11 May 2017
We have never been to Tassie in the cooler months so when we found ourselves with plane tickets we had to use (due to having to cancel a planned trip at Christmas) we decided to be brave and visit in May. Daughter Julia and her partner Josh moved from Devonport to Hobart earlier in the year, so we have a new base for our Tassie travels.
Flying into Hobart (or anywhere in Tasmania) from North Queensland is a bit of a drag - you have to take three different flights. In our case it was Townsville - Brisbane, Brisbane - Melbourne and Melbourne - Hobart so there was plenty of sitting around in airports. Flying in also presents the challenge of what not to pack. Of course there was the mountain of camera gear, our electronics as well as the winter warmies. We did manage to fit in our Ugg boots too.
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| Little Wattlebird in Julia's back yard. |
13 May 2017
Despite our many trips to Tasmania (this is our seventh) we have only been to the famous
Salamanca Markets once - on our first trip for the last market before Christmas 2004. That day, the crowds were unbelievable so we were hoping this time would be less crowded and make for a more pleasant morning out. Although it was cold (especially so for North Queenslanders) there was no rain in sight.
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| The dark, still water of Hobart's harbour shows the most vivid reflections. |
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| Hobart is a beautiful city. In the background, kunyani/Mount Wellington is shrouded in cloud. |
Our first stop was to have a look to see if the resident seal was home - and as luck would have it, it was, and happily posed for photos. The fur seal (perhaps Australian or maybe New Zealand) hangs around the docks feeding on scraps from the fish restaurant boats. Apparently it has been a regular visitor for some years.
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| Waiting for Sammy the Seal. |
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| Sammy the seal waiting for a hand out. |
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| Black-faced Cormorant in abstract reflection. |
From there we walked around to Salamanca Place and the markets. The market is well known and on many tourists' "must do" list for the vast array of wares on sale. You can buy anything from local produce, leather goods, clothing, second hand goods, photographs, arts and crafts, fresh fruit and vegetables, and so much more. We spent a good bit of time browsing before heading back to the docks for a lunch of fish and chips at one of the many seafood cafes.
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| A small section of Salamanca markets. |
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| Christie and Julia |
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| Looking for a bargain. |
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| There is so much delicious food to choose from. |
Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens
14 May
Sunday was Mother's Day so Julia planned a picnic in her favourite park, the
botanical gardens. She and Josh visit often as they both have an interest in plants and botany. Although there were clouds off in the far distance, the day was clear and crisp. We found a spot in the sun to enjoy our scrumptious picnic before setting off to explore the gardens. We even ventured into the Sub-Antarctic display which was more than a little challenging temperature wise. We also visited the veggie patch made famous by the ABC show "Gardening Australia". The gardens are well worth a visit with fabulous botanical displays, a cafe and magnificent river views. And it's free!
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| A picnic in the park. |
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| Lots of people were enjoying the gardens. |
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| Lots of Autumn colour was still visible though the leaves were piling up on the ground. |
Coles Bay - Freycinet Peninsula
15 - 18 May
We caught the bus into the city on Monday morning and before collecting a hire car, and walked back down to Salamanca Place to have a look at the many interesting shops there. While the markets are great, the shops are also worth visiting. There are a number of art galleries, as well as local artisans, second hand books and many gift wares.
Once we had the car, we returned to Julia's to pack up then stopped to do some shopping before heading north to Coles Bay. We had rented a house for three nights hoping for some nice weather to visit
Freycinet National Park. It was very late afternoon when we arrived so we settled in as the sun went down. Sunset was at 5:00pm!
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| View from the deck. |
In the morning we went for a walk on the beach which was accessed via a track from the back gate of the house. It didn't look far, but by the time we had climbed over the dune, we had travelled a fair distance, and then we had to climb back up again. Later we headed into Coles Bay village for coffee and then over to the Freycinet National Park Visitor Centre to check the parks pass details, and collect walking track information.
