Walked out to South Cape Bay a couple of times, mainly because the first walk was quite rainy and squally, and I wanted to photograph tiny baby bluebottles which had been on the beach the first time and were difficult to photograph due to the wind, rain and state of the tide. ie. The waves were trying to wash over me and the camera when I crouched down to photograph them, and the wind was blowing the rain sideways. There are enough other descriptions of the South Cape Bay walk (
for example here) that I won't dwell on it here.
There were tens of thousands of these tiny bluebottles on the beach the first time I walked there. probably the best place for them one part of me thinks, nasty little things. However, they must have some sensible ecological role, so I suppose we have to put up with them. These little things were maybe up to a centimetre across and washed in their thousands to around the limit of the waves as I walked along the beach. When I returned a few days later, they were gone.
The waves were quite large on both visits, making quite an impressive sight across the width of the bay at times. I didn't see anyone surfing, but there were some people arriving with surfboards as I left the first time.
This kelp bed made an interesting image with Lion Rock behind. However, the waves were sweeping a long way up the beach and then receding around 75 metres. This kelp was at the far seaward limit of the movement of the water, so I had only seconds to get this shot before the sea returned. It would have been thigh-deep or more here immediately after I got this shot.
Lion Rock, with convenient foreground driftwood.
I thought this little boulder was interesting - pink granite on this beach dominated by dolerite and sedimentary rocks. There must be some granite somewhere then surely. Just not sure where. I don't see any obviously on the geological map I have, but it's a very small scale map. Maybe some surfer carried it here from Coles Bay...
Had a cool walk to Hartz Peak over Easter. The Mountain Rocket (Bellendena montana) had entered its red fruit phase.
The mountain tops were mainly shrouded in cloud, but it did have some gaps which provided some views to the Picton Valley, Mount Picton and even Precipitous Bluff and the Ironbounds very briefly.
The lack of views at any great distance meant I tended to look more downwards for photography subjects. Here is some lichen on dolerite.
The later afternoon was de-hanced by several of those now notorious Easter Forestry burns. These burns resulted in days of smoke pollution hanging around the Huon Valley from Mountain River to Southport. Idiots!
