[C300]

The Australian state of Tasmania always fascinated me. It’s a wilderness heaven. Almost a third of the state is Reserve Forest and listed as World Heritage Site. These are some of the last Temperate Rainforest on the planet and home to very old trees and unique wildlife. Few living Huon Pine trees here are as old as 2000 years. Unbelievable but true. The state is surrounded by Indian and Pacific oceans. Bass Strait separates it from mainland Australia.

2006 was the first time I visited Tasmania with few friends. The beauty of the place left me in awe of Mother Nature. So a re-visit was always on the cards. Finally, wifey planned the trip during the long weekend of 11-14 June. Month of June is the start of the winter and not the best time to visit the state but we took our chance and it turned out to be a memorable visit. Sunny blue skies and a hint of snow on the mountains was a picture perfect combination.

From Melbourne we flew down to Hobart and drove almost a thousand KMs to visit Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park and Gordon River Wilderness area. Last minute twist came when our return flight was cancelled due to volcano eruption in Chile ( %^&*). We had to extend the trip by a day. To make the most of it we visited Gunns Plains Caves near the port town of Devonport before taking a boat back to Melbourne.

I am sharing some of the photos taken during the trip. The equipment used was Canon 1000D, Tamron 17-50 f2.8 (non-VC), Pentax Super Takumar 135/3.5 MF lens. Most of the photos are straight out of the cam while few are crops with minor PP.


The Drive



The destination - Gordon River Wilderness area











A 500 year old Huon Pine Tree -bit noisy at ISO800

[C300]

Incredibly clear reflections in the Gordon River

[C300]

In the Temperate Rainforest

[adalvi]

Very nice snaps C300. Had always admired about Tasmania. The images from the Gordon river are fantastic. I Hope you also saw some wild animals and were able to capture them in your 1000D So keep them coming.

[Swanand Inamdar]

Ah, good ol Tassie! Thanks for bringing back the memories of the land C300!
Lovely snaps there.
Did you, by chance happen to go south of Hastings (South Cape Bay)? The last piece of inhabitable land on earth. Surreal is the only word! If not, i strongly recommend a visit.

[sarmarishi]

Great snaps.. especially love the Gordon river snaps! Beautiful.. Keep them coming

Do you use a polarising filter?

[C300]

Originally Posted by adalvi

Very nice snaps C300. Had always admired about Tasmania. The images from the Gordon river are fantastic. I Hope you also saw some wild animals and were able to capture them in your 1000D So keep them coming.

Thanks adalvi. Yes, I was fortunate to see few wild animals in action (apart from at least a 100 dead animals on the roads troughout the journey which was sad). I will share the snaps soon.

Originally Posted by Swanand Inamdar

Ah, good ol Tassie! Thanks for bringing back the memories of the land C300!
Lovely snaps there.
Did you, by chance happen to go south of Hastings (South Cape Bay)? The last piece of inhabitable land on earth. Surreal is the only word! If not, i strongly recommend a visit.

Thanks Swanand. South Cape Bay being the end point of Southwest forests must be a treat to eyes. Unfortunately we didn’t plan it this time but would love to explore that part of Tassie. The south western range is I guess mostly uninhabited and untouched. As per wiki, the entire course of the Gordon River is uninhabited which is just remarkable given the size of the river.

Originally Posted by sarmarishi

Great snaps.. especially love the Gordon river snaps! Beautiful.. Keep them coming

Do you use a polarising filter?

Thanks sarmarishi. Yes, I forgot to mention its a Hoya Pro1 CPL.

[C300]

Photos of Cradle Mountain and its reflection in Dove Lake..a sight to behold

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More photos. The Dove Lake circuit walk offers spectacular views of the Cradle Mountain and surrounding areas. Total length of the circuit is around 5km.

[C300]

Post office building in a small town named Queenstown..Vedanta group has Copper mining operations in this town



On the way to devonport..



Countryside!



Road to cradle mountain park









Some local produce

[C300]

Local wildlife!

Tasmanian Pademelon




Not sure the name of the bird. Looks like a local crow



Tasmanian Devil and a Quoll. Both these species are endangered in wild. These photos were taken at a breeding centre. The devil poplution has declined by more than 50% since mid 90's by a facial tumour disease (Devil facial tumour disease - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)



Tasmanina Quoll

[phamilyman]

Really awesome pictures from a very new land. Thanks for sharing - would you be able to advise the rough costs of the trip for Indians?

[C300]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Really awesome pictures from a very new land. Thanks for sharing - would you be able to advise the rough costs of the trip for Indians?

Thanks phamiliyman.
If you are planning to visit only Tasmania then 7 days are sufficient to visit most of the places. I guess the major cost is the air travel which will be around 50k per person from Delhi to Hobart return. You can rent a car on Indian driving license which will be roughly 30k for a week. Hotel cost will be around 40k and additional 40k for food and other expenses. So my guestimate is around 2-2.5L INR for a couple. Most of the hotels are actually 2bhk holiday homes so 4 people can stay comfortably without any extra cost.

[rahul_sinha]

Great pictures C300. Were those snow-capped mountains? Nice reflections on the serene Gordon river. Superb!

[C300]

Originally Posted by rahul_sinha

Great pictures C300. Were those snow-capped mountains? Nice reflections on the serene Gordon river. Superb!

Thanks Rahul. Yes, those were snow-capped mountains.

Few shots of the car..Holden Cruze Petrol AT





Thin layer of frost early in the morning!





Interior pics