Wednesday 1st May 2019
Well the start of a new month. I don’t think it is going to help us weather wise. The forecast today is for rain, between 5-15mm. Hopefully we can get a few walks in today in between showers.
Well we started the day with a rainforest walk at Julius River, just near where we stayed in a freebie National Park camp last night. Wow, more fungi, I am in paradise. I am driving DB mad as a 2 km walk takes 1 hour 15 minutes. A bit slow for him, but I am in awe at the number of species of fungi I have seen in the last 2 or 3 days. It truly is amazing. After our cool temperate rainforest walk we then did the spectacular flooded sinkhole walk through old-growth myrtle forest, with more fungi. Woohoo!!
We then drove to Lake Chisholm Forest Reserve which has flooded limestone sinkholes and meandering walks through old myrtle forests and alongside still watered lakes. Then we went on to Dempster Plains lookout which has expansive views over buttongrass plains to the interior mountains and hills of the Tarkine. Then on to another sinkhole.
Next stop was Milkshake Hills Forest Reserve nestled among the eucalypts. This was a walk uphill to a lookout over the forest. It was very pretty and lucky for us the rain stopped long enough for us to walk without getting wet.
We then headed to our last stop for the day The Trowutta Arch Rain Forest Walk; a stunning and natural geological structure. And again with amazing fungi.
We walked a total 8km today but at a snail’s pace. Better than nothin I suppose.
Nestled in the North-West corner of Tasmania, Australia’s island state is the greatest expanse of temperate rainforest, and the second largest in the world, the Tarkine is an intriguing experience.
Unlike many places in the world the Tarkine remains as a hidden treasure and a forgotten wilderness. This expanse of uninterrupted 477,000 hectares of Tarkine wilderness holds ancient relics both plants and animals dating back millennia. Not only is it home to the largest temperate rainforest in Australia and second in the world, but is alive with unique creatures and habitats not found anywhere else.
The Tarkine is not just one wilderness, it provides an archipelago of experiences with vast forests of myrtle, leatherwood and pine trees.
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The start of the Julius River Rainforest walk was suitable for wheelchairs..
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..It was only very new the timbaer still had the new smell..
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Just a little bit of fungi..
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..this one was very tiny..
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..and so was this group. We are now on the Julius River Sinkhole walk..
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..more fungi..
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We had been looking for the elusive blue fungi, we neew it was small but didn’t realise how small..
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Me in my element. Hehehe!!
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The variety of fungi..
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..we have seen is amazing..
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All this in 2km of rainforest..
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The rainforest was beautiful..
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..it was raining but luckily you don’t get very wet..such colour..
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..and in this one as well..This one was hidden under a log..
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..these are quite small too.
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Then there were the unusual ones..
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..this is also an odd shape..
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..this one quite translucent..
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..and some more twins..
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A better shot of the elusive blue fungi..
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..and a purple one as well..
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.and a frilly one..
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..the underside of the frilly one..
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some more translucent ones..
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This is the brand new shelter where we cooked dinner last night. Great BBQs and tables.
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The start of the Lake Chisholm sinkhole walk..
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The trees were so tall..
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..and the trunks were so wide. This is the base of a fallen tree..
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Looking out to Lake Chisholm sinkhole..
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..a home for someone.
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Dempster Plains lookout
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Another sinkhole.
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Milkshake Hills walk, the trees are sooo tall, and the number that were down it looked like a war zone.
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Wow they are tall. Look at the size of me in the foreground..
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..and Milkshake Hills has more fungi for me..
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..and more..
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..and more..
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..and more..
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It was a pleasant walk up the hill..
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..to a lookout over the forest..
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..we saw plenty of wombat poop, but unfortunately no wombats..
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..but we did see this colourful caterpillar.
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View from the top of Milkshake Hills
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Burnoff of remainder of forest after harvest near Trowutta Arch
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Guess what? More fungi in the Trowutta Arch walk.
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The Trowutta Arch and sinkhole..
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..and again..
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..and more colourful, odd shaped fungi..
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..and this one was a beautiful colour.
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Forest on the way from the Tarkine drive. It is amazing how there is only foliage on the top and outer edge of the forest.
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Finally at about 4pm we saw a little sunshine for about an hour.
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132km today.