Discovering tassie, Part 3, Tasmania, Australia

Tasmania from Top to Bottom


Cerrado Forest
Huge ferns dominate the lush vegetation of PN Franklin-Gordon.
Airy Footwear
Old shoe rack extended by locals and travelers on a road fence en route to PN Frecynet.
Post 26, Post 18
Traditional mailboxes from the old village of Ross, in the heart of the Midlands.
hot stone
Faint light under a blanket of storm clouds illuminates Ross Bridge.
Equidne Pass
Road sign alerts you to the presence of echidnas, one of several southern Tasmanian mammals.
Marsupial Life
Juvenile kangaroo on a wild beach on PN Frecynet.
Antarctic Sea
Wild coastline of PN Frecynet on the east coast of Tasmania.
Art Tide
Stripes of water and sand on a beach south of Hobart.
bridge to another day
Sun sets over Ross, one of the centuries-old settlements in the Midlands.
Cold Water Swimming
Sea lion rises from the Tasman Sea, in the vicinity of Brunet Island.
oldest bridge
Richmond's old bridge, the oldest in use in Australia.
Fern Forests
PN Franklin-Gordon's lush ferns in the rainy eastern interior of Tasmania.
from there to the capital
Historic distance indicator to Hobart, highlighted on Richmond Bridge.
Providential lighting
Tower of St. John's Anglican Church in Richmond.
British Gardens in Antipodas
Elegant gazebo at Cataract Gorge Park in Launceston, Tasmania's second city.
communal curiosity
Sea lion colony off Brunet Island off the southeast coast of Tasmania.
Wineglass Bay
The near-perfect WineGlass bay, the most visited in Frecynet National Park.
Meadows without rain
Midlands dry land in midsummer Tasmania.
The favorite victim of Australian anecdotes has long been the Tasmania never lost the pride in the way aussie ruder to be. Tassie remains shrouded in mystery and mysticism in a kind of hindquarters of the antipodes. In this article, we narrate the peculiar route from Hobart, the capital located in the unlikely south of the island to the north coast, the turn to the Australian continent.

After several days spent in the back of Tasmania, we finally came out, pointing north.

As a farewell to the city, we decided to climb the 1271 meters of Mount Wellington, the summit of the homonymous mountain range that bars the expansion of the capital's houses and separates it from the island's vastness above on the map.

Mount Wellington Above

Twenty minutes of twists and turns in a half wild, half rocky setting, we reach the top, well identified by a viewpoint with fearless architecture. We leave the car.

We climbed onto an overhanging wooden balcony. From there, we enjoy the profusion of pink magmatic boulders that stretches down the slope.

Hillside of Mount Wellington, Hobart, Tasmania

Shades of cloud rise from below the base of the slope of Mount Wellington, south north of Hobart.

We see streaks of clouds ascend, from further down the slope, surreptitiously, as if wanting to surprise the intruders of their mountain. More than the gaseous skeins, it's the mountain's meteorology that catches us off guard. We realized, without any doubt, how crucial it was to Hobart the orographic shelter of the mountain range.

Without it, especially during the southern winter, Hobart would be exposed to the vagaries of the south and southwest winds from the Antarctic Ocean.

Even if the prevailing winds blow from the north from the ever-warm Australian continent, whenever exceptions are made, city dwellers will freeze.

It was what was happening to us little by little, the reason why we surrendered to the evidence and the increasingly intense tremors. We retire to the interior of the glass building.

Mount Wellington Viewpoint Building

The glass-enclosed building of the Mount Wellington viewpoint protects visitors from the furious wind that sweeps the summit.

Sheltered from the frigid, furious gusts, we enjoyed the view awhile longer: the cut across the long estuary of the Derwent River and, onwards, the smoother lands of the Tasman Peninsula we had explored in those days.

Mount Wellington Lookout, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Visitors on the balcony of the Mount Wellington viewpoint, high above Hobart.

From the Heights to the Plains of the Midlands

We ran back to the parking lot. We get in the car. From there, we descended towards the Midlands plains.

As the name suggested, we identified them in the imminence of the middle of the island, dominated by the shades of green and yellow of the cereal plantations, compartmentalized by successive hedges.

