Stanley 23rd -25th January

The Nut

Stanley is a quaint historic village and tourist destination. It is the main fishing port on the north-west coast of Tasmania. The most distinctive landmark in Stanley is The Nut, an old volcanic plug discovered by the explorers Bass and Flinders in 1798, who officially named it Circular Head. The nut rises to 143 metres with a flat top. It is possible to walk to the top of The Nut via a steep track but be careful you don't blow off!

Stanley Slipway below the nut

Apparently when the breakwater was being built in 1892 workers set off a  charge of 5000 pounds of dynamite but nothing happened.  Then 12 years later, the fractures caused by the blast finally gave way and 200,000 tons of rock suddenly crashed to the ground!

Historic Homes

It looks like businesses are doing it tough - although all well maintained every second one is for sale - the historic village is very well kept - but so many accommodation places - not sure a little village like this can support that.

Kristyn and Anne

Enjoyed a surprise visit from Tim Kristyn Kaia and Tilly on their way for a surf at Merriwa.

The wind has been pretty ferocious on the north west coast and we're looking forward to heading towards the Northern section of Cradle Mountain and away from the coast for a bit....

Stanley township

Long stretches of sandy beaches

Favourite pics from Stanley!

North West Coast 22nd - 23rd January

Savage River

Lindsay River

Left Corinna making use of the long twilight to check out Savage River with its huge log construction bridgeand then onto Lindsay River.  A surprised Tiger snake slid away from our path - a timely reminder to be on the lookout!

Couta Rocks

Next stop Couta Rocks - Plains of buttongrass rolling down to the sea, cray boats bobbing on the harbour - visions of Couta Rocks. Like the nearby Temma Harbour, Couta Rocks is noted for the place where the sea can rage. A not uncommon sight is that of the local fishermen winching their boats out of the water on slips rather than risk them on moorings. This stretch of coast is dubbed the roaring 40s, where prevailing gale-force winds blow persistently from the west.

Camp site near Temma

We decided to pull up at a great campsite near a clear flowing stream complete with trout near Temma for the night.   Next morning we called into Temma and walked around the harbour and village.  A pretty spot and the day has started well (no wind or rain). 

Temma Harbour

A road made over a huge midden

Beautiful rock pools

 Temma was once the port for the tin mining outpost of Balfour with a horse-drawn wooden tramway connecting the town and port. Today, it is an isolated harbour offering shelter from the wild seas. There are a few holiday homes and shacks as well as a few slipways that fishermen use to pull their boats up in bad weather. The locals tell me the harbour has a good quantity of Crayfish and Abalone as well as an abundance of Bull and She Kelp.
One of the biggest aboriginal Middens I've ever seen.

Temma Rock pools

Fishing Trawler- Temma

Cray pot

Beach at Temma Harbour

Arthur River

Called in and had a look at Arthur River another wild sea coastal town. The Arthur River runs through tall eucalypt forests and rainforests out to the sea.  The region has been exploited commercially for timber and fisheries, but today is mostly a centre for tourism.

Green Point

Marrawah's - Green point beach voted for one of the three best surfing beaches in Australia, is 2km from Marrawah there's a camping area right near the beach, but the weather had turned fairly nasty so we had a late lunch and moved towards Stanley. 

Dismal Swamp

Last stop before Stanley Dismal Swamp - the only known Blackwood forest in the world. Early last century its timber was used for making kegs and more recently was on a logging, clearing and draining list. Locals realised its importance and fought to preserve its destruction. In 1976 they had success.

Corinna - Tarkine 20th - 22nd January

White Bellied Sea Eagle - Pieman

Corinna is a historic mining town, set in pristine rainforest on the banks of the majestic Pieman River in western Tasmania.  It lies at the southern end of the Tarkine, (named after the Tarkiner people) and contains the largest temperate myrtle-beech rainforest in Australia. The Tarkine covers 450,000 hectares and is bounded by the coast to the west, Arthur River to the north, the Pieman River to the south and the Murchison Highway to the east.

Fatman Ferry

We crossed the Pieman River by ferry and found the place to be much more than we expected.   the Pieman is 108 km long and provides majestic and breathtaking beauty, spilling into the Southern Ocean on the at Pieman Heads (Hells Gate).  The ancient rainforest is something very special with Huon pines reaching over 2000 years old.

The old pub

The old mining village is rich in history. A number of the original original miner's cottages and hotel as well as new wilderness retreats (built in the original style) are available for guests as well as discreet camping options. A new pub has been built and is pretty reasonably priced considering the isolation.

Tarkine Pub

Walked up through the rainforest in the rain to Savage River - the mist added to the surreal feel and the majestic scenery. The forest was heady with the perfume from the leatherwood trees.

Huon Pine

Savage River

Leatherwood Flower

Rob at the Tarkine

Rob played at the Tarkine Pub which was fun - first time he'd asked in Tassie and the staff were more than happy to have someone entertain them (not a regular event) as well as the guests.  We were pretty spoilt and appreciated the enthusiasm.

The Pieman River

Next day we woke to perfect skies and took a trip on the Arcadia II down the Pieman to Pieman Heads.  Fantastic mirror images, Wedgetails, White-bellied sea eagles and ancient forest and Phil's commentary made the trip a very special event.  Thanks to Helen and Phil for looking after us..

Pieman - Mt Donaldson 

Pieman Heads

Arcadia II

Pieman Heads

Old Logs Pieman Heads

The Franklin - Gordon Wild Rivers National Park 17th - 20th January

The Franklin from Donagheys hill

Left early for the West Coast, despite the rain we were looking forward to the Wild West!!  The Wild Rivers National Park is a region of dramatic mountain peaks, beautiful rainforest, deep river valleys and spectacular gorges. The area contains many Aboriginal sites extending back over 36 thousand years and has been the scene of a rich European heritage of convicts, piners and miners.

