The Tarkine Drive & A Pretty Amazing Sinkhole
This morning we decided to leave early as it was going to rain in the morning and my mates didn't want to pack up a wet tent. That suited me because I was keen to get on the road. I had a beautiful swim in the cold water (thanks Wim Hof philosophy) which washed the most of a killer headache away and got on the road.
'The road' being the road along the coast to the Tarkine drive, a tourist route in the North West that I thought I should do. It would take me up to Smithton, where I'd need to be to go in any direction - east coast or more west coast, and avoid 170k of gravel roads, which I thought would be better to do with the 4WD.
The road was pretty sparse and open, with little coastal settlements of two to six houses in clusters along the way - wild and windswept with sheltered harbours for fishing boats. It was great to crank the tunes on the bluetooth speaker and wind my way on extremely empty roads. I hardly saw anyone else all day.
The first stop on the loop was Sumac Lookout. The smell of leatherwood gum was sweet and noticeable. The majority of Tassie honey comes from leatherwood.
Along this route are a few bushwalks and lookouts to enjoy, from half hour to three hours or more. The headache that started yesterday was persisting and I wasn't in the mood to stop for long. You could spend a few days here certainly.
I stopped to look out over the Arthur River from the bridge and as I was standing there I heard a tree branch creak and crack thunderously to the ground. It missed my van by a couple of metres - very nearly where I parked.
I wasn't overly impressed with the drive itself if I'm honest. Whilst there were pockets of incredible beauty, much of the area is sixty year old logging forest, which they say is 'regenerated' - but you could never regeneration the old growth forests that used to be here. Still, it does give you a taste of what Tassie has to offer, and if you didn't feel confident going into the full on south west wilderness, it'd give you a taste, that's for sure. I'm just being fussy.
STill, this drive was only a snippet of the much, much larger area:
‘A relict from the ancient super-continent, Gondwanaland, the Tarkine contains Australia’s largest tract of temperate rainforest, and is home to more than 60 species of rare, threatened and endangered species. These include such unique animals as the Giant Freshwater Lobster – the world’s largest freshwater crustacean, and the Tasmanian Wedge Tailed Eagle – Australia’s largest Eagle, and the famous Tasmanian Devil. The Tarkine is also one of Australia’s most important Aboriginal regions, and contains a diverse array of landscapes, from giant forests to huge sand-dunes, sweeping beaches, rugged mountains and pristine river systems.’
www.tarkine.org
Where I did end up pulling over for a longer amount of time (my head was thumping again and I just didn't fancy a longer walk anywhere else) was Trowutta Arch, a huge sinkhole accessible from the northern end of the drive. It's a lovely fifteen minute walk down to the sinkhole. There was absolutely no one at all around and I could hear the creaking of the myrtles and the wind whispering through the trees - kinda spooky if you let your mind work like that.
It was a fairly easy walk and I loved seeing the different fungi sprout from rotting logs. It's Autumn here and I'm wondering where else to find mushrooms, and if there are any edible ones about.
)
The sinkhole itself is pretty amazing. It was formed by two cavities joined together as rock collapsed. There was no guardrail so I could clamber up to get closer but lost my nerve thinking about the fact there was no one around and I didn't want to end up a corpse in a lonely cold pond in the middle of nowhere.
Back in the carpark I made lunch. The kitchen set up works a treat and I didn't end up pulling the cooker out of the drawer as I thought I would - it worked fine as is. Noodles and the last of my vegetables - I need to get that cord for the 12v fridge so I can have fresh veg again!
After that I headed to a campground I had read good reviews about, dying for a shower and needing to fill up with fresh water. I'm writing from there - it's an awesome spot with views of the Bass Strait. For twenty bucks a night, it's a bargain. Tomorrow I'm going to head over to the East Coast - it's going to be a wet day but I think I'll be happy to be in the van watching the water over the ocean than being in teh dark and damp forests of the drive down to the West Coast. I fancy a good week more of beach time before Jamie arrives on Sunday. I miss him, but I'm really enjoying just chilling on my own. I thought I might get a bit down but honestly I feel super chilled and just loving being in nature, which is my favourite companion always.
Hope all's well in your worlds - sorry if I'm a bit tardy getting back to your comments! With reception in and out and busy days it's as much as I can do to get these posts out. I'm trying to do the 365 day thing so don't be suprised if you see some posts come up on schedule! The crazy goals we set ourselves, huh?
Much love you you all!
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Top 10 things you could say to describe a street but not your girlfriend!
LOL. a real Amir comment :)
Omg @amirtheawesome1 !!! I'm not sure I want to know the other nine things 😂
!LOLZ
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But I'm clean now.
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@riverflows, I sent you an $LOLZ on behalf of @cryptokungfu
Use the !LOL or !LOLZ command to share a joke and an $LOLZ. (1/4)
\o\ pure gold. Now the other 9?
I am actually planning to post a post with similar theme in my Comedy Community
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Reading your posts, it's like I'm watching an interesting documentary road-movie. This is a new feeling for me.
I'm 33 years old, I'm not old, but sometimes still surprised by the wonders of the Internet. In fact, you are on the other side of the earth (thank you for reminding me that it's autumn now, in the neighboring hemisphere, spring is rushing to us, and this is strange, curiously strange).
Thanks to your eyes, your words, I look into your wonderful world, which is as far away for me as another planet. Other plants, other animals, other landscapes.
But at the same time, such similar people. People like you. Good people, fair. Who pay attention to the world with which they coexist in harmony. Who notice the problems of humanity, in the form of deforestation and our influence on the environment.
