Rediscovering Tasmania - Near Hobart

It was a special pleasure to have granddaughter Jessica over from Adelaide for a week. Her fiancee Simon (Gumby) tagged along, and it was fun to spend time together and visit a couple of special spots around Hobart.

There are many scenic and beautiful places around our beautiful city and one does not have to drive too far out to enjoy magnificent bush scenery or embark on short walks to waterfalls, rain forests and walking among the treetops. So this 'rediscovery' chapter is about taking Jess & Simon to National Park, where we walked to waterfalls, as well as taking Simon along to Tahune rain forests while Jess had to make a quick trip to Sydney.

The drive to National Park is itself a treat. In autumn it is especially stunning, as can be seen in the following photo taken on a previous occasion during autumn: With the Derwent River central to this scene, one receives a panorama view of Mt Wellington, Collins Cap, New Norfolk and beyond towards National Park where we were heading.

This view from Pulpit Rock takes your breath away. And what a lovely day:Not quite sure what they are saying, though it does not matter.
Importantly, they look pretty happy!

Arriving at National Park, we parked the car and walked first to Russell Falls along a very easy walk-way. Along the way, we helped ourselves to lots of photos with the following good results:

Jess looking cool and happy - of course seeing she was with her Grandpa!!Tasmanian streams like the above are plentiful and pristine!And no, neither made it but had fun doing it!Then, finally Russell Falls from a couple of angles
How magic is this?

On our way to the next waterfall, we stopped to have a look at this peaceful spot. Some folk were staring into the water and told us that they had spotted a couple of platipus which live in this habitat. They are a shy animal and while I have visited these places often, have never seen them in the wild. All the staring into the water did not convince these creatures to come out again. But it is certainly an idyllic spot:

Our next walk was to the Lady Barron falls, a good one hour walk there and back. The walk did us good and we only met one couple along the way. Lady Barron is quite different from Russell Falls, but nevertheless, well worth a visit. Here are just a couple of pics:

Above is self explanatory and below, Simon & Jess sharing

the enjoyment of a great day

As I mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, Jess needed to attend a meeting in Sydney, leaving the two guys to enjoy a day at the Tahune rain forest. Here one is able to experience the magnitude of our trees and walk through the tree tops. It is yet another of those great spots near Hobart.

Looking around and walking among tree tops; looking below and realising the height of some of these timbers, and.........................and looking above:

Finally, we came to the cantilever and enjoyed the views both of it and from it.One can clearly see how the Picton and Huon Rivers join to become the Huon River from that spot on. Later in this chapter, we will visit that spot and cross both the Picton and the Huon - another enjoyable walk.

Simon in an unusually serious mood. He is good company!

We enjoyed walking to the Picton/Huon Rivers junction taking yet further photographic evidence of the beauty of this place:There are two swinging bridges to cross.It is rather hard to hold the camera still as the bridge does move plenty!

Along the way to Tahune, we stopped at a couple of places, enjoying the peace of the forests, staggered by the largeness of creation as well as the gentleness of the undergrowth, like:Then there was this giant 'old man' of the forest:

Or just another short walk in the Keogh rain forest, which is full of interest and information - and platipus if they show themselves:

One can get totally lost in these surroundings, listening to the wind in the trees and hearing the creek just bubbling along:

Then, all of a sudden a dramatic change as you turn another corner and see this amazing tree with a burr that is the delight of wood-turners:

Who will be my next visitor to share all this beauty? And yes, I do at times carry on a commentary, sharing my love for Tasmania. Other times, we are just quiet, enjoying the awesome inspiration one draws from God's handy work!