We have seen enough of the North West coast and decide to go South. That means back tracking some of the roads that we have driven before but since we took the scenic road going west, we now take the quicker road back and slowly say goodbye to the coast and drives to the hills.
Lucky for us Tasmania is littered with lakes and rivers so we are never far from water.
Soon the scenery changes to more lush, rainforest type trees and ferns.
We stop at a potential campsite and although the scenery is beautiful, thee is still an abundance of bees. That’s not bad when you’re walking but as soon as you sit still they’re everywhere. After a nice walk and lunch we have enough and move on.
The road takes us further up the mountains.
Until we come to Waratah Falls.
And there’s a reason why it’s called that, because the falls are smack in the middle of town.
It amazes me how they built the falls in the middle of town when Marjo helps me out of the dream, it was the other way around. Apparently some time ago Tin was discovered at Mount Bischoff by James “Philosopher” Smith in 1871. The mine operated successfully at first and he built an extensive hydro driven installation to separate the tin from the ore. Later he added power generation and a village was born. The easy ore was all extracted by 1893 when sluicing was discontinued. Mining continued opencut on the face of the mountain, and underground. The underground mine closed in 1914, but surface mining continued for some time before it also ceased after the price of tin slumped in 1929. (Source Wikipedia).
By now the town is in decline as there’s not much apart from the waterfall.
We decide not to stay at the forlorn campground and continue deeper into the mountains.
We arrive at Mackintosh Dam, cross the dam and look at camping options around the lake.
Then we find a good spot and can finally relax.
The place is nice to swim and frolic.
Mackintosh Dam is a very nice place and very quiet. All you hear are the birds.
It’s also great for walks.
A truly magical stay.
Posted from Tullah, Tasmania, Australia.
From