Tasmania -8. Arthur Pieman Conservation Reserve.

25.1.14

Allendale Gardens

We are in the north west of Tassie and started the day with a visit to the Allendale Gardens south of Smithton. The owners, Max and Lorraine Cross, have done a superb job of developing a magnificent garden which moves the viewer from one 'room' to the next so nothing is missed. Before we started we 'girded our loins' with home-made scones and blackberry jam made from the berries in the garden, with lashings of cream. The jam took me back to childhood days in Hazelbrook in the Blue Mountains, when the whole family went blackberrying for Mum's jam. The flavour was the same... delicious!

In the garden the peacocks roam freely and we saw several impressive displays by males courting the females of their choice. I've never before watched the wonderful spread of beautiful feathers and heard the rattling sound the male makes when he shakes them. He then moves towards the female and attempts to entice her under the umbrella made by the fanned feathers. There were lots of baby peacocks as well and feathers which we could take with us. I collected enough for ten grandchildren!

Allen Creek which boasts platypus, ripples its way through the garden and is crossed by six bridges. The dahlias, roses and fushia's were in full flower and the variety of plants was stunning.

Apart from the summer flowers in full bloom at every turn, there were wonderful walks. There was a Birch Walk where the leaves shimmered in the light above our heads. Another was through a forest of tall ferns where the light was dim and the forest floor mossy. A third was through old growth forests with stands of stringy barks leading to the towering 'the Old Man of The Forest . The Californian Redwoods were majestic and in the fairy glade we searched for the hidden fairies just like children and kept at it until we found them all!

We also inspected the productive veggie patch thick with a crop of peas just being harvested, enough to keep the family supplied for the next year. They snap freeze them. They had traps set to catch the rats they thought were eating the beans, only to discover it was a hare tall enough to jump the wire boundary. The garden was a labour of love which absorbed us for hours and we were grateful to the owners who shared their life's work.

From the gardens we continued south-west until we reached the west coast at Couta Rocks and eventually the Athur - Pieman Conservation area. We chose Prickly Wattle camp ground for the night. There were a few others scattered through the bush but we had a lovely little space to ourselves. It was a warm day so we had bush shower.

Arthur River.

A young family not far away told us about the ranger organised activities and we went to a bush skills class and learned how to twist string from lengths of raffia and then cut and shape an object from kelp straight out of the ocean. Glenn made a stubby holder and my creation went in the bin today because I was too impatient and removed the stuffing too soon and the object shrank to miniature size!!

A successful kelp basket.

The ranger office had some interesting taxidermy, especially the eagle which we'd never get so close to in the wild.

Narrow bridge over the Arthur River.

Mouth of the river.

Looking east up the river.

Edge of the earth Pt. Gardiner

There is a plaque on the headland at Pt. Gardiner which marks the western-most point of Tasmania and it is known as the 'edge of the world'. When you stand there and look west, there is nothing but ocean until the east coast coast of Argentina!

Happy birthday Lib. Australia Day.

That night we drove as far as we could as we were backtracking, and ended up back on the wharf at Stanley where Glenn caught a squid and Beth showed him how to clean it. He has the bug and says he's getting up early tomorrow to catch some more as one is not enough for dinner. We'll see!

HE DID !!!! and we ate them cooked in butter and garlic on the campfire and they were delicious. We were camped beside the beautiful Henty River, about 20 kms from Strahan, soaking up the serenity.