Central Tassie and farewell

Friday 26th April

With cold, cloudy weather persisting we ditched the idea to do longer walks at Mt Field NP opting just to go up to see the ‘turning of the fagus’ at Lake Fenton. (Previous visits we’ve done the hikes)

I’m admiring the lake surrounded by the stunning yellow foliage of the fagus. Not one of my favourite walking tracks, as you can see.

Fagus is ​​​​​​​Tasmania’s only winter deciduous species, and one of only a handful of deciduous species in Australia. Fagus is a paleoendemic species (formerly widespread but now restricted to a smaller area), of a Gondwanan group which has similar species in New Zealand and South America. Fagus only occurs in areas that have remained long unburnt.​
The annual ‘turning of the fagus’ in mid-autumn produces a riot of colour in Tasmania’s high country. The crinkle-cut leaves turn from brilliant gold to rust red and orange creating a majestic tapestry in the alpine landscape. The colours reach a peak around Anzac Day (April 25) and typically will ​continue to stay vibrant for around a month.
” (From national parks website)

The more common yellow Fagus.
The red fagus is less common, and very popular with those wielding cameras. I was lucky when one of the Rangers showed me where this little patch was.
Steve, getting a closer look!
Views across Mt Field NP on our walk up to Lake Fenton.

Sat 27th April

Tasmania is getting ready for winter. Derwent River at New Norfolk.

Several friends recommended The Agrarian Kitchen in New Norfolk to us, so I booked us in for a garden tour.

The Agrarian Kitchen is a true ‘paddock to plate’ experience. All vegetables served in their restaurant and kiosk, and used in their cooking classes are sourced from their own garden. There are 3 full-time gardeners who have a passion for sustainability by composting or creating biochar from all the kitchen waste, which is then returned to these thriving gardens. The garden is set within an acre of land behind the restaurant. The site had a long and disreputable history as a mental asylum until it was closed in 2000. However the buildings and grounds are truly beautiful.

Suffice it to say that following the garden tour we both have a renewed enthusiasm for our own garden at home.

An iconic entrance to the park. Kempton.

Kempton tonight. A wander around this small old coaching town looking at the beautiful old homes, stores and churches built in the late 1800’s was enjoyable and rewarded us with some free apples – apple season!

There are so many varieties of apple in Tassie. This one is tiny, but very tasty.
I think yellow-tailed black cockatoos are also partial to apples.

Sunday 28th April

Our journey is taking us north through the centre of Tasmania. From Kempton through Bothwell we then climbed up onto the Central Plateau and through the Great Lakes Conservation Area. It’s cold and stark up here with the wind blowing unabated across the lake and the knee-high vegetation.

Windswept plains alongside The Great Lake
Stopped for a better view.
A wombat hole. Wombat nice and warm inside on a day like today.
As we climbed further skirting the Western Tiers we were driving in the clouds for a while. This landscape seems so foreign to the rest of Tasmania. This could become very dangerous if we don’t get off the plateau soon.

Down the other side and it’s a whole new world as we become immersed in rich sheep country.

Deloraine tonight. Mark, one of the publicans in town (there are  four pubs) volunteers to do platypus tours of the Meander River which runs through town. We were lucky enough to spot one and watched him playing and feeding for about twenty minutes.

OK this is a sculpture of a platypus on the banks of the river – live ones are really hard to capture!
Dinner tonight at Marks pub. It’s onion season – my entree was braised onion! Absolutely delicious.

Monday 29th April

Not far away are the Alum Cliffs near Mole Creek. After a short, steep hike the views over the Mersey River some 200m below us are spectacular and unexpected. Closer to the water is an ochre quarry, a sacred place where the local indigenous women gathered the ochre for ceremonies.

Mersey River and the Alum Cliffs
There are a few sculptures up here – not sure about the significance of this one that Steve is standing on.

In Launceston we caught up with Ken and Wendy, our previous travelling mates (see Great Central Way). What a great night – we were lucky enough to be there on ‘family dinner’ night and got to meet two of their children. Ken and two of their sons are preparing a yacht to compete in the next Sydney-Hobart race followed by the Melbourne to Osaka race. Exciting days for them and we’ll look forward to following the races.

Tuesday, Wednesday 30th April, 1st May

Explorer travellers are beginning to finish up their Tassie Adventures, as are we. We caught up with a few of them outside Sheffield where fun, laughter, a few drinks, shared experiences and some great campfires filled two days. Mount Roland is behind our campsite. Here’s three photos (untouched) taken as the sun was setting.

Mt Roland 5pm
Mt Roland 5.15pm
Mt Roland 5.30pm
Some of our fellow Explorer travellers. Goodbye Tassie.

Thursday 2nd May

Tonight we’re on the Spirit of Tasmania for the overnight sailing back to Geelong.
We’re both very satisfied with our wonderful time in Tasmania – so much to see and do, and we pretty much did see and do everything. My only regret was missing the tulips and poppies in bloom, and cherry season. Maybe we’ll be back to do that too.