From Catagunya to Wayatinah – post 2 of 4

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Since Andrew had walked this way, much rain had fallen so that any chance of crossing Black Bob’s Rivulet somewhere near where he walked was zero.

I continued back to the old Cooma property through more locked gates.

The owners were in the distance checking on some of their animals. Incredibly healthy cattle wandered around the unfenced land. Big curious fellows. Superb condition. Beautiful black coats. Brown coats. Mixed colours. As usual I talked to the animals.

Elsewhere, I watched a large family of yellow tailed Black Cockatoos raucously calling from tree to tree. On another occasion a rush of coloured parrots whipped through the bush with astounding speed.

A large number of gravel roads and tracks meander over the hills between Catagunya and Wayatinah. Many do not appear on maps. Without a compass a walker could spend hours taking useless tracks – apparently people have been known to become so disoriented they find themselves way north of the river and after many kilometres back on the Lyell Highway. In part, the tracks were created to service plantation forests grown after original native forests were cleared and burnt. The other user is TasNetworks, the State company which travels around to access the electrical power transmission towers and to check the levels of vegetation along the transmission lines.

Since massive bush fires many years ago in one part of the area between Catagunya and Wayatinah, the remnants of hundreds of hectares of pine plantations have created a problem for the forestry industry. The small remaining stands of living trees are awkward to reach and not profitable to harvest. Much of the land is covered by burnt parts of trees none of which can be used. The cost to clear seems too high. Lost money. Lost opportunity. And lost original native forests. Nature always attempts to reclaim its place however in practice this means that those plants which breed well and grow quickly can create monocultures no less damaging than the single species plantation forests . In parts along the burnt out section, native plants that act like weeds such as some wattles are already taking over. Monocultures do not a forest make.

From Catagunya to Wayatinah – post 1 of 4

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Well over a year ago, one morning I walked through smoky air westwards into the Catagunya Power Station. After a night camping, entwined by the thick atmosphere of a far distant bush fire and desperate for water, I was relieved to be received hospitably at the Station. At that time I was thrilled by a guided tour of the building and its operation, however I never proceeded to walk the extra few hundred metres to look at the Dam wall holding back the large Lake Catagunya. I was most grateful when many months ago, my walking proxy Andrew climbed the hills from Wayatinah Power Station to arrive at and photograph the Catagunya Dam. A blog search using “Catagunya” as the term, will help you to locate those past stories plus a swag of descriptive photographs.

Recently, I was privileged to make the journey between the Catagunya and Wayatinah Power Stations and to experience that stimulating environment. Thanks to the generous assistance of GL from TasNetworks, I was able to enter the locked Catagunya Road off the Lyell Highway, and travel the 8 or so kilometres to the Catagunya Dam.

The wall of the Dam curved magnificently and the landscape-green Lake Catagunya spread impassively to the west.

Below I could see the old Derwent River bed as a rocky almost water free pathway.

Bypassing the river bed, a massive Canal drained water from the Lake into the Power Station. It appeared as a giant marker on the landscape that seemed much wider and more substantial than the Tarraleah Canals that run from Lake King William and the Butlers Gorge Power Station further inland.

The apparently still Canal water was deceptive. Only on closer inspection could I see the dramatic gush of water moving underneath the left hand entrance at the end of the race. Obviously electrical power was being generated in the Catagunya Power Station that day.

From vantage points near the Dam and the Canal I could see the Power Station building way below. Oh how tiny it seemed by comparison with the larger constructions. Yet when I had first approached and walked around it, the building seemed cavernous.

More than anything I was as excited as a three year old having a birthday party with lots of surprises. Recent rain had cleared the air of dust, the day was overcast and the fairy weight of moisture from low clouds kept the air moist. I kept breathing deeply, absorbing the cleanness of the air. Loving the damp air. Feeling cleansed. So profoundly happy to be back in the bush and walking besides my beloved Derwent River.

The Max Angus 1990 exhibition

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A few weeks ago I added a couple of posts to this blog about an art exhibition by the late renowned Tasmanian artist Max Angus titled Aspects of the Derwent from the source to the sea.

