Making the most of our time at Corinna, we embarked on another walking adventure into the Tarkine. Conveniently, the start of the 3.5 kilometre trail was right next to our cottage and, although initially a comfortable tramp along a boardwalk, the track soon required careful footwork around erupting tree roots.
Surrounded by dense forest, the track became easier.
Burrowing crayfish chimneys heralded the shallow waters of a tannin stained stream.
More treacherous tree roots threatened the integrity of our ankles
as our attention was captured by masses of mosses, lichens and fungi.
The vegetation started to change
and we soon had a glimpse of the Whyte River.
Curtains of mossy vines hung from branches
as we approached the confluence of the Whyte and Pieman Rivers.
The track then followed the Pieman
past forest giants, wildflowers and more spectacular fungi.
Huon pines dipped their unruly foliage into the water
as we returned to the Corinna tavern to relax with a beverage.
One of the drawbacks of living on a property surrounded by forest is the nightly visitations from various furry critters. Very cute to observe but destructive to the garden, in particular those plants we are trying to nurture. For some reason, after 17 years of being ignored, they decided at the beginning of winter to dine at the bonsai buffet. The brush-tailed possums are not petite creatures and inadvertently damage branches while feasting. We immediately created some temporary protection while searching for a more permanent solution. Not pretty but it did the job.
When our new cover arrived (Maze products to the rescue again), we moved the bonsai inside
and set about modifying the stand so the cover would fit.
We removed the shelves and trimmed off one end of the top level,
placed a new base to support the frame
and replaced the original shelves.
Supporting brackets were added to the new base
and the frame sat perfectly in place.
We fit the cover and tied it to the frame and the base,
the front opens up for easy access.
The small birds would enjoy a bath and drink from the shallow water dish when it was on the open shelf so we created a new spot so they don’t miss out.
Michael is a happy camper once more
and we are hopeful the Japanese maple will recover.
Following our wonderfully relaxing sojourn in Tanunda, we took the rural idyll to the extreme. A few years ago, my brother-in-law and his partner escaped the rat race to establish an off-grid property in a tiny town with a population of 26 . After driving for two and half hours through mostly flat, barren countryside, we arrived at Stone Hut, named for the old stone cottage built on the banks of the Rocky River in the 1850s by stonemason Thomas Long. Originally a stopover for Cobb & Co mail coaches, the next twenty years saw the village, surveyed in 1874, become a bustling pioneer settlement. There is a lot of history at Stone Hut but not much bustle these days.
We had booked two nights at Stone Hut Cottages, adjacent to the famous bakery where, it is told, ‘visitors flock from miles to experience its delights’. We were so disappointed to find it was closed and, in a fine example of bad timing, re-opened under new management two weeks later. The cottages are scattered in a quiet bushland setting
and ours was very comfortable, spacious and well-equipped.
There are no convenience stores at Stone Hut but the town of Laura (population 552) is only 9km south and Wirrabara (population 353) the same distance to the north. Lunch at The Old Bakery in Wirrabara made up for our earlier dismay along with the discovery of a spectacular work of art painted on silos. To create a new tourist attraction for the town, the state Government offered an $80,000 grant to rejuvenate the non-operational silos, create a viewing area, car park, signage and lighting. In October 2018, Australian street artist Sam Bates (a.k.a. SMUG) created the forestry themed painting in twenty days.
On a side note, when we drove from Geelong to Adelaide we stopped at a town called Kaniva to find a spot to eat our packed lunch. A shaded picnic table was perfect, with a beautiful backdrop of another painted silo. This one celebrates the plants and birds of Little Desert National Park in Victoria and was completed by artist David Lee Pereira in October 2020.
Back to Stone Hut. A post-prandial walk was just the thing to counteract the bakery lunch before an evening indulgence of home-made pizza and beverages. We climbed the dirt road to Mariette’s Lookout, passing aged trees existing symbiotically with a younger generation.
I haven’t been able to find out who Mariette was, presumably a former resident of the town.
The views are expansive but at that time of year, the scenery was not particularly colourful. Being cropping and grazing country, the palette changes with the seasons ( I have seen photos of verdant pastures – really!)
A final attempt at a panorama before wine time called.
A visit to Dip Falls in northwest Tasmania isn’t complete without venturing a further kilometre up the road to experience The Big Tree. At the end of a short walk down a well defined track
surrounded by eucalypt forest and towering manferns
was most certainly a big tree.
The Browntop stringybark, formally known as Eucalyptus obliqua, is not especially tall at 62 metres, considering the species can reach heights of 90 metres. However, the circumference at the base is an impressive and unusually large 16 metres.
There used to be a boardwalk around the base for a close up inspection, I don’t know when or why it was removed.
The tree is estimated to be around 400 years old and it now has large holes and hollow cavities in it’s trunk.
Once it becomes unsafe it will, sadly, be cut down and laid to rest among fallen friends.
After many years exposed to the Tasmanian elements, the timber edging along our blackberry patch was starting to crumble. We had erected a temporary protective net that we have been meaning to upgrade for the same number of years.
Last winter, we purchased a couple of garden tunnels and finally got around to it. The new edging was laid with space to allow for the depth of the new covers
followed by plastic to discourage weeds and grass growth.
We filled in with soil
and a hefty layer of mulch.
Job done!
Or not. Our measurements hadn’t allowed for the 100mm skirt around the base of the covers. Back to the drawing board. We moved the edging another 200mm
and repeated the filling process. A new frame was added to support the training wires and the first cover fit like a glove.
With both tunnels in place
the canes were fixed to the wires, ready for some warmer weather.
We had a bumper crop this year, a few kilos of berries still being harvested at the end of April.
