Dan Will Travel
I'm Dan and I WILL Travel
That said, mining has always played a big role in Australia, and Tasmania has not been totally exempt. See below. Fortunately there is not too much of it on the island.
| I liked this dead tree hovering over the lake where others had already fallen. Soon, it will join them. |
| Typical rain forest view all over SW Tasmania. To see what it can look like after mining, see below. |
| Geographically very close to above shot. This is a copper mine outside of Queenstown. We all like all of our cool stuff, but there is a cost to everything. (Copper is a key component in electronics, phones, building materials and such. but, like all ores, it is messy and damaging to extract.) This is an old mine and one would wonder if this area will ever recover. Newer ones are surely better. Hopefully. |
| View of Tasman arch area, very far SE Tasmania |
| Same via telephoto |
| I will not attempt to scientifically explain this but it is called tessellated pavement. It is totally a natural occurrence, regardless of how it does not look like it is. Tasman peninsula. |
| Same tessellated pavement, but down on it. Like a cobblestone street with very straight angles. Totally weird. |
| The historic prison at Port Arthur, Tasmania. In operation 1832 until about 1870. Most of the buildings were damaged in forest fires of the 1890’s. |
| Guard house, dated 1835. |
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| The facade of the hospital. Being an unimportant prisoner, treatments would have been very scary to contemplate out here in the wilderness. |
| Hobart historic home, with Mt. Wellington in the background. (Their Mt. Ranier of a sort.) |
| One of many historic homes in Hobart and all still actively lived in. |
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| A really classic Hobart/Tasmania style from the mid 1800’s. |
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| Nice clean air sunset in Tasmania |
Australia is quite good about creating unique travel experiences. This is a culture that travels far more than most and really enjoys the whole experience.
In my Stanley post, I talked of the @VDL hotel done in an 1843 storehouse.
Later on the Tasmania trip, I stayed in a lodge at Tarraleah. This elegant lodge was the place where dignitaries stayed in the 1930’s to see or be involved in the huge hydro project being built there. The project was so big that they built an entire town to support it as it is at least 50 miles from anything. After the major construction was completed, and the town fell into ruin, some man bought it all up and converted what was left to lodging and facilities for events, weddings and such. So, you can stay in the elegant restored lodge with a choice of at least 600 different whiskys to try, or you can rent out full houses, or stay in the converted schoolhouse. As I was told, this owner is often mistaken for the gardener due to his attire and manner. But, he developed quite a classy place and is obviously a knowledgeable whisky aficionado.
There was a great pub and dining room on site staffed chiefly by young people from Europe backpacking their way through Australia. You can see from the shots below it is still in the midst of an active hydro facility and the bar was a nice mix of tourists and workers from the power stations. To see more, http://www.tarraleah.com
| The Tarraleah lodge building. |
| Nice sunset over the pipes. |
| Clearly a working hydro facility. This shot is just past the beautiful lodge. |
| Two of six cabinets of whiskey in the lodge. |
| One of many entire houses to rent, circa 1930. |
When I was in Hobart, I stayed at the Henry Jones art hotel, a wharf front conversion of a fruit jam factory from 1835. It was a beautiful restoration that included an extensive art collection throughout the hotel. Most of the art was for sale,and this was such a nice way to show it, lining the halls and public places.
http://www.thehenryjones.com/
| The interior of my room. It is the middle window below the IXL Jams sign. From 1835. |
| The exterior of the Henry Jones Hotel, right on the wharf in Hobart. |
I have always loved the California redwoods. They are ancient, majestic in size and seem rather eternal. Here on Tasmania, totally unknown to me, I came across the swamp gum, the largest broad leaf trees in the world. While a good redwood gets to 300’+, these can get nearly there, topping out around 280.’ They are part of the eucalyptus family and grow to this majestic size in Mt. Field National Park, less than 2 hours from Hobart.
| The 280′ tall swamp gum |
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| Another giant swamp gum with the perspective of my car far below it. |
Then there is the King Billy Pine, which grows to over 200′ and over 1,000 years. Yet, its major weakness is that it is susceptible to fires, unlike our giant western trees.
| A giant King Billy Pine, Cradle Mountain NP |
The isolation of Australia and particularly Tasmania has resulted in other strange flora. Like the 15′ tall Pandai below. It is member of the heath family, typically a ground cover/small bush.
| A Pandai forest |
Then we have the giant, simply called man-ferns. And I thought our ferns got big!
| Man fern above more normal ferns |
| Man fern “forest.” |
And, then just lots of beautiful stuff growing everywhere.
| Beautiful alpine meadow Mt.Field NP |
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| Pineapple grass. |
| Copperish lichen |
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| I love the contrast of the colorful ground cover and the dead and living eucalyptus trees. |
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| This is a giant geranium in a yard in Hobart. Clearly they do not get freezes. |