This was another walk on the Central Plateau, with the same party that was on the earlier walk. This time Paula was looking for another old mountain hut. Another bushwalker who is relatively old could recall seeing a hut many years ago and had told Paula its rough position.
She had looked for it on a previous walk, with no luck, but had found a cut track that seemed to lead towards where she thought it was. Was the track cut to lead to the hut? We would try and find out. Continue reading
It was great to see these caves again. They must be some of the best decorated in Australia. Some of the wild caves are regarded as being world class in terms of their cave formations. My brother in law, Stuart, organised this day. It was necessary to book the cave tours in advance by phone. It was a popular time of the year and numbers for all cave visits are limited.
Three of us went – my sister and Stuart her husband and myself, but due to previous bookings, we could get all three of us on a visit to King Solomons Cave at 4:30 pm, but there was only room for two on the 2 pm Marakoopa Cave visit, but there was one space left on the 3 pm visit. That suited me OK, and while I waited, I looked for birds in the area. Continue reading
I was invited by my sister and brother in law to join them and their friend Paula on a walk in the Lake Augusta area of the Central Plateau. Their intention was to search for some remote huts on the plateau.
It was great to get out in some of Tasmanian’s fabulous alpine terrain once more, but it was a very cold day for summer. For most of the day, the temperature was less than 8°C and there was also a strong cold wind. However, it was mostly sunny, and if you could find shelter out of the wind then it was quite pleasant. Continue reading
The Tasmanian Arboretum is a great place to visit, not only for its peaceful atmosphere and great trees but also for its birds. And of all the places I have visited, I think it is the easiest place to observe Platypus in the wild.
Two years earlier I had been to the Arboretum with my one of my sisters and brother in laws, and this was a repeat trip. That previous trip had been very good and this was equally as good. Continue reading
This was a pleasant day, where one of my brother in laws and my two sisters and myself visited the small town of Stanley.
Once there, we climbed the famous Nut. Its a steep climb up from the carpark – but not too long and one on top there are fabulous views. Continue reading
I had some nice dark and cloud free skies while in Tasmania and I photographed Comet C/2021 A1 Leonard during three evenings.
Taken 26 December 2021 (215 mm, 6 seconds, f45.6, 25,600 ISO)
On all evenings, the comet was easy to spot using binoculars and using the camera, but I could not see it using the naked eye.
I did not have any fast lenses available, and most photos are taken with a 100 – 400 mm zoom. Continue reading
I was fortunate to be able to visit North West Tasmania for the Christmas – New year period. I spent this time enjoying the hospitality of my sister at brother in law that live near Ulverstone, and also travelled down with my other sister and her husband. During the visit, I went on a number of daywalks and other outings which I will describe in separate blog posts. This post will feature mainly some of the birds I spotted in the Ulverstone area.
My sister and Brother in law that live in Tasmania live on a hill overlooking the coast near Goat Island Reserve between Ulverstone and Penguin. Their property and the nearby coast attract a lot of birds. Here are some – Continue reading
It was a clear evening, the first for a while, and I was keen to see if I could spot and photograph Comet C/2021 A1 Leonard. It would have been nice to be out of Sydney and have some dark skies, but I did not have time for this. To get a clear view of the western horizon, I went to above the cutting at Dulwich Hill Station.
I soon spotted the comet using binoculars. I could not spot it just with naked eyes. It was perhaps easiest to see using the camera mounted on a tripod. Continue reading
I had been a while since I had been able to visit Taronga Zoo. This was my first visit since the lockdown and there was a lot to see including some new baby animals.
One highlight was seeing the five new Lion cubs. They were all visible, bit not active while I was at the Zoo (and I did visit their enclosure a number of times). Continue reading
Here are a few photos taken on a walk from my place to Leichhardt via the Greenway.
Along the way, I deviated to Morton Park to see the Tawny Frogmouth family. I cold one spot two birds – a juvenile and an adult. Continue reading
