29-Nov-2007
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From Queenstown we headed east across the mountains and the World Heritage Area. We made a few stops along the way and the first one was alongside a river running through the rain forest at a place called Nelsons Falls. There wasn't a lot of water at the falls but the creek was quite pretty. Nelson Falls |
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We also stopped at a lookout called Donaghy's Hill Lookout. A track took us through the bush to the lookout which gave us a 360deg view over the Franklin River and beyond to a mountain called Frenchmans Cap. There was still a bit of snow just visible on top of the mountain. The Frenchmans Cap is the sticky up bit just right of centre and I think it's the highest mountain in Tasmania at 1443 mtrs. Donaghys Lookout |
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As you can see there are loads of flowers in bloom so here are some closer pictures of them with common names supplied by the travelling botanist. Native Laurel |
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Hard Water-Fern | |
| Goodness Knows Gum Tree! (My botanist has let me down a bit here, can anyone else help me out please?) |  |
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Little Pink Something or other! (She is getting tired now bless her). |
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| The Botanist said "Just put an abundance of flowers. I'm going to bed!" |  |
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There are quite a few hydro stations on the edge of the mountains. The one in the picture below is close to our next campsite. There are two hydro stations here; the pipes to the other one are in the top left of the picture. The water travels through pipes and canals and passes through eight hydro-electric stations before it ends up in tea cups in Hobart. The hydro stations near Wayatinah |
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Our campsite for the night turned out to be a real gem. We were camped on the edge of a lagoon with a great view. Camping at Wayatinah Lagoon |
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| I went out on the lake fishing from a canoe with one of the other campers. Well I paddled around while he dangled the line in the water and the ladies downed two bottles of fizz! We had to explain that we were just testing the lures before some serious fishing the next day. And no we didn't catch anything but we did see a platypus (or perhaps it was a duck doing the backstroke and no, I hadn't had anything to drink before you ask!!) | ||
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Do you like the lounge area on the campsite complete with central heating for the winter months and complete with the all essential fish cleaning station with running cold water of course? The camp lounge |
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Or perhaps just retire to the bar for a quick cocktail after a hard days paddling. The camp bar The bar area comes with central heating again and a sink to prepare the bait which can be kept in the fridge together with the beer. Standing room only here. | |