Thursday, March 15, 2012: TRIP TO THE SOUTHERN RAIN FOREST

Good day, mates!

Today we traveled to the Southern Rainforest of Tasmania. The Southwest portion of Tasmania is basically impassable because of the mountains and the rain forest but we were able to reach the edge of it at Tasman National Park. Once you pass the town of Geevestown, it is all forest, rivers, old age forest, huge ferns, trees that reach the sky. Of course it rained most of the time but it was a beautiful, quiet, fresh air forest.

Our destination was the Tahune Airwalk where there is a steel walkway near the top of the forest canopy to give one an idea of how tall the trees are and so many different types. The tallest were the Eucalyptus trees. The tallest hardwood in the world resides here. It is a swamp gum tree called the Centurion which is nearly 100 meters tall. The Airwalk has various views of the Piton and the Huron rivers.In the rain forest there are the tallest dogwood trees that were shockingly tall. I never knew that they could grown to those heights. There were Sassafras trees, Leatherwood, huge Eucalyptus, Celery Top Pines, Blackwood trees, tea trees, myrtles. The swamp gum tree is regarded as the tallest flowering plant in the world towering to heights of 90 meters and is exceeded only in height to the California Redwoods. The oldgrowth forest is 200 to 400 years old. Rainfall in the Piton Valley is 1750 mm. WOW!

Jillian and I walked the entire skywalk and met three Asians from Hong Kong who spoke perfect Queen's English. There were not many people venturing out today on the Airwalk in the rain. It was neat to be in the rain so you can hear the rain drops hit the leaves and the umbrella. There was a smoky haze like one would see in the Smokey Mountains. This place must have the cleanest air in the world and great smell. Joe stayed behind in the Visitor Center since he was not up to the climb. I got drenched from my sweat and the rain but I would do it all over again to experience the Tasman Southern Rain Forest.

On the way back we saw apple orchards plumped with apples of many species (Gala, Delicious, Fiji etc) Jillian bought some apples from a stand off the road. There were also orchards of cherry trees that were covered with tarp to prevent the birds from eating them.

I saw my first black swans ever that were swimming away in the Huon River. They were so graceful and beautiful. The sun started to peak out from the dark clouds and we were greeted with a rainbow as we neared Hobart.

The descent is long from the mountains. Jillian is an expert driver and so considerate in letting me get photos. As we came down one of the final hills to Hobart, we could see The Radiance of the Seas, a Princess ship, leave Hobart Harbour at 6PM. Cool to see!

It was great to experience with Jillian since we both enjoy natural beauty of all types. We enjoy JUST BEING where we take in the sounds, smells and views to be etched in our minds forever.

Some interesting tidbits for you are that Woolworth's and Cole's are the two major food stores in Australia. One must stay to the left of the road and unless overtaking which means passing to us in the USA. The veggies in the food markets are huge and so healthy looking. The scallions were so big. Chips are French Fries and potato chips are potato crisps. I need to take notes on some of the other expressions Jillian says. I enjoy listening to the language slang differences.

Jillian is the fastest person I ever been around. She moves like a speeding bullet no matter what she is doing. There is no way Joe can keep up with her. Her humor is priceless and she makes us laugh so much.

I can not wait till tomorrow to see what she has in store for us. She has told us that she is having her family over for a Aussie BBQ on Friday night. We will get to meet her sons and grand kids. I am so looking forward to that.

Jillian wrote: "Tahune Airwalk today with Bonnie Evans and Joe. Slightly damp, but then it is a rainforest after all! Wonderful to smell the freshness of the forest and the light rain. Great cheesecake and coffee at the Visitors Centre. Stopped for lunch in Geeveston at a restaurant opposite the Forest and Heritage Centre, Garlic Scallops in a white wine sauce served with SALAD!! very nice BUT salad..... and when we went to pay the bill, they didn't accept plastic of any description! No warning anywhere.. lucky we managed to scrape together enough cash!"