Blogs from Beauty Point, Tasmania, Australia, Oceania

I had never heard of Beauty Bay until a few days ago, though the neighbouring town of Beaconsfield will be etched in our minds after the epic survival of two miners trapped by a rock fall, 937 meters underground. We have stayed in the Beauty Point caravan park for three nights. A chance for a rest, bring the blog up to date after the day at Evandale Penny Farthing Races, and the use of the park laundry. Beauty is a very appropriate name for this point on the Tamar River. We see sunrise on one side of the point and sunset on the other, all about 50 meters from our site. There are beautiful flowering gums all around the area, and plenty of cheerful birdsong throughout the day. The river here is of course tidal, so ... read more

I was up early again and headed to Cataract gorge which is right in the city of Launceston. There is a suspension bridge, a chairlift to the other side and some walking tracks. I didn't have much time so I just walked across the suspension bridge and back. It's a beautiful spot but after the accident gorges just aren't my favorite place to be. After snapping a few pictures I headed up north from Launceston to Beauty Point where the Platypus house is located. It's a conservation facility for Platypus and a couple of echidnas. Platypus are such an interesting animal. Although their duck bills look hard they are actually more soft like leather and have thousands of little sensories. They are blind under water as they have to keep their eyes closed. It's rare to ... read more