And, still further south we go....to Liffey Falls.

Railton is a small town that looks like it is dying.  Many shops are closed including the supermarket.  They have tried to entice tourists by becoming known as the town of topiary, and just about everyone is into it.

Many homes have a piece or two of topiary in their gardens and the main street is lined with topiary trees.  Theres an elephant, a giraffe peaking over the fence, a train and many more.

We had the "gravel pit" to ourselves....

There are two places to free camp, one is a grassy spot behind the pub and the other which is quaintly called 'the 'gavel pit' because it is dirt.


The 'gravel pit' has a dump point and fresh water and although it is next to the railway line, the trains are infrequent and the noise was not a problem.  We have stayed here before.

Was a lovely sunny day

We went to the pub for dinner, met up with a lovely couple from New South Wales who we had met the previous day (they were staying behind the pub).  It is a small world because, as it turned out,  they knew a mate of ours from our Harley days and the publican is the guy who owned the Daly Waters pub when we were there in '95.  He was most hospitable and shared a lovely bottle of red with us...his shout of course.



Another story about Railton is that in late 1950's there was race between two businessmen (Len Field and Fred Sipman) in the main street on Elephants who where part of the circus that was visiting the town.  And, the winner was.....Len.  Should I say by a trunk....haha   The mural comes from the memory of Wayne Muir who watched the race as a young boy.

The Great Elephant Race (Supermarket is now closed)

We were going to stay three nights but decided to push onto Quamby Corner in Golden Valley.  We had met the owners when we were staying in Snug earlier in the year...they were on a "bushman holiday"...checking out caravan parks and Snug in particular as it has such a good reputation.

We were disappointed.  They have owned the place for 5 years and it must have been a mess then because it doesn't look like much has happened during those 5 years.  The entrance is very uninviting with piles of sand and 'stuff' lying around their house/reception and infact, we drove past and turned around, looking at it before making a decision to stay.    What swayed us was that we really wanted to go to Liffey falls and this was the only way to get there from this side of the mountain.

We didn't know where to check in but just drove in and a lady who was staying there came over to us and told us just to park somewhere and the owner will be down later.  We had met this lady before, she lives on her own in her van with her dog.  We met her at St Helens a few months back.

The amenities were basic but clean and the washing machines and dryer were free, but still, at $25 per night was not worth it.




Liffey falls though, was worth it.  The walk down to Liffey Falls was pretty steep in places with lots of steps, but we made it.  The surrounding forest was just beautiful, brilliant green and full of tree ferns.  The falls are actually four falls that cascade into each other on the Liffey River.  

Having a rest on the way back and a photo op for me....

Tasmanians say that it is better than Russell Falls, but due to a lack of water, I would definately say that Russel Falls wins my vote.

But still, am glad that went.  We also got to check out the camp group at the lower end of the falls with a view to staying there at another time, but think we would give it a miss.....it was full of tents and "colourful" people, if you get my drift.

After leaving Golden Valley we headed on the Highlands Lakes Road to Miena....the highest point being 1210m...seemed like we were travelling in the clouds.....