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February 27th, 2010
Greetings from Van Dieman's Land,
When first named in honour of the Dutch explorer, Van Dieman never realized he had discovered an island. It took British explorers Flinders and Bass, travelling along its northern coast in the late 1700s to make this discovery and finally rename this great land Tasmania.
Yesterday we left Hobart after visiting the summit of Mount Wellington, the highest peak in these parts at about 1300 m. The weather was again excellent so we took advantage and made this slight detour. The view was incredible and we could see right over the city and beyond. I don't think the pictures really do justice (see pics) as on such a clear day at high altitude there always seems to be a slight haze that only special UV filters can correct, something the small compact camera's lack.
We drove north up the east coast enjoying more spectacular vistas until we reached the Fracinet peninsular, which is partly a National Park, until we stopped at our destination in Coles Bay. Here we were able to access some great trails that took us to the coast where we could view part of the main attraction in these parts - Wineglass Bay (see pics). It is uncertain how this got its name but likely due either to its shape or the fact it sparkles like a glass of wine when weather permits and today was such a day. Unfortunately we were too late to take the cruise or water taxi and the overland hike was perhaps a little too tough for us old timers so we planned to take a short flight the next day - weather permitting! Well, the next day Mother Nature had other plans and it rained so we were out of luck.
We left Coles Bay a little dissappointed and again headed north and eventually west towards our destination of Launceston, Tasmania's second largest city. By the afternoon the weather improved and we were again treated to sunny skies. We arrived in Launceston at about 4 pm, found our accommodation and then set out to explore the Cataract Gorge - a really scenic spot first developed in the late 1800s (see pic).
Tomorrow (Sunday) we head west again to Cradle Mountain and the wilderness lodge that will be our stop for the night - stay tuned!
David and Barbra
