Monday 21st March 2011

Headed out west of NN along the Lyell Highway along the southern side of the Derwent River.  Poplar trees are starting to change colour and one can only wonder at how they will look in a few weeks.  I have a real love of autumn colours as we don’t see them too much at home.   We drove out to the Salmon Ponds which incorporates a trout hatchery.  This hatchery was started back in the 1850’s when they attempted to bring salmon ova from England by ship attempting different ways of keeping the ova cool so that they did not die before arriving in Tasmania.  It was interesting to read of the various methods that were tried before finally in 1864 success was obtained in using wooden boxes with the ova packed into ice and moss and the boxes packed into the cool room on the boat.  There were some trout ova also sent along with this first successful transportation and those trout were released into the lakes areas of the central highlands where their descendants are still swimming today.  We enjoyed wandering throughout the beautiful park and riverside walk that has been developed.

Golden Ash at Salmon Ponds

  There are bbq’s with picnic tables and chairs so that folk can enjoy the location.  We walked along the river walk and noticed that there were signs that special fishing access jetties had been built for use by those with disabilities.  These facilities can only be used by those who qualify and hold a fishing licence.  Walking out onto these jetties we were able to throw some of the fish food we had purchased into the Plenty River and feed trout that were swimming free.  Wow that was great, actual fish in the wild not just in the ponds.  There was one pond that held albino trout and they looked interesting. 

Albino Trout

Swimming in the tannin stained water they looked to be a shade of yellow however when they came to the surface to feed on the pellets we threw, you could see that they were quite white as opposed to the rainbow and brown trout that were in the other ponds.  There were also some tiger trout which were achieved by crossing two different trouts together.  They were basically brown however had a dark pattern all over them.

We then drove on to Mt Field National Park and the walk to the beautiful Russell Falls. 

Russell Falls

 These are so photogenic and have starred in many calendars throughout the years.  We enjoyed a bushwalk to the top of the falls and then checked out the Horseshoe Falls as well. 

Horseshoe Falls

Further along the walk we came to the Tall Timbers section however we had seem some tall timbers as we walked through the forest.

Tall Timber cut down

  We were also lucky enough to see small animals we believe to be Rufus Wallabies.  Our walk was during the latter part of the afternoon so the animals were probably starting to come out for their evening dinner.  The temperature changed as we walked along the track from quite cool in the deeper forest to being much warmer as we started to emerge towards the visitors’ centre.  Sunlight dappling through the tree canopy onto the moss coverings on the fallen timber along with the many tree ferns growing on the forest floor made interesting patterns and you felt as if you needed to check for the fairies and gnomes that were surely there somewhere.

On our way home we passed beside hop fields some undergoing harvest.  There was a processing factory that we passed and there was a faint hops aroma in the air.  You can only wonder at what it would be like when processing is at full steam.

Tuesday found us achieving a long held goal and visiting the Cadbury factory at Claremont in Hobart.  There was an entry fee of $7.50 per person however that then meant you were handed a 200g block of milk chocolate and entry to the display that is held every 30 mins.  This included a presentation about chocolate production and a handout of snack size chocolate bars before then moving to watch a short video providing a better understanding of production.  As our presenter said ‘you can’t watch a video without chocolate to eat’ so there were more snack chocolates available for each of us.  Following the video we then moved to the ‘taste’ section of the presentation.  We were offered pure cocoa, cocoa butter, milk, dark and white chocolate to try.  Who needed lunch?  Of course the pure cocoa was quite bitter to taste and the cocoa butter had no taste but was great to rub into the back of my hand.  The chocolate on the other hand was nothing but yummy.  After all the tasting the only place left to visit was the shop!  Loved the prices in comparison to our usual supermarket so a shopping we did go.  Problem is, there is only so much chocolate one can buy at any one time.  Seems that didn’t apply to some of the folk in the shop as they had trolleys they filled and packed onto.  One lady told me she has 20 in the family so was shopping for Easter.  Bet her family is going to be sick of eggs by the time Easter is over!! 

After enjoying the delights of chocolate we had ourselves a picnic lunch further along the river towards Hobart and then took ourselves to the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens and walked around this delightful area.  Again there were beautiful autumn colours and interesting trees and plants to wander through.  Unlike at Mt Field all these trees are named so it made the wander quite interesting.  We admired oak trees that have started changing and also a pine tree with a load of cones.  Throughout the gardens there were workmen setting up the lighting special effects that will be starring during the ‘10 days on the Island’ festival beginning this weekend.  Maybe we might be able to return to check out the display one evening. 

Tasman Bridge from Botanical Gardens

Oak tree at Botanical Gardens