Veronika Wild

There’s a peaceful place across the river from Hobart’s busy CBD which can take you back a century or three. Read the beautifully crafted signs along this Short Walk or sit a while in the stone circle at the end and you can imagine what it may have been like before Europeans came. The limuna Sheoaks are only found in this area The largest, densest Sheoaks I have ever seen grow here and you can imagine them being used for shelter. Women would have been gathering roots or weaving baskets from the grasses while the men hunted game or crafted tools for the purpose. Mussels and other shellfish were abundant in the sheltered cove behind this promontory so before the arrival of Europeans, this was also the place where the Mumirimina people gathered to relax, celebrate and share their stories. Finely crafted signs tell the story of the first inhabitants Unfortunately, the sheltered cove was also attractive to Lieutenant -Governor Bowen, who’d been sent to Tasmania by the Governor of N.S.W. to...

Early morning at Tulampanga (Alum Cliffs) At sunrise I continued on to Tulampanga which means Possum Rocks, or Alum Cliffs as it’s been known. There’s a lookout here which overlooks  a spectacular gorge with the Mersey River far below. Together with Quamby Bluff in the South and Mt. Roland in the East, it forms part of a triangle of significant peaks.  Although the Pallitoree People were the custodians of this area, three different Aboriginal Nations came together here, making it an important ceremonial site. It was also part of a network of trails used by many others to access other parts of the island and to obtain a rare ochre which could only be collected by women. The ochre was then ground up and used to decorate the body, for ceremonies, including funeral rites and as an article of trade. A well -formed track leads you to an impressive lookout. It officially takes about 50 minutes I know all this because of the excellent interpretive signage along the trail. There are ...

Campground at the Railton Pub Expecting to tackle Redwater Creek Falls the next day, I stayed at the campground at the Railton Hotel that night. I was the only person there. Perhaps the place rocks on Saturday nights or right through the summer. The manager/publican had already informed me somewhat tersely that there would be no counter meals tonight and the pub would be closing at 6 pm.  No problem I said. I still had some Wagu sausages and my main reason for staying was to have a shower. I’ve never seen so many signs. A few samples follow. One can only wonder what horrors the writer must have experienced to make them necessary, but everything was clean and tidy and the hot shower was extremely welcome. Sign of the times - this was one of 10   I always bring lots of things to do on trips like this. Since I even had a signal tonight I could have done some writing or I could have read one of the books I'd brought, but somehow I never feel like it.  I had just settled do...

The Tasman Bridge  as seen through a memorial at Montague Bay Thursday, September   24, 2015 Today I walked   about 7 kilometres from Montague Bay to Geilston Bay, and   then rock -hopped about another two along the shore beneath the Bedlam Walls, a cliff face which overlooks the Derwent. A lone canoeist breaks the mirrored surface After starting on the south side of the Bridge and going beneath its rumbling arches heavy with traffic, the track   meanders pleasantly to Lindisfarne  past   elegant houses jockeying   for water views and equally lovely gardens with beautiful flowering trees – even the street voted most attractive in 1985.   As with my beach walk a few days ago, this path was also popular with cyclists, joggers and dog walkers, though perhaps not as many as along the previous section. There were numerous seats and occasional sidetracks which gave onto little beaches. The latter must be fishing spots becau...