We got Paul a coffee and the drove towards Mount Field through the old town of New Norfolk. The scenery was gorgeous. There were hills everywhere, though they were surprisingly not lush. Surprising because it rained all day. There were sheep in the fields, pitch black cows grazing, and eucalyptus trees throughout. We went along the Derwent river, with cliffs on the sides, and our side had rain while the other side was sunny with a rainbow.
Mount Field National Park is in about the middle of the state. It was lush and green - lots of tall eucalyptus trees and rain forest. We did two walks. The first was to Russel Falls. It was about 40 minutes roundtrip, including pictures. There were ancient ferns that were huge, and looked like parks of palm trees. There were tall eucalyptus trees. The best part was the smell - so fresh.
Next we did a walk called the tall trees. It was just a short jaunt in the forest with narration by sign. The trees were HUGE. They are a type of eucalyptus called swamp gums that sheds bark so that it appears bare and has stripes of colour. They are the largest hardwood trees (the red cedars in North America being the tallest softwoods)and grow up to 90m, shedding branches as the get higher.
We had an amazing ham sandwich for takeaway lunch in our campervan and headed down the road to Something Wild, literally. This was a Wildlife reserve where injured animals are rescued and released back once they are able to cope on their own. At the time they had about 5 koalas, 5 or 6 tasmanian devils, lots of kangaroos and wallabies, 1 adult and 1 baby wombat. The wombats are burrowers, and they need to be able to burrow their way out to get out. There were apparently 3 platypuses, and the guy at the desk said that there was an 85% success rate seeing them at any time of day...we weren't so sure. They were living up to their elusive reputation. The two cockatoos were interesting - one was very angry and kept attacking the shoes of a visitor while asking a very innocent-sounding "Hello??" The kangaroos and wallabies were a treat. Mainly they were sunning themselves, but one curious mom came right up to us with her joey poking out occasionally. Then we got boring and she hopped away.
There were new animals to us - Quolls are spotted, the size of a small cat, the shape of a rat, but furrier with furry tails, and black with white spots. The possums were honey-colored and asleep. Lots of nocturnal animals makes for not-so
exciting days at the reserve. The Tasmanian devils were the stars of the show. Only found in Tasmania, they are becoming endangered even there because of a form of facial cancer that is both contagious and rapidly fatal. The Devils that come into the reserve are not released into the wild because they will apparently acquire the disease more quickly. We finished up at the wildlife park and drove to Lake St Clair Wilderness Resort. It wasn't as much of a resort as it was a campground. It was cold. And it was wet. We were really glad that we hadn't brought a tent. We got our site, and went for dinner at the lodge. Everything was soooo expensive. A burger and fries was $20. We spent the rest of the night trying to stay warm, which included reading and journal writing under the cover of a sleeping bag. In for come chilly days!
No comments:
Post a Comment