I wish you an exciting journey, you are well done. I'm watching you closely. Thank you! 🤩
Aw, shucks. So happy to have met you too. One of my favourite things.. the most favourite thing.. is how HIVE offers us a window into the ordinary, and extraordinary, lives of people from all corners of the earth! I'm glad you enjoy them. X
Oh my god, I'm lost with words going through your pictures, what an intensely beautiful location. I really love it! It was also a reminder that I should look at your content more often, as I was failing that a lot lately, your posts always bring me joy or something to think about. I wish that for more people, so I shared your post on Listnerds as well. It's a great engagement tool and a place to share your quality posts, We'd be honored if you join our team :)
Thanks so much!!!! Isn't it funny how you can miss posts by people you like? It happens to me all the time here as it's so hard to keep up! I'll check out this new Listnerds... When I get back from holiday!!!
Yeah, but this was a good reminder! I saw plenty more cool posts from you. Living the good life you!!! So nice!
Here's progress as well, tickets to Spain have been booked, just 8 more weeks and we will move there, yay!
Please make sure you use my link so that I can add you to our team server and we support you as a group to get your content verified (read: earn!). You are one that never fails to amaze me with your content, so I vouch for you 100%!
It's a nice layer of extra earnings for your travels haha. Let me know if you need help I have my discord ID in the footers of most posts, and otherwise (sometimes I'm too busy these 2 months) just ask me..
Safe travels!
Oh wow that's amazing!!! Where in Spain??
Remind me when I get back, it's too complicated now.. xx
Sure!
The south .. nice coastal area woop :)
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With such beautiful nature around you, I can imagine you never want to go back! A really beautiful part of the world and very well captured to have us enjoy this piece of the world too. Thank you.
Thank Hetty! It's beautiful where I am too but I see it all the time so it's boring. Plus, at home I have responsibilities - here I can just be free and forget about it. Thanks for your lovely commnet x
I feel that! And you´re more than welcome! x
Wow, looks so beautiful and I'm so glad to hear you are enjoying yourself ❤️
Wishing you a nice week 🙂
xx
And you! I'm loving it. About to head to a different coast now, once I get out of the van in the bed - too cosy!
Bummer about the horrid headache! I hope it goes and stays gone.
It went - phew!
Absolutely stunning nature! My first reaction was this looks like New Zealand! But I'm sure that's the last thing a Tasmanian wants to hear. Anyway, I'm glad you get to experience it and thank you for sharing this incredible beauty.
Oh no, everyone says that about tAssie. It's compact like NZ is - in fact, we met a Kiwi the other day that said that very thing - it's 'just like NZ'. And my mate's hubby is from teh North Island but lives in HObart, and he says the same thing.
Right, but still! How can someone tell a Nicaraguan: Oh, your country is so much like Costa Rica, or to an Austrian: I love how much your place resembles Switzerland. Thanks, but no thanks, no matter how true it may be.
It was those immense fern "trees" that I've only come across in NZ - and that's only because I never set foot on Tasmania, hahaha.
Lol, I don't 💬 think it's bad.. we need comparisons to help understand a place. Besides, Aussies and Kiwis are firm friends
Nice! I like that attitude.
Oh I really miss the vanlife but I do not miss australian gravel roads. :)
Pretty lucky about the falling tree. I remember I reparked our van one night as I wasn´t feeling comfortable under the big trees.
Oh yeah the gravel roads are a killer. The landrover will eat them up for dinner but the van will shake itself to bits. Although it is a VW... good german engineering :P
Oh yeah you gotta watch out for trees - that was a good reminder. So lucky!
Beautiful pictures. It looks like you are having a great adventure. Thanks for shaing.
YOu're welcome
Hiya, @lizanomadsoul here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Honorable Mentions in Daily Travel Digest #1520.
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Thanks so much, very appreciated! I love the travel community, there's always interesting posts to read - I can't keep up!
Dream life! I hope your headache is long gone. Dear God, I hate headaches.
Me too. I wish I could drive and be forever. Road trips are the best.
Incredible pictures @Riverflows. That must have been an amazing adventure.
I found you on #ListNerds
I can suddenly SMELL leatherwood honey in my deepest, darkest memory. Oh yummy.
The Tarkine Wilderness is really lovely. Damn it, girl, just when I thought Australia had little left to attract me, you're reminding me of Tassie. And I LOVE Tassie.
Have fun. More pics please. x
I !LUV the photos of big tree ferns 😀 They were some of my faves when we were down there. Glad you're getting some quiet solo time (and... being sensible about not doing anything too dangerous while you're on your own 😉).
@consciouscat(4/4) gave you LUV.
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Oh, my God! So much beauty on this planet. Thank you for sharing with us your amazing adventure.
Came here through #ListNerds
Cheers!
Holy poop! What a fantastic post. Yes lots of pics, pics are positively fantastic. I love seeing and reading about other places in the world. I love getting educated and I love finding fantastic Hivians to follow.
!BBH
!ALIVE
P.S. Came here from ListNerds
@riverflows! You Are Alive so I just staked 0.1 $ALIVE to your account on behalf of @bradleyarrow. (2/30)
The tip has been paid for by the We Are Alive Tribe through the earnings on @alive.chat, feel free to swing by our daily chat any time you want.
Because this is such an awesome post, here is a BBH Tip for you.
. Keep up the fantastic work
I hadn't heard of leatherwood before, interesting things to learn, just did my research! I would love to taste that honey!
Oh my, the branch was that close...
"Trust the energy", love it!
Wim Hof is a must, haha! Although I don't do the cold showers, just the breathing. But now you made me think that maybe I should try :)
Enjoy your road trip and this amazing place! So happy you are there and we are having a glance to that world through your eyes! xxx
Lovely, and awesome photo's