I did not have a copy of the exhibition catalogue and encouraged any reader who had a copy to let me know. I imagined the publication would contain only a list of the names of each work of art and the price and not contain photographs, nevertheless I did believe reading it would be instructive. I hoped to learn the locations which Max Angus painted along the Derwent River. Unfortunately a copy of the catalogue has not surfaced.

Since then I have been working through microfiche at the State Library of Tasmania looking at The Mercury newspaper hoping to find a review of the exhibition. From Googling I knew the exhibition’s title and the year – 1990. Thankfully that information limited the search. In addition, the watercolour painting, purchased from the exhibition by my friend’s mother, was dated October 1990. Yesterday I found the gallery list in The Mercury on the 6^th October 1990 providing the information that the Aspects of the Derwent from the source to the sea exhibition was already open at the Freeman Gallery and would continue until October 22^nd. Since the exhibitions at that venue typically lasted 14 – 21 days, probably the show opened around the 5^th October.

With continued research I was fortunate to find the exhibition review in the Saturday Weekend Arts of The Mercury newspaper for the 13 October 1990. I was particularly interested to read a few of journalist Susan Leggett’s comments:

“This very large exhibition – 64 works in all – is a powerful, careful and stunning collection.”

“Angus has read and evoked the nature of the turbulent, dynamic entity …” when referring to the Derwent River.

“He has not only painted images of a real river travelling along its course, but created a sort of separate reality for it – an extra dimension.”

“It is all well observed and stunningly translated.”

The image included with the article is of the painting Yachts on the Harbour. The friend mentioned elsewhere in this post, is an avid sailor on the Derwent Harbour. I wonder whether she was out there that day when Max Angus painted this picture and her yacht is in the mix.

Last but not least, since the painting belonging to my friend’s mother was painted in October 1990, then the paint was hardly dry before being taken into the Gallery for hanging.

A new blog Touching the Tarkine starts today

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Here is information about a new thrill for Walking the Derwent followers who have been sad to see this blog coming to an end …

I know many followers have loved their daily fix of Derwent River walking and related stories and some have said they will feel quite bereft once the postings stop.

For those devotees of the Tasmanian landscape I am delighted to tell you I have started a new blog that takes effect today! Over time I plan to tell the stories of my experiences in Tasmania’s great Cool Temperate Forests of the Tarkine. Never heard of them? Well go to my new blog Touching the Tarkine (www.touchingthetarkine.wordpress.com) to find out more.

The menu items underneath the header image are:

Home (which will have a new blog posting each day starting tomorrow),
About (which explains what the blog intends to do)
What is the Tarkine?
Where is the Tarkine?
How to get to the Tarkine?
Why take an interest in the Tarkine?

As with this Walking the Derwent blog, in the side bar on the actual blog screen I have added a few useful favourites:

The Follow by email option- add in your email address (and no-one but me sees it) and then automatically every day the latest post pops into your email inbox without you having to remember to check. DO THAT TODAY SO YOU DON’T FORGET!
A Search option so you can hunt through the extending blog for particular places or ideas or names etc
An Archives option so you can go back to the beginning of the blog or to a particular month later on if you need to, or if you want to show friends
A Google Translate option for international followers who do not read English and for Australians who have English as their second or third language
A Contact detail with my new email address for this blog: touchingthetarkine@gmail.com

I have fallen in love with the Tarkine for its forests and rivers, and I am super excited to let you see that ‘original’ world. Expect to see glorious photos.

Please join me at www.touchingthetarkine.wordpress.com, and feel comfortable to add your comment onto my postings at any time.

The last post?

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Whoopee! My walk from the mouth to the source of the Derwent River is complete, and the complete record of that walk has now been posted to this blog.

Undoubtedly information, ideas and events that relate to the Derwent River may attract my attention and leave me compelled to blog them. I expect to add very few new posts but please, do not stop ‘following’ the blog just in case I find new aspects of the river from new angles and can show you more wonderful vistas which complement those previously posted.

STOP PRESS – I have been offered a ride along some TasNetworks tracks beside the Derwent upstream, and this trip will take place before Easter – more stories guaranteed.

