Crescent Bay and Mount Brown - 7th September 2009

It's been a difficult task lately finding places in Tasmania where it isn't raining. It's a bit of a switch, given that a large chunk of the state was recently reconfirmed as in drought. Now we have diary farmers whose herds are in a bad way because it's too wet. Leave from work dictated that I should find some walks to do, however rain and illness had conspired a bit to bring the plan undone. The Tasman Peninsula can sometimes provide a drier walking venue than elsewhere in southern Tasmania, although sometimes it can be worse too. Last week I managed a few walks there. The first being the easiest, to Mount Brown and Crescent Bay. See the Google map below for walk details.

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I hoped the wildflowers would be worth a look, and there were a few out. I'll add some pictures to the Crescent Bay flora post. I believe this is Acacia verticillata. The books describe a number of sub-species of this, which is somewhat bewildering.

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This echidna was happily wandering around near the Mount Brown turnoff. He basically ignored me, and was happy to amble away from me digging for ants. He showed no signs of concern at my presence until I actually stepped over him on the narrow track to try to get a shot which included his face. This was successful, but he wasn't keen on walking towards me along the track. I was intrigued by his spiny bum anyway. More photos at Picasa.

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View Crescent Bay and Mount Brown in a larger map

Fungi - South Cape Bay Track

South Cape Bay - 2nd September 2009

Had a very good walk to South Cape Bay. The weather has been pretty ordinary, and this Wednesday was forecast as fine. Indeed it was, and the sun shone much of the day, with only gentle (if cool) breezes throughout. There has obviously been some rough weather out on our South Coast, and the long swells were sweeping a significant depth of beach when I was there. The surf was quite spectacular at times, with huge barrels forming perfectly along the kilometre and more from Lion Rock to beyond the cliffs where the track emerges. Nobody was there surfing.

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The beach is currently graced with a large dead seal, which I could only partially smell due to the cold I was coming down with. Overall, the beach was looking quite wild last week, and the good weather made a visit worthwhile.

More photos at Picasa

View South Cape Bay in a larger map

Roches Beach to Seven Mile Beach - 1st August 2009

The most convenient spot to start this walk is at the eastern side of the Lauderdale "neck". There's a carpark occupying what at one time must have been the eastern outlet of the Lauderdale canal. This is right next to the beach. I did this walk recently on a windy and wet, winter Saturday when anything above sea-level looked dubious. I first headed for the Arm-End walk, but the south-westerly wind was strong enough to make standing difficult in the Arm-End carpark. This walk on the easterly coast was much more sheltered.

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The walk heads north along the beach from Lauderdale. It rounds a small headland and follows the beach further. Where the way ahead appears to be somewhat blocked by rocks and low cliffs, it heads up onto the slopes above. This track meanders around alongside the boundaries of houses and farmland. There is a choice at one point - descend back to the beach or remain on the slopes. Your choice might depend on the state of the tide, but the sea-level track is more interesting. The track emerges at Seven Mile Beach, and can be extended to any length as you like.

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There are some lovely concealed bays along this track, and on a warm day there would be plenty of opportunities for a dip in lovely surrounds. This is an easy walk but one worth taking on a day when the weather renders other walks difficult. It was interesting to watch squalls moving up the coast of the Forestier Peninsula while wandering in the sun and gentle breeze along the beach here.

The insect in the video

Here are a couple of photos of the insect seen laying eggs in the video a while ago. I believe it's a Crane Fly, and there is one like it on page 117 of "Wings - an introduction to Tasmania's winged insects" by Elizabeth and Anthony Daley. This is labelled Ischnotoma sp. The insect was injured, possibly by the cat who loves to chase moving things. My son found it and thought it was an interesting insect and as we watched it, we could see it laying eggs. Hence the video in the earlier blog post.

Insect laying eggs

Fungus - Mt Wellington

A walk on the front of Mt Wellington produced a few fungi.