Bruny Isand

 Bruny Island  

We took the vehicle ferry from Kettering just 33 kilometres from Hobart across the D'Entrecasteaux Channel to Bruny Island. Both were named after Bruni d'Entrecasteaux (1737 - 1793) although they mis-spelt his name. D'Entrecasteau was a French naval officer, explorer and colonial governor. He is perhaps best known for his exploration of the Australian coast in 1792, while searching for the Laperouse expedition. That expedition had resulted in a shipwreck in the Solomon Islands and d'Entrecasteaux never found the Laperouse expedition. He died of scurvy in what today is called the Bismarck Archipelago in Papua New Guinea.

Leaving Kettering.

A sister ferry.

Vehicles on board the ferry.

Our first stop was at a honey shop. There was lots of different types of honey including manuka honey on offer plus other apiary products. The structure to the left o the photo was a playground, monkey bars and sand pit for children.

We moved on to the Bruny Island Neck Game Reserve. The neck is an isthmus that connects the northern island where we had landed to the southern island. There are 217 steps rising from the beach to the top of the Truganini Lookout. 

Truganini (1812 - 1876) was a woman, famous for being called the last 'full-bloodied' Aboriginl Tasmanian to survive British colonisation although that claim is not true. She lived through the devastation of invasion, colonisation and the Black War in which most of her relative were killed although she survived as she was a guide for expeditions organised to round up indigenous Tasmanians to tanspot them to Flinders Island where she was also taken. She was later moved to Oyster Bay with 48 other survivors. She died in Hobart and her skeleton was placed on public display at the Tasmanian Museum until 1948. Her remains were finally cremated and laid to rest in 1976.

A bluetongued lizard. The neck is also home to a colony of fairy penguins, the smallest penguin species and to a flock of shearwaters.

It was a long walk up the hill to reach the Cape Bruny Lightstation.

A close up of the light house. It was completed in 1838. It was built by convicts. There are over 600 shipwrecks around Tasmania. This is the third oldest light house in Austalia and the second oldest still standing. It was designed after the sinking of the George III with the loss of 137 lives including convicts who were being transported to Port Arthur. The convicts who built the light house were promised their ticket home if they built it within a specified date. It took them 18 months to complete but they received their tickets.

A view of some of the cliffs from the top of the hill.

A view back to the three houses that were home to the light house keepers. Two are occupied as residential homes and the third is a modest museum.

We stopped off at the Bligh museum, a private collection of items owned by William Hamilton. The door was closed but the curator came off the beach to oen it for us. The building is a replica of the church that was built just up the road. It took 26,000 bricks. It faces the beach and the curator had been watching wildlife but she came over to open the museum when she saw us arrive. She had been watching dolphins and a whale in the bay opposite. It was a quick tour of the museum and then we move to the beach to see the dolphins and whale.

On the way back to the ferry back to the mainland, we stopped for a beer and cheese tasting.

The original house.

Four beers and six of the seven cheeses tat were part of the tasting. We had a talk about the cows, the different methods to make the cheeses from soft to hard cheeses and tasting notes for the four beers lthough there were other beer available.

ANd as if that asn't enough, we stopped next door at the Get Shucked oyster farm to taste oyrters. I had some at the Salamanca market in Hobart but these were even better if that is possible

And on the ferry back to the mainland, off in the distance by the fish farm, were more dolphins.

Hartz Mountains, Tasmania

 Hartz Mountains, Tasmania 

The first on the next day's tour was the Pinnacle, the summit of Mount Wellington, also known locally as kunanyi, and I have purposefully used a lower case 'k' for the first letter as it is aboriginal word. Most aboriginal languages will use a capital letter when referencing Elders, as it is a title. Capital letters are also used for Native Titles, Traditional Owners, Custodians and Culture, but not for all names so some nouns, unlike English use only a lower case letter, Mount Wellington is also kunanyi.

The mountain dominates the skyline above Hobart. The temperature drops one degree centigarde for every 100 metres of elevation so it was going to be 12C cooler at the top. It was morning and although it was bright, it was cool at sea level in the city. We changed our plans because from our hotel, we could see the summit and it was cloud free. Other than brownie points for ticking it off the list of places to see, there would be no point in going up if there was no view.

It was a long climb up to the top. The route to the top is popular with hikers, runners and mountin bikers. On a weekend, they can outnumber the number of vehicles going up to the top.

