Rocky Cape National Park, Wynyard, Hellyers Gorge 25 - 27th January

Creek at Sisters Beach

Moved down the coast to Rocky Cape National Park and the Wynyard area.  First impressions of Rocky Cape were impressive Aboriginal middens and caves, ship wrecks, rock formations turned sideways, beautiful hills running down to the sea and an incredible variety of flowering plants. The Giant Saw Banksia's were most impressive.
We had a bit of a look around and headed to Wynyard to stock up and return the next day. Camped at Oldine Conservation Park - nice place but unfortunately spoiled by some aggressive yobbos, fortunately they didn't target us!  Cooked a great camp oven!

Georgie, Leigh Dimity and Anne Sisters Beach

We spent Australia day with Dimity and Leigh who we'd met at Corinna.  Enjoyed a great Aussie BBQ with them and rel's Hutch, Georgie and Francis - a really lovely day - thanks for sharing your beautiful "Shack" with us and making us so welcome.

Table Cape Lookout

Poppy farm

We took a bit of a look around the area and of course more photos at Table Cape lookout (Wynyard in the foreground) and the Rocky Cape Light House.  We were surprised to see the Poppy fields - Opium poppies, grown for medicinal purposes, constitute a major source of income for farmers in the area.  We had no idea that Tasmania supplies about half of the world's medicinal opiate market!

Hellyer Gorge

I'm not sure if I've mentioned that the long Twilight's in Tasmania are fantastic for the traveler, you get to fit so much into a day with the light falling around 9pm so after a full day of exploring we set off to find a camp for the night and come across Hellyer's Gorge about 50km's from the coast - a great spot, nice and quiet and a good night's sleep.

Waratah

Next day after a forest walk and some relaxing reading we headed for Cradle Mountain National Park with a stop-off at Waratah, another depressed ex mining town, reminiscent of all the others on the West Coast.  When the mine closed, in 1935, it had produced 81,000 tonnes of tin and provided a dividend equal to £200 for every £1 initially invested.  At its peak the town, which now has only a few hundred residents, had a population in excess of 5,000.  Also a lot of "clear fell" plantation logging en route - this can't be healthy for the environment!

Clear Felling