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| Eastern Spinebill |
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| An endemic Green Rosella enjoying an apple dinner. |
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| A regular visitor to the place we stayed was this Scarlet Robin. |
We decided to return to the National Park in the morning and tackle a couple of short walks. There are a number of fabulous walks, and some quite strenuous ones, but we opted to stick to the easy Great Oyster Bay walk from the visitor centre and the spectacular Cape Tourville walk along the clifftop to the lighthouse. If staying a few days and the weather is good, the famous Wineglass Bay Lookout is a must do, but there are very many stairs. The view from the lookout, however, makes it all worthwhile.
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| Coles Bay |
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| Coles Bay looking towards The Hazards. |
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| Great Oyster Bay is an appropriate place for this Australian Pied Oystercatcher. |
We had tossed up the idea of going on the
Wineglass Bay Cruise on Wednesday but had decided against it when we saw that the sky was cloudy, but when we woke to clear skies on Thursday morning we decided to see if we could get packed up quickly enough to make the 9:30 check in time. When it was clear we would be able to make it easily, I rang to book our seats. We were so glad we made this, somewhat last minute, decision as it was a magnificent day out.
On arrival at the wharf, check in at the office was quick and easy. Staff provide a couple of ginger sea-sickness tablets to each passenger just in case. We have used these before on very rough seas in the Southern Ocean off Bruny Island and they certainly do work for us. The forecast for this trip, though, was for fairly calm seas.
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| We set off on a calm sea. |
Heading out through Coles Bay, the commentary provided was interesting and informative. Because of the time of year, there was a fairly small number of passengers so moving about the boat was easy. It also meant that getting to a spot on the railing at the front of the boat to take that great photo was also simple. Wildlife sightings were promised and we weren't disappointed. We saw seals, dolphins, white bellied sea eagle, albatross and other sea birds.
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| Buller's Albatross |
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| Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross |
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| Short-tailed Shearwater |
Bicheno
18 - 20 May 2017
We've stayed at Bicheno a couple of times, but decided not to book ahead and just take our chances when we arrived. As luck would have it we were able to get two nights at a small apartment in a small complex right on the water, close to town. The place was well appointed and had the added bonus of the promise of penguin sightings on the property. We settled in and kept a lookout once the sun had set and, as we were told they would, a number of penguins wandered up and across the lawn, through the small paved patio and around behind the building. It's almost impossible to photograph them because you are prohibited from using flash, but it is such a treat to be able to see them at such close quarters.
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| Fishing boat, Bicheno. |
In the morning we were surprised - although we shouldn't have been - to be awoken VERY early by the penguins calling before their return to sea. We are used to early morning birdsong, but this was a first for us. Later, we decided to walk over to Diamond Island where there is a penguin rookery. You can get there at low tide so we set off after breakfast to allow plenty of time without getting our feet wet. Unfortunately we were only able to spend a short time there as the rain that we had seen in the distance when we set off, started with just a drizzle but enough to have us heading back.
We found a very nice cafe for lunch but spent the rest of the day indoors as the weather wasn't conducive to outdoor activities. Once again we had a close look at the penguins as they came in for the night.
On Saturday morning we awoke to a very grey day and a forecast for heavy rain. We packed up and headed off before the rain started so we made a stop at the blowhole. The sea was quite rough so the blowhole was really blowing. Back on the road and home to Hobart and another visit to Salamanca Place, this time with Julia and Josh to catch the end of the markets and wander around the shops.
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| The very strange looking Musk Duck seen at Orielton Lagoon on the way back to Hobart. |
Richmond
21 May 2017
Sunday was another nice looking day so we all jumped in the car for a drive out to
Richmond. We'd driven through a couple of times years ago, but had never stopped to explore. We ended up spending most of the day there. This is a great place for antiques with a number of shops selling a huge variety of old wares and genuine antiques. There are also boutiques, gift shops, cafes and Julia's favourite, the shop that sells Christmas.
As well as the shops there is the Richmond Gaol and the famous Richmond Bridge. Nearby are a number of vineyards with cellar doors and a great cheese shop too. It's only about 1/2 hour drive from Hobart and a fantastic way to spend a day. And to top it off, the weather was beautiful.