The Midlands became rural in the early years of colonization. This reality and the opulence achieved by the families of agricultural settlers is evident in the number of villages and stone hamlets and the old towns, garrison and post office that still abound.

Oatlands, for example, is home to Australia's largest collection of Georgian architecture, with 87 historic buildings on Main Street alone. A few dozen kilometers to the north, Ross radiates colonial charm.

And a tranquility only broken by the croaking of crows and the ringing of the church bell. This was not always the case.

Mailboxes in Ross, Tasmania, Australia

Old mailboxes from Ross, Midlands of Tasmania.

Ross' Secular Garrison

Ross was established around 1812 to protect travelers who roamed the island from top to bottom from the Aborigines. At that time, the relationship with the natives remained more conflicted than ever. The garrison accommodated the carriages at night. It kept passengers safe.

Ross still houses one of the most photographed bridges on the island of Tasmania. Like so many other structures on the island, the condemned built it. Even the foreman of the masons was one of them.

The Exile and the Work of Daniel Herbert

Still in Great Britain, Daniel Herbert had a military father and a job. Even so, he did not resist one of the much more profitable pots offered to him. During a highway robbery, he was captured. Repeated violent robberies, was sentenced to death. Saw the penalty changed to exile for life.

A few years of Tasmanian exile then the authorities decided to reward his exhaustive work on the 186 panels that decorate the arches of Ross Bridge. Pardon was granted.

Even if the whole village seems picturesque to us, animated by small craft shops and cozy tea houses, the bridge with the art of Daniel Herbert still preserves the monument of monuments.

Sunset beyond Ross Bridge, Tasmania, Australia

Sun gilds the most iconic bridge in Ross, a historic town in the Midlands of Tasmania.

Still in Ross, we are faced with an intersection with four possible meanings for life: Temptation, represented by the hotel-pub Man O'Ross; Salvation, offered by the Catholic Church; the Recreation, provided by the cultural building of the local council and, finally, the Condemnation of the old jail.

The next morning, with time for Taz running out, we dodged the four hypotheses.

We return to road 1. After a few kilometers, we detour east, aiming for the east coast of Tasmania, known as sun coast thanks to its mild climate.

Turning on World Road Kill Capital

The road, narrow and winding, undulates up and down successive hills. But more than its eccentric roller coaster layout, it is the amount of animal corpses on the asphalt that moves us.

Dry trees of the Midlands, Tasmania, Australia

Withered trees on a barren slope in the Midlands of Tasmania.

The proliferation of specimens with nocturnal habits – with a predominance for marsupials – and the lack of protections that bar their crossings on the tar, made the island of Tasmania the World Roadkill Capital, title given and recognized among Anglophone peoples.

The victims of Tasmanian vehicles can even be divided into species and sub-species.

We recognize kangaroos, wallabies (small kangaroos) and pademelons (even smaller kangaroos) echidnas, foxes, and possums (skunks), the latter of the most feared by drivers, as their robust physique causes enormous damage to engines and bodies.

Echidna crossing warning sign, Tasmania, Australia.

A warning sign for the crossing of echidnas, Australia's endemic animals too often victims of cars.

The list of victims does not end there. Roadkill is a substantial cause for the near extinction of the famous Tasmanian Devils.

The Tasmanian Devil's Demonic Condemnation

In one of those cartoons presented by the late Vasco Granja, Bugs Bunny is harassed by one of them. He turns to a dictionary to see what strange species threatens him: “… here he is, Tasmanian Devil: strong, murderous beast, endowed with jaws as powerful as a steel trap.

It is insatiable, it feeds on tigers, lions, elephants, buffaloes, donkeys, giraffes, octopuses, rhinos, moose, ducks … to which the predator adds: "And rabbits!" “Rabbits? It doesn't say anything here.” replies Bugs Bunny. With his patience running out, Taz decides to impose his will and completes the dictionary with a pencil.

In the real world, the Tasmanian Devil turns out to be a weak hunter. Scavengers, omnivores, feed mainly on already dead animals.

They are run over, in large part, when they devour corpses on the roads. As if the misfortune were not enough, the “demons” were plagued by an epidemic of facial tumors which, in certain areas of Tasmania, had reduced them by almost 80%.

