Thursday, February 9, 2017

Tasmania, Northeast Part 2

An earlier version of this post had problems with the images.  This Repost corrects those errors.
We have been on numerous hikes and visited Launceston.  I won’t go into much detail, but the photos should tell the story well.

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This is a skink.
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We visited a Lavender farm.  We were a bit late for the bloom, but the smell was insane.  The lavender blueberry ice cream was quite  good.

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We free camped near an old tin pit mine.  The granite around the mine leaches chemicals  into the water (such as aluminum) giving it a unique color.
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Not a bad view out the  window.
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A few days  later we visited Mount William National Park.  This park is  on the northeast most corner of the Tassie (not counting islands).  A few tens of thousands of years ago, Tasmania was connected to mainland Australia  by a land bridge.  As sea levels rose  it was covered by the sea.  All that remains  now are a chain of islands across the Bass Straight.  Mt. William park is home to a population of Forester Kangaroos which are the largest Tasmania marsupial.  They are bout 1.5-2x the size of wallabies here.  They need lots of grass to graze on, and keep the fields of the park neatly trimmed.  Being active from dusk to dawn means extra precautions are needed when driving.   
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This park also had a few very nice beaches, minus the flies (which didn’t bite).


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We hiked to the top of  Mt. William (about 230m) for some panoramic views.  In the parking lot this little guy was looking for a snack.  We could have pet him if we wanted…  DON’T FEED THE WILDLIFE!

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On the way down we nearly stepped on an echidna with its snout buried in an ants nest.  Echidnas are like a cross between a porcupine and an anteater.  They can’t see well at all though. 

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More to come in installment three.  

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