Less exciting news: this blog will cease to exist in December 2017 despite the fact that I know it contains a wealth of useful information. The reason is simple. I cannot afford to continue it. When I started the blog I was happy to pay the tiny amount for an address that didn’t contain ‘wordpress’ within it but, after adding many hundreds if not thousands of photographs, I exceeded the 3GB limit and for the past two years have paid a larger amount to keep the blog in existence. The fee is due for renewal this December and I will not be paying it. On this basis I am assuming WordPress will prevent visibility and stop access.

Now what?

My next project is to create a small book using the material from the blog; online and in hard copy. My goal is probably unrealistic. I aim to publish the book by the end of November this year.

But before I get involved on that serious business, I would like your feedback about the nature of the book.

Who do you think will be the most frequent type of reader; would it be a bushwalker, a tourist, a local, a historian or some other type of person?
What should be the style? A descriptive book, a how-to-do-it explanation for getting around the Greater Hobart Area, a personalised story, a humorous account, or should I take some other approach? If so, what do you suggest?
What should be the content? For example, should it be about the mechanics of such a walk, or about the personal development associated with such a walk, or about the history and use of the River, or about the land use either side of the River, or what? Are there particular stories or parts of the River that you loved which you believe must be included?
Should the book contain photos? If so, should there be lots or a few? What sort of photos do you think should be included? Are you able to remember favourite photos that I simply ‘must’ use?
Should the book contain maps and diagrams?
What size do you prefer books to be?

Your ideas will help me as I compress and select from the 250,000 plus words and thousands of photographs. With the sheer volume of information (and I have files of unwritten material as well) this book could take form in so many different ways. At the moment I am torn between a few options so your thoughts will be useful to help me refine mine.

There are different ways you can offer your ideas. You can add a comment directly onto this blog. Alternatively you can email me at walkingthederwent@gmail.com. If you view my blog on Twitter (named as walkingthederwent), Facebook (named as Walking TheDerwent) or LinkedIn (named as Tasmanian Traveller) then comments or messages can be added on those sites. I look forward to hearing your ideas.

Piguenit at Lake St Clair

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Since my walk from the mouth along the Derwent River culminated at the source, Lake St Clair, writing one of the final blog postings about my favourite Tasmanian artist Piguenit who painted Lake St Clair a number of times, seems appropriate. Previously in the posting Piguenit- artist extraordinaire in southern Tasmania, I extolled some of his virtues.

The story goes – in one of my former lives, in my arts and museum career, I started in the profession working at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery – in three ways: I gave the occasional public lecture in the art gallery section, I volunteered and worked on the art collection in the bowels of the building, and I was employed as a cleaning and security attendant. Because of my art knowledge and interest I was usually allocated the large gallery at the top of the building for the security detail, the one with the 19th century paintings and sculptures. In those days there was no cover on the roof windows, no insulation and no heating. This is late 1970s and I recall being frozen for most of my winter shifts standing there. But the win for me was that all the TMAG’s big Piguenit paintings were hung at one end of the gallery. Until then I had never seen his work. I was bowled over by their majesty, their drama and with the artist’s skill. Most especially, for the first time, I saw an artist painting serious pictures in oil but sometimes only using black and white paint and creating an image with greys (some were slightly yellow greys). I marvelled at this and have adored his work ever since. When I come across one of his pictures in any Gallery of Australia I simply stand in reverent silence. His work has that effect on me.

Recently I received a card for a milestone birthday from a couple of stalwart walkingthederwent supporters. The image on the cover was Lake St Clair, the Source of the River Derwent, Tasmania 1887. Piguenit delighted in this lake and its glorious mountainous surrounds. The image below, courtesy of Artnet, is very similar to that on my birthday card (regrettably I can find no online reproduction of ‘my’ image).

The original oil on canvas, shown on my card, was presented to the Tasmanian Government in 1889 and is now housed in the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. The differences between ‘mine’ and the Artnet versions include the fact that the latter is a smaller canvas and the foreground rocks and sand are shaped and painted differently. My earlier posting has another image of the same location – one which is held in the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Clearly the birthday card was sent with my recent walkingthederwent project in mind but without knowing my decades long ‘connection’ with Piguenit’s work. That image of Lake St Clair with Mount Olympus spot-lit is a stunner. Now I wonder if the impetus for my walk along the Derwent began in that freezing Gallery all those years ago. How could I have known what my future held and where I would end up?