After intense lobby, the Tasmanian government obtained authorization from Warner Bros. to sell XNUMX Taz stuffed animals and use the proceeds to fight the facial tumor epidemic.

Scientists and environmentalists called the offer stingy. It's hard to disagree with, considering that the animal's image earns the company millions of dollars every year.

In recent times, additional efforts have been made to control the death toll. At the same time, this marsupial mammal appears to have reacted to the tumor. Everything indicates that the creature will survive the fate to which it seemed doomed.

And the Tasmanian Tiger's Withering Extinction

The Tasmanian Devil's other-time main predator, the Tasmanian Tiger, was not so lucky. Its exotic look seduced hunters. As if that wasn't enough, the thylacine preyed on cattle.

The colonists victimized him in successive hunts and revenges. In 1936, less than a century after the beginning of the settlement of Tasmania, they had already extinguished it.

As is customary in these cases, supporters remain that some furtive specimens are still hiding in the deep island of Tasmania. We continued our itinerary with our eyes wide open.

Driver by the old shoe rack on the roadside, Tasmania, Australia.

Driver stops at the side of a road in western Tasmania to leave another old shoe on a long-dedicated clothesline.

From the rural interior, we proceed to the east coast along a winding route that reveals only home-grown roadside businesses and – the most unexpected of sights – a section of clothes racks for old shoes installed on its verges that drivers increase for a joke, and for reverence to the tradition inaugurated by a farmer in the region.

The B34 road continues north along the windy east coast. When it reaches the middle of the island, it cuts to a peninsula that has fallen on the map.

The Peninsular Domain of Freycinet

enter the Freycinet National Park, a protected territory in which both wild white sand beaches and rough seas abound, as well as tranquil inlets with blue waters that overlook imposing cliffs and forested slopes. Two of these coves almost touch on Wineglass Bay.

The duo became a favorite landscape of the island of Tasmania. Determined to investigate its turquoise proximity, we climbed over 600 steps that lead to a dedicated viewpoint. In vain. Lately, vegetation had grown.

Wineglass Bay, PN Freycinet, Tasmania, Australia

The bluish and icy waters of the most rounded and popular bay of PN Freycinet.

From that high in-between, we could only see the rounded bay of Wineglass Bay. Rather than scratching ourselves to death ascending the hill among thorny bushes, we surrendered to the long, steep trail that descended.

In the bay, we come across a sea too cold and treacherous to reward ourselves with a dip. It's common wallabies suspicious.

Wallaby, Wineglass Bay, PN Frecynet, Tasmania, Australia

Wallaby intrigued by Wineglass Bay sand, PN Freycinet.

From Freycinet to the Northern Capital: Launceston

We regain our strength by walking along the threshold of the surf. When the sand gives way to the rocky cliffs, we revert to the main road on the island of Tasmania. Once again driving it up, we enter Launceston.

We arrived already at dusk, by the wayside. When we look for a local Irish Pub with some of the cheapest rooms in town, a police car pulls us over. In the confusion of finding the address, we had missed a wink. The agent who approaches us has anything but an Australian face.

Check our passports for our names and nationality. We inspect your baptism on the uniform identification. Upon our request, he informs us that he was born in El Salvador. “Sorry there but I have to give you a warning note. You have nothing to pay but try not to commit any further infractions.”

If it had to be, so be it. We ended up speaking Spanish and laughing out loud. Around the corner, we find the pub. We had dinner. Despite some expectable noise from drunken conviviality, we slept well. New morning arrived, we set out to discover Launceston.

Launceston is the second largest city on the island. Still light years away from the capital in terms of development and pace of life, the city has only recently reacted to the tourist frenzy of the rest of the island of Tasmania.

Its attractions are limited to a few regional restaurants and the unjustified lure of such a Cataract Gorge that, not even appreciated from above, by cable car, fills our measure.

Gazebo at Cataract Gorge in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia

Gazebo integrated in the green scenery of Cataract Gorge in Launceston.

The Coast of Disillusionment

We knew that Tasmania held special places. Eager to anticipate them, we abandoned Launceston.

We aim for the north coast of the island, the turn to the big aussie island. Once there, we followed the summit road heading west. A few dozen kilometers later, we realized that the proximity to the mother island had made that coastline the main industrial den of Taz.

