Oatlands: Population 540

At first glance the town of Oatlands can look like a sleepy little place with not much going on.  That is until you find there is a great little camp spot which places you in close walking distance to everything such as:

• Dulverton Lake is full of bird life and stocked with Trout.
• Callington Mill (1836) is a gorgeous working mill where you can take a tour - It has been fully restored after it was gutted by fire in the early 1900s and now makes organic flour the traditional way.
• Visitor and information centre (handy if you want to get some info about the old buildings, there is also a Historical Walk)
• Town and the local IGA.
• TKO Bakery at the Kentish Hotel where you can get the best Scallop Pies ever made.

This is one of Tassie's hidden gems with many convict-built buildings in town and it is just loaded with atmosphere and history.

Gardens & Callington Mill

Callington Mill & other convict built buildings

Inside the Grainary

Lake Dulverton

Kayaking on the Lake

Confused local caterpillar trying to eat Trent's arm hairs

Richmond - Historic Town

I have just post-edited some photos from the historic town of Richmond, Tasmania.  An easy drive from Hobart, this gorgeous little town is full of the most stunning old buildings.  It was really worth seeing. 

"The foundation stone for the Richmond Bridge was laid on 11 December 1823 and construction continued using convict labour until completion in 1825. The bridge was originally named Bigge's Bridge after Royal Commissioner, John Thomas Bigge, who recognised the need for the bridge in 1820.  In 1832 an employee of the Richmond Gaol was murdered at Richmond bridge. George Grover was employed as a gaoler whose duties including flogging the prisoners. He was unpopular due to his ferocity and was pushed off the edge of Richmond Bridge after drunkenly falling asleep. No one was convicted of his murder." - Wikipedia

Richmond bridge

Cute puppy - I couldn't resist

Girls eating their lunch under the bridge

Very old!

So polite - Skysie & Oscar waiting outside the old church

Convicts Kids?

Here I sit in the old tatty 1987 annex of the camper using my iPhone as a modem for internet on my iMac via bluetooth.  It has a very odd feeling about it.

We have just left the town of Nubeena where we were camped nice and close to Port Arthur.  The best thing about staying locally over a couple of days is you get a second day free at Port Arthur so we were able to cover half on the first day and then the rest on day 2.  Included was a boat trip around the islands & out to the sea port, a very informative guided tour, plays depicting the life of a convict and craft for the kids.  My kids got to make their own convict brick and a peg doll each - they were thrilled!  They also have a little hunt where the kids have to find certain animals around the place and tick them off a map.

It gave you an idea of what convict life must have been like and I was mortified to hear that from the age of 7 a child could be tried as an adult and sent to be a convict.  Before laws were put in place if you were from a poor family your child would be sent to work from the age of 5.  My Charli is almost 6!  Of course there were some great photo ops but I mainly did close ups due to the very overcast skies on both days we were there.

My kids doing their best convict poses 

Old fire place

Bumble Bee!

Triabunna

We found ourselves overnighting in the little town of Triabunna on our way to Hobart. The town gets its name from an aboriginal word meaning "Tasmanian Native Hen" which are found around Tassie but now extinct on the mainland. There are a couple of great free camps there, one by the pub, one by the river. The thing that struck me about this charming little place were all the old buildings. We camped behind the pub and there were some gorgeous abandoned buildings right next door. I believe these used to be the old mill. We saw bumble bees and the kids picked mulberries & plums off the trees. They had a ball! You can get the boat to Maria Island which we have been told was worth seeing as well, but we were keen to hit the road again & head for Hobart.


My image of the old mill: Converted to black & white then overlaid with a texture of the stonework on the building itself. I thought getting down low so the grass was visibly long enhanced the abandoned look.

Almost time to say goodbye...

Well it's nearly time to leave The Bay of Fires, we have been here a month and loved (almost) every moment of it excluding a couple of crazy days over the silly season!  Photography-wise this is one of the most beautiful places on earth.  I can see why the Lonely Planet and National Geographic credit it wuth having some of the best beaches in the world.  It's still so natural without a high-rise building in sight.

Here are the rest of my bird images from the area, it was exciting to capture the babies and also a thrill to see the "Turbo Chook/Native Hen" as these are a flightless bird which is now extinct on the mainland of Australia due to Foxes, Dingoes & Wild Dogs.

This place will be forever etched in my memory as one of the most special places to stay.  Such great memories and photo ops at every turn.

Pacific Gull, top left shows the Juvenile 

Tasmanias Endemic "Native Hen" or "Turbo Chook" as the locals call it

Splendid Fairy-Wren - the male on right, female shown top left.

I believe this is a young Black-Faced Cormorant

Hooded Plover chick playing dead, adult top left

HAPPY NEW YEAR

A bird on the beach

I have been getting back to nature in Tassie lately and have been dished out some great wildlife photo ops. The shore birds fascinate me as they nest on the ground in the dunes. They seem so fragile there!

I visited my beautiful Oystercatcher who had laid eggs again to find the eggs had hatched into 2 beautiful chicks! Of course I had to do one more blog to share the images with you.

Note the difference where I never used a pl filter in bottom image as a test. I much prefer the top image without the shine on the black feathers.