We finished up every thing we needed to take care of in Hobart - taxes, laundry, etc. - yesterday. By the time we were ready to leave it was near dark but we decided to push on up the road to Hamilton which was about 70 kilometers. We arrived safe and sound; set up camp; had dinner; and went to bed. This morning we woke up to sunshine but it didn't last long. We decided to head over to Mount Field National Park where there are supposed to be some waterfalls and nice walks and hopefully camping facilities. Along the way we stopped by an 1889 Anglican church and cemetery for lunch.
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| storm brewing |
11 April Monday
We made it to Mount Field in time for a damp walk to the first of three falls and then made camp where we had power and hot showers!
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| The bottom of Russell Falls - there are about 3 or 4 tiers |
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| Our night caller |
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| Our night caller |
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| Our night caller |
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| top of Russell Falls |
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| Horseshoe Falls |
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| the Units at Horseshoe Falls |
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| neat orange fungus |
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| moss |
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| tall trees |
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| and of course birds |
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| a burnt out tree still alive |
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| Lady Barron falls |
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| more fungus |
Tonight we are a little closer to Strahan.
12 April Tuesday
Autumn has definitely arrived. Mornings are crisp and chilly and the trees are turning.
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| Autumn is here |
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| Reindeer? |
Later
A stop along the highway and a short 10 minute walk took us to another beautiful waterfall - Nelson falls. Along the trail were placards that talked about the history of this valley - ice age; covered with sea; tropical; and today - interesting.
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| Nelson Falls in the rain |
Last night just at dark we found a place to park on the west side of Burbury Lake. We have a beautiful - albeit wet - view of the lake and bridge. We had eaten dinner and were relaxing when the police arrived to be sure we were okay. There had been a small earthquake in Queenstown - a few kilometers further down the road. Small - as in 2.8 on the Richter. They said everyone was up in arms about it because there are so many mines around here that even though it was small it still could have caused land slides or cave ins in the mines. Or it could have actually been caused by a massive cave in somewhere. This morning the clouds are on top of the hills around the lake.
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| Clouds around the lake |
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| Bunyip at Burbury lake |
Oh, did I mention it's flooding again? Normal rainfall for Hobart (where we just came from) in April is 55 millimeters and in the last 24 hours they have had 79! So, a half century record falls! We are glad we are no longer in Hobart. We are getting good at having BEEN IN the flood areas.
A side road on the way to Queenstown took us to an overlook of the Mount Lyell mine - an open cut copper and silver mine from the early 1900s.
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| a rock cut above Mt. Lyell Mine |
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| mine is now full of water |
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| a bas relief in bronze to commemorate the mine |
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| a waterfall along the highway |
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| a gnome anyone? |
We arrived in Strahan yesterday and I wasn't impressed. We heard lots of hype about Strahan so I guess I probably had all these expectations which got dashed once we arrived. I didn't like the town ... the people didn't seem to be very friendly ... everything was expensive ... and so on. Needless to say we didn't stay long and headed out to MacQuarie Heads to spend the night which is where we are now. Trox had a short ride last night and a long one this morning. His ride took him along a wide beach which is one of the longest continuous beaches on TAS.
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| wide beach along ride |
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| the river has cut a rather deep channel in the sand |
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| a river dumping into the sea |
After breaking camp we drove out to Ocean Beach, where Trox had ridden yesterday for a nice breakfast.
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| Ocean Beach |
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| Hogarth Falls |
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| growing on a tree along the way |
We are now making our way to Zeehan and on towards Cradle Mountain. Two more nights on the road in Tasmania and then one night in Devonport before we head back to Melbourne. The weather has turned beautiful and we're hoping it will last another 72 hours and give us a nice crossing on the ferry.
We spent a night at Montezuma Falls where Trox rode his bike from the carpark to the falls right at dusk. We both had under estimated the time it would take and he got back well after dark - very wet and very muddy but with some great pics!
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| Montezuma Falls |
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| Swing bridge at the Falls |
17 April
Our last day/night in TAS. We leave for MEL tomorrow at 0900. We made it to Cradle Mountain yesterday. Trox rode his bike to the end of the road and I took the shuttle. Once there we walked the 2-hour circuit around Dove Lake. Pretty pretty pretty.
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| Our first sight of Cradle Mountain |
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| Walking the trail around the lake |
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| Dove Lake at the base of Cradle Mountain |
While in southern TAS we have been playing tag with a family on extended holiday. They were on the shuttle yesterday and we got to talking about cultural differences between Australia and the U.S.. The tween was taking me about "Mom" vs "Mum". She also said first time she encountered "cookie" in a book she had to look it up - they are "biscuits" here. I told her about my confusion about "tomato sauce" which to me is "ketchup". Her response was, "Oh! That's why McDonald's always asks if I want ketchup!". The Mum was telling me about how Americanisms always hit Australia 1 or 2 decades behind the U.S. Her example was when the movie E.T. came out she had never heard of pizza and to have it HOME DELIVERED was amazing. Something we take so much for granted. I told her about Donna and I ordering pizza late at night delivered inside the fence when we were working late. Ahhhh, those were the days - NOT!
Today the plan is to see a park near Devonport we haven't seen yet then spend the night in Devonport. We have now been in Australia 7 months and our 4th circuit trip (from Melbourne to Melbourne) is drawing to a close.
Later
We made it to Narawntapu National Park where we saw lots of wombats Australia's answer to the American Bison - they like the grasslands and are built like Bison - a barrel on four legs. Only difference is that wombats are only about 12 - 15 inches high. We had lunch and spent some time at the north end of the park on the beach.
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| Minature Bison - wombat |
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| Green Rosellas |
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| Star Fish on Beach |
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| Last Swim off of TAS |
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| Another Wombat |
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| Loading onto Ferry |
19 April
Well, we are back in Melbourne and Greg and Chrissy's after a nice smooth crossing on the ferry. Not sure how long we'll be here - maybe through Easter.
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| Wine label from Ralph and Jane's Vineyard |
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| Left overs from blossoms on a Forest Flax Lilly |
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