Tasmania in a chopper.

NB: with this post – about a place I visited before the lockdown – I want to bring you some positivism, beauty, and reassurance that we’ll all get a chance to see great different places again. Meanwhile, I encourage you not to violate the stay-at-home regime. Instead, I hope you’re using this time for catching up on what you never seemed to find the time to do… ‘before’ :).

Tasmania – done, at least in terms or a road trip therearound, plus much trekking along its peninsulas. The only thing still not done – chopper ride!…

First up – Tasmanian forest. You can see here how a swathe had been cut down, then replanted. I bet this is something to do with the very active logging that goes on on the island – done wisely: cut down, then plant some more in their place.

If you look closely you can see how the underbrush down below under the trees is crazy thick, dense, impenetrable – that is, to humans. Wallabies, Tasmanian devils, echidnas and other assorted rare creatures apparently thrive there though (a state of affairs I’m sure only helped by the lack of humans:).

Port Arthur:

Sure, it’s not big – a mere village really, but it does have its own golf course:

Beautiful beaches:

7.

In the distance – Cape Pillar and Tasman Island:

Evidence of the sea’s ongoing arch-and-tunnel-forming project:

And here’s the cape we didn’t have time for – Cape Raoul. This one always comes first in any list of the island’s capes. Second comes Cape Pillar; third – Hauy.

Tasman Island:

Tasman and Pillar:

The Blade and Pillar:

Marked: where we were:

Over to Hauy:

Totem column! ->

Here it is close up:

Fortescue Bay, where we had our dip at the end of the Track:

Somewhere here – Tasmans Arch and Devils Kitchen:

Ah yes – there they are:

Assorted views… between the Tasmanian devil and the deep blue sea!

Oh my gorge…

Oyster farms; like those to be found in Jersey, only on the other side of the planet! ->

Low tide:

To finally bring this Tasmanian series to a close, I really need to mention the places we really wanted to see, but weren’t able to due to time constraints.

First – we missed a couple waterfalls, mentioned earlier.

Second, as also mentioned, we missed Cape Raoul. The internet promises a seven-kilometer track (one way), doable in four hours of comfortable, steady-paced strolling. But, if you’re like me, add another hour or two to account for photography stops! Basically, it’s a full-day affair.

…Here it is in the background from one of the lodges along Three Capes Track:

Third, we missed a boat trip around the capes. Seeing them up close from atop the cliffs and later in a helicopter is great, of course, but the view from down below would surely bring ‘closure’ ). Btw, here’s a curious pic of Cape Raoul – from 1890! ->

And that is – finally, really, I do believe (or maybe I don’t) – it, folks! Tasmania – done!

And that will be it for my ‘on the road’ travel-themed blogposts for a while too I think. When will I be back at my favorite pastime of distant travel? Who can tell, given the current situation. Let’s just wait and see. Meanwhile, ‘we do our bit and at home we sit!’

All the pics from Tasmania are here.