Hello Moovers and groovers;
Its Louise here at the helm today of our little blog; I hope all our readers are well and enjoying life; we certainly are! We are currently parked up at Marrawah Beach, NW Tasmania Coast, feeling a bit knackered as we climbed 'The Nut' - a huge 3 Mil. yr old volcanic 'plug' that sticks out into the sea in Stanley, Tas. The path up is extremely steep, so bad in fact that there is a chair lift installed, but being in need of some exercise to shed a few kilos, we decided to walk up the bugger... And my 'glutamus maximus' or my bum muscles to the lay person, are killing me... Ah well just shows how I have become a bit soft lately - no doubt down to the fact that we were stuck with some bad weather for days last week; rain, rain and more rain. I'm sure you have all seen the bad floods in Queensland and Victoria? Well, Tassie copped some of that too; but thankfully it has cleared.
Our highlight of the trip to the west coast was Cradle Mountain, which, the day we decided to attend, actually had some really lovely weather and we had a fantastic walk around Dove Lake (see photos below); We are going fast through our list of things to see on this trip and that was one of the big ones; next is the Victorian Snow country and the Yarra Valley (wine region); we may try to get a visit to Canberra in, if we can before getting back to Sydney and the Mardi Gras party on 5 March. Should be wild.
We have been through some very pretty towns in Tasmania, and have enjoyed it immensely; we are catching the ferry next Mon 24.1.11 back to Melbourne and 'the big north island' as the locals here call the mainland...
Matt at a waterfall along a walking track at Mt Field NP 7.1.11
We had a run in with a very rude man who wanted to collect $20 off us for staying in the car
park here - to cut to the chase we gave him $15 only, but made sure we used the hot showers...
Thought this pic was really nice... Mt Field Nat Park 7.1.11
Louise trying to befriend one of the locals at Friendly Beaches campground, this wallaby tried it on with every person that came into the are to get food off them. 8.1.11
We went for a stroll along Friendly Beaches for about 3km and back,
it was a Robinson Crusoe moment. 9.1.11
Matt at St Helens beach camp ground, lovely spot (very windy)- Swimcart Beach 9.1.11
Trying to catch some trout at Tulabadine Dam (just near our camp spot) in the south western part of the tassie wilderness... caught nothing! I have been nagging Matt to get the lines out,
and here is the photo to prove he did it! 15.1.11
Outside the Beaconsfield mine. you all know the story of the 2 miners, Todd and Brant who were
trapped under tonnes of rock in 2006(?) and after a week got dug out? Here it is; and it has become a
tourist centre re the rescue of the 2 guys more than the fact it is a gold mine! Tues 11.1.11
A tree had fallen over along the walking track along the
famous Franklin river, absolutely beautiful walk. the tree had just come down, as we could see the new
split and smell it too, we had to climb over it, hence my weird pose...please note
the use of my old ranger raincoat here; thanks Warringah Council! 13.1.11
An echidna along the way. Lake St Clair N.P 13.1.11; this little chap was walking up and down
the main path for ages, getting his picture taken; talk about 'look at me -I'm a tourist attraction..."
This was a real moment for me to be alongside the Franklin river having grown up knowing how much people fought to keep this wonderful place the way it is.
During the time the protest went on, a primary school friend's mother of mine actually went down to protest the damming of the Franklin, where she tied herself to trees and got thrown in prison a few times. 13.1.11
This place was just mind blowing beautiful!
Ahhh- the famous Cradle mountain, you can not visit Tassie without going to Cradle Mountain, the walk around the Dove Lake here in the back ground was 6.5km. 16.1.11
A camp spot just down the road from Cradle Mountain, the weather that day was superb! 16.1.11 We went to Cradle Mt again next day 17th and it was pissing it down, windy and cold; we did 2 x 300m walks in our lovely raincoats, but abandoned the idea of doing the Cradle Valley walk of 6.5km; bugger!
Free camp spot just outside of Burnie, really nice place,
mind you it would be freezing in the winter with the cold winds coming off the Bass Straight. 17.1.11
Louise at lookout Table Bay, west Tasmania 18.1.11
Here we are at Stanley, Tasmania,with 'The Nut' in the background 19.1.11
Our free campsite beside the Nut; Stanley. Tasmania 19.1.11
Overlooking Stanley, Tas. 20.1.11
the VERY steep path up and down 'The Nut" 20.1.11
Marrawah Beach, NW Tasmania 2o.1.11
so dear readers, we shall get another blog out when we get back to the mainland next week and we start doing the East side of Victoria, (away from the floods) and the Snow Country in Victoria, which I am so looking forward too; Matt had been there before but not Mrs Byron, so it should be a blast...Love Louise and Matt
