7th June 2009

This is a picture of Wiebke setting up for a shot on the Tarn Shelf walk, Mt Field National Park.

Typical of alpine walks are the moving mists and changeable weather. You can be at the base of a peak in clear blue sky to arrive at the top barely able to see five or ten metres.

On the mist covered ridge that Wiebke is facing there is a tarn (lake); it is out of frame to the right. In the space of ten or fifteen minutes we could see it clearly then not at all. It would be a beautiful clear shot, then by the time we got our cameras on tripods it was gone.

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27th May 2009, Mt Field National Park

That’s what I think when I take photos of mushrooms like this, that they are little worlds. Worlds that most people walk past without seeing. And I imagine there are smaller worlds again, that I don’t see.

Be warned - there are more mushroom photos for future posts

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29th May 2009

I forget the name of this place. It is somewhere between Lake St Clair and Strahan on the Lyell Highway. It was next to a river - it could have been the Franklin.

28th May 2009

The above was taken on a walk to Mt Rufus. We walked through patches of incredible and beautiful moss strewn forest. I wasn’t really able to capture how beautiful it is.

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29th May 2009, Lyell Hwy between Queenstown and Derwent Bridge.

Well, I think it is Nelson Falls. I’ve been looking at maps and dates and trying to figure it out.

We spent the day exploring on the drive between Lake St Clair and Strahan.  This place (Nelson Falls?) had a little sign across the walk way saying it was closed due to dangerous conditions. I realise it’s just the relevant authority protecting itself against litigation if something goes wrong.  I was amazed to see people come and then turn back at the sign. I have no idea what the danger was.

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28th May 2009, Mt Rufus circuit near Lake St Clair

On the way back from Mt Rufus we passed through several areas of dead upper story eucalypt trees. What was unusual is that there were no similar sized living trees. Upper story trees don’t usually all die at once. For example, this is usually only something you see in a newly formed dam where land has been flooded and all the trees die. There weren’t any other trees even approaching their size.

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5th June 2009, Trial Harbour.

How did we come to be here?

It started early in the morning. We were staying at accommodation in Zeehan. Wiebke was making her breakfast in the kitchen. She exclaimed (with a german accent which makes it a bit funnier) “Oh my god! There’s an animal in it!” She was referring to a shell she’d brought back from Trial Harbour the day before. It was on the kitchen sink, and the snail inside it had ventured out probably to look for it’s (they’re hermaphrodites I think) own breakfast.

So, we took it with us, in a jar, with some water, sitting on the floor of the car, while we bounced our way to the day’s walk. The plan was to return it to Trial Harbour after a walk to and around Cumberland Lake.

We got back to the car about 30mins before sunset. It looked as though the sunset was going to be pretty spectacular - it wasn’t, but I’ve included a photo for reference (see below). We decided to try and get to the water from where we were, just following a few 4wd tracks to the edge of the cliffs and then look for a way down.

The above photo is of a huge, deep puddle on one of the tracks.

We got to a cliff edge on dark. I put on a headlight, grabbed the jar with snail in it, and poked my way down a precipitous track. It finished at a vantage point for a little water fall to one side I think (I could hear it), and at the top of a sheer rock face still 50 metres or so from a small beach.  We ended up driving into Trial Harbour, and Wiebke released the snail roughly where she got it from.

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31st May 2009 Ocean Beach near Strahan.

I decided to take this shot too late. The car had already passed, so I had to use full zoom to catch it. It was a lazy shot and I wasn’t enthusiastic. But, it does show an aspect of beaches and people on the west coast of Tasmania.

We saw more people in vehicles on the beach than we saw on foot. Actually, I don’t remember seeing anyone on foot. We even saw big road bikes.

All this is ok. I imagine lots of pipis and other shell fish get squashed, but none of it compares to the damage of the four wheeler motorbikes. These things are the new environmental disaster for accessible coastline like this. You can see their tracks through the dunes everywhere. And everyone wants to make a new track.

In reality, they should be less damaging, because they are less weight distributed over larger area tyres. I imagine they could run over a pipi without squashing it. If they could just stay on the beach and existing tracks.

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We spent some time on the Ocean Beach, from one end to the other. It runs from Macquarie Heads near Strahan to the near side of Trial harbour to the North. We walked to Macquarie Heads and back starting close to Strahan, explored it around the Henty Dunes, and again at Trial Harbour.

The following photos were taken on the 31st May 2009 on the Macquarie heads walk.

Beach Silhouette

The Ocean Beach between Strahan and Macquarie Heads is shallow and fairly flat. There is a huge expanse of sand that water from the waves travels over slowly. In contrast, the beach at Trial Harbour is steep and deep; deep enough for Ships to anchor just off the beach and unload supplies.

The Beach Dance

The Beach Dance must have been performed by everyone who has walked along a beach with shoes on.

Here the water has already receded, leaving Wiebke with wet feet.

Fellow Enthusiast

Usually, if I am out with someone, I can lose myself working on a picture; they get bored. It is a nice surprise to look up after I have finished taking pictures from all angles and trying different settings to see Wiebke preoccupied with her own picture taking.

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31st May 2009, Ocean Beach Strahan.

We walked along the beach from Strahan to Hells Gates; about ten kilometres each way.

On a related note, four wheeler motorbikes are popular in this area; we saw signs of them everywhere we went on the west coast. Because of their wide tyres and relatively light weight they wouldn’t do much damage on the beach or the sand dunes, if they stayed on the sand. People have been riding them through the dunes at the back of the beach, destroying the grasses and shrubs. Once the growth is gone erosion sets in. Also, the less grassy, shrubby areas means there is less space for birds and wildlife to shelter. It is a pity that the people riding these things can’t stay on the sand. They are the cause of the most visible recent (last ten years or so) environmental damage in this area.

These sand sculptures were made by the water as it recedes back after a wave.

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I am still going through photos from our trip to Strahan, when I get the time.

These pictures are alongside the Henty River and nearby Ocean Beach. The Henty River runs parallel to Ocean Beach for about two and a half kilometres before running out to sea.

It was a bit of a hangover day for us. We didn’t have a lot of energy or enthusiasm, although I think Wiebke copped it worse than I.

The following pictures were all taken on the 1st June 2009.

Stomping birds.

I took this shot from the far side of the river. They aren’t seagulls. They were pushing their feet up and down on the spot to get at something in particular to eat. It looked pretty comical.

Survival skills.

I went through the motions of taking some photos, and eventually got into it. By this time, Wiebke had wandered off and managed to find a lounge chair to sleep on.

Henty River, with Ocean Beach in the background.

Wiebke is a black spot on the horizon, by now asleep in her chair.

The Henty River. The strip of sand in the background is the bank of the river and also part of the Ocean Beach.

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