CHRISTMAS SNOW

Merry Christmas! Last night, with friends, we went to The Chalet on Mt Wellington (1000m above sea level) to have a few drinks, a bbq on the fire and celebrate Christmas. We also knew that we were due to get some snow! As you can see we were not disappointed ... a White Christmas - Tasmania-style!

HARTZ MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK

Today is Andrew's birthday so we decided to take a trek to Hartz Mountains National Park.

Hartz Mountains National Park is a window into the south-west wilderness, offering views of remote mountain ranges as far as the southern coast.

As well as spectacular views of a landscape which has been shaped by glaciers during past ice ages, the park offers a variety of unique features. Waterfalls tumble off the dolerite range that runs through the centre of the park and small glacial lakes dot the plateau. The park contains a wide variety of vegetation from wet eucalypt forest and rainforest through to alpine heath on the exposed mountain tops.

Lake Osborne

Rock formations from when Glaciers were here

Arve Falls (both images)

MT FIELD NATIONAL PARK

Took fellow photographers Wendy and Rick up to Mt Field National Park, both to the often-visited lower part but also up the 16km dirt track (thankfully we have a 4WD) to Lake Dobson and did the circuit walk around the lake. There was an abundance of Tasmanian Waratah, which only flowers between November-December, and found between 600-1200m above sea level. It's also much more delicate than the mainland species.
We had a great day!

SUNRISE - again ...

Saturday morning was 'another' early rise - to Taroona again, but with a group of fellow photographers. The light was absolutely beautiful and the colours in the sky were better than any of my previous visits to Taroona Beach.

MT WELLINGTON SUNRISE

Headed up Mt Wellington this morning for some sunrise shots. There are bushfires burning in parts of Tasmania, and the northerly winds are blowing haze from the Victorian fires our way. Here are the results of ANOTHER early rise..

What do you reckon of the moon? ;)

Rick is an early riser again! (No rest for the wicked, as they say!)

Probably a bit dark, but my point of interest was the sun

TAROONA - Part 2

I was impressed with the sunrise yesterday at Taroona Beach, so went back again this morning, to what was a much better sunrise in my opinion.
Dragged my mate Rick along as well, it's always much more fun to inflict a 5am shoot on someone else too!
These are a couple of the shots I got today .. enjoy!

Rick grabbing some shots of the sunrise

TAROONA

Sunrise at Taroona Beach this morning

Taroona (an Aboriginal word meaning sea-shell) is a major residential suburb approximately 15 minutes drive from the centre of Hobart, Tasmania on the scenic route between Hobart and Kingston. Although on the edges of the City of Hobart, Taroona is actually part of the municipality of Kingborough.

The traditional owners of the lands now known as Taroona were the Aboriginal people of the Derwent estuary. Sadly relatively little is known about the indigenous people's use of these lands, although some shell middens are said to have been found along the shorelines.

In February 1967, southern Tasmania was engulfed in the most viscious wildfired on record, resulting in many deaths. Taroona was the closest suburb to the city of Hobart to take the full brunt of the fires, which swept across the suburb in the mid afternoon, wreaking havoc, and destroying many homes. Children and residents fled to the river, and many people's survival was due to the refuge the safe waters provided.

More recently, Taroona was the childhood home of Tasmanian-born Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark, who attended the river-side Taroona High School before completing her High Schooling at Mount Nelson's Hobart College and embarking on her tertiary degree at the University of Tasmania