Port Arthur

Well we finally got to visit this site - it was our third attempt and the weather was beautiful. Thed place is as impressive as it is made out to be and does leave a lasting impression. Our day included a guided walking tour and a harbour cruise and visit to the Isle of the Dead - the settlement's cemetery. At its height there were some 2500 persons there - the vast majority being convicts. A lot of the buildings are burnt out with wooden floors and roof gone.

The middle image shows what may be the only solitary confinement chapel in the world. Convicts in this special section of the prison have 23 hours a day solitary confinement. The hour of exercise is still segregated. They are on total silence and wear hoods with eye slits when out of their cell. Numbers are used instead of names and the church service is the only time they can use their voice to sing.

We are 2/3 of the way through our Tassie adventure and leave Hobart tomorrow to make our way up the East coast.

It has been a bit of a quiet week for us. The weather has been wet and cold with snow on Mt Wellington visible from Hobart. Today was our first day out in 5 days. Travelled south of Hobart to the Huon Valley today. As we headed South and up in elevation the clouds and rain returned. Went to the Apple Industry Museum where the best thing was a roaring pot belly stove. From there we went to a winery - Home Hill - with a nice selling area and restaurant - up to the level of anything in Margaret River but we didn't like any of their limited offering. Mainly Pinot Noir for the reds and Sav Blanc and a Chardonnay. This was where the alpaca photo was taken. We do have to give them top marks for their Devonshire Coffee - very light scones with home made blueberry jam and really thick cream. The weather is meant to stay pretty good for the next couple of days so will be out and about again tomorrow.

Richmond

We travelled from Lonnie to Hobart yesterday and are staying on the outskirts in an area called Cambridge (14km from the CBD). Today we travelled north about 16km to the town of Richmond. It dates from convict days and has been preserved pretty much as it was in the first half of the 1800s.

St John the Evangelist church was opened in 1836 and is the oldest Catholic church in Australia. To get to it you cross the oldest bridge still in use in Australia which was started in 1823. Tourism is the main livelihood and there are lots of galleries and craft outlets. We saw a lot we liked but did not purchase.

Tomorrow we will go to Port Arthur while the weather is good. We are at the halfway stage of our Tassie travels.

Another Pano

Visited the Dr and chemist again today and Rosemary has her medication up to date. The pano is just two shots - same location from yesterday.

The Tamar Valley

We followed the Tamar river some 50 km towards the coast. Went through the mining town of Beaconsfield where the cave in happened a couple of years ago. The next town is called Beauty Point and is home to the platypus centre and also a seahorse centre. We went to the former and found that the Tassie platypus has different dna to the mainland species. The centren is currently working on a disease that only affects the local animals. It is a fungus that affects tree frogs in Queensland. No one knows how the disease arrived in Tassie - a live frog must have been released into a river. Oh and they have echidnas as well.

The Tamar valley itself is very scenic as the pano shot shows. Click for larger view.

The medicine run around.

Rosemary takes strong pain killers only available on a scrip limited to a 30 day supply (no repeats). On Thursday we made a doctors appt and turned up Friday to see a very nice Dr. He rang Rosemary's GP who was not available until later in the day. They duly made contact and we were rung to say the scrip was available. We picked it up and took it to the nearby chemist who did not have the medication in stock. Went back today and found the Dr had not rung to get permission for the medicine to be free. We will go and see him again on Monday. Also found out that even if we had a WA scrip it would not be dispensed in Tassie. Also found out the presciption was only for 20 days.

Anyway while out today went sightseeing in Launceston and visited the cataract gorge that the town is built around. It is where the South Esk River meets the North Esk River and becomes the Tamar River until it meets the sea.

Wet and Wild

Not much holiday action since the last post, Tuesday we travelled from Latrobe to Launceston - some 100km only - not far between centres compared to the mainland. We had a cold front yesterday about 6 am with winds up to 120km/hr with over a million dollars of damage. Today a secong cold front is passing but much slower with steady soaking rain. The power has just come back on as well.

So that was Easter

It has been the quietest Easter we have spent - enjoyable enough but it's a time when family are missed. Today's picture is a detail from a butter churn converted to black and white. Hope you like it.

Last Nut picture - I promise!!

Today was a travel day so here is a pano from yesterday and yes, the Nut does dominate the landscape.

Highfield House

This is the house built as the headquarters for the Van Diemans Land Company established in the 1830s. It has been restored and makes for an interesting visit. We also visited the Seaquarium to view some of the marine life of the area. Today was without wind (unusual in itself) and fine but overcast. Most of my photos were a touch underexposed as a result. Today we have a pano view of the farm buildings and a couple from mthe seaquarium. Trumpeter which can grow to 1.2 m (these are about 75cm) and a giant crab about the size of a football. This male has one enormous claw about the size of its body and a normal claw.

