Weather and Photography by Jane Gough, Melbourne, Australia
Tasmania April 2007
~ Day Six ~
The fishing/holiday town of St Helens was our last nights stay in Tassie before we headed to Devonport in the evening for the boat trip back to Melbourne. This morning we travelled through St Mary's Pass along the Esk HWY which also suffered during the recent fires. Apparently, up to $50 million worth of production timber has been burnt in this area. From the areas we saw along the road, it does appear to be regenerating well.
We continued along the until the Midlands HWY, then detoured through the beautiful old historic town of Evandale. There we met fellow stormchasing friend and now Tassie resident David Simpson. He took us for a guided tour up to Ben Lomond National Park. The plateau itself is 14km long, 6km wide and over 1300m high. The second highest peak in Tasmania, Legges Tor, can be found on the plateau. It reaches 1572m asl. The imposing cliffs around the plateau are dolerite, and there is an abundance of alpine vegetation growing there. Ben Lomond is the location of a ski village, only one of two in Tasmania, the other being Mt Mawson in the Mt Field National Park.
To reach the ski village, one must travel through the magnificent cliffs on the zigzag road known as Jacobs Ladder! Once at the top, the view of the surrounding area is simply awe inspiring.
Sheep grazing on the long paddock on the way back to White Hills!
The remainder of the afternoon was spent at David's farm, taking in the magnificent view, sitting around the dam with a few drinks and watching the four Border Collies and the nine ducks entertain us all! What a perfect way to end our extremely busy tour of Tassie, relaxing with a few friends and a couple of drinks! Ahh, the serenity!!
And so, our 'Taste of Tassie' trip has come to an end. There is so much to see and do in Australia's smallest State, that it is impossible to do it all in a week. A week that saw us travel 1832km along sometimes steep and winding roads. Unfortunately the road kill we passed far outweighed the living fauna we encountered. We missed so many places as we just didn't have the time. I can't wait to make a return visit and concerntrate on Cradle Mountain National Park and visit The Walls Of Jerusalem, which we, unfortunately, missed. Maybe next time I might be able to break my record of over 1660 images in a week. Who knows, but I am willing to give it a try!
I hope you have enjoyed reading about our trip, and experiencing it through my lenses! If you haven't been to Tasmania before, then what are you waiting for?
Day One | Day Two | Day Three | Day Four | Day Five | Day Six