The rescued baby Wombat

Blooming 'eck it was cold last night. The temperature on the dashboard read 6 degrees. To think it may well be warmer in the UK and here we are in the Tasmanian summer, oh when will it warm up? Opening the curtains a lovely sight greeted me, the air was still and conditions almost perfect for reflections.

Gosh, we missed the hot cup of tea first thing this morning. Dressing rapidly Ian mentioned a cafe not far from this spot. "I think it was called the Hungry Wombat". So by 8am engine started and headed out towards the cafe.
Not only did we have that welcoming first cup of tea but one of their big breakfasts, a massive amount of cooked bacon slices, two sausages, two eggs, tomatoes and toast. Lunch would not be needed after that!

First stop was to replace the gas bottle. At a very small town called Bronte, we found a grocer that filled bottles, Ian went in with the bottle and then came running back to me saying "Grab your camera". Well, I did as I was told and rushed into the store to be confronted by this,

 OMG... how cute was that? This 3-month-old female baby Wombat had been rescued from its mother's pouch after the mum had been another casualty of a speeding motorist. There are loads of signs asking cars to slow down between the hours of dusk and dawn but it seems very few heed the advice. Consequently just today alone we must have passed at least 30 dead animals in roughly 50k.

The proprietor of this store had another two bigger Wombat babies at home as well as three Joeys and all had been rescued by either herself or someone checking to see if any babies were in the dead mother's pouches.

It didn't matter then that we couldn't get the gas bottle filled. Her husband who dealt with that side of things was away. Anyway, she told us about another place called Ouse about 40k further and still on our route where we eventually got the deed done.

The destination was Mt Field National Park. Not only more waterfalls but a Tall Tree walk not to be missed. Not bothering to have lunch (still full after that big breakfast) we set off for the 2-hour round trip taking in Russel Falls, Horseshoe Falls and the tall trees.

Russel Falls

and from the side

A mere 250 steps this time.

Oh 'eck...do we have to crawl through that hollow tree? From where we stood the steps looked to have stopped. They hadn't, they continued on around the corner.

Top of Russel Falls

Horseshoe Falls

 This was one of many Swamp Gum (Eucalyptus regnans) seen on the walk. Apparently, the Swamp Gum is the tallest hardwood, tallest flowering tree in the World. The tallest living tree on record being Centurion in Tasmania at a confirmed 99.6 metres. They are also one of the fastest growing trees reaching heights of 70 meters plus in just 300 years. Only the California Redwood can grow taller up to 111 meters but these are soft wood trees producing cones and take 1000's of years to grow to that height.

One of the Swamp Gums

This very old rotten route ball gave Ian the idea of playing silly buggers! Note the hat perched way above him.

Using the Clinometer to measure the height.

I have tried to stitch three pictures together to show just how tall the Swamp Gum trees were. Ian looks like a midget next to the base. This one was said to be 79 meters in height

And some wildlife during the walk

Scrubwren

Something laid these eggs. I would love to know what.

Pademelon Wallaby