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While we were sitting around the fire that evening, just before the sunset, I could hear some chippie chippies, Superb Fairy Wrens for the uninitiated, in the bush behind us. After a few minutes they seemed to swarm out of the bush. I have never seen so many in one place at one time. Of course none of us had cameras handy. Sim really wanted to get up and get hers but we told her to stay where she was or they would fly away. Sometimes you just have to watch and take the photo in your mind and enjoy the fact that you are there, in the wild with nature as she does her thing.
When there were only a couple around we dived for the cameras as quickly and quietly as we could and sat back down to wait for them to reappear. They did come back and it was great to sit and watch and snap away. I still didn't get a decent shot of one, which sucked. I am on a mission to get a decent shot, one that is not blurred.
Not long after that we were chatting away and I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked in the direction of the movement and there was a wallaby munching grass not too far from us. Anna or Sim hadn't noticed it so I said, in a quiet tone, "Would you like a shot of a Pademelon?" They both got up and then I realized it was in fact a wallaby. I hadn't seen one of them at Trial before.
Saturday 29th March 2008.
I awoke next morning to the sound of a steady stream of rain pattering on the tent. My first thought was…"hmmm, looks like we're packing up in the rain." I laid there for a few minutes listening to the pleasant sound. My urge to pee though wasn't being helped, so I got up and started the gas stove to make a cuppa for us all, and headed down to the loo.
After making the cuppas and distributing them I climbed back into the tent and Anna and I discussed what was going to happen. It looked like the rain was settling in for the day. The clouds were dark and the rain hadn't let up in intensity.
We decided to take Sim down to Strahan, because she really wanted to go there, but that night we were going to sleep in nice warm beds. We had planned to stay at either Macquarie Heads or Lake Burbury, but thought; with the weather the way it was there really wasn't a point.
It was nice and warm and dry in the tent, I didn't want to get out. Eventually though we did and made a very hasty pack up of all our stuff. We had done this a few times before so we knew what to do and how to do it in a quick fashion. After we got all our stuff packed and most of it in the car we helped Sim with her stuff and everything was in the car and we were out of there in about fifteen minutes flat.
The drive back into Zeehan was uneventful. Rain continued to come down but not as heavily. We arrived at Zeehan and stopped for petrol and some breakfast. We stopped at the Cribb Hut to check out the food there. One of our testers for places to eat is an egg and bacon roll. If they are good then we will go back and try something else. I would really like to try a pizza from there, they look yummy. I would recommend them as a place to eat while in Zeehan, their egg and bacon rolls are very tasty.
With tummies full and feeling satisfied we moved along. On the way to Strahan there are quite a few places to stop for photo ops. One is a scenic lookout where you can see both the mountains, inland, and the Southern Ocean. I've been to this lookout a few times now and still haven't managed to get there on a clear day. It had finally stopped raining so we walked up and had a look.
The outskirts of Strahan weren't too far down the road. I thought, seeing as the Macquarie Heads turnoff was before the town we could go out and have a look at them. We hadn't been there before so it was new territory for all of us. The drive out there takes you through some stunning scenery. You drive past little bays with boats moored in them and through pine forests with ferns and they look really lush. Finally we arrived at the caretaker's house where we pulled up and had a look around.
This looked like it could be very busy in peak periods. There are a few shacks along the road and lots of caravans. I wasn't expecting so much activity. The outlook over the harbour was really nice though and we looked down towards the South West National Park. We saw many sea birds, mainly silver gulls and Pacific Gulls. I watched rain fall on the far side of the harbour and thought, "thank god it's over there."
After getting some shots of the wildlife we moved on to the campground at the end of the road. Talk about yobboville! I'm glad we didn't stay there for the night. We locked the car and then double checked that it was locked.
There was a track into the sand dune and down on to the beach on the other side. We could see the national park across the harbour mouth a lot clearer now. I looked at the sky and watched the dark rain clouds start to come over the hills. I didn't think it was going to be too much longer before we would be getting wet, again.
I drove straight through the township itself because we had planned to go to Peoples Park on the other side. Hogarth Falls is located at the end of a walk which starts there. The track takes about 40 minutes to walk and you are surrounded by tall gums and other trees, such as myrtle, sassafrass and dogwood. You will also see lots of ferns. The creek that runs past through the park is called Botanical Creek.
One of the highlights for me on this walk was the changing of light while we were walking. There were a couple of times when the sun would come out from behind the clouds stream down through the trees and highlight part of the forest. It was simply stunning.
Finally we reached the car once more. Next stop was Strahan itself. I parked on the main street and we walked around checking out the different shops. On the way back to the car we saw a couple of sea planes parked on the edge of the harbour. We snapped a couple of shots and Anna saw a yacht floating past and got shots of it as well.
We set of on the final leg of our journey. The road we took home was also a new road for us. Having not driven this road before I took my time. It was windy and slow going. At one point I pulled over to let some other cars pass. They were probably cursing the Volvo driver slowing every one down.
There is a scenic look out about half way along it. It shows the mountains around Queenstown. There were showers of rain passing over them when we stopped to look. They made the mountains look kid of eerie.
The home stretch was here. I turned on the road to Rosebery and knew it wasn't long till we got home. I was feeling a little bit tired from all the driving. I really felt it when I sat down upon arriving home.
I had a great weekend though. Showing Sim around this beautiful part of Tasmania was a buzz. There is still so much to show her and I hope she comes back soon so we can show her more.
