Friday Feb 26, 2010 – Wynyard

We decided to do a day trip to the northwest part of the island. We went as far as the Tarkine Forest Adventure. It is only part of the Dismal Swamp. The Dismal Swamp is one big sink hole. It is 2km by 3km and the sides are very steep and a flat bottom. At the visitors centre there is a cantilever overlooking the forest in the sink hole. It is quite impressive to know the trees in the sink hole are about 50m tall. There is a slide one can take to get to the bottom of the hole. Neither Charles nor I tried it out. Others did and said it was a good experience. It takes about 13 sec to complete. One lady said she thought about the bob sled and luge runs at the Olympics. We walked down then took the guided tour of the forest. It was much the same as we had seen to date here on Tassie but amazing to think it was in one big hole. We were able to get a ride back up to the top.

After lunch we headed for the Allendale Gardens. These are privately owned garden hosted by Loraine and Max Cross. They started to plant the garden in 1980 from scratch on a grassed field. It was a very enjoyable walk through the tranquil gardens. I think the summer is coming to an end and so are the summer flowers so the gardens were looking a little shabby. The grounds were getting a little over grown. We could see that some of the beds were being cleaned up and worked on. It is a labour of love for these two.

Having time we decided to go to Dip Falls and the big tree. These two sites were 27 km off the road. The big tree was something else. It was not the tallest of the Brown top stringy bark eucalyptus at 62m high however it is 16m around the base. It is believed to be over 400 years old. There were other big trees in the area. They made us think of "Lord of the Rings".

Dip Falls were different because of the basalt outcropping. Charles walked down the steps to the bottom. There were 160 steps. I stayed at the top and went to the viewing area. We both got very different pictures and saw the falls and rock formations from different vantage points. The basalt came up in hexagonal shaped pillars. When I looked down at the base of the falls it looked like a brick layer had been busy at work. This was all natural. Even though we have seen lots of falls each one is unique in their own way.

When I looked at the map I saw an unsealed road that would take us about 28km closer to Wynyard. It was a very good gravel road. Like so many back roads once you are on them you never see the name of the town at the end again. I was on pins and needles as were neared the 15km mark. I was sure glad when we got to pavement. I had not lead us on a wild goose chase.

We did one more side trip to Table Cape and lighthouse which is about 11km from Wynyard. Table Cape is another volcanic formation. It is a lava flow that has had the softer rock worn away around it by the waves. It is flat on top with steep sides. The lighthouse has been here since 1888. This is one of many lighthouses at the north side of the island.