Some of the view from the top. The photo is not as good as the reality but we could pick out the harbour front, sonme of the distinctive buildings and the bridges. It was very windy at the top adding several degrees of coolness due to the wind chill factor. The strongest gust recorded up here was 174 kilometres an hour. Even on our visit, we could lean into the wind at 45 degrees and not fall over.

After descending, we drove to the Huon Valley. We stopped in Huonville en route for supplies for lunch as we would be up another mountain with no food options so we had to bring our own. We had some Australians with us who would point out various buildings. The Australian TV series Deadloch is a black comedy crime mystery series first screened in 2023. It was filmed wholly in Tasmania. We were not on a tour of the film sets but the Australians in the group pointed out some of the buildings, streets and parks used in the series.

We passed through Geeveston and just a little way up the road, we passed Castle Phoenix and Sculpture Gardens. It received some art funding and construction of a castle started. There are tours advertised, photos posted and plans to view but the reality is somewhat different from what the promoters hoped for. Construction started but all that there is on site viewed from the road is a partly built large house with scaffolding and a sign but no castle and no gardens. No progress has been seen since COVID.

Shortly afterwards, the tarmac finished and there was just a gravel road. It was largely smooth but witha few potholes or fallen trees to avoid. We were going through forest into the Hartz Mountains, named after the mountains in Germany. As we bumped along the gravel road through the forest, a lyre bird ran across the road.

We entered the Hartz Montain National Park. We ascended and passed the tree line. We stopped in a car park and went for a walk. 

It was a short walk to see the Arve Falls, looking down towards the falls...

...the scenery beyond the Arve Falls creatd by the edge of the plateau falling away to the lower agricultural land in the valley...

...and looking back up to the main falls.

We had our packed lunches in the Hartz Mountain Day Visitor Centre, a grand name for a waterless toilet and a shed to shelter from the wind and rain although after the strong winds at Mount Wellington, there was only a breeze here.

We washed our boots at a soecial wash station to try to reduce the spread of dieseases. Then we set off along a trail to Lake Esperance. It was very muddy at the start and some people turned around. After a while, there was a narrow board walk to follow.

The view across the landscape from the boardwalk towards Lake Esperance. We had been told to look out for snakes. I searched every sunny patch to look for a snake sunning itself. I had given up looking except some movement caught my eye. All I saw was a black snake slivering away into the undergrowth with no time to take a photo. It was a tiger snake, usually with tiger like strips but around here they are dark, almost black and the strips are hard to see. 

Lake Esperance. The water looks inviting but it was very cold. Thre are more trails across the mountain. Some of the stronger and faster walkers wanted to go on and summit the peak. Our guide who also guided walking tours knew the area and advised against it. There is a saddle to cross before a steep and exposed path up to the summit. The wind rips across the saddle and the upper section is all exposed. The wind, and the temperature, would be like on Mount Wellington and we didn't have sufficient hiking gear for trek in those conditions.

We drove back to Geeveston. The composition of the group had changed as people leave and others joined. Many of us had seen platypus at the Tasmanian Arboretum but there was another chance to see them along the Platypus Walk, in the park, in Geeveston. Ther were platypus to see but I didn't linger as I wanted to see the town. 

Geeveston has a number of wood carvings in the town centre of locally well known people, such as this 92 year old local...

...Mr Wetherspoon....

...a typical 19th century couple...

...the local doctor...

...and the blacksmith.

After Geeveston we were due to visit a honey tasting place but it was getting late. The winery we had planned to visit had close early. We had spent too long walking to Lake Esperance and waiting for everybody to return and being sidetracked by the platypus that some people had not yet seen.

We rushed straight to our last stop of the day at a Willie Smith's...a cidery. They said that if we arrived 15 minutes before they were due to close, they would serve us. We got there with three minutes to spare. It had been a quite afternoon and they were packing up. We ordered our tasting paddles and had to pull out the chairs from where they had been stacked up for the night. It was so rushed that I had tasted all the ciders before I thought about taking any photos.

Salamanca Market and bush tucker

 

Salamanca Market and bush tucker

On the beach right in front of the hotel is a natural phenomenon.

Tessellated Pavement State Reserve formed by compression by overlying sediments and differential erosion of the pavement.

A heron fishing by the pavement.

A close up of the heron.

The Blowhole, another unusul feature caused by the sea eroding a weakness, usually a fault, in the rock. The blowhole was eroded by erosion and has collapsed to leave just a flooded former cave.

The blowhole looks less impressive from the landward end. 