Lush rainforest surrounds the river

The park is famous for the wild and pristine rivers that twist their way through the wilderness and the Gordon and Franklin Rivers were the subject of one of Australia's largest conservation battles - the battle to save the Gordon River from being dammed for a hydro-electric scheme.

The Franklin

We enjoyed a nice walk along the banks of the Fanklin and the tranquility of the rainforest - the misty rain seemed quite appropriate. 

We had planned to base ourselves at Queenstown, to explore the area - having spent most of the day

Queenstown

exploring the Franklin, however we got a bit of a shock when we approached the town the surrounding hills resembled a moonscape and were totally bare as a result of copper smelting operations (also tin, silver and nickel).  A very stark contrast to our day thus far and quite depressing.  The town also gave the impression of being chronically depressed, every second business for sale or closed and many in need of major repair.  The only good points were (1) cheap groceries and (2) Rob scored on excellent hat for $2.

Wilderness Railway

 Effort has been made with the Wilderness Railway  which is on the edge of the town centre, the West Coast Wilderness Railway crosses the wild King River and climbs through sheer sided rainforested gorges.

We decided to move on to Strahan rescuing a pygmy possum along route from the clutches of a crow who had taken one eye and seemed pretty intent on a feed.

Strahan Tasmania lies on the edge of the unspoiled beauty of Macquarie Harbour. It is the last outpost of civilisation on the West Coast of Tasmania.  A very pretty town founded in 1877. Strahan was a vital port for the tin mines at Mt Heemskirk.  In the early 1900's timber and mining production were booming - Strahan exported more wealth than either Hobart or Launceston.

Macquarie Harbour

Spent some time exploring the area and took a couple of days out relaxing, a bit of writing and enjoyed the access to facilities.  Lots of tourists coming and going mainly for the Wilderness railway and the Gordon River Cruise.

Hells Gate - Macquarie heads

Enjoyed our time here met a lovely couple who gave us the run down on the area and weather "9 months of winter and 3 months of not much different" - seems accurate so far...  Well worth a visit to Hells Gate at Macquarie heads (NP camp ground there) and ocean beach - if you are lucky enough to get a good day (as we did) it's very beautiful but most of the time treacherous!

Ocean Beach

Sunset - West Strahan Beach

Lake St Clair/ Cradle Mountain National Park 14th - 17th January

Platypus Bay - Lake St Clair

Arrived at beautiful Lake St Clair located at the southern end of the world famous Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park and is part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Carved out by ice during several glaciations over the last two million years, this is the deepest lake in Australia (167m) and the headwaters of the Derwent River.

We set up camp in a nice spot near the lake, did some washing and had our first hot showers for several days :)  and prepared ourselves for the Mt Rufus circuit (17 .6km circuit with a 7 km climb)

View West from Mt Rufous

We wake to a beautiful day pack and set off for Mt Rufus.  As the altitude increases, vegetation changes from eucalypt forest to patches of cool temperate rainforest  in the gullies. As you climb higher, the vegetation changes again to sub-alpine forest, dominated by snow gums and stunted rainforest. Towards the summit, alpine plant communities dominate providing a colourful display of fragrant flowers.

Above Right: The view west from the summit.  Lake Undine is in the foreground with Australia Tarn high to the left under the summit of Mt Gell.  The wedge shaped peak above the tarn on the horizon is Frenchman's Cap

The views from the top are breath taking and extensive. In fact, according to the parks map, the ridge you walk up to the top of Mt Rufus is the boundary of the Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair National Park, and the Wild Rivers National Park. Just below the summit is an area of wind and rain sculptured sandstone around 300 million years old and once formed a continuous layer across most of Tasmania. About 165 million years ago magma intruded up through the sandstone to form dolerite, which covered the sandstone layer. Both layers have been eroded over time by wind, rain, snow and glacial action (see left).

Scoparia as far as you can see

Below the saddle between Mt Rufus and Mt Hugel the track winds through Richea Valley, named for the pandani and scoparia plants that grow here. It's like walking into a life size 'Monet' landscape framed by crags and cliffs absolutely breath-taking (see right and below)

and again...

Pandani

Cushion plants

Just couldn't help myself with the camera - I think I drive Rob mad - he's so patient!!  But I think he is relieved when my battery finally dies as we wind our way down through the Pandani and lush Cushion Plants and back to our camp, blown away by the beauty of the day!

A very playful Spotted Quoll

Just to top it off Rob cooks a roast chicken and vege camp oven, we share a rare bottle of wine and have a surprise visit from a cheeky spotted quoll who flit between our legs and played around our camp site.

I know there in there somewhere!

Next day we decided to do a couple of shorter walks and enjoy the abundant wildlife.  We head for platypus bay , saw a couple "canoodling" on the shore.  The tourists weren't impressed!!  We pass the 'Watersmeet' where the Hugel and Cuvier rivers join and flow into Lake St Clair.

Watersmeet

We enjoyed ‘Larmairremener tabelti’ Aboriginal cultural walk.This walk contained a wide variety of vegetation, including banksias, buttongrass, tea-tree thickets, Tasmanian waratahs, rainforest ferns, and towering eucalypt stags.

Publish Post

Buttongrass

Tea-tree flowers

Banksia

The long twilights here allow allowed for a rest before setting off to the old power station along the sandy banks of Lake St Clair again some beautiful scenery - my favourite being the gnarled old snow gums contrasting with the delicate  and trigger plant flowers. Just loved this Park!!!

Banks of Lake St Clair

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Snow Gum on the banks of Lake St Clair

Banks of Lake St Clair

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Narrow leaf trigger plant

Old Pump house

Mighty Gums