Home Again

Not much more to say. Sam and I spent Saturday, our last full day, just hanging out around the house. Took a mid afternoon trip out to get the car washed and to fill up the gas tank.

Stopped briefly at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, but it was only a brief visit since we got there just 20 minutes before closing time.

Long trip home on Sunday. Uneventful, although we did miss our connection from LAX to Seattle and had to fly standby on a flight 45 minutes later.

Great to be home -- but what a great trip!

Cradle Mountain

Sam and I spent one night at Cradle Mountain Lodge, the same place that Cooper, Sam and I stayed five years ago.

Marion's Lookout is the hill on the right.
Cradle Mountain is the double-peaked mountain
in the background on the left.

We drove there on Thursday, arriving late in the day, then got up early and checked out. We wanted to get an early start so we could have as much time hiking as possible. We rode the shuttle bus into Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, to the parking lot at Dove Lake. We briefly considered a hike to the summit of Cradle Mountain, but its description as a difficult, full-day hike scared us off a bit, so we decided on a hike to Marion's Lookout instead. It was billed as being moderately difficult, about a half day trip, with good views from the top.

The views were indeed great. The last bit of the hike involved a bit of a steep scramble, but overall wasn't too difficult.

At Marion's Lookout.

From the viewpoint, a trail headed off across the plateau in the general direction of Cradle Mountain. We still felt good, so decided to at least walk a bit of the trail since it was pretty flat. At the base of Cradle Mountain, the trail started up but not too steeply. We figured we could go partway up at least, where it seemed like we could get some good views. But partway up, the summit seemed so close we figured we might as well go for it.

If we had known we were still an hour and a half away, and that it involved climbing rocks up through a boulder field, we might not have done it. Well, I might not have done it at least.

Hiking across the flats towards Cradle Mountain

So in the end, we hiked/climbed to the top of Cradle Mountain anyway. And tired as I was, I'm so glad we did! This was probably the highlight of the whole Tasmanian trip. Spectacular views off across a seemingly endless series of mountains.

The hike down was perhaps even more difficult, and we were pretty tired and sore by the time we made it down. After that, a drive back to Launceston and home, rather than spending another night on the road.

Alpine vegetation.

Lots of rocks to climb over on the way to the summit. Can you find Sam?

Finally -- resting at the summit.

View from the summit.

Trowunna Wildlife Park

Left Thursday for a whirlwind tour of Cradle Mountain. Drive there via Mole Creek, passing the Mole Creek Holiday Village where I stayed on my own trip to Mole Creek a few weeks back. 

A little devil. Yes, they are cute.

Remember the giant mole (aka Tasmanian Devil)? That was at the Trowunna Wildlife Park. Although I skipped it on my earlier trip, Sam and I stopped at on our way to Cradle Mountain.

Feeding time. Tonight we are serving haunch of wombat.

Great place! They are kind of a combination wildlife rescue / research facility. They specialize in Tasmanian Devils which they raise in captivity. They are now into their 11th generation of devils going back some 30 years. Although they have had a few cases of the virus which is devastating the Tasmanian Devil population in the wild, they have managed to work through that and have a population that is healthy and uninfected.

Wombat Sam. (It pooped on him right after this picture was taken.)

They also rescue wombats, mainly the babies of mothers who have been hit and killed on the highways. The babies initially have a high level of human contact (they need that nurturing that they would otherwise get from their mothers), but gradually get moved into areas with no human contact and then are released into the wild.

Koalas too, but not too many.

And several birds, although these are injured ones that will never be released back into the wild. Although the birds do breed, and their progeny live in the forests around the reserve and think of it as home. I had never heard of wedge-tailed eagles, but they have some.

Time for dinner?

And kangaroos. They just roam free on the property, which visitors are free to roam.

Northeast Coast

Sam and I took a two night trip up to the far northeast corner of the state.

Top of Mt. Barrow. See how warm Sam looks?

On the way, took a side trip into the Mt. Barrow State Reserve. A narrow, rutted dirt road heading through dense rainforest and up the mountain. The picnic area at the end of the main road was nice, but not that interesting. The road leading up from there was posted as requiring four-wheel drive, but that didn't stop us. Up and up we went, with the fog and mist getting thicker by the minute. Finally emerged at what seemed to be some kind of summit, but with no visibility it was hard to tell. The road continued off across the flats, but the road had been so bad to this point, we had no desire to follow.

