Tasmania, Heading North

Several readers have asked about the flora and fauna.  We have not seen it all yet but so far, I can only say, diverse.  The land and the views are different everywhere we go. And we have yet to see wild animals.

Down south the terrain was hilly, mountainous, green in places and golden in others, and on rivers, bays, oceans, and creeks, much like the scene in northern California.  In just a matter of a short drive, one can be on top of a mountain, walking the beach on River Derwent, sailing Storm Bay, crossing a bay by ferry to reach far, far South Bruny Island, or walking in a quiet tree fern rain forest with deep rich mosses in every shade of green carpeting the forest floor and growing richly on almost anything that stands still, much like as in Main or Vermont.  As we drove on other roads, the vast vales and streams reminded us of Montana, and then some roads with granite walls and forests looked like any beautiful rustic USA country road. 

While Tasmania is home to some of the world’s most unusual animals, they don’t show themselves often during the daytime.  Most feed and roam at night.  That explains why we have only seen rabbits, crows, magpies –those beautiful songstresses,  and snowy cockatiels — those beautiful but loud screechers. Nighttime prowlers are hidden from us.

We left Hobart and south Tasmania driving toward the northwestern shore.  Over two days we drove a total of about ten hours on zig-zagging cross-mountain roads to the north and west, finally to the waters of the Bass Straits, and through vast sweeping hill farmlands where flocks of sheep grazed in the sun.  Onward, we passed fields and fields of cattle, herds of beautiful bronze cattle, black and white ones, and herds of pure black ones.  Some grazed in golden fields while others munched in broad swaths of vibrant green grass.  We passed more cattle farms than we have seen anywhere else in the world.  Up here in the north, the Smithton-Stanley area is said to be one of the largest producers of high-grade grass-fed cattle in the world.  It is also home to Australia’s largest dairy production and potato farms in all of Australia.  It is colorful, with a different view at every turn, and simply gorgeous!

En route to Smithton, we visited the Bonorung Wildlife Sanctuary where we finally saw the little, black devils, wombats, Forester kangaroos, sugar gliders, echidnas, and much more.  What curious and cute animals!!  This center is not a zoo.  It is a rescue for sick and injured wild animals, breeding center and sanctuary for endangered species. 

We slept that night in Queenstown.  Oh wow, upon entering the township it was obvious this was a mining company town.  It just had that look.  A huge copper mine operated here from the late 1800s to 1995. 

The once thriving little town nestled in green hills reminded us of towns on Norwegian fjords or even Alaskan coastal towns like Sitka or Ketchikan.  It was damp, and rugged but quaint.  Adventure seekers are attracted to Queenstown for mountain biking challenges.   Sadly little Queenstown appears to be fading away but the locals share a hopeful talk that the mine might reopen.   What else can the people do to earn a living when they are situated miles and miles away from any other productive employment?  And without the mine, they say, what can Queenstown offer its young people?  Still,  the mine’s gash in the land glares, and the river that runs fast through the town is bright orange with acid pollution still draining from the old mine.  I kept thinking of John Prine’s sad song,  Paradise, and the lyrics, “Mr. Peabody’s Coal Train has hauled it away.”

Cradle Mountain is one of the premier tourist spots in Tasmania.  This fifth-tallest mountain in Australia offers fabulous scenic views available only via hikes.  Once arriving at the national park, no cars are allowed farther.  A shuttle takes visitors inside the park and to hiking trailheads.  Cradle Mountain’s treks can be as short as 30 minutes or as long as 5-6 days.  As in every spot we have visited in Tasmania, visitors are warned to prepare for any type of weather.  Things can change instantly.  Our arrival day was glorious.  We knew it was a rare day weather-wise that we must take advantage of.  Originally we thought we might do the Cradle Lake trek one day and the Dove lake trek the next.  We set out for the first trek which was rated moderate and said to last 2-3 hours.  In hiking terms, moderate means clearly not easy but can also mean just plain awful.  Our moderate hike to Cradle lake in the crater at the top of the mountain was just that . . . easy for the first 1/3 and just awful the rest.  We hiked the circuit to Cradle Lake at the top of Cradle Mountain on nice wooden overland walks and strings of upward steps but also on trials of chunked rocks and angled plates of sharp shale.  At the top, we took photos and congratulated ourselves!  We did it!  But rather than reverse our steps back down the mountain, we decided to walk on to Dove Lake.  Somehow we thought the return trip would be downhill but no, it too was up and down. On this rare but beautiful day, we could not take enough clothes off to get cool.  The day’s hike was about 7 miles from start to finish and at least half of it was steep and rocky, but the panoramic sights were to knock your eyes out!  Woo-hoo!!! We did it!  Not going back tomorrow!  Done!  Check!

Now here we are in Smithton, the sister city to Stanley.  What a beautiful setting there is in these two little towns.  It must be an amazing place to live a life.  The hills are green – thanks to 187 days of rain each year and the towns are old.  Stanley is simply charming with quaint shops, art galleries, and streets of well-preserved, colorful frame houses built in the early 1800s overlooking the sea and the Nut, the amazing granite stone volcanic vertical core rising out of the ocean.

We celebrated our anniversary last night with a fine steak dinner at Cape Grimm Bistro in Smithton which features the famous Greenham Farms grass-fed beef grown in this area.  The steaks were mouth-watering and cooked perfectly.  Of course, we made friends with the waitstaff.  We love any opportunity for a little conversation outside the two of us.  Seventeen-year-old Zeritu served us.  This beautiful young woman, born in Ethiopia (no wonder she’s so pretty) but adopted by Tasmanian parents is a tiny working woman still in high school and wondering what to do with her life here in Tasmania

The weather was gorgeous last evening when we arrived but cloudy by the time we came home – no stars that night.  We awoke the next morning to rain, rain, rain, and wind!  Today was one of the 187 rainy days.

Ohhhh, the day changed and presented us with a surprise sunset that caused us to forget all of the day’s wind and rain.  Just look!