Fossil Cove posting 4 of 4

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I relaxed with the sounds of the wash of the water onto the shore.

After one last look around this deserted Cove and across the glorious Derwent Harbour, I turned toward the path and walked back uphill. Slowly. Very slowly. I swear the incline on that hill had steepened. I found each blade of grass and each leaf on the path infinitely interesting and worthy of stopping for closer inspection. Often.

For blog readers who live in Hobart, give yourself a treat, take a picnic with you and enjoy a visit to this wonderful Cove.

Fossil Cove posting 3 of 4

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I delighted in the multitude of fossils everywhere around Fossil Cove.

And seeing the blue shells of tiny new mussels clustering in rock crevices, and the deep purple shells of sea urchins cast up on the rocky beach, reminded me of the way water continues to bring life to our shores.

Most particularly I loved the water views. The Derwent River presented a stunning vista during my visit.

14/2/17

Fossil Cove posting 2 of 4

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I admired the rock formations around Fossil Cove and wished I had walked with a geological expert.

The rock formation in the photos below could variously be described as a ‘hole in the wall’ or an arch.

I just had to explore what was through that ‘hole in the wall’.

Seeing these photos again reminds me that the day of my visit to Fossil Cove was so gloriously sunny, that the sea and the sky were shades of heavenly blue, and that the gentle on shore breeze was so soft and pleasant. So many mainland Australians who have never visited Tasmania have the idea this is a cold miserable place, so I am glad that my experiences walking the Derwent have been able to show this is a wonderfully beautiful place. And it is a place very much worth a visit (or even a relocation to live here!).

13/2/17

Fossil Cove posting 1 of 4

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On the day when I walked from Blackman’s Bay to Point Pearson near Tinderbox, then retraced my steps to catch a return bus from Blackman’s Bay, I omitted to walk via Fossil Cove. The pathway to this secluded rock strewn cove required a detour of over 2 kilometres. Since my day’s walk to the mouth of the Derwent River on the western shore and return was expected to be over 20 kms, I resolved at the time to return on another occasion to walk this section.

I was delighted when I finally ‘discovered’ what locals and others have known for a long while.

A couple of kilometres along Tinderbox Road after leaving suburban Blackmans Bay, Fossil Cove Drive is clearly marked. Around a kilometre down that road, a sign indicates the way to the beach.

A further sign declares this area to be a public reserve and a site of national geological significance.

The steep descent to the Cove was controlled by steps and dirt pathways.

I was dazzled by views across to Opossum Bay and Gellibrand Point on the eastern shore of the Derwent River.

Finally I arrived at sea/river level.

‘What’s in a name? A fair bit , actually’ says Rex Gardner

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On page 14 of The Mercury newspaper on 5^th February Rex Gardner asked ‘What’s in a name? A fair bit , actually’ about a part of my favourite Tasmanian river.

He talked about the area near the Hobart docks and further out into the harbour and remarked that it ‘really doesn’t have a proper name’.

Rex commented: ‘We call it the River Derwent, or Derwent River. But that name aptly describes the Derwent around New Norfolk, and upriver from there, because a river is a naturally flowing fresh watercourse, flowing towards the sea. Heading downstream towards Bridgewater, the Derwent becomes an estuary, defined as brackish water fed by streams and rivers, and flowing to the sea.’

When Rex added ‘What flows through the city of Hobart is not a river’, I gasped. Over time, my blog has addressed the challenges of defining where the Derwent River starts and stops.

To help you to visualise the location, below is an excerpt from Google maps.

Rex Gardner explained, ‘It could be loosely called an estuary, and more properly a harbour, which is a body of water surrounded by land. The Derwent is 1.4km wide at the Tasman Bridge. From the Hobart docks to Howrah Point is 6km. From Sandy Bay to Tranmere is 5km. The Mississippi and the Amazon rivers don’t boast distances like that, except at their mouths or when they flow through lakes.’ Finally he remarked: ‘You have to wonder how the Derwent has suffered the indignity of being called a river for so long. Just like Mount Wellington got a name change, so too should our Hobart Harbour.’ An alternative fact: our mountain has two official names – Mount Wellington and Kunanyi.

