Tag Archives: Shoreline

The rocky shore

5 Replies

The low level of water on Lake King William exposed a wilderness of silvered dead trees (once ancient forests) and a rocky shore.  Sometimes the rocky shore extended flatly to the Lake and sometimes it dived down deeply. Where I camped on the first night, the distance of the water from the bank would have been at least fifty metres.  Elsewhere the wide rocky shoreline extended 100 or more metres.  A combination of various sized boulders, stones, fine gravel and the occasional sand, this shore line created a sometimes grey and sometimes yellow ring enclosing the huge expanse of lake.

20160102_155848

20160102_170449

20160102_173411

20160102_190959

20160103_072944

20160103_094225

From the drowning of the landscape, the now receding waters are giving up the flotsam of driftwood.  The surfaces of the wood, smoothed by the action of the weather and the Lake, are stunningly beautiful.

20160102_165042.jpg

 

 

 

 

Another Derwent River transport service may be disappearing

2 Replies

A few days after I wrote the post about the end of the water taxi business on the Derwent River indicating my sadness for such short sightedness by the community and government agencies, I have discovered another sad tale. It was with horror I read the story at http://www.news.com.au/national/tasmania/tasmanian-air-adventures-in-liquidation/story-fnn32rbc-1227328240883.

Tasmanian Air Adventures, despite being incredibly popular and forever in the air over the Derwent River, has not been able to recoup its establishment expenses and get into a profit position. The result is the owners have run out of money and the business has gone into liquidation.

The outcome has been immediately clear to me. I had become used to seeing, many times a day, the water planes lifting off from the waters of Salamanca Cove in the centre of Hobart, and flying along the Derwent River.  And now only seagulls fly where once flew entranced tourists and locals.

In a city which has one of the best waterways in the world, Hobart is missing the opportunity which any other city in such a location would be grabbing and making work.  Blog followers keep telling me how much they enjoy my photos and information about what can be seen at the shoreline of the Derwent River.  I feel sure others would feel the pleasure which the river can offer, as well as appreciating its functionality to transport them hither and thither.

Years ago the Tasman Bridge was accidentally knocked down and immediately people became used to ferrying across the Derwent River/Harbour to and from work. The concept that the river is a lifeline and a connector of peoples; one which wants to be used, seems not to be factored into any level of serious government thinking.  Meanwhile valuable resources are used to create more and more city carparks.  Say no to car parks, I say. Say yes to ferry and air travel along the river.

Stage 3 Continuing the Derwent River walk 20 September 2014 Posting 5 of 6

Leave a reply

Leaving the Derwent River edge, I walked up the concrete path to Vaughan Court in Tranmere, turned left, walked until I reached the T junction with Oceana Drive, turned left and then followed the suburban footpath back in the direction of the original bus stop.  From the bottom of the concrete path until I reached that bus stop, it took approximately 15 minutes.

I turned left down into Tranmere Road. Three minutes later, when I reached Pindos Drive, a No Through road, I turned left and followed it to the end and arrived at midday. This road ending named Tranmere Point, is marked by Pindos Park, an area with children’s play equipment, seats to admire the views, and places to enjoy a family picnic. Locals were walking and cycling.

I looked southwards and could see that Pindos Park was another possible starting place for a walk to Trywork Point. The soft grassy track between the houses and the River was wide and clear and continues around until a connection is made with the track to the gate at the beginning of the small pebble beach.

20140920_120305

This photograph is taken from the Pindos Park area. The trees on the hill in the distance are the forest of Casuarina trees I referred to in an earlier posting.  I walked though those trees in order to reach the other side and then down to Trywork Point. What I am now suggesting is the walk to Trywork Point starts here at Tranmere Point and the track visible in this photograph can be followed eventually down onto the rocky shore and then around the bays and small headlands. In this way, walking on private land can be avoided.

Once I turned away from this southwards direction to continue my walk northwards, I was blown around the Pindos Park headland with its markers indicating underwater pipes,

20140920_120623

and continued on following the River into the sun. I could see the suburbs of Howrah and Bellerive with their golden sandy beaches in the far distance.

