Monk's retreat: Tasmania 11th to 19th Feb

Just to confuse you all I will tell you that it is now 12th March and I am writing this on the train as we return to Castlemaine, Victoria after a week in Adelaide, South Australia, but I am going to describe the week we spent in Tasmania in mid February. Some day I will catch up with what we did in Adelaide!

We took the 'Spirit of Tasmania' 9 hour Melbourne to Devonport sea crossing to Tasmania which lets you see Port Philip Bay and its very narrow exit into Bass Strait called 'The Rip" as you leave Melbourne. We had booked a camper van for the duration of our stay in Tasmania, not least so that we could defer decisions about where to be on each day, which is so dependant on the weather and how quickly you can get around the many nice places available on the island. We found Tasmania very varied in landscape, especially in comparison to mainland Australia, so this will be described mainly in pictures.

North coast of Tasmania. Much greener and more hilly than most coastlines we had seen on the mainland.

our home for the week

'Edge of the world', with driftwood from the forest carried down the Arthur river by floodwaters

Arthur river. Untouched temperate rainforest. Never settled or exploited by Europeans and hence in a very natural state.

Walk around Crater Lake area in near Cradle mountain. Another change of scenery. Quite a cool and wet walk as it often is but we managed some nice views and the serious rain only came just after we had finished. Saw our first Wombat, walking down the path and quite tolerant of us, though it did 'growl' at me when I tried to get too close.

A very peaceful little spot on the walk - Wombat Pool

Karrawong. A very vocal native Australian carrion eating bird. Nice song, not such nice habits, like eating baby birds.

En route to Russell Falls. Preserved rain forest with both present and past generations of giant trees. Tallest living one in Mount Field at present is 79 metres.

Russell Falls

Typical street in old Hobart - We stayed a night with my schoolfriend, Alan Haig. Last seen in 1970 when we both travelled on the same boat - me for a gap year in Australia, him to join his family who had emigrated to New Zealand. Strange to meet someone after such a gap and then only for one day but it was a very nice reunion and to meet his wife Sally!

View of Hobart locality from the nearby Mount Wellington. Main part of the city was obscured by clouds. Sorry to disappoint you walking enthusiasts - we drove up there!

Curious natural rock formation on the shore near Port Arthur. It makes it look like the Romans got there first.

Early morning walk on the Tasman peninsula

Another change of landscape. Vines and savannah-like grassland.

Beautiful deserted beach, but a bit too chilly for swimming. The sand really was as white as it looks.

Local resident Tasmanian Pademelon at Tasman Peninsula taking a great interest in our slops bucket

We did a 5 hour circular walk to Wine Glass bay on the Freycinet national park. A well trodden route, but well worth it, with amazing beaches, rocks and viewpoints and yet more varied terrain.

Very tame wallabies living at Wine Glass Bay, presumably very used to cleaning up people's picnics, but not [yet] too pushy. Wildlife authorities, discourage feeding native animals, so that they dont become too agressive in their begging habits and then go short of food in the low season.

Our final stop was in the 'Asbestos Range' reserve, now renamed to the more appealing, but harder to pronounce 'Narawntapu national park'. A very quiet location at the end of 10 kilometers of unsealed road, with open water and swamp and plenty of interesting wildlife.

Swamp Wallaby in action - eating water plants in the swamp.

A lot of Wombats were living in the park. Just after we saw this [rather distant] one we found one feeding in a dry ditch which did not seem the least bothered by the attention from us and other people.