4th April 2010 Wynyard

It was the second time that I had been to the Wynyard market. I spied this weird looking doll sitting behind someone’s stall – perhaps it was previously at the front and puttiing off customers?

Popularity: 1% [?]

3rd April 2010 Burnie

This photo has grown on me. It was a snap shot; so close and with a big lens, things happen quickly. I wish I had of got the full wing span.

It is an immature pacific gull; you can see two of them sitting behind the seagull below. They are big birds. The photo was taken from a wharf in Burnie.

The birds were hanging around for the possibility of a feed from the the fishermen – their unused bait or entrails of filleted fish.

The big piles in the background are woodchips. The woodchips used to be trees from beautiful areas such as the Tarkine rainforest.

Popularity: 1% [?]

3rd April 2010 Burnie

Another photo from the Somerset trip.

If you’re in Burnie, and cross the river to the East, you will see this fence. It is long. You can see a bit of mustard yellow in the distance, which is the side of a shop, that is where this side of the fence ends.

It is some sort of open space inside; I think it was a horse racing track.

Popularity: 1% [?]

2nd April 2010 Somerset

Somerset! I should have written something shortly after this trip. It was over Easter, but the place seemed deserted. The north coast of Tassie, from Devonport to Wynyard, I found pretty boring previously. It seems mostly industrial.

I ended up liking Somerset. It is a fairly big suburb that is bordered by a beautiful beach. The beach never had many people on it; the few people I did see on it looked as though they were doing their regular walk or families getting together over Easter.

It was good to see locals enjoying their beach.

Popularity: 1% [?]

14th February 2010, New Norfolk

I was talking to an old dog lying just outside the entrance to the motel I was staying in. This cat came running as though it was waiting to see how the dog was treated before making it’s move. It had the feel of a scam

The scam became evident when the cat took advantage of my entrance to get inside. Then it waited by my door – how it knew which door was mine I don’t know. Maybe most new guests are given the same room?

It made itself at home on my bed and went to sleep.

Popularity: 23% [?]

14th February 2010, Tynwald Park New Norfolk

Also known as The Rodents.

I met these guys in New Norfolk. Fonzie (the one with the tongue) is a ball dog; he bugs his owner to throw the ball, or in this case, the stick. Leanne (the owner) was absent mindedly throwing the stick while talking on the phone.

Fergus doesn’t get the ball game. He was more interested in grabbing hold of Fonzie’s tail while Fonzie was preoccupied with the stick.

Popularity: 24% [?]

Top: 4th December 2009, Boat Harbour Beach

Middle: Stanley

Bottom: The Nut

Stanley is an interesting place. It reminds me of Wyndham on the Kimberly coast which is squeezed between the Bastion range and the sea. Stanley is the same, it is squeezed between the Nut and the sea.

The Nut protects Stanley from the Westerlies; the prevailing strong winds. Views from the top of the Nut are pretty good. There’s also a track around the top with look out points so that you can see the coast to the East and West and 180 degrees of sea when you look North.

There’s a steep concrete path up to the top and a chairlift; I took both.

In the middle of town is a seafood cafe with lots of interesting photos plastered around the walls. They look like snapshots from one family and their friends mostly from the 70’s and earlier. Snapshots of them working on fishing boats or in the Cafe. From them you get a great idea of life in Stanley and what it would be like to live there. In most of them the sky looks overcast and grey. You also get an understanding that people have to work at several occupations to make an income – like the inhabitants of Lord Howe Island.

Fishing is still a significant industry – for a little town there are a lot of fishing boats. You can still see some of the infrastructure left over from when they used Stanley as the port to ship out iron ore from the Savage River mine.

Popularity: 52% [?]

5th December 2009, Boat Harbour Beach

Popularity: 28% [?]

5th December 2009, Boat Harbour

For Tasmania, the days probably don’t get much better than this. Although I still haven’t seen anyone swim without a wetsuit.

Popularity: 38% [?]

5th December 2009, Boat Harbour

This fellow lives in Boat Harbour. We saw him about often, doing the rounds. He was happy to spend time with any of the beach patrons for a while, then wander off to someone else. His owner would start walking home, and he’d immediately be at her side without a word from her.

Popularity: 34% [?]