My son and I recently went for a stroll along the Overland Track during the
Easter holiday break.
It was interesting to see how the place had changed over the three decades
since I last walked through the park. The huts are getting bigger and better
equipped, more people are walking the track and restrictions are in place for 8
months of the year, there are rangers based on the track, there is more
protective boardwalks and the sections that aren’t protected are being eroded,
and most people take the ferry to avoid the last day on the track.
Fortunately only a small proportion of the people walking the track take the
time to visit Pine Valley and the Labyrinth. [The people who don’t leave the
track don’t know what they are missing out on - the Du Cane Range is the best
part of the park.]
We chose Easter as the time to traverse the park so we could enjoy the golden
hues of the deciduous beech in its autumn glory. We had a 10 cm dump of snow
while we were passing Cradle Mt and then a run of fine weather [including 3
gold coast weather days] on the way to Cynthia Bay.
There was little avian activity in the snowscape, and indeed it was pretty
quiet for much of the walk. The pack-opening currawongs were the most common
and vocal birds followed by Green Rosellas. The interesting thing about the
rosellas was the number of times we saw them on the summits (Ossa, Gereyon, the
Acropolis and Walled Mt). Indeed, it was nice to have a rosella sitting on a
track marker as we climbed through the snow onto the roof of Tasmania.
The tranquility amongst the peaks, lakes, tarns and thickets at 1300+ metres
ASL was stunning, and sharing the soundscape with the frogs, rosellas and
breeze was remarkably refreshing.
If you are able, enjoy it while you can.
Regards, Laurie.
<HR>
<BR> Birding-Aus mailing list
<BR>
<BR> To change settings or unsubscribe visit:
<BR> http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
</HR>
|
