Every corner you turn in Tassie provides you with a new and stunning vista. The morning started very cold getting down to zero. Jay is nice and warm in bed as he has the hot water tank under his bed which I'm leaving on on these cold nights. I however don't have such comforts and spent most of the night shivering. The day warmed up nicely although a fresh chill remained in the air. We headed off to Dip Falls and Big Tree. The Falls were unusual. Hexagonal basalt columns left from a volcanic past. The Big Tree was a survivor of the logging era of the 1920's. A huge based Stringy Bark tree estimated to be about 500 years old.
After that it was into Stanley and up The Nut on the chairlift. A pleasant walk around the top of The Nut gives great views east and west along the coastline. I picked up some scallops from the fishing port for dinner and we continued on our way.
Our last stop of the day was Tarkine Forest Adventures in Dismal Swamp. This is a state forest that has developed a 110m slide into a Blackwood forest sinkhole. Most of the sinkholes in the region have been drained for grazing. This one remains and is a haven for local wildlife. In particular the unusual forest crayfish which build mud chimneys for their homes.
We've seen a bit of local wildlife but sadly the vast majority of wildlife we've seen so far has been roadkill. National Parks of Tasmania estimate that as many as a million native animals are killed on their roads each year. One of the surprising sights for me has been the number of Tasmanian Devils we've seen. I had the notion that they were pretty rare but they are certainly in abundance in the North West of the state.
Last night we stopped at Green Point just out of Marrawah. It is a very popular freecamp site. There are at least 14 other vehicles all jammed into a council carpark overlooking the Southern Ocean. We went for a long walk along the beach at sunset hoping to see Little Penguins or fur seals but to no avail. Watching the sun set over the ocean for the first time in my life was pretty special, and something I probably won't see again no until we hit Western Australia.
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