Thursday March 17th - Lake St. Clair - The Wall and Tarraleah

My day today begins in a drive from Strahan to Queenstown....where I see that the veterans from all wars where Australian's fought are celebrated with this one statute..I took it from the World War I side but there are Viet Nam and World War II signs as well....not the Washington standard....

I though they had some great buildings in this little town...like...

This is the Post Office and let me show you how convenient they make it for their post office box holders...

These are outside!!!  Accessible 24 hours a day....wow is that convenient or what....again people...how would this play in Washington, DC?  NOT!!

But these guys would...and they could play anywhere....I caught them waiting outside the grocery for their owners....one a little more excited about the picture taking event than the other...with the other almost saying.."Agnes calm down...he is just another one of those Americans who take pictures of everything..."

Okay let's move along....to Lake St. Clair and Nelson Falls....here is Lake St. Clair in the early morning...

But Nelson Falls was the catch of the day.....a beautiful walk through the rain forest area ...

and to come up on this....

And it was a bit chilly up there....as you can see by the picture of me with my jacket...

Okay....moving right along....

I next visited a site called "The Wall"....it is one man's vision or tale carved in wood (Tasmanian of course)...a "Wall" of wood sculpture of the persons who helped shape past and present Central Highlands of Tasmania.  The work is exquisite...I cannot begin to tell you how beautiful and life like the creations are that he makes from this wood.  There was no photos allowed to be taken inside the work areas....so I can only tell you to 'Google' it and hopefully  you can get a glimpse of this great work...this one picture I have is from the outside of the site....

On to the lodging for the evening.  And this is not to be believed.

Hydro Electric power is big in Australia and New Zealand.  Back in the late 30's and early 40's this town of Tarraleah was set up to provide housing for persons working on putting a Hydro Electric power station in this area of Tasmania.  There was a school with gym...church...meeting rooms...quarters for single men and all these various houses for the families.  When the hydro plant was completed the entire town was sold for $500,000....as I recall this was in the 80's....it was converted to what is now the Cottages of Tarraleah in the heart of the Tasmanian Lake country.  The accommodations include some 18 cottages which are 3 or 4 bedroom and all totally furnished....the school converted to a Scholars house or individual rooms refurbished from the school classrooms...the church is still there...and the gym used for a squashcourt and massage room...and they have added a pub and dining facility....they have also added a 9-hole golf course....Here are some pictures first of my quarters for the night....this is only my house (#1 cottage)...

Here are some other photos of the property...views from the porch of my cottage - the second you can see the hydro electric pipes in the distance...

And...you can probably tell by now I was impressed by this place...the most unusual concept of lodging I have seen....a whole town!!!

Just a few more pictures of the town itself showing other cottages...the church...the gym...and the grounds...beautiful....

Okay...that is it for today....tomorrow I head back to Hobart after coming full circle...

Wednesday - March 16th - Gordon River Cruise - West Coast Wilderness Railway...

First of all...I will spare you any pictures of the Strahan Village @ Strahan Tasmania....you do not really want to know...

So let's head to the River...The Gordon River Cruise...it all begins with leaving the fishing village of Strahan...

On a great little boat...

There were unique lighthouses along the way...

But soon we were docking at Sarah Island....which was an penal settlement.  It was formed for men convicted a second time in the colony.  70 men were often confined in too crowed a state they could hardly lay down on their sides.

A local Thespian led the narrated walk around the island...

Much if not all of what remains of the buildings on Sarah Island are merely brick remnants...

But among all this ruin there was beauty in the wild flowers....

and of the river itself....

and soon that river leads to the open ocean...and if you continue West.....South America....

Well...I will save South America for later this year....right now it is back to Strahan and get to the train station to head out on the West Coast Wilderness Railway.....All Right!!!

First of all...the train is air conditioned...well open windows...and heated...well blankets...yeah really...look...

Here is a look at this masterpiece of machine...

We did make a few stops along the way..one to change to the cars and engine above...which is operated on a rack and pinion system to aid it going up the steep grades.  The railroad built around the turn of the century in 1896....was built by men using pick and shovel....

One of the other stops was a "honey" stop.....yeah...don't feel bad I never heard of it either...but check this picture out..one of our tour...Lin - a Taiwan man who lives in Sydney with wife Chi is seen handing out "honey sticks" to willing passengers to taste the local honey....he had the time of his life....and probably was the reason for the majority of sales on that trip....Here is Lin...with his wife in the background and another tour passenger Colin on the left.

The train ride of course was quite scenic...take a look...

Here I am at our second stop....it is "tea time"...and of course....everyone knows "tea time"

But the road continues...on to Queenstown....one longgggg day....and back to Strahan by coach to the infamous Strahan Lodge

Tuesday - March 15th - Cradle Mountain & Tasmanian Devils!!

By day's end today we will travel to the West side fishing village of Strahan...but in between Cradle Mountain is calling....

Below the mountain is the beautiful Dove lake....

The Waldheim Chalet is also in this area and part of the World Heritage epic scenery.....Waldheim lived in this cabin along with his wife...and after her passing continued to live there until his death...

Fear not...he did have some form of modern convenience...check out the "Bath House"...

My travel took me next to a conservation area for preservation of the Tasmanian Devil.....in fact I actually got to pet a young "devil"....very soft... check these guys out...

Here is the one I actually got to pet...he is being held by the conservation agent....

Finally...here a a couple pictures of some cute little quoll....The tiger spotted tail quoll is the largest marsupial carnivore in Australia....and endangered as well...these are babies...

Okay...time to get to Strahan...and I need to tell you it is nothing even close to the Wilderness Retreat at Lemonthyme Lodge....well, except it has no internet...for three days now...I have no contact with the world.....