Tasmania is home to some Australia's and the World's most acclaimed National Parks. Indeed, nearly all the west and south-west of the island is protected environmentally, and it was our privilege to explore this territory over some brilliantly clear and warm weather over the next few days in mid to late April. We were blown away by the region's beauty - especially in the Mt Field and Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair National Parks. Once again I feel forced to append a huge number of photos of these locations, so please bear with me.
Let's start with the Mt Field NP. It has stands of Huon and other giant pine species which reach great heights (40+ m or 130 feet) and live to great ages. Huon pines are reputedly the second longest liver trees on the planet and one living specimen in now into its third millenium
These temperate forest, which receive by Australian standards high rainfall are dense, have high ground cover and are covered in fungi. Here are me, Max, Dot and Rebecca admiring the forest cover.
Some of the fungi I mentioned earlier. And here's Max rock-hopping - a favourite pastime.
The park has many lakes like this one, which had a lovely walk through unusual vegetation.
And Max managed to climb this rock, something I daren't try myself.
We also visit the beautiful Russell and Horseshoe Falls. The former are shown directly below but with less water than usual after a dry spell.
And here are the Horseshoe Falls.
After leaving Mt Field NP we headed to Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair National Park (CMSCNP) but en route we made a short detour to see one of Australia's most famous hydro-electric schemes at Tarraleah. With lots lakes and water, Tasmania is best-placed of Australian states to develop hydro power.
And, as the sun was setting we arrive at the lovely resort on Lake St Clair where we stayed the next 2-3 days. Our home was a self-contained apartment nestling among the trees. Lake St Clair is the southern end of the famous and very popular 'Overland' walking track, which typically takes several days to complete.
The Lake itself is large and very beautiful - only a small part is see in this photo. And here's a striated rock.
This next picture shows the lake near our apartment.
And on our walks we saw some interesting plants. I have no idea if these berries are edible.
Does anyone know?
And here are some of the local button-grass planes near the Lake' edge.
One of the walking tracks, which we took was an Aboriginal culture trail which explained sites of historical importance to local tribes - as explained in the tablet below. And after the walk we were booked on a lake cruise in a smallish vessel. We found the cruise rather choppy because the strong wind generated some surprisingly large waves.
Surprisingly on a distant shoreline we saw a pump house designed to deliver water to the Tarraleah hydro scheme. Now no longer used for that purpose it's part of the Lake's tourist accommodation.
The journey had had many vistas of lovely and often distant mountain ranges - which is why the Overland track is so attractive and popular. And, in fact, our cruise was destined to pick up a large posse of walkers who had decided not to take the last leg of the journey on the Lake's edge. Here they are awaiting our arrival.
The next day we departed for Queenstown and Strahan the subjects of my next post. But before left the region we visited something that has become famous nationally: The Wall. A local artist / sculptor has developed a 100 m (330 feet) long wall housed inside this building and on this wall are carved wooden sculptures of the region's history. I cannot show examples of these very good sculptures because photography was banned inside. Go to http://thewalltasmania.com.au/ to see something of what the wall is like. It's well worth a visit.
AS
Let's start with the Mt Field NP. It has stands of Huon and other giant pine species which reach great heights (40+ m or 130 feet) and live to great ages. Huon pines are reputedly the second longest liver trees on the planet and one living specimen in now into its third millenium
These temperate forest, which receive by Australian standards high rainfall are dense, have high ground cover and are covered in fungi. Here are me, Max, Dot and Rebecca admiring the forest cover.
Some of the fungi I mentioned earlier. And here's Max rock-hopping - a favourite pastime.
The park has many lakes like this one, which had a lovely walk through unusual vegetation.
And Max managed to climb this rock, something I daren't try myself.
We also visit the beautiful Russell and Horseshoe Falls. The former are shown directly below but with less water than usual after a dry spell.
And here are the Horseshoe Falls.
After leaving Mt Field NP we headed to Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair National Park (CMSCNP) but en route we made a short detour to see one of Australia's most famous hydro-electric schemes at Tarraleah. With lots lakes and water, Tasmania is best-placed of Australian states to develop hydro power.
And, as the sun was setting we arrive at the lovely resort on Lake St Clair where we stayed the next 2-3 days. Our home was a self-contained apartment nestling among the trees. Lake St Clair is the southern end of the famous and very popular 'Overland' walking track, which typically takes several days to complete.
The Lake itself is large and very beautiful - only a small part is see in this photo. And here's a striated rock.
This next picture shows the lake near our apartment.
And on our walks we saw some interesting plants. I have no idea if these berries are edible.
Does anyone know?
And here are some of the local button-grass planes near the Lake' edge.
One of the walking tracks, which we took was an Aboriginal culture trail which explained sites of historical importance to local tribes - as explained in the tablet below. And after the walk we were booked on a lake cruise in a smallish vessel. We found the cruise rather choppy because the strong wind generated some surprisingly large waves.
Surprisingly on a distant shoreline we saw a pump house designed to deliver water to the Tarraleah hydro scheme. Now no longer used for that purpose it's part of the Lake's tourist accommodation.
The journey had had many vistas of lovely and often distant mountain ranges - which is why the Overland track is so attractive and popular. And, in fact, our cruise was destined to pick up a large posse of walkers who had decided not to take the last leg of the journey on the Lake's edge. Here they are awaiting our arrival.
AS
1 comment:
Awesome! Well done Max. That scenery looks spectacular. :-)
Post a Comment