Tasmania, part two
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Anne
12 Juli 2014 | Australië, Hobart
Dear readers,
As promised here the rest of my adventures in Tasmania.
Wednesday I went on a tour towards the north to the Freycinet National Park, which gets its name from the French that once were in this area. We had a small group of only four people and our guide Jeff is a real wildlife lover. On our way there we spotted to wedge-tailed eagles (largest birds of prey in Tasmania) sitting in a tree, reason enough to turn around and watch them a bit more. They were really close to the road, so we had great photo opportunities! A white-bellied sea eagle was flying for a while next to our van above the water, which was pretty cool to see :) Our first stop was Friendly Beaches, which is a beautiful white sanded beach with plenty of sea shells to hunt. When we entered the park, an echidna was just crossing the road and it’s very uncommon to see them in the cold winter time. We did the walk towards the Wineglass Bay lookout. This bay got its name from the whaling history of Tasmania. The harpooned whales were dragged ashore in this bay, making the water red like wine. Nowadays the bay has just beautiful blue water and the view was amazing! Some wallabies were waiting for us at the car park, hoping to get some food. Our lunch spot was Honeymoon Bay, which has very clear water and annoying sea gulls. Via Sleepy Bay with its orange rocks because of the lichen (interaction between fungi and algae), we went to Cape Tourville with more amazing views. On our way back home, we saw a wombat strolling through a field, which made this wildlife-rich trip complete!
My last tour on Thursday took us to the west, where the highlands are. In Mount Field National Park we first did a walk that brought us to Russell Falls, which is very impressive because it has several layers and lots of water. The Horseshoe Falls were just a few minutes from there, but were not very horseshoe like because of the big amounts of waters. Still nice to see though ;) We continued our walk through the Tall Trees areas, which has many tall Eucalypt trees in it that can grow up to 100m. We then drove towards the real highlands, to visit Lake Dobson at about 1000m above sea level. Against expectations, it wasn’t cold at all because the sun was shining and there was barely any wind. Very interesting to see the landscape changing as you drive towards it, the trees slowly disappear and many pretty coloured bushes start to appear. We walked around the lake, which takes you through Pandini Grove. These special trees always have dry leaves, which makes them very suitable to start a fire to keep you warm during cold winter nights and have therefore saved many lives over the years. There was also a lot of dolerite rock around, which are the remainders of the division of the Gondwana supercontinent (for non-biologists: the Gondwana continent broke up a long time ago into the continents as we know them now). We ate our lunch in the mountain cabin and then drove down to Bonnorong Wildlife Park. This place takes care of rescued wild animals, when they are found sick or hurt. While they are recovering and prepared for reintroduction, visitors can see them and learn about their lifestyle. Wombat Max was the cutest thing ever and the Tassie Devils were not nearly as fierce as people make you believe they are. It was then time to go to Mount Wellington, which is right next to Hobart. We went right to the top at 1270m and it was pretty windy, but very cool to be literally with your head in the clouds. The view of Hobart and the river was amazing!
My last day in Hobart, I did a sculpture walk through the historic Battery Point. It was a walk by numbers, which each had their meaning in the history of the area. Like 1909 is birth year of Errol Flyn, 313 boats that were built in the docks etc. Afterwards I took the ferry over to MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art. This museum is situated a bit north from Hobart on its own peninsula. Originally it was just a vineyard, but nowadays the museum has taken most of the attention. An interesting mix of modern and classic art is divided over three floors below ground. Instead of signs, everyone gets a sort of iphone which shows you the art pieces that are near you with more info. Some highlights are the cloaca, where the human digestive system is artificially mimicked with several barrels. It gets fed twice a day and poops once a day (and it looks very realistic!). The idea behind it is to show how ridiculously far you can stretch the boundaries of ‘art’. A long galleries full of casts of vaginas was also very interesting… Other than that, a lot of Egyptian historic stuff, a whole section on art made from natural materials, many videos and paintings. The Madonna-fans video was hilarious: about 25 screens were mounted on a wall showing Madonna fans singing along to their headphones. The dancing and off-key singing is very entertaining to watch. When I returned in Hobart, I did some souvenir shopping and then it was time to head home.
This is my last blog as my single adventures are over, my family arrives tomorrow. Thank you for joining me on this journey!
