Mount Field - More "Mount" than "Field"

---

Montezuma Falls

Although the heat in the centre of Australia was entirely manageable because of the low humidity, it was great to be greeted with cool, fresh air when we arrived in Tasmania.

We enjoyed a relaxing night in town (with a real bed) and headed out the next morning toward Strahan on the west coast, stopping along the way for a few bushwalks. Our first stop was at Mount Field National Park - it lured us with advertisements of waterfalls and tall trees, and it did not disappoint. The main attraction was Russell Falls - a three-tiered, beautiful cascading waterfall. We decided to continue along the track up to the top of Russell Falls where we came upon Horseshoe Falls - not as high, but just as pretty with the sun shining off the green moss on the partly-submerged boulders lining the riverbed. We continued further into the forest on the Tall Trees Walk, where we walked through a forest of swamp gums that were nearly 90 metres tall - spectacular! As part of our walk, we met up with a Tasmanian Pademelon - a small, wallaby-like marsupial.

As we continued west, we wondered why the mileage signs at the side of the road were in times rather than distances… but as we began to enter the winding, twisting roads of the mountains, it became clear that there was no way to estimate the time to a location based on distance. The speed limit most of the way to Stahan was 100 km/h but I probably only managed an average of 50 - 60 km/h.

We stopped for another quick bushwalk at the south end of Lake St. Clair - Cradle Mountain National Park. The wind off the lake was particularly brisk here, and we had to bundle up for our walk. We saw another pademelon as well as a wallaby and some black cockatoos. We even stopped and were very quiet at a platypus viewing area, but had no luck there.

The mountainous road continued and we were getting very tired and hungry by the time we hit Queenstown where we decided to stop for dinner. As we neared the mining town, it was clear that the landscape had been demolished by open pit strip mining. We came in at sunset, and the decimated cliffs were a sorry sight. It really took away from what might have been a beautiful mountain town - it’s unfortunate that the first impressions of this place are so poor. Our pizza, however, was fabulous!

As night fell, we continued out on the winding roads for our last hour to Strahan. To add to the adventure, we drove through hail! We finally turned a corner and Strahan and the west coast of Tasmania were in front of us. A beautiful little fishing port and tourist town, its main street is maintained impeccably. Upon arriving at our small inn for the night, the welcoming fireplace was a wonderful sight! We spent the remainder of the evening writing postcards and reading by the fire.

---

Photos

Moss and Rainforest
After the dry environment of the Northern Territory, it was great to be in a temperate rainforest where moss and beautiful mountain scenery was everywhere.

Those are tall falls!
You can just see Tom crossing the 2-man footbridge across Montezuma Falls.

Russell Falls
Russell Falls are one of the most popular tourist attractions in Tazzie. The track is fully paved to the base of this beautiful scene.

Horseshoe Falls
Not as big as Horseshoe Falls at home, but still very pretty.

How long 'til we get there?
Mileage signs in Tasmania are given by time - not distance.

Helpful Kangaroos!
If you're in an accident, just call the wildlife - they'll change a tire for you!

That's a big tree!
Because of the rocky nature of the land, trees don't put deep roots down. When they fall, the enormous trunk and roots are exposed from below.

Montezuma Falls
One hundred metres of falling water. Supposedly these falls can dry up in the summer time. Hard to believe!

Beware
Hmm... do we really want to walk across?

That is a zip tie!
Yes - the footbridge was secured with plastic zip ties!

You want me to cross that?
The footbridge across Montezuma Falls was less than 30 centimetres across, but flared up for the steel hand-rails (which were secured with plastic zip-ties!)

Wow!
The spray from the falls wasn't too bad on the bridge - a good vantage point for pictures.

Balancing Act
Don't look down.

Russell Falls
This 3-tier falls was just beautiful. We had to dodge the spray to try to get a few good shots.

Mini-falls
One of the small falls we photographed on our trek into Montezuma Falls.

More small falls
Our walk was made interesting by so many small falls along the path to Montezuma Falls.

Strange inspection...
I think they mean odometer check... but I wouldn't put anything past the Aussies!

Main Street, Strahan
Strahan was a beautiful fishing and tourist village. We could have spent more than our one night here!