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| Autumn colours. |
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| Australian Wood Duck male. |
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| Australian Wood Duck female. |
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| Little Pied-cormorant. |
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| The fattest Tasmanian Native Hen I've ever seen. They are obviously over feed by the well meaning public. |
Hobart
22 May 2017
We headed off to a birdwatching spot we had visited before -
Goulds Lagoon at Austins Ferry. A short drive up the highway and this lovely spot was where a Freckled duck had been reported a few days before so it was out with the camera and fingers crossed. Mick was rewarded with a good look at this and other ducks, but was not happy with the position of the sun, so suggested we might return later in the day.
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| Common but very beautiful, this male Chestnut Teal is not so shy. |
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| Freckled Duck. Not one I get to see very often. |
After lunch back at Julia's we donned the thermals for a drive up
kunanyi/Mount Wellington. We were aware that the temperature at the summit would be significantly colder than in the city so we prepared accordingly. We were glad we did. Even though the car recorded a temperature of 19° as we drove through town, the Bureau of Meteorology records showed 9.2° at 2:00pm when we were there, with an apparent temperature of 2.2°. Never underestimate the potential to be cold in Tassie, even on a sunny day! The drive towards Fern Tree and up the mountain is, as expected, windy and steep in parts. Once you reach the summit, the view is magnificent. Interpretative signage allows visitors to orient themselves with key natural features including Derwent River, Bruny Island and D'Entrecasteaux Channel.
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| Looking towards Bruny Island. |
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| Looking down on the city of Hobart. |
On our way home we decided to revisit Goulds Lagoon in the hope of better light. Even though the sun didn't seem to have moved much, Mick walked right around the lagoon to get the shots he was wanting.
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| Australian Shelducks can be very hard to approach. These didn't stay long after they saw me. |
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| Australian Shoveler. |
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| Chestnut Teal yoga. |
Tahune Airwalk
23 May - 26 May 2017
We set off from Hobart for the
Tahune Airwalk at about 9.30am. According to the GPS the journey would take 1 3/4 hours - not the way we drive! We didn't arrive until 3:00pm - 5 1/2 hours later. The journey started normally - through the city and onto the Southern Outlet road towards Kingston when we made the snap decision to take the road to Margate instead of continuing on to Huonville. We stopped to have a look at a second-hand shop, and the op-shops in Margate itself, and had morning tea in a bakery as well.
Back on the road and we decided to keep going the long way instead of back-tracking through Kingston. We had been as far as Kettering several times before, but had never been further south on the Channel Highway. We were really glad we did, despite the significantly extra kilometres. We drove through a number of small villages and settlements including the cutely named Flowerpot. We stopped several times to take photos of the beautiful scenery. We stopped in Cygnet to look at the shops, then on to Huonville for a stop at the supermarket and a (very late) picnic lunch by the river.
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| Lots of great scenery on our drive along the D'Entrecasteaux Channel. |
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| The very picturesque Deep Bay. |
On Wednesday morning we awoke to grey skies and showers of rain so we resolved to be ready to head out as soon as the rain stopped. We made our first walk to the Airwalk itself - just one of a number of walks available. The Airwalk is between 20 and 30 metres above the forest floor, with the cantilever section being 50 metres above the river. The views are magnificent, even on a dull day.
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| Taking a selfie on the cantilever. |
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| Tasmanian Scrubwren. |
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| Birds were scarce and the light was terrible. This male Pink Robin was the highlight for me. |
Later in the day we walked the Huon Pine Walk which takes you along the Huon River and the short walk down to the hang gliding spot. Both are easy walks but care should be taken in the wet.
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| A wobbly walk across the river. |
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| View from one of the suspension bridges. |
Later in the day Mick ventured out on his own with camera and tripod to go fungus hunting. He was quite successful too. On Friday morning we also went fungus hunting before we set off for (Julia's) home. We took the short way home - straight up the highway to Hobart.
Hobart
26 - 29 May 2017
We spent our last few days in Tasmania, in and around Hobart. We drove back out towards Richmond to visit another cheesery on Friday afternoon. On Saturday, after an early morning visiting garage sales. we went to Salamanca Markets again. There is so much to see there it was worth another visit. On Sunday we drove out to New Norfolk but were disappointed to find that many of the interesting craft and antique shops were not open. We browsed through the ones that were open before having a nice pub lunch. On Monday we flew home. The day started out at 4° in Hobart and finished at 23° in Townsville.