The top of the Nut

You can get to the top by driving halfway and walking the rest. The alternative is to 'buy a seat' on the chairlift. The top has a marked track and fence to keep pedestrians away from the Shearwater burrows. Also known as Mutton birds, they spend summer here and then migrate to the northern hemisphere. The walk is about 3 km - the Nut is quite an expanse. In the photos you can see that Stanley and the Nut are joined to the mainland by an isthmus.

Allendale Gardens

This 5 acre garden has been developed on a dairy farm about 15 km from Smithton. A variety of trees have been planted and loads of roses, dahlias, azaleas, rhododendron etc have been added. A creek runs through the garden and the paths include 5 bridges. Platypus live in the stream along with fresh water lobster. The ground is often full of holes - the burrows of a crayfish about 10cm long.

Stanley

It's very windy today. We spent the morning well rugged up and looking around town. There do not seem to be any 'modern' buildings in the main street and all are well preserved. Almost an English feel to the village. Art and craft shops and cafes are abundant and the town is a port of call for tourist buses. There are some 500 residents and some 40 B&Bs. The town virtually shuts down in winter.

We had a very nice 'Devonshire Coffee' with huge scones. We are getting to be good judges of scone quality and haven't been disappointed yet.

The Nut

This is the view from the park. Stanley nestles under the imposing rock outcrop called The Nut.

As you can see the weather is fine but there is a chilling wind blowing so we'll stay close to home today.

Daylight saving is now ended in Tassie - a week later than at home.

Remember to click on the photo for a bigger version.

Hogarth Falls

Did a forest walk (2.5 km round trip) yesterday to Hogarth Falls in Strahan. By the time we got to the falls my knees were complaining so we missed a decent falls shot. You will have to make do with the 'tree in a tree' and a shot of the creek.

Today we drive 270km to Stanley near the north west corner of Tassie retracing our steps for 200 km of it. The mountains did not seem so fearful this time around. Stanley is a small, picturesque village on a headland that juts into the sea. More pics coming as we are here for 6 nights.

Whittle Wonders

Well it rained from midnight last night until midday. Went out this afternoon and visited two very different wood displays. The first was a fine arts type shop with beautiful turned and tooled creations. The second was much more whimsical with a lifetime of collected wood that take on animal shapes. Minimal enhancement occurs in some pieces. A few photos to enjoy.

Macquarie Harbour and Gordon River.

Today we went on a harbour/river cruise and had a very pleasant time.. We covered 120 km from the wharf at Strahan down Macquarie Harbour and out through the Hell’s Gates into open ocean. The harbour is twice the size of Sydney harbour. On return we stopped for an hour for a guided tour of Sarah Island – the site of a penal settlement for incorrigibles. Its isolation and the rugged terrain was supposed to prevent escape attempts – it didn’t work. It is the basis for the book “For the Term of his Natural Life”.

Back on the 110 ton catamaran, the “Eagle” we headed for the Gordon River and followed it as far as Heritage Landing. (This is the limit for commercial vessels,) A nice salad and cold meat smorgasbord was served and it included oodles of Smoked Salmon and King Island Brie. We went ashore and did a rainforest walk on the boardwalks. The whole region is a World Heritage Listed area.

The water in the harbour and river are both tea coloured due to tannin leached from the forest. It also contains a natural surfactant that produces a foam when the water is disturbed.

When we got back we visited one of only four sawmills registered to process Huon Pine. It was logged extensively for some 100 years but is now a protected species. The sawmills can only work with dead trunks retrieved from the rivers and valleys. As Huon pine contains a natural preservative the logs are still commercially valuable.

We have decided to stay an extra day as tomorrow is meant to be wet – not good for driving in the mountains. It rains 300 days a year in Strahan and the average rainfall is 150” or nearly 6000mm.

Just a reminder you can click on the photos for a full version.

West Coast Wilderness Railway

Had a good day out on the resurrected Mt Lyall mining railway. It covers about 35 km between Strahan (the port) and Queenstown (the copper mine). About 2/3 is conventional diesel loco but there is about 10 km which uses a specialised steam engine and 3 rail track. The Abt system (that's the inventor's name) uses a double rack and pinion to tackle the steepest grades in Australia. You can see the third rail in the photos.

The owners have a good system with twin trains running in opposite directions; the diesel loco from Strahan to the mid changeover point and the Abt steam loco from there to Queenstown. You can see the steam loco going on to the turntable to change ends. A coach/bus returned us to Strahan.

It was a very pleasant day with three stops along the way so you could get up close to the rainforest. The biggest treeferns I've seen.

The original builders are to be commended as most didn't believe a railway could be built in such mountainous terrain. The mine switched to road transport in the 60s and it took a determined group to resurrect the railway and bring it into the 21st century as a major tourist attraction. The steam loco is over 100 years old and has been completely rebuilt. It originally came in pieces from Scotland with no 'how to build an Abt loco' instructions. It took the engineers just 30 days to get it up and running.