More Maria Island

After leaving Maria Island we only had a very short distance to travel, less than 10km, to our next overnight destination at a small town called Orford. We visited the local beach around sunset just so I could check out a location for a sunrise shoot the next day.......and as you can see, it was a good one! That's Maria Island in the distance and you can also see a cruise ship on the left side.

.

The Bishop and Clerk

One last image from Maria Island National Park off the east coast of Tasmania. The most iconic hike on the island is up to the two rocky outcrops known as Bishop and Clerk that can be seen from all across the island. About a 14 km round trip that was well worth the effort for some spectacular views.

.

Weekly Wow!

Time for this weeks local Ballarat district weekly round-up.
Once again plenty to capture of a wide variety of subjects and locations....

.

Some History.....

Coming back from an early morning sunrise shoot on the north coast of the island, by the time I got back to Darlington, the main settlement on Maria Island, there was some great light on some of the old buildings that make up such a significant part of the Island's history.....

Darlington on Maria Island, is the most representative and intact example of a probation station in Australia. Its 14 convict buildings and ruins are preserved in a layout that reflects the key features of the probation system in Van Diemen’s Land. The site has remained relatively unchanged since the convict era.

The significance of the convict probation era at Darlington was recognised recently as part of the 11 Australian Convict Sites World Heritage Property.

.

Some of the Locals

Maria Island had probably the best wildlife we've seen anywhere on our Tassie travels, and around dusk was fantastic, and only a short walk from where we were staying. Here's some of the locals...is there anything cuter than a baby wombat?!

.

Maria Magic

The morning after the previous post was totally different on Maria Island with some fantastic dramatic conditions along the cliffs on the north east part of the coast. Once the sun started to find it's way through the clouds the view was amazing.....
One of my favourite images from the trip...(so far!)

.

Breaking Waves

My first morning on Maria Island had me riding a bike, that we had hired, over to the  Fossil Cliffs on the north east top corner of the island. I made a few visits to this spot over the 3 days on the island. Clambering down the cliff face to get to sea level I was happy with this breaking wave. In the distance you can see the peaks of the Bishop and Clerk hike that we did a couple of days later.

.

Out of No Where

A spectacular sunset on Sunday night at Lake Wendouree seemed to come out of no where...I had to really hustle to get up to the Lake in time.....

.

Maria Island Magic

We were treated to a very nice sunset on one of our evenings on Maria Island. This view is at Darlington Bay, an easy walk from where we staying, which was in one of the old rooms of the former Penitentiary at Darlington, something a bit different!

.

Painted Perfection

After leaving Freycinet National Park we headed south down the east coast of Tasmania to Triabunna where we caught the ferry out to Maria Island National Park. We had 3 days and nights here on this fantastic island, perhaps most famous for the Painted Cliffs on the islands west coast. We planned it well for the first night to visit the cliffs late in the day and with a low tide that allowed great access into this amazing place.

.

Meanwhile, in Ballarat......

With all my Tasmania images in the last week, you may be wondering what's been happening locally here in Ballarat....here's a single image from each of the last 8 days.....

.

In The Rain

I'm finding it hard to move on from Freycinet National Park.......
A couple of days ago I posted an early morning image of The Nuggets looking north east from the Cape Tourville lookout...todays image comes from the same lookout but looking further to the south east. It may look a bit grainy, most likely because I was shooting into the oncoming rain. I thought it was worth getting the camera wet for this shot!
It's worth clicking on this for a bigger look.....

.

A Nice End to the Day

Still at Freycinet National Park on the east coast of Tasmania, I caught this nice end to our second day from the overlook at the Lodge....

.

Spotlight

Still in Freycinet National Park, in fact not too long after the previous image, I was back down on the shores of Coles Bay, only metres from our campsite, where you get some great views of The Hazard, the mountains that are a major feature of the park. There was some fleeting clouds moving through, letting in the occasional spotlight on the rocky slopes...this is one of them....

.

A Couple of Nuggets

Still at Freycinet National Park, after the dark, dramatic start to the day at Sleepy Bay in the previous post, I decided to check in to the Cape Tourville Lookout that was a bit further out the same road. I could see some light starting to break through the trees and by the time I got up to the Lookout it was spectacular.  Just off the coast at this point there is a group pf small island called The Nuggets and they were looking fantastic as the sun broke through to light up the scene.

.

Not So Sleepy.....

Moving south down the coast of eastern Tasmania, our next stop was at Freycinet National Park. Of course, I was up early for sunrise and though the initial light looked a bit dull, the clouds added some great drama to the scene here at Sleepy Bay.

.

Tassie 2

Today's Tassie image comes from that amazing first morning on the rocks at Bicheno on the east coast. The rocks and textures are amazing and I may get stuck on images just from this morning for a while yet!

.

Three Tremendous Weeks

After three fantastic weeks on the road in Tasmania, we returned this morning on the overnight boat. I added two more Tassie National Parks to my list and have now made it to 18 - 1 to go!

Some spectacular scenes in fantastic conditions right across the three weeks and whilst I start the long journey of going through the images, here's a couple to start with.....

Up first is this lovely reflection at Lake Pedder in South West National Park, a place full of amazing sights. The second image here shows the magnificent Mt Roland in the north west of the State...not a national park but one of the most incredible lumps of rock I've seen....I think I need to spend more time photographing it!

.