Hobart to Strahan, Tasmania, 15 October 2023
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Nelson River.

We were heading from Hobart to Strahan and on our way stopped off at Nelson Falls.

(The water is dark brown because of the tannin content, as in tea)..

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The walk in from the road is short and level, very easy.

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Nelson Falls.

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We are now walking back, perhaps a little more leisurely.

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Lots of ferns beside the river.

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Recent rain gave a good water flow.

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Moss on a tree.

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Trees beside the river.

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Later, beside the road, the Linda Café.

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Linda was once a thriving gold mining town with four hotels.  This was originally the wooden Royal Hotel, built in 1901, burned down in 1910 and then rebuilt in concrete.  The town withered away in the 1930s and the annual license for the hotel was last renewed in 1952.  The building was then abandoned for seventy years until it was sold in 2020 to the present owners living on the site.

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Unfortunately, as you can see, the café was closed.  The sign does not explain why.

In fact, the café in the old Royal Hotel building closed eight years ago.

But until it perhaps reeopens there, the café is actually just out to the right in a less impressive building.

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Iron Blow Lookout.

Not far from Linda and Queenstown, this was originally a gold mine and then primarily a copper mine.  Forty years ago, the whole area around Queenstown was totally denuded due to the chemicals used in mining.  When it started to grow back, some locals were disappointed and thought it was losing its distinctive character as a tourist attraction.

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Horsetail Falls, not far from Iron Blow lookout.

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Ocean Beach.

We’d driven on through Queenstown and found our accommodation in a caravan park at Strahan.   Then we drove on because I wanted to reconnoitre possible places for starlight photography.  First we went to Macquarie Heads which wasn’t what I was looking for and then to Ocean Beach, which is where we are now.  Later that night, which otherwise would have been ideal conditions with a new moon, it was too cloudy for starlight photography.

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Getting closer to the object you can see on the beach above, it’s the remains of a cetacean.

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Once a dolphin or a small whale.

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And in the distance a cloud of silver gulls was wheeling above the sea.

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(This is at the equivalent full-frame focal length of 900mm, so they are quite a long way away.)

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