Well, I honestly though that the worst weather we could expect would be rain, but the wind has been non-stop since we arrived in Arthur River – can you imagine trying to set out a salad without your lettuce leaves blowing away! Or more to the point your tent! Yes, the wind is getting up to 40km/hr tomorrow and we are planning an excursion north.
Apart from the wind this is a very peaceful corner of Tasmania with lots to see. Today, we drove part way round the Tarkine Drive through open scrub as we followed the coast for a few kilometres before heading inland through native rainforest.
Along the way we had many stops:
Kunnunah Bridge for morning tea
Sumac Lookout
Julius River for a walk through the rainforest, described as easy, but we found quite steep sections. None the less, it was interesting to walk through the fern trees and old fallen tress covered in moss. This is well set up for picnics with covered and open tables and free barbeques.
Lake Chisholm – this is one of a few sinkholes in the area which, according to the information, provides great reflections of the surrounding trees – not today, though, due to the wind kicking up some waves significant enough to ruin a good photograph. It is also renowned for having Platypus, but again, due to the wind they were nowhere to be seen.
Sinkhole – this is much smaller, but very sheltered, so we did see some great reflections. We actually drove past it before we realised. This was our last stop before turning back via Julius River for afternoon tea.
As it was just of the main drag, we pulled in to Couta Rocks as we turned back up the coast line. This gave us an insight into the sea side colourations in the rocks and vegetation that is typical around the coast of Tasmania. This is a breeding ground for Pied Oystercatchers, among many other bird species, so care has to be taken walking along the sand.
We are going to the Edge of the World again shortly to see if the sunset is any better than last night and then it will be interesting to see how much the tent flapping about disrupts our sleep.
