Day 45: Teds Beach to Gordan Dam to Mt Field National Park

We got up and got going with reluctance the next morning. It was chilly and still grey and grim. But we had places to go and things to see.

First stop was "the end of the road" at the Gordan Dam. Built in the 60s and early 70s to generate electricity for Tasmania. It's the highest arch dam in Australia and Lake Gordan is also one of the largest in terms of volume (Lake Pedder is also one of the top 10 in volume in Australia).

It was misting when we arrived, but we rugged up with our plastic jackets and explored. There was a climb down a metal staircase to walk across the dam wall that we managed, though it was a little scary. The views were stunning. The photos only shows a glimpse!

Lake Gordan

It made me a little sad to think of all the beauty
that has been hidden by this artificial lake. The question that
hangs out there in many places in Tasmania is:
to harness (or use) or to protect?

More Lake Gordan

After that we drove back along the road we travelled the day before till we reached Tyenna where we had lunch in the van and then stopped for coffee/hot chocolate at the Swedish/Austrian/Australian cafe.

Our next goal was another national park, this time Mount Field. It's a very popular as it's fairly accessible to both Hobart and Launceston, but the one big plus for us was their campsite. You can't book it, but it's cheap and provides electricity, showers, and water. We drove right in and easily got a spot. Then we headed out on the walks. We ended up walking nearly 10 km and over 50 "floors". It's a gorgeous park. Like many places we've been it would have been good to stay longer and do more. Check out the photos of our walk, though!

Very tall trees

I think this is Lady Baron Falls

The annual shedding of bark seems to go on a long time.

The famous Russell Falls aren't hard to walk to

Coffee shop + general store + gift shop
It's been fun to go to coffee shops that aren't chains.