Anne
As promised here the rest of my adventures in Tasmania.
Wednesday I went on a tour towards the north to the Freycinet National Park, which gets its name from the French that once were in this area. We had a small group of only four people and our guide Jeff is a real wildlife lover. On our way there we spotted to wedge-tailed eagles (largest birds of prey in Tasmania) sitting in a tree, reason enough to turn around and watch them a bit more. They were really close to the road, so we had great photo opportunities! A white-bellied sea eagle was flying for a while next to our van above the water, which was pretty cool to see :) Our first stop was Friendly Beaches, which is a beautiful white sanded beach with plenty of sea shells to hunt. When we entered the park, an echidna was just crossing the road and it’s very uncommon to see them in the cold winter time. We did the walk towards the Wineglass Bay lookout. This bay got its name from the whaling history of Tasmania. The harpooned whales were dragged ashore in this bay, making the water red like wine. Nowadays the bay has just beautiful blue water and the view was amazing! Some wallabies were waiting for us at the car park, hoping to get some food. Our lunch spot was Honeymoon Bay, which has very clear water and annoying sea gulls. Via Sleepy Bay with its orange rocks because of the lichen (interaction between fungi and algae), we went to Cape Tourville with more amazing views. On our way back home, we saw a wombat strolling through a field, which made this wildlife-rich trip complete!
My last tour on Thursday took us to the west, where the highlands are. In Mount Field National Park we first did a walk that brought us to Russell Falls, which is very impressive because it has several layers and lots of water. The Horseshoe Falls were just a few minutes from there, but were not very horseshoe like because of the big amounts of waters. Still nice to see though ;) We continued our walk through the Tall Trees areas, which has many tall Eucalypt trees in it that can grow up to 100m. We then drove towards the real highlands, to visit Lake Dobson at about 1000m above sea level. Against expectations, it wasn’t cold at all because the sun was shining and there was barely any wind. Very interesting to see the landscape changing as you drive towards it, the trees slowly disappear and many pretty coloured bushes start to appear. We walked around the lake, which takes you through Pandini Grove. These special trees always have dry leaves, which makes them very suitable to start a fire to keep you warm during cold winter nights and have therefore saved many lives over the years. There was also a lot of dolerite rock around, which are the remainders of the division of the Gondwana supercontinent (for non-biologists: the Gondwana continent broke up a long time ago into the continents as we know them now). We ate our lunch in the mountain cabin and then drove down to Bonnorong Wildlife Park. This place takes care of rescued wild animals, when they are found sick or hurt. While they are recovering and prepared for reintroduction, visitors can see them and learn about their lifestyle. Wombat Max was the cutest thing ever and the Tassie Devils were not nearly as fierce as people make you believe they are. It was then time to go to Mount Wellington, which is right next to Hobart. We went right to the top at 1270m and it was pretty windy, but very cool to be literally with your head in the clouds. The view of Hobart and the river was amazing!
My last day in Hobart, I did a sculpture walk through the historic Battery Point. It was a walk by numbers, which each had their meaning in the history of the area. Like 1909 is birth year of Errol Flyn, 313 boats that were built in the docks etc. Afterwards I took the ferry over to MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art. This museum is situated a bit north from Hobart on its own peninsula. Originally it was just a vineyard, but nowadays the museum has taken most of the attention. An interesting mix of modern and classic art is divided over three floors below ground. Instead of signs, everyone gets a sort of iphone which shows you the art pieces that are near you with more info. Some highlights are the cloaca, where the human digestive system is artificially mimicked with several barrels. It gets fed twice a day and poops once a day (and it looks very realistic!). The idea behind it is to show how ridiculously far you can stretch the boundaries of ‘art’. A long galleries full of casts of vaginas was also very interesting… Other than that, a lot of Egyptian historic stuff, a whole section on art made from natural materials, many videos and paintings. The Madonna-fans video was hilarious: about 25 screens were mounted on a wall showing Madonna fans singing along to their headphones. The dancing and off-key singing is very entertaining to watch. When I returned in Hobart, I did some souvenir shopping and then it was time to head home.
This is my last blog as my single adventures are over, my family arrives tomorrow. Thank you for joining me on this journey!
Anne
Reageer op dit reisverslag
Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
