The Tarkine Drive

The Tarkine Drive didn’t take me through any country that matched my image of the Tarkine Wilderrness. Turns out the Tarkine is a big and varied area and I was ignorant. It was taking me back towards Burnie…!

But near the end of it I did do some pleasant short walks, where tree ferns were so plentiful and well-spaced that they formed a sort of tree fern park, like at Julius River and Trowutta Arch.

And I kept being fascinated by the mossed tentative toe roots of big old myrtle trees.

Easy walking, gorgeous tree ferns – my kind of bushwalking.

Not to mention trees dotted with substantial fungi.

I think I am getting the hang of these cool temperate rainforests. Unlike the warm temperate ones I am used to