Rex Gardner’s approach adds a new dilemma. To understand some of the legal issues associated with defining a ‘river’ read here, here and here.

The Derwent Estuary Program describes the section of the Derwent between the Iron Pot (at the inner edge of Storm Bay near the eastern shore river mouth) and New Norfolk as the Derwent Estuary rather than the Derwent River and explains it is “a unique environment; a partially enclosed body of water where tidal seawater and fresh river water mix”.

What constitutes our Derwent River – where does it start and stop? What is the location of its mouth? I have become so used to thinking of the Derwent River starting in the Lake St Clair area and ending around the Iron Pot that these ideas have shaken me up; they are making me question my position. Does it matter to you? I wonder what others think.

Max Angus’s Derwent exhibition

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Researching Max Angus’s ‘source to sea’ exhibition is still a work in progress. Meanwhile I have found other documents and websites which list watercolours depicting various aspects of the Derwent River.

Sue Backhouse & Christa Johannes co-authored the publication Max Angus: a lifetime of watercolour and provided the following information: “ the … watercolour landscapes … have been selected from a sixty-year period to enable a broad exploration of subject matter and stylistic changes. The work includes examples from each decade since the late 1940’s. The earliest watercolours were painted when Max Angus returned to Hobart following the Second World War.”

A pdf document, SIXTY-FIVE PAINTINGS by ‘THE SUNDAY PAINTERS Max Angus, Harry Buckie, Roy Cox, Patricia Giles, Geoff Tyson, and Elspeth Vaughan from the collection of Don & Maggie Row can be read here. This document provides details of a few of Max’s earlier Derwent related works; for example Bay on the Derwent River (1957); a watercolour 24.5 × 37 cm (sight) signed lower right ‘Max Angus’ in original artist’s frame and hand-painted double mount; exhibited in November 1957 with Tasmanian Group of Painters for their 18th Annual Exhibition at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery in Hobart. It was listed as no.1 in the catalogue and on sale for 12 guineas. Verso on the backing upper [handwritten large, in the artist’s hand] ‘A Bay on the Derwent River / Max Angus. Another watercolour, Tasman Bridge and Derwent River Hobart c.1970 was signed lower left ‘Max Angus’ . His pen and grey wash Hobart from Lewis Street, 1980 offered a view of Hobart and the Derwent and Eastern shore hills from the garden at 6 Lewis Street, North Hobart.

Max Angus

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Thanks to blog reader Marion I have been reminded of well-known Tasmanian artist Max Angus and his connection with the Derwent River. His biography (up to 2003) can be read here. Max died aged over 102 years almost a fortnight ago in February (on my birthday so I will never forget it) this year. You can refer to an ABC news report for more information .

As a celebrated watercolourist, Max documented coastal and inland Tasmanian landscape scenes, and over the decades of his life the Derwent River often featured as a subject for his paintings.

In 1990, one entire exhibition at the Freeman Gallery in Sandy Bay was devoted to the Derwent River Aspects of the Derwent from the Source to the Sea. I am on the trail and hope to be able to post more exacting information in the future. Perhaps a blog reader owns a catalogue from that rather special exhibition so I can see and learn more. I suspect, like so many local art exhibitions, reproductions of the paintings on display were not included. Nevertheless the descriptive titles which Max used for his work will be informative.

As an example of the artist’s Derwent River related work, a locally owned watercolour (included in this blog with permission from the private owner) titled ‘The Flying Cloud in Victoria Dock’ painted in October 1990, is shown below. The waters of the Derwent River look fairly glassy in the foreground and a moody Mount Wellington provides a background to Hobart’s port.

Walking on an industrial site – posting 5 of 5

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Eventually we walked onto the Nyrstar wharf, after sometimes successfully dodging water sprays to keep the dust down. Here I was able to look upstream and enjoy the expanse of the Derwent River, and to recognise the Bowen Bridge and Mount Direction in the distance.

