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After a few days of very challenging fly fishing in perfect weather, we woke to a carpet of snow on Skittleball Plains. From there we headed down to spend a few days in the lightkeepers cottage at Cape Bruny. On the beaches of Bruny Island, Jen landed the first table size fish. The following day, on a boat trip, the fish were committing suicide on the hooks. We spent our final days with Fred and Jen in the luxurious Eagles Nest Retreat at the foot of Mt Roland. All to soon it was time to escort them back to their ferry home.
To avoid the rain that arrived when they left, we headed over to the east coast to see Jo and Ted (and their house) for a couple of days, and when it cleared we spent another few in Narawntapu National Park. After a great deal of uncertainty, we finally agreed with Sitel about a bit of work. To better facilitate a bit of regular part time work, we found a place to rent in Turners Beach. The local "moving in" customer service supplied by the local utilities was far worse than our recent rental in WA. Aurora Energy were unable to provide us with electricity over the weekend, and Telstra took three days to get the phone on.
It's a nice little flat, or more accurately, a two bedroom suite in a defunct motel.
Just beyond the BBQ and playground area is a small dune and the beach.
Behind the buildings are the clothes lines and a railway line.
Surprisingly there isn't even the pretense of a fence to keep the kiddies out from under the regular freight trains.
Motion sensitive lighting ensure we never miss the opportunity to see forestry products going to and fro.
After five straight days of work (which Bill slipped back into quite easily), it was time for our first Saturday "at home", reading the papers, walking along the beach, and watching motor racing. Suitably rested, we spent another day exploring Cape Range National Park, the Nut at Stanley, and a few other spots along the north west coast. Then we headed east to Ben Lomond National Park for a couple of days. Jo and Ted came up for a day to do some hiking with us, and we climbed to the top of the second highest peak in Tasmania. It was made somewhat easier by the road most of the way to the top, the famed Jacobs Ladder.
After a few more days (and a night) back in the office, it was down to re-explore Mt Field National Park which we visited so briefly a month or so ago.
Like Ben Lomond, Mt Field is forested about the base and has a small ski resort above the tree line.
(Unlike Lomond, some of the tall trees are inside the Mt Field park boundary.)
The tall eucalypts give way to pandani palms and snowgums, which in turn give way to low alpine scrub.
Water is everywhere, lakes, tarns, ponds, waterfalls.
Just west of Mt Field are lakes Pedder and Gordon, massive storage dams for power. The access roads provide spectacular views of mountains and provide an insight into the magnitude of the project.
A few more days in the office, and it's time for another mountain hike. Setting out from Penguin (between home and the office) we hiked along the ridge that leads to Mt Dial, and out along a rainforest lined creek. Naturally, being Tasmania, much of this native bush is subject to logging.
All this mountain walking is in preparation for something...