Making friends with the alpacas.

Stayed in a cabin in the town of Branxholm. Nice comfortable place. Alpacas in the field. Reportedly a platypus pair in the river, but we never saw them.

The "Derby Tunnel."

Spent some time exploring the area around Branxholm. Followed a road sign the for "Derby Tunnel." This took us on rutted dirt road. Explored it by car and then, when it narrowed to little more than a wide path, by foot. Finally found a cave mouth partially hidden by vegetation. Looked like it went way back, but having no lights we were only brave enough to go back 50 feet or so.

Spent most of the next day in Mount William National Park. Hot, hot sun on the beach. White sand, big rocks and lots of seabirds.

Climbed to the top of "Mount" William, the highest point in the part at 214 meters.

Drove the loop of Forrester Kangaroo Drive. Saw several jumping marsupials. Not really sure if they were kangaroos or not, but we weren't picky.

Musselroe Bay Conservation Area

After a second night in our cabin, it was back home. The drive took us back through rainforest. We tried to explore the Blue Tier region, but the road would have been tough even for four wheel drive. We stopped an hour into the road, well short of our destination, and settled for a short walk to see a nice waterfall.

More from Musselroe Bay. We walked a mile or so down the beach, which was empty except for us.

Nature photographer.

View from the summit of Mt. William.

Back in rainforest for the trip home.

Sam's Arrival!

Tired but happy.

The Neighborhood

I guess I haven't shown any pictures of my house or the neighborhood. I guess I haven't taken many. Here are a few.

Our house.

Front porch.

Looking through the front door. That's my bedroom just past the entryway.

View from the porch. It's blocked a little bit by trees, but still very nice. That's the Tamar River, and beyond it is the edge of downtown Launceston.

A view from the walk into town.

The stairs down to the King's Bridge. The Cataract Gorge is in the background. Sometimes it feels as if  you tripped you would fall into the river.

Not quite ripe!

Back in Launceston

Morty's Food Hall

Got back into Launceston Thursday afternoon. Here it is Sunday morning already and I'm not sure I could say how I have spent the intervening time. I guess that's what it means to be on vacation.

Dinner Thursday night at Morty's Food Hall. Hard to describe. It's like a food court, except that it's not in a mall, not overrun with kids on cellphones and you can get wine and beer. I went for grilled trevalla (a kind of fish) from the restaurant that was a combined fresh fish / pizza place.

Aurora Stadium on the right. The old railroad tracks divide the grounds, and UTAS is just out of sight on the left.

Did nothing in particular Friday. A much needed car wash to get the layers of road dust and grime off my poor little car. Explored the park along the opposite side of the North Esk River. It holds Aurora Stadium, home of the AFL Tasmania Hawks. Also the Launceston campus for UTAS (University of Tasmania). Also the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery.

UTAS school of Architecture and Design

Inside the school of Architecture and Design

Friday night went to see True Grit. $16 for a ticket and $10 for popcorn!

Saturday just went driving in the hills around Launceston.

Looking forward to Sam's arrival!

Best spuds in Tasmania!

Watch Where You Step

Look what I found in the bathroom of my cottage in Marraweh!

Turns out there are scorpions in Tasmania, although apparently uncommon enough that many people don't even know it. Not to worry -- stings are painful but not fatal (apparently like a wasp sting).

You can see it better if you click on this to enlarge.

I found this one as I was doing my final search for forgotten items as I prepared to leave and head back to Launceston. His pincer was caught between the baseboard and the floor in the bathroom. I had actually noticed something there on the floor my first day but hadn't paid attention. I gently loosened him using a scrap of cardboard, and he thanked my by going into full attack mode.

Learn all about wood scorpions at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cercophonius_squama.

The Edge of the World

Head west from Tasmania and you won't hit land until you reach Argentina -- by some accounts, the largest uninterrupted expanse of ocean on the planet.

West Point State Reserve. At high tide, these rocks become an island.

Food for thought as I explored the west coast south from Marrawah all the way to the end of the road at Temma.

Spectacular, and like no ocean coast I have been to before. No good way to describe it -- I'll just post a bunch of pictures.

The gravel road follows the coast, but a fair ways inland. There are several side roads that branch off towards the water and I tried every one of them.

I was struck by the fact that in these huge expanses of land I saw no other people.

