up, is very sad given that New Norfolk is such a picturesque town.
We drove to Mount Field which is about 70 klms from New Norfolk passing through the hops fields at Bushy Park. We did the Tall Trees walk to Russell Falls and then drove up through the snow to Lake Dobson. The boys…..and Debbie, had great fun throwing snowballs…..me, I tried (successfully, I might say) to stay out of their way.
Although we had been to Mount Field before, it was great to go there again, to enjoy walking amongst the tall trees and the ferns, seeing the clear running water and then the beautiful Russell Falls. We had not been to Lake Dobson before though, and enjoyed our time there, in the sunshine and in the snow.
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You can see a tree that fell a long time ago over the pathway. A gap has been cut through....standing next to it give you a sense on how tall the tree had been. It is good to see that it has been left to create a home for animals and plants.
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Above and below....Russell Falls, very pretty.
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A spectacular view on the way up to Lake Dobson
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Ahh....snow!!!!
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There is a layer of ice on the lake with snow right up to the water
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Didn't dodge that one.....hehe
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Nick, Deb and John...just prior to a snow fight.
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Thank you reading about our journey and for your comments. I read all comments but may not aways be able to respond.