Black Friday? Not for us. We have had the most beautiful day weather-wise - best since we've been on the Apple Isle. It has been sunny all day with a brilliant azure sky and an occasional zephyr of a breeze. Mind you the temperature has not exceeded 12 degrees for most of the day.
That is probably understandable given we have risen to new heights today, travelling first eastwards along the coast, then turning south near Wynyard and driving upwards to the highlands via Yolla to our destination, Waratah. This was a journey of 130km, one which was slow at times, given we were heading into the mountains.
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| 130315 Looking back to the coast as we headed south into the mountains |
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| 130315 Train to nowhere outside Yolla Primary School |
Our drive took us through forests of the Tarkine. There were many plantation forests on the way, huge areas covered by two types of eucalypts, the blue gum (Eucalyptus globulus), Tasmania’s floral emblem, and the shining gum (Eucalyptus
nitens). These are grown in plantations across Tasmania to produce high quality sawlogs for solid timber
products and high quality pulp logs for producing a range of paper products.
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| 130315 Going down Hellyer Gorge |
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| 130315 More Tarkine forest |
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| 139315 Blue gum plantation forest |
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| 130315 A couple of original trees overlooking some plantation Eucalyptus nitens |
Our first excitement for the day was driving down, and then up the Hellyer Gorge. A curvaceous drive one might say. Fortunately the road is excellent and the old Sahara never missed a beat.
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| 130315 Hellyer River at the bottom of the Hellyer Gorge , looking upstream |
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| 130315 Hellyer River at the bottom of the Hellyer Gorge, looking downstream |
Waratah is an ex mining town. It originated from the discovery of tin by Jim "Philosopher" Smith in 1871. The mine was the richest tin mine in the world in its heyday. It closed in 1949.
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| 130315 The closed Mount Bischoff open cut tin mine |
The town refused to "die" after the mine closure, relying now on history based tourism and the provision of homes for miners who are employed elsewhere eg Savage River Mine. It is a beautifully maintained town with seemingly every bit of grass mown, thus giving an appearance of order and neatness.
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| 130315 The dammed Waratah River in the town of Waratah |
There is an old stamping mill which has been brought from its original site and reconstructed in a building in the main street. This provided our second excitement for the day, pressing the button to start the mill stamping.
There is a picturesque waterfall, on the edge of town and on the edge of the plateau. It is aptly named the Waratah Waterfall on the Waratah River. The river drops into a spectacular valley.
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| 130315 The Waratah River about to go over the edge of the plateau |
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| 130315 The Waratah River valley, from atop the falls |
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| 130315 The Waratah Falls |
It was also the first town in Australia to have electric street lights in 1886, hydro generated. Perhaps that's why they like water wheels here.
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| 130315 An operating water wheel in Waratah |
Waratah's other claim to fame is that it is one of the wettest and coldest locations in Tasmania. We'll judge this overnight.
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