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xenithSo, we're almost back in Strahan
The two storey, white building is one of the few old buildings, almost all the ones visible in the photo are new. The ferry on the left is the one from the other cruise company, that was in one of the Macquarie Harbour photos.
Our boat though, rather than going straight back to the starting point, lets most of it's passengers off here, at Morrisson's sawmill
where they cut up Huon pine logs.
That photo came out better than it was after a bit of editing. I needed the flash in there and I was worried about the batteries so I only took a couple of quick shots.
There's a guy that gives a talk on the timber and it's properties but I wasn't paying attention. Although I did take a handful of the sawdust when he passed the shovel around. Seems the oil in Huon pine, which is what helps it live to long/not rot, has antisepctic qualities and it's good for things like toothache. If you chew it, it makes your tongue go numb. And it tastes bloody awful.
However, I was more interested in the far side of the mill where they had things for sale -- various souvenirs, small furniture items, packs of sawdust (first one free, $1 for more) and over in one corner, is it? Yes! Timber offcuts for $1 each!!
I've been after some samples of the rainforest timbers for a while You know when you're writing and you want to describe some special item in detail or just use a different wood to usual but you're not sure what to use and pictures are OK but if you really want the feel and smell and texture...
Left to right: Huon pine, King Billy pine, leatherwood, celery top pine, sassafras & blackwood. Of course, they all smell like Huon pine at the moment.
From the mill we walked back to the car (less a short detour while I went back to find the brown jacket that I always wear, found it hanging on the side of car, guess someone found it lying on the footpath and didn't think it was a good place for it) and then we off headed home. Sort of.
As we're heading out of Strahan, I'm taking a min-video of one of the churches (because I'm trying to get a photo of every church in the state to put onmy website, and while I'm viewing it to see if it worked,the red battery light flashes on and the camera dies. Nooooooo! Not when we're going to Queenstown. Not that Queenstown is that special; as mum says later, the most interesting thing about the place is the Empire Hotel and its staircase, but I really wanted to take a photo of the hills. I could buy a postcard or something but it's not the same. Not fair. Grrr.
So I sat and sulked and tried to think if there was anyway to recharge the bloody things. Just a little bit. Except, I don't necessarily have to recharge the ones I have, I just needed batteries. And surely you can buy them for a decent price even in Queenstown?
Turns out you can, in the newsagent, a pack of alkaline batteries for only $5. So here is Queenstown
and the Empire Hotel
and its staircase
and even the football oval.
Who needs that grass stuff anyway?
Oh, and here are the hills
What to guess what the main industry is in Queenstown? The trees were cut down to fuel copper smelters and sulphur produced by the smelters contributed to the loss of vegetation and also encouraged bushfires, and then the rain washed away the soil.
Although as you can see in the photos, the vegetation is growing back around the lower hills.
From Queenstown we headed north, although on a different road this time.
Stopping at Tullah for tea
Soon after leaving Tullah, we were back in the land of gum trees but there was still a long way to. As we turned east onto the road the ran past Cradle Mountain, it was getting dark and then it started to rain. And, of course, once it's dark, the native animals come out and run across the road. So there we were crawling along the narrow, winding mountain roads at about 40 kpm (25 mph).
It took years to get to Moina, and then Gowrie Park and then Claude Road and we're at Sheffield! One more windy, country road and then a slightly wider country road and we were back on the highway and half an hour from home.
And the bettong, echidna & two brushtail possums we encountered were safe too.
The two storey, white building is one of the few old buildings, almost all the ones visible in the photo are new. The ferry on the left is the one from the other cruise company, that was in one of the Macquarie Harbour photos.
Our boat though, rather than going straight back to the starting point, lets most of it's passengers off here, at Morrisson's sawmill
where they cut up Huon pine logs.
That photo came out better than it was after a bit of editing. I needed the flash in there and I was worried about the batteries so I only took a couple of quick shots.
There's a guy that gives a talk on the timber and it's properties but I wasn't paying attention. Although I did take a handful of the sawdust when he passed the shovel around. Seems the oil in Huon pine, which is what helps it live to long/not rot, has antisepctic qualities and it's good for things like toothache. If you chew it, it makes your tongue go numb. And it tastes bloody awful.
However, I was more interested in the far side of the mill where they had things for sale -- various souvenirs, small furniture items, packs of sawdust (first one free, $1 for more) and over in one corner, is it? Yes! Timber offcuts for $1 each!!
I've been after some samples of the rainforest timbers for a while You know when you're writing and you want to describe some special item in detail or just use a different wood to usual but you're not sure what to use and pictures are OK but if you really want the feel and smell and texture...
Left to right: Huon pine, King Billy pine, leatherwood, celery top pine, sassafras & blackwood. Of course, they all smell like Huon pine at the moment.
From the mill we walked back to the car (less a short detour while I went back to find the brown jacket that I always wear, found it hanging on the side of car, guess someone found it lying on the footpath and didn't think it was a good place for it) and then we off headed home. Sort of.
As we're heading out of Strahan, I'm taking a min-video of one of the churches (because I'm trying to get a photo of every church in the state to put on
So I sat and sulked and tried to think if there was anyway to recharge the bloody things. Just a little bit. Except, I don't necessarily have to recharge the ones I have, I just needed batteries. And surely you can buy them for a decent price even in Queenstown?
Turns out you can, in the newsagent, a pack of alkaline batteries for only $5. So here is Queenstown
and the Empire Hotel
and its staircase
and even the football oval.
Who needs that grass stuff anyway?
Oh, and here are the hills
What to guess what the main industry is in Queenstown? The trees were cut down to fuel copper smelters and sulphur produced by the smelters contributed to the loss of vegetation and also encouraged bushfires, and then the rain washed away the soil.
Although as you can see in the photos, the vegetation is growing back around the lower hills.
From Queenstown we headed north, although on a different road this time.
Stopping at Tullah for tea
Soon after leaving Tullah, we were back in the land of gum trees but there was still a long way to. As we turned east onto the road the ran past Cradle Mountain, it was getting dark and then it started to rain. And, of course, once it's dark, the native animals come out and run across the road. So there we were crawling along the narrow, winding mountain roads at about 40 kpm (25 mph).
It took years to get to Moina, and then Gowrie Park and then Claude Road and we're at Sheffield! One more windy, country road and then a slightly wider country road and we were back on the highway and half an hour from home.
And the bettong, echidna & two brushtail possums we encountered were safe too.