Weathered boulders protrude from the surrounding brush.

In places the vegetation is low-growing, maybe to protect it from the wind. If you turn your back to the ocean and look inland, you can almost make yourself believe you are back on the Central Plateau.

The beach at Bluff Hill Point.

Marker in the town of Arthur River.

Lots of Sports in Australia

Cricket is the big one right now. Australia lost the Ashes Cup Test series to England earlier this month, but is clobbering England in a rematch of sorts, the ODI series which started just about when I arrived. They are actually playing right now. All the matches are on TV and radio, although I'm watching a Pakistani video feed because there is no reception here in Marraweh. The Australian women just won their Ashes Cup Test seriies against England today. Local cricket continues too, but with disruptions coming from callups to the national team.

The Australian Open tennis tournament continues. Live radio and TV coverage here. Every business you enter always seems to have the Open showing on TV.

The Tour Down Under, kind of like Australia's Tour de France, just wrapped up. No live coverage I could find, but radio updates on the hour. Lance Armstrong's final international competition.

The National Basketball League is in full swing.

Australian Football League teams are in pre-season training right now. Some teams are doing flood cleanup as part of their training regimen -- moving sandbags, shoveling mud, etc.

The Socceroos are working their way through the Asian Cup. They killed Uzbekistan 6-0 today in the semi-finals. Too bad the games are on so early, because I have missed all of them so far. The A-League is well into its season.

Of course there is horse racing. Some radio stations carry all races live -- cutting from track to track to track across Australia as different races start. (This just in -- the Hanging Rock Cup raceday was postponed because kangaroos were grazing on track and wouldn't leave.)

And there has been a surprising amount of coverage of Sydney's 10km wheelchair race, and of the Australian team's performance in the International Paralympic Committee world athletics championships in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Happy Australia Day!

January 26, Australia Day. I guess you'd have to call it Australia's 4th of July. Except it's different. Where the 4th seems to be mostly an excuse to barbecue, drink and shoot off fireworks, Australia Day seems to truly be a celebration of of Australia itself -- and what it means to be Australian. 

Numerous local civic celebrations. The one in Sydney is being broadcast live on ABC (Australian Broadcast Corporation). Lots of stories about and interviews with Australians talking about their lives, their communities and their country. 

Lots of talk about the floods, but even with this the mood is upbeat. Not a lot of people feeling sorry about themselves, but rather a testimonial about Australians helping Australians.

Google's logo for Jan 26, in honor of Australia Day.

Mole Creek to Ann Bay (Marrawah)

Left Mole Creek for Marrawah this morning, but first a detour into Mole Creek Karst National Park. Once again out of farm country, up, up winding gravel roads to emerge on the top of an open plateau.

Pulled off at Devil's Gullet. From the small parking area a boardwalk trekked off into the bushes, emerging at a metal platform bolted onto the edge of a cliff staring into an abyss. Views back to the Central Plateau and off to Cradle Mountain.

Devil's Gullet

Backtracked down the mountain, then off on backroads through farmland and forest before emerging on the coast at Devonport.

Drove on to Burnie, where I stopped for groceries. Tomorrow is Australia Day -- big holiday and it sounds like some businesses will be closed. Not sure if restaurants or groceries will be open. Safest to just buy a few days' worth of food just in case.

Forecasts of rain turned out to be correct as I continued west along the coast. Nothing too heavy. I'd love to get enough to rinse the dust off of my poor car.

More of the view at Devil's Gullet

Just past the town of Marrawah, Ann Bay is beautiful. After winding through gentle hills the road falls down onto a green farmland plain, partitioned by hedges and small stands of trees and bounded by the ocean. My cabin sits slightly up the hill looking out over the green and blue.

Where else but here?

Closest yet to seeing a platypus.

First glimpse of Ann Bay.

Central Plateau to Mole Creek

My first stay in Launceston is at an end. I have to leave my house for three nights. So I am on the road. Today I took a round about route to Mole Creek, driving south from Launceston then back north across the Central Plateau.

The Central Plateau rises out of the farm lands.

Once you are up there, the terrain changes. Windy! And cold. Alpine vegetation.
Looking here at Pine Lake.

After dropping off the plateau again, you are now quickly into rain forest.

A really big tree.

I stayed at the Mole Creek Holiday Village. A great place! Here is my cabin.