There were huge tanks of fuel and other chemicals, refineries and different storage and processing units, all on the shores of a much calmer sea than those on the east and south coasts.

We put up with that repellent panorama for about forty minutes. With no sign that it would change, around Devonport, we turned south on the path to wild tasmania of all dreams.

We weren't far away. It's for a next article.

Discovering Tassie, Part 2 - Hobart to Port Arthur, Australia

An Island Doomed to Crime

The prison complex at Port Arthur has always frightened the British outcasts. 90 years after its closure, a heinous crime committed there forced Tasmania to return to its darkest times.
Discovering tassie, Part 1 - Hobart, Australia

Australia's Backdoor

Hobart, the capital of Tasmania and the southernmost of Australia, was colonized by thousands of convicts from England. Unsurprisingly, its population maintains a strong admiration for marginal ways of life.
Perth to Albany, Australia

Across the Far West of Australia

Few people worship evasion like the aussies. With southern summer in full swing and the weekend just around the corner, Perthians are taking refuge from the urban routine in the nation's southwest corner. For our part, without compromise, we explore endless Western Australia to its southern limit.
Cairns to Cape Tribulation, Australia

Tropical Queensland: An Australia Too Wild

Cyclones and floods are just the meteorological expression of Queensland's tropical harshness. When it's not the weather, it's the deadly fauna of the region that keeps its inhabitants on their toes.
Sydney, Australia

From the Exile of Criminals to an Exemplary City

The first of the Australian colonies was built by exiled inmates. Today, Sydney's Aussies boast former convicts of their family tree and pride themselves on the cosmopolitan prosperity of the megalopolis they inhabit.
Great Ocean Road, Australia

Ocean Out, along the Great Australian South

One of the favorite escapes of the Australian state of Victoria, via B100 unveils a sublime coastline that the ocean has shaped. We only needed a few kilometers to understand why it was named The Great Ocean Road.
Busselton, Australia

2000 meters in Aussie Style

In 1853, Busselton was equipped with one of the longest pontoons in the world. World. When the structure collapsed, the residents decided to turn the problem around. Since 1996 they have been doing it every year. Swimming.
unmissable roads

Great Routes, Great Trips

With pompous names or mere road codes, certain roads run through really sublime scenarios. From Road 66 to the Great Ocean Road, they are all unmissable adventures behind the wheel.
Alice Springs to Darwin, Australia

Stuart Road, on its way to Australia's Top End

Do Red Center to the tropical Top End, the Stuart Highway road travels more than 1.500km lonely through Australia. Along this route, the Northern Territory radically changes its look but remains faithful to its rugged soul.
Perth, Australia

the lonely city

More 2000km away from a worthy counterpart, Perth is considered the most remote city on the face of the Earth. Despite being isolated between the Indian Ocean and the vast Outback, few people complain.
Cairns-Kuranda, Australia

Train to the Middle of the Jungle

Built out of Cairns to save miners isolated in the rainforest from starvation by flooding, the Kuranda Railway eventually became the livelihood of hundreds of alternative Aussies.
Michaelmas Cay, Australia

Miles from Christmas (Part XNUMX)

In Australia, we live the most uncharacteristic of the 24th of December. We set sail for the Coral Sea and disembark on an idyllic islet that we share with orange-billed terns and other birds.
Masai Mara Reservation, Masai Land Travel, Kenya, Masai Convivial
Safari
Masai Mara, Kenya

A Journey Through the Masai Lands

The Mara savannah became famous for the confrontation between millions of herbivores and their predators. But, in a reckless communion with wildlife, it is the Masai humans who stand out there.
Annapurna Circuit, Manang to Yak-kharka
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna 10th Circuit: Manang to Yak Kharka, Nepal

On the way to the Annapurnas Even Higher Lands

After an acclimatization break in the near-urban civilization of Manang (3519 m), we made progress again in the ascent to the zenith of Thorong La (5416 m). On that day, we reached the hamlet of Yak Kharka, at 4018 m, a good starting point for the camps at the base of the great canyon.
Sculptural Garden, Edward James, Xilitla, Huasteca Potosina, San Luis Potosi, Mexico, Cobra dos Pecados
Architecture & Design
Xilitla, San Luis Potosí, Mexico

