Merry Christmas

Wishing you and your families a safe,  very happy and fun Christmas and look forward to seeing you all achieve amazing things in year 6 at Banksia in 2019.

Cradle Mountain

A day at Cradle Mountain... The Dove Lake circuit showing a riot of coloured wildflowers and a variety of white , rocky patches, scrub, tall timbers and mossy forest.  Beautiful. Couldn't believe my luck at seeing wombats and echidnas together,  munching on the grass.  Thanks for the sunshine Tassie.

Waratah

Wouldn't you love a giant waterfall in the middle of Bribie?

Trial Harbour in the west

Salmon farms

They have very stringent rules  to ensure the ocean is not damaged from fish food and faeces.

Mine pits

The colour of the water in the pit is influenced by the minerals.  That is Lake Burberry in the distance

Queenstown mines

The rocks are many colours, mostly a deep rose shade but some have blues or green stripes through them.  They mine copper,  silver and gold here.

Lake Burberry

This is a man made lake near Queenstown.

Tall timbers

Gordon Dam Wall

The wild west

The climate and geology had plenty of surprises.  I have been gobsmacked over the colour variations in the mountains and rocks.  Much of western Tasmania is mined for tin,  silver,  copper and gold. We have done some fishing,  4wheel driving and lots of spectacular walking tracks . Currently we're in a township called Waratah, which has an amazing waterfall in the middle of town.  Although it's Summer,  there are so many blossoming bushes... pinks,  purples and yellows. I'll add some further photos of Queenstown mines, the raging seas and coloured rocks of Trial Harbour, the Gordon Dam Wall,(where we saw 2 keen abseilers plunge down 140 metres) and Waratah.

Mount Field

This is a photo of Russell Falls. I think it's the prettiest falls I've ever seen.  Earlier in the day we drive up the mountain to see a lake and it snowed while we hiked around it.  It was exceptionally beautiful. There was even some sunshine whilst there.  Tasmania is very unpredictable with weather.  I hear you're getting great use of your air conditioners up there. I'll send a few more photos through to Mr Moeser,  as I seem to be limited with Blogger.

Old clipper ship replica

This is a replica of the kind of ship that traveled all over the world in the early 1800s. Afterwards came the steamships. This one was in Hobart Harbour at Constitution Dock, where they end the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. Many of the buildings are historic,  sandstone mansions and little cottages with climbing roses.  It's a very pretty city, although it is chilly.

Whaling in the 1800s

The whales and seals were numerous and hunted in Hobart Harbour and were a great source of income in the 1800s. There used to be big whaling stations and I saw films of men in large row boats being dragged by whales as they hunted them.

Thylacine in Hobart

This is in the Museum. I also saw film of the tiger moving in the Beaumoris Zoo when it was alive,  skins, skeletons and photos of when they were hunted.

The dog line

Port Arthur

A misty morning spent listening to gruesome tales of the convicts' lives.

Huge oysters

Near the south east of Tasmania there are many oyster leases. I tried many samples.  Yum!

Salmon keepers

These are like cages where salmon are kept and fed up by a company who then process them to sell to supermarkets.

Crayfishing

These are crayfish nets made from tea-tree. The fishermen go to sea for weeks at a time in the southern part of Tasmania to bring back crayfish. The seas and weather can be wild and unpredictable and many sea crafts are old,  wooden boats like these

Three Arch Bridge

Built by probation convicts in 1845

Convict built bridge

Echidna

This little fella was trying to dig his way into the scrub.  Our living total in wildlife so far....6 echidnas, 2 tiger snakes,  3 wombats and kangaroos/ seals too numerous to count.

Wildlife.

We have seen and photographed many seals on rocks and  wombats, wallabies and echidnas,  slowing making their way across our path. There are so many sea eagles and black cockatoos screeching their way across the tree tops.

We've also seen ancient, white gums with branches that seem to be reaching for the sky.

Cruise to Wineglass Bay

The Freycinet Nat Park

This peninsula is spectacular,  with pink granite, rocky cliffs and white, silicone sand.

Beautiful sunrises

Giant gums

Beautiful waterfalls and ferns bigger than trees

Convict cells

Convict holding cells from early 1800s

Bay of Fires

Pristine beaches.

Message from Miss Bell

Miss Bell let me know that you were stars on your parade performance. I'm so proud of you.  I'm thinking of you all and hoping some of you read this to share. X

Can you see me?

Jacob's Ladder

This is in Ben Lomond National Park. There are ski fields at the top. It was a great adventure 4wd up this road.

Driving on the beaches

Beaches in the north east

We have enjoyed fishing in our kayaks and exploring the beaches.

Blue Lake

This lake has a lot of aluminium content due to the mining done here years ago.  I am having trouble sending more than 1 picture at a time.

Seahorse Aquarium

Caves are spectacular

North coast

Stunning scenery

Tasmania is quite mountainous with rugged mountains and blossoming native trees everywhere

Murals depicting history

Murals at Sheffield

Leaving Melbourne on the Spirit of Tasmania

Symbol trail used by miners

Miners gold office

Cool facts about the seige

Glenrowan... where Ned and his gang were shot at

Ned Kelly's last stand

We learned about how he evaded being shot in this police seige. He was three last man to be hanged in Australia in  1880. He was 25years old.

Lambing Flat Riots

Staying at Lambing Flat(now renamed Young). We studied this in HASS.

Windlass