Burnie

Makers' Workshop

 Yesterday we were out on the road all day. Today we had a lot less driving to do because the plan was to explore Burnie, about 40 minutes south east along the coast from our base at Sisters Beach. The Makers' Workshop was the first activity on the day's itinerary.

The Makers' Workshop is all about making things with fibres, especially recycled fibres.

The entrance is essentially a gallery of some very well made peices made of recycled fibres, essentially paper mache'.

 

The other Makers' Workshop purpose, is teaching people how to make paper. Unexpectedly, Harry got right into it.

After some basic tutoring, we were making paper ourselves with mixed results.

Harry was making paper like a professional in no time.

The paper had a watermark of a picture of our choosing. Harry's was a wombat. The rest of us were nowhere near as succcessful as Harry.

Just off to the side of the gallery was a small underground mining display. Harry's wheel house for sure!

Burnie Sights

 

At Harry's request, we found an observation point where he could watch the container movements at the port. I was more interested in the odd mix of an artificial waterfall with a backdrop of a volcanic rock cliff with similar formations to Dip Falls.

Burnie Container Port

Harry was far more interested in the containers being moved around in the freight yard.

Harry even found himself a loco!

Round Hill Lookout

Round Hill overlooks Burnie and also has unobstructed views along the coast in both directions and also back south to the farmlands and mountains.

Fernglade Resrve

Fernglade Reserve lays just outside the township of Biurnie. We ate our lunch as soon as we arrived and were not joined by a swam of march flies! It was a very welcome relief. We were joined by a couple of kookaburras.

After lunch we walked along the river looking for wildlife and fient hoping to see a platypus.

No such luck with the platypus, but there were plenty of birds.

Walking along the shady green pathway was a very pleasant way to spend the afternoon.

Having explored the Burnie area, we headed back to Sisters Beach for a refreshing swim in Bass Straight. We took a bit of a scenic route hugging the coast. From the coast road, you get a great look at Table Cape (above) which is one of the similar volcanic peninsulars along the north west coast.

By the time we had returned from our swim, the sun was starting to disappear & the birds started to get busy again. Above is an eastern Spinebill & below another supurb fairy wren. Tomorrow we will be moving on again.

Boat Harbour Beach

Today we were off early to Burnie. We took a short detour to Boat Harbour Beach for a photo opportunity. Boat Harbour Beach is more picturesque than neighbouring Sisters Beach, where we were staying. It is very popular with tourists and locals alike.

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!

Dip Falls

 

We drove about 40 minutes inland (south) from Stanley along a narrow farm road that is only partially sealed to Dip Falls. It is one of the more interesting of the many waterfalls in Tasmania, mainly because the water flows over cubic-basalt columns.

As for the other waterfalls so far, the water volumn was very low. Despite the lack of water, the falls were still pretty impressive. I can only imagine what these falls look like in spring. The falls are in two distinct sections with a shelf in between. The lower section is far more photogenic,

A short distance further down the road from Dip Falls is 'The Big Tree'. This particular 'Big Tree' is roughly 400 years old & stands at 62m. It is also was a 16m circumference. As for many old growth forests, there's rarely one 'Big Tree' rather a number of similar big old trees, including a few that have falled down.

We chose the Big Tree picnic area to invite the march flies for lunch. Harry's tolerance for the biting flies soon ran out & he finished his lunch in the car.