20140920_120655

Ten minutes later I reached the official start of the Clarence Foreshore Trail, a cemented path for both cyclists and pedestrians. By 12.15 I reached bus stop 32, and five minutes later I arrived at bus stop 31. However I was beginning to plod because my feet were sore so I waited for a few minutes by the rocky foreshore of Tranmere in the glaring sun amidst a stiff wind, for the 12.23 pm bus which was scheduled to return to Hobart. It came on time, and when I hopped on and sat down I realised that I had not stopped or sat since the bus trip to Tranmere 3 hours earlier in the morning. During my walk, I hadn’t stop to have a morning tea snack – hadn’t felt the need. Was enjoying the scenery and the weather too much to consider food. Lost in all the gorgeous moments of the day.

I left the bus at the Shoreline shopping plaza for a toilet stop and a chance to buy a newspaper and a few groceries.

20140920_125804

Note that in this photograph taken outside the Shoreline Plaza, there is a distant hill in the centre background. That’s the hill with the Casuarina trees through which I walked on the way to Trywork Point.

The Shoreline was very convenient. Then I jumped on a later bus heading towards Hobart.

Stage 3 Getting to Tranmere for another Derwent River walk 20 September 2014 Posting 1 of 6

Leave a reply

This Saturday morning in Hobart was gloriously sunny so it was time to take a walk along the Derwent River. The Camelot Park number 615 Metro Bus departed from the city bus mall at 8.48am and travelled to the eastern shore of the Derwent River. I jumped on the bus a little after 9am having already enjoyed the short walk to the bus stop past ornamental cherry trees plump with green buds and a sprinkling of newly opened palest of pink flowers, past the mass of flowering jasmine strangling a fence between neighbours, and past the rich red pink jewels of a flowering nectarine tree that promises tasty juicy fruit in the new year.

The bus continued along Cambridge Road before turning left along Clarence Street, which runs parallel to the Derwent River.  I wondered whether the name was in remembrance of Lieutenant John Hayes’ ship the Duke of Clarence, a British Duke of Clarence from some era, or whether there had lived an interesting Mrs Clarence once upon a time whose memory is now enshrined in this long street.

Half way along the street, a sign noted the change of suburb from Bellerive to Howrah. Soon the bus was pulling into the mini bus mall in the Shoreline precinct of a hotel and a shopping plaza.  Moments later the bus was travelling down the road towards the River and, after sweeping around a bend, it continued through the suburb of Howrah then the suburb of Tranmere, always parallel to the River. I had a clear view of Mount Wellington and the city centre of Hobart on the western shore. Between sat an almost rippleless dark blue Derwent Harbour. It wasn’t long before I could see, in the distance, the treeless hills that I expected to be tramping across.

Around ten minutes after leaving the Shoreline, the bus circled into bus stop 33 at the corner of Tranmere Rd and Oceana Drive. This was the final stop, and as I got out the driver turned off the engine and stepped out to stretch his legs while waiting for his return departure time to arrive. The air was clean and the day was colourful. I stood on Oceana Drive edged by large suburban houses and felt the strength of a cool breeze.

A number of black and white magpies were broadcasting their fantastic singing voices. Their melodious sounds were crossed with a cacophony of the de daaa tt de daaa tt of the wattlebirds.

20140920_091642

I was standing at the bus stop when I took this photo looking along Oceana Drive in the direction that I needed to walk. But despite my maps and internet research I stood still looking and puzzling, and not clear where to walk or whether I would be able to access my starting destination: Trywork Point.

Stage 2 of my walk along the Derwent River finished at Gellibrand Point and the next point directly across the inlet to Ralph’s Bay was Trywork Point on an exposed headland. So today’s walk needed to start at Trywork Point, south of this bus stop, but I had to get there on foot somehow before retracing my steps to continue walking northwards along the Derwent River.

20140920_091918

I started walking along Oceana Drive then looked back from where I came and clicked this photograph. The bus is still ‘resting’ where I left it.