The cliffs have suffered from sea erosion whch have also left overhangs as well as caves and blowholes.

Tasman's Arch, a former cave where the roof at the landward end, perhaps originally a blowhole, has collapsed to leave just an arch. There is a walk way that passes over the top of the arch with a lookout point facing the sea. 

The Devil's Kitchen, another former rock cave now largely open to the elements but new caves are being formed at the end of the channel.

A view of a new cave opening.

A view along the channel of the former cave out to sea. 

We had a long lunch break on the harbour front. There were the Mona Roma 1 and 2 moored in the harbour. They are fast catarmarans that take customers from the harbour to the Museumof Old and Modern Art. MR1 is painted in a naval camouflage scheme in black, white and grey, suitable for merging in with ice floes and ice fields.

MR2 from a distance looks like desert camouflage in brown, yellow and white but many of the brown images are outlines of women.

There are several old but carefully restored buildings along the front whilst the Elizabeth Street former warehouse and pier has been convertd into upmarket apartments with pries to match.

The Sea shepherd Global was moored at the harour. Sea Shepherd is an international, non-profit organisation that engages in direct action campaigns to defend wildlife, and to conserve and protect the world's oceans from illegal exploitation and environmental destruction. Since 1977, Sea Shepherd has used direct action tactics to protect the delicately-balanced biodiversity of our seas and enforce international conservation laws.

From the gentle giants of the sea to its smallest creatures, Sea Shepherd's mission is to protect all marine life species in our seas. The campaigns have defended whales, dolphins,seals, sharks, penguins, turtles, fish, krill and aquatic birds from poaching, habitat destruction and exploitative capivity. 

Their ship is painted a dull grey colour. Judging by the amount of rust streaked down its sides, it has been on a long mission and is either in need of a major overhaul or the organisation needs a big increase in financing to renovate the ship for it to continue its mission. The organisation has separate but co-ordinated entities in 20 countries and has a fleet of 20 ships ranging to small inshore craft to major ships for the high seas.

A tall ship was in harbour. It is a training ship, Windeward Bound, operated by a local charity aimed at youth development and youth leadership.  

There were dozens of starfish in the shallow waters of one part of the harbour. The Tasmanian Museum and the Maritime Museum are both nearby. One requires payment but the other is free so just to fill in half an hour before lunch, you can pop in, see just want you want and leave. If I pay an entrance fee (and often they can be expensive), I want to get my money's worth

As it was a Saturday there was a busy street market operating in Salamanca Place with over 300 stalls. It is owned and operated by the City of Hobart. It has Tasmania's largest selection of locally nade products. It has glass workers, wooden crafts products, clothing, bespoke jewellery, organic produce, artwork, cosmetics, leather goods and a host of other goods. Plus since it was lunchtime, and there were a large number of people, there were cheeses, artisan breads, seafood, wines, spirits and a range of hot and cold food options. I had some wine, cheese, lobster and oysters.

Salamanca Place was previously known as The Cottage Green. Its name was changed after the Duke of Wellington's victory in 1812 at the Battle of Salamanca in Spain during the Peninsula Wars. It developed as part of the harbour and consists of rows of sandstone buildings, formerly warehouses for the port that have since been converted into restaurants, galleries, craft shops, souvenir shops and offices.

After stuffing my face with local fresh western produce, we were being taken on a bespoke bush tucker tour by a local aboriginal. We moved on to Risdon Cove. It was a great day on the ground being taken through the bush and having all the plants and their properties explained. There were plenty of flavouring plants, such as spices or herbs. There were plenty of fruit trees and bushes pointed out, but of course it depends which time of year that you are visiting. 

 

Risdon Cove was the site of a massacre on 3rd May 1804. A group of 300 aboriginals were on a kangaroo hunt. A dozen soldiers of the 102nd Regiment of Foot (NSW Corps) were under the command of Lieutennt Willaim Moore. The aboriginals had waddies, a club but no spears. The first engagement was at 11am. A carronade, a short barrel, heavy calibre naval cannon was discharged at 2pm. A number of aboriginals were killed but accounts are  contradictory and one alleged eye witness account is fabricated as he was not even in Australia at the time of the massacre. 

The land was returned to the aboriginls in 1996. There was only one tree standing at the time but all those seen today have been planted. They are a mix of native trees that were useful to the natives. The monument recording the event.

We were treated to a meal made with local ingredients including wallaby meat and locally occuring spices plus a choice of two types of tea.

There was also a dessert, a muffin with a sweet cream topping.