Thursday, March 29, 2012

Montagu (20km NW of Smithton)

Hoping to escape the cold and the wind that blasts the west coast we drove up close to the north west corner of Tassie, to a place called Montagu. We found a great little camp there that was sheltered, opened up onto the north coast and we could even buy some firewood. Well, we could if it hadn’t all gone until the next day!
We ended up not buying any at all, but that wasn’t any great loss as the rain returned and a fire wouldn’t have survived anyway. Still, the first night there was a treat and the next day we went walking again. This time we went into the top of the Tarkine and walked the forests there.

We stopped for a coffee (from a flask – there are no coffee shops out here) and found this view of the Blackwater River. I wish I had some actual ability with a camera because this little snap doesn’t pass on the feel of the enormity of the forest and how alone you are in there.

We took the walk down to Lake Chisholm – this is a sinkhole that has flooded and is one of the wonders of the Tarkine. Neither Karen nor I were vert impressed to be honest, but the walk there past some true forest giants was pretty good.

Apart from the bit where I put my foot on a wet tree root and ended up on my backside.  L

That evening I was cooking our fresh flathead on the external kitchen (to keep the smells outside) under the awning when it started raining heavily. Nothing new in that, so when I finished cooking I put a plate on top of the fish to keep the rain off as I dashed round to the van door. It wasn’t until the lumps of ice were bouncing off the plate in front of me that I realised that it was hail and not rain. Damn! Tassie can be really cold at times.

However, there was no getting away from the fact that it was damp and dismal (part of the top of the Tarkine is known as “Dismal Swamp” and I think I know why) so we decided to head off to some relative civilisation and to find ourselves a cabin again.

No comments:

Post a Comment