We passed equipment such as the dust measurer shown below.

At the western end I was able to look past the big sheds of the INCAT boat building industry over Prince of Wales Bay and see Technopark perched on top of Dowsing Point.

A view looking across the Derwent River to the inlet where the first European settlers set up camp in 1803 is shown below:

Looking back downstream the river and landscape appeared as follows:

I also enjoyed walking through parts of the large industrial site for the geometric shapes of the structures and for the various vintages of buildings. Most of all, similarly to my feelings about the Hydro Tasmania structures in the upper Derwent Valley and beyond, I admired the pioneering and massive engineering works that created the manmade parts of the site.

I was surprised at the extent of chemical hazards which need good management; associated with the zinc smelting process are dangerous chemicals such as mercury, cadmium and lead. During the walk I learnt a great deal about the attitude of the business towards instituting and maintaining good environmental practices. In addition, I was shown revegetated expanses and different buildings which prioritise care for the environment and make it a reality. Seeing and experiencing all of this was much more than I expected, and I remain immensely grateful for the time and interest given by my excellent host Todd.

In a special showcase at Nyrstar’s Reception, plaques and various awards are clustered together. One example, a National River Prize, was presented by the International River Foundation in 2010 to the Derwent Estuary Program, of which Nyrstar is a founding member. A list of the Australian winners that year can be read here and if you refer to page eight, more information about Nyrstar and the Derwent estuary is available. My photo below includes that framed paper award with another sculptural award sitting in front.

Overall, I was delighted to be able to fill a gap in my walk along the Derwent River, on this private property. I am indebted to friend Clinton for his connections with Nyrstar that helped to make the walk a reality. Especial thanks to my thoughtful host Todd, and to Nyrstar.

Walking on an industrial site – posting 4 of 5

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During the planning phase for this walk on Nyrstar property, I anticipated that after passing the wetlands treatment area my walk would be finished because, from then on, site buildings and operations sit next to most of the shore. I imagined access to these areas would be impossible for a visitor.

Three times a week, on average, large ships berth nearby ready to load up with the processed Zinc. However it was my lucky day and the wharf was clear. My host volunteered to take me further if I wished. Yes please. It seems that at every turn, on my walk from the mouth to the source of the Derwent River, people have helped and ways have been found to give me access to more of the River than I ever thought possible. I am so immensely grateful.

Back on a main road we headed towards the wharf, all the while with the river glistening in the strong sunlight and with the shadow of the East Risdon State Reserve ever apparent on the eastern shore.

As we headed west towards the wharf area, Mount Direction on the eastern shore loomed large.

Before reaching the wharf, we passed a repetitive pattern – one which has nothing to do with the Derwent but which attracted my attention. Bags. Large bags. Heavy bags. Very well organised. Very tidy.

Nyrstar is an operation which works hard to recycle by-products of the zinc smelting process and to minimise wastage. In association with other Nyrstar operations elsewhere in Australia, the Hobart site uses these bags in the ongoing process. I was impressed with the commitment of this company to repair the degradation of the environment which occurred in the early years of the ‘zinc works’ albeit under the control of other companies and how every effort is made now to ensure that no further harm is caused (and no – I am not being paid or encouraged to be so positive. Early blog readers will remember my posting about the independence with which I have made my walk. You can read I pay my own way as I walk along the Derwent River here.

Walking the Derwent River

The ribbon that separates the eastern and western shores of Hobart, Tasmania's capital city

From Catagunya to Wayatinah – post 2 of 4

From Catagunya to Wayatinah – post 1 of 4

The Max Angus 1990 exhibition

A new blog Touching the Tarkine starts today

The last post?

Piguenit at Lake St Clair

Fossil Cove posting 4 of 4

Fossil Cove posting 3 of 4

Fossil Cove posting 2 of 4

Fossil Cove posting 1 of 4

‘What’s in a name? A fair bit , actually’ says Rex Gardner

Max Angus’s Derwent exhibition

Max Angus

Walking on an industrial site – posting 5 of 5

Walking on an industrial site – posting 4 of 5

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