Sisters Beach

 

The temperature had climbed considerably by the time we arrived back at Sisters Beach. What better to do with the back end of the afternoon than go to the beach. Harry & I set about trying to dam the creek that empties out onto Sisters Beach.

The project was a bit ambitious & we eventually gave up and went for a swim.

As the sun started to release it's grip on the day, the animals started to appear in the forest around the house (above).

Initially, the birds were getting busy visiting the numorous Kangaroo Paws, including the Eurasian Honey Eaters (above).

This Cuckoo Shrike (above) was busy looking for seeds on the ground.

As the temperature dropped further, the Pademelons started to come out of hiding including this mother & her joey.

Right on dusk, a family of Green Rosellas were flitting between the taller trees.

The animals even found their way inside the house. This little forest scorpion was found in Harry's bed!

Stanley and The Nut

Port Latta

This morning we got going early to beat the heat. Today we'd be tracking along the north west coast to one of the mpre famous table top capes, The Nut, along with the historic town of Stanley that shrouds the base of the long extinct volcano.

As we tracked along the coast, we stopped every now and then to enjoy the views back toward Rocky Cape and Table Cape (above). About 20km short of Stanley, we were surprised to find a very long jetty, of all things. As it turns out, Port Latta is home to an iron ore ship loading terminal.

The iron ore is mined near Savage River some 42 kms to the south and piped to the port. Western Tasmania was the last place I expected to find an iron ore mine.

We caught our first good look at the Nut while we were checking out the port.

During one of our photo stops, we left the car unnattended for a moment. Sure enough the crazy rally driver was in the driver's seat as quick as a flash!

Stanley & The Nut

The Nut is one of the better known bluffs dotted along Tasmania's north coast. The steep sides of the 143m high extinct volcano are quite dawnting when you are standing at it's foot. There are two ways to reach the flat top.

1. The easy way. Take the chairlift.

2. The hard way. Walk up the steep zig-zag trail.

Stubbornly, we opted for the hard way. I'm going to say that the challenge of the climb was the driving factor. The reality was probably more finacial.

Fortunately, the reward for effort is significant. The unobstructed views from the circuit trail around the rim of the knoll are breathtaking.

There werre plenty of things to see as we made our way around the circuit.

We encountered abundant wildlife including a blue tounged lizard and a family of show-off fairy wrens.

Just as we were admiring the last of the spectacular scenery before decending into Stanley, one more creature decided to impress us with a flying display.

This Autralian Kestrel was hovering completely still in the face of a considerable breeze.

Truth be told, we found decending the steep zig-zag trail more difficult than the climb.

We didn't stop in Stanley itself. There wasn't much of a draw and we had lots still to do.

We did make one stop at the lookout point on the top of the hill that overlooks Stanley before moving on to our next attraction.

Freycinet Peninsular

This morning we were woken up before day break by a passing dry lightning storm. It was one of many during the morning that had Harry very uneasy.

The family of Bennett's wallabies were still around close to the house in the early morning which gave us something to see while we were eating breakfast.

The early wake up meant that we were on the road early. Today was much less driving as we were back tracking south to the Freycinet Peninsular. We were away by 7.30 am which gave us the jump on the crowds despite the 40min head start having to travel down from Bicheno. The main aim of the day was to do the short but steep hike up to the Wineglass Bay lookout and maybe descend down to the beach in the bay.

It all started pretty well with the car park near empty and everyone enthusiastic about the climb. A short way into the ascent we were able to stop to look back over Coles bay and the mainland. The skies looked to be clearing so we pressed on with Harry leading the way.

Unfortunately, one of the many dry lightning storms blew across from the mainland and scared the life out of Harry. He managed to find a rock to hide under for a while.

We pressed on to the summit with lightning occasionally striking the peaks above us. Harry was terrified. Then the rain started forcing us to find shelter for 5 minutes until it had passed.

We took our obligatory shots from the lookout but didn't stay long because Harry wanted to go back to the car where he wouldn't be scared anymore. Sadly, the photos weren't exactly postcard worthy. Unfortunately it took the gloss off what should have been a highlight of the east coast.

Wineglass Bay.

 

We descended back down to the car park much to Harry's pleasure. Ironically, by the time we were back at the car, the weather had cleared. Oh well. We weren't about to hike back up to the lookout so we moved on to Cape Tourville.

Cape Tourville

 

There is a short loop track that circles the Lighthouse at Cape Tourville. The views from the track are stunning with a fraction of the effort of the Wineglass Bay climb. In fact, from the cape you can look back into Wineglass Bay and the peninsulas that encompass it (above). The cape cliffs dive into the ocean and seem to keep going into the abyss.

Cape Tourville was the first place that we saw the red growth on the rocks that are characteristic of the northern part of the east coast. We also saw a number of jagged rocky islands scattered near the cape.

Needless to say, Harry was far more impressed with Cape Tourville than Wineglass Bay & he wasn't the only one.

Friendly Beaches

 

We made one stop on the return to Bicheno at Friendly Beaches. We pottered around the rock pools and marveled at the extensive stretches of powdery white sandy beach.

 

Sea Hare

 

We had our lunch overlooking the beach and watched the sea fog engulf the peninsular. The beach suddenly didn't feel so friendly anymore, but it was an integuing phenomonen.

We were back in Bicheno by mid afternoon, where the fog had also claimed the ocean views. 

Aspley River Waterhole

We set off for the Aspley River Waterhole, a short, off-road drive from our house on the hill. It is a pristine clear water pool which was quite cold despite the summer temperatures. Harry was very brave and swam right across to the far side of the lake.

We were happily enjoying the cool water before a helicopter started buzzing overhead. As it tuened out, it was part of the fire fighting group and we had to leave because of a blaze in the neighbouring valley.

Superb Fairy Wrens.

Back at our base camp, Harry & I went around the gardens photographing the resident fairy wrens. They were busy flitting around chatting & catching bugs.

One of the males was especially proud of himself having caught himself a juicy march fly! The fairy wrens became our best friends from now on because the march flies had already made themselves very unpopular.

As dusk approached, the Bennett's wallabies started to reappear from the forest. They didn't seem too concerned by our presence.