Edward James' Mexican Delirium

In the rainforest of Xilitla, the restless mind of poet Edward James has twinned an eccentric home garden. Today, Xilitla is lauded as an Eden of the Surreal.
Adventure
Boat Trips

For Those Becoming Internet Sick

Hop on and let yourself go on unmissable boat trips like the Philippine archipelago of Bacuit and the frozen sea of ​​the Finnish Gulf of Bothnia.
Miyajima Island, Shinto and Buddhism, Japan, Gateway to a Holy Island
Ceremonies and Festivities
Miyajima, Japan

Shintoism and Buddhism with the Tide

Visitors to the Tori of Itsukushima admire one of the three most revered scenery in Japan. On the island of Miyajima, Japanese religiosity blends with Nature and is renewed with the flow of the Seto Inland Sea.
Mao Tse Tung, Dragon Heart, Tianamen Square, Beijing, China
Cities
Beijing, China

The Heart of the Great Dragon

It is the incoherent historic center of Maoist-Communist ideology and almost all Chinese aspire to visit it, but Tianamen Square will always be remembered as a macabre epitaph of the nation's aspirations.
Meal
World Food

Gastronomy Without Borders or Prejudice

Each people, their recipes and delicacies. In certain cases, the same ones that delight entire nations repel many others. For those who travel the world, the most important ingredient is a very open mind.
the projectionist
Culture
Sainte-Luce, Martinique

The Nostalgic Projectionist

From 1954 to 1983, Gérard Pierre screened many of the famous films arriving in Martinique. 30 years after the closing of the room in which he worked, it was still difficult for this nostalgic native to change his reel.
Spectator, Melbourne Cricket Ground-Rules footbal, Melbourne, Australia
Sport
Melbourne, Australia

The Football the Australians Rule

Although played since 1841, Australian Football has only conquered part of the big island. Internationalization has never gone beyond paper, held back by competition from rugby and classical football.
Entrance porch in Ellikkalla, Uzbekistan
Traveling
Uzbekistan

Journey through the Uzbekistan Pseudo-Roads

Centuries passed. Old and run-down Soviet roads ply deserts and oases once traversed by caravans from the Silk RoadSubject to their yoke for a week, we experience every stop and incursion into Uzbek places, into scenic and historic road rewards.
EVIL(E)divas
Ethnic
Male Maldives

The Maldives For Real

Seen from the air, Malé, the capital of the Maldives, looks little more than a sample of a crammed island. Those who visit it will not find lying coconut trees, dream beaches, spas or infinite pools. Be dazzled by the genuine Maldivian everyday life that tourist brochures omit.
portfolio, Got2Globe, Travel photography, images, best photographs, travel photos, world, Earth
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Portfolio Got2globe

The Best in the World – Got2Globe Portfolio

Alaska, by Homer in Search of Whittier
History
Homer a Whittier, Alaska

In Search of the Stealth Whittier

We leave Homer in search of Whittier, a refuge built in World War II and housing two hundred or so people, almost all in a single building.
The Little-Big Senglea II
Islands
Senglea, Malta

An Overcrowded Malta

At the turn of the 8.000th century, Senglea housed 0.2 inhabitants in 2 km3.000, a European record, today, it has “only” XNUMX neighborhood Christians. It is the smallest, most overcrowded and genuine of the Maltese cities.
St. Trinity Church, Kazbegi, Georgia, Caucasus
Winter White
Kazbegi, Georgia

God in the Caucasus Heights

In the 4000th century, Orthodox religious took their inspiration from a hermitage that a monk had erected at an altitude of 5047 m and perched a church between the summit of Mount Kazbek (XNUMXm) and the village at the foot. More and more visitors flock to these mystical stops on the edge of Russia. Like them, to get there, we submit to the whims of the reckless Georgia Military Road.
Visitors to Ernest Hemingway's Home, Key West, Florida, United States
Literature
Key West, United States

Hemingway's Caribbean Playground

Effusive as ever, Ernest Hemingway called Key West "the best place I've ever been...". In the tropical depths of the contiguous US, he found evasion and crazy, drunken fun. And the inspiration to write with intensity to match.
Walk on the coast, Villarrica volcano, Pucon, Chile
Nature
Villarrica Volcano, Chile

Ascent to the Villarrica Volcano Crater, in Full Activity

Pucón abuses nature's trust and thrives at the foot of the Villarrica mountain. We follow this bad example along icy trails and conquer the crater of one of the most active volcanoes in South America.
Mother Armenia Statue, Yerevan, Armenia
Autumn
Yerevan, Armenia

A Capital between East and West

Heiress of the Soviet civilization, aligned with the great Russia, Armenia allows itself to be seduced by the most democratic and sophisticated ways of Western Europe. In recent times, the two worlds have collided in the streets of your capital. From popular and political dispute, Yerevan will dictate the new course of the nation.
Aurora lights up the Pisang Valley, Nepal.
Natural Parks
Annapurna Circuit: 3rd- Upper Banana, Nepal

An Unexpected Snowy Aurora

At the first glimmers of light, the sight of the white mantle that had covered the village during the night dazzles us. With one of the toughest walks on the Annapurna Circuit ahead of us, we postponed the match as much as possible. Annoyed, we left Upper Pisang towards Escort when the last snow faded.
tarsio, bohol, philippines, out of this world
UNESCO World Heritage
Bohol, Philippines

Other-wordly Philippines

The Philippine archipelago spans 300.000 km² of the Pacific Ocean. Part of the Visayas sub-archipelago, Bohol is home to small alien-looking primates and the extraterrestrial hills of the Chocolate Hills.
aggie gray, Samoa, South Pacific, Marlon Brando Fale
Characters
Apia, Western Samoa

The Host of the South Pacific

She sold burguês to GI's in World War II and opened a hotel that hosted Marlon Brando and Gary Cooper. Aggie Gray passed away in 2. Her legacy lives on in the South Pacific.
Bather rescue in Boucan Canot, Reunion Island
Beaches
Reunion Island

The Bathing Melodrama of Reunion

Not all tropical coastlines are pleasurable and refreshing retreats. Beaten by violent surf, undermined by treacherous currents and, worse, the scene of the most frequent shark attacks on the face of the Earth, that of the Reunion Island he fails to grant his bathers the peace and delight they crave from him.
Religion
Helsinki, Finland

The Pagan Passover of Seurasaari

In Helsinki, Holy Saturday is also celebrated in a Gentile way. Hundreds of families gather on an offshore island, around lit fires to chase away evil spirits, witches and trolls
Executives sleep subway seat, sleep, sleep, subway, train, Tokyo, Japan
On Rails
Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo's Hypno-Passengers

Japan is served by millions of executives slaughtered with infernal work rates and sparse vacations. Every minute of respite on the way to work or home serves them for their inemuri, napping in public.
mini-snorkeling
Society
Phi Phi Islands, Thailand

Back to Danny Boyle's The Beach

It's been 15 years since the debut of the backpacker classic based on the novel by Alex Garland. The film popularized the places where it was shot. Shortly thereafter, the XNUMX tsunami literally washed some away off the map. Today, their controversial fame remains intact.
Fruit sellers, Swarm, Mozambique
Daily life
Enxame Mozambique

Mozambican Fashion Service Area

It is repeated at almost all stops in towns of Mozambique worthy of appearing on maps. The machimbombo (bus) stops and is surrounded by a crowd of eager "businessmen". The products offered can be universal such as water or biscuits or typical of the area. In this region, a few kilometers from Nampula, fruit sales suceeded, in each and every case, quite intense.
Amboseli National Park, Mount Kilimanjaro, Normatior Hill
Wildlife
Amboseli National Park, Kenya

A Gift from the Kilimanjaro

The first European to venture into these Masai haunts was stunned by what he found. And even today, large herds of elephants and other herbivores roam the pastures irrigated by the snow of Africa's biggest mountain.
Napali Coast and Waimea Canyon, Kauai, Hawaii Wrinkles
Scenic Flights
napali coast, Hawaii

Hawaii's Dazzling Wrinkles

Kauai is the greenest and rainiest island in the Hawaiian archipelago. It is also the oldest. As we explore its Napalo Coast by land, sea and air, we are amazed to see how the passage of millennia has only favored it.
PT EN ES FR DE IT