sunday selections: hunting the fagus

Today’s post is a Sunday Selections post for River, which I haven't participated in for ages.
 

One thing that wasn’t on my 100 things to do in 2013 list but should have been because it’s something I’d wanted to do for ages, and that is to go and see the fagus in autumn. 

 

Fagus, for the unaware, is also known as deciduous beech (or if you want to be scientific, Nothofagus gunnii) and is the only winter-deciduous tree in Australia. The only place it grows is Tasmania, mostly in remote highlands areas above 800 metres.

Every year around this time I see spectacular pictures that people have taken of the turning of the fagus, as the leaves go through the autumnal colour change. And every time I think I should go up and have a look, and it never seems to be the right time, and I miss out, thinking I’ll do it the next year. And by the time spring and summer have hit, I’ve forgotten all about it (which is why it wasn’t on the list).

This year it was different. I started seeing posts about people’s trips to Mt Field a couple of weeks ago, when the colours started changing and decided that this was the year I was going to go. 

So we blocked out the day and headed off to Mt Field. We had a vague idea of where to start looking and thought that bright yellow and orange leaves should stand out pretty well – which indeed they did.

Our first stop was at the boulder field, where there is a short walk amongst the rocks, and a few fagus trees growing nearby. These had only just started to turn yellow, so we hoped we hadn’t come too early. 

Oh yes, there was also snow. It’s pretty cold up there at the moment.

We drove a bit further up to Lake Fenton, which is in Hobart’s drinking water catchment. There’s some spectacular trees around the lake, including the beautiful snow gums that we saw last time we were there. 

There’s also fagus! The trees here were more advanced in colour than the ones lower down and we weren’t the only people taking photos. The main problem I had was trying to take photos of some delicate little leaves that were constantly moving in the wind. Not an easy task. But I got a couple of photos I was happy with, so it was worth the trip.

 Apparently there is another area in the park where the fagus grows; this is the Tarn Shelf, which is higher up in the park and involves a two-three hour walk. Not really an option with Juniordwarf in tow (based on previous experience of longer walks), but perhaps that can go on next year's 100 things list.

Trout Weekend

 We've just returned from a weekend at Liawenee in Tasmania's Central Plateau. Apparently it is the coldest place in Tasmania. Clearly somewhere you really want to go heading into winter . . .

We went for the Inland Fisheries' annual Trout Weekend, which is held at IFS' Field Station, near Great Lake. We decided that rather than drive up and back in a day, we'd stay up there overnight, so it was a nice weekend getaway.

Among the things to see and do was the angling pool, where kids could catch trout; watching trout being stripped of eggs (a very strange thing to see); and helicopter rides, which we decided at the last minute to do, because it's not an opportunity that you get every day.

It was a fun weekend and, although it was cold and there was some snow on the ground, it wasn't as freezing as we'd expected. Today was a beautiful, clear sunny day, perfect for our helicopter ride.

Juniordwarf was very excited to catch a fish from the trout pool, and was even more excited when he got a certificate (he's highly motivated by certificates at the moment). He thought it was great to catch a fish that he could eat for dinner - only once it was on his plate, he said he didn't like it and filled up on carrots instead.

For the record, the trout was 35 cm long and weighed 600 grams. Not a huge trophy fish, but perfect for the three of us.

On the way home, we stopped to have a look at the Steppes Stones, which are some wonderful sculptures by Stephen Walker in the middle of the bush.

Great Lake at Miena - trying out the AutoStitch Panorama app on my phone

Great Lake at Miena

Great Lake Hotel, where we stayed

Juniordwarf was fascinated by the egg stripping

IFS officer talking about egg stripping

Juniordwarf and his fish

Near Liawenee

Helicopter ride

Helicopter ride

View of Great Lake from the helicopter

Helicopter ride

We stopped to look at the fantastic Steppes Stones on the way home

The Steppes Stones by Stephen Walker

The Steppes Stones

Country road, take me home . . .  (outside Bothwell)

sunday selections - autumn colours (more photos added)

Juniordwarf and I went for a walk yesterday afternoon. It was a beautiful autumn afternoon, after the normal early morning fog. Once that cleared, it was a glorious day, perfect for getting out of the house and taking photos.

These photos are edited in my favourite iPhone app at the moment, Camera+. I think I probably need to take a break from it for a while as there are so many other apps on my phone that I haven't used very much and I need to add some more effects to my photo albums.

So these are this week's photos for Frogpondsrock's Sunday Selections project.  If you get a chance, go over to Kim's blog and check out some of the other bloggers who are playing along.

View looking down the River Derwent from the bridge

View across the river from the base of the bridge

Underneath the bridge

Juniordwarf walking along the river bank

Seagulls near the river

Juniordwarf posing for a photo

My take on the 'sun through autumn leaves' idea

Autumn leaves - not many now, but in a couple of weeks
the ground will be covered

I love the red leaves

Update
Here are some more photos on a similar theme from today's adventures

This is from a spot near the river bank a few km out of town

And this is the view of the river from the same spot

A common sight in Tassie in the autumn months, smoke from
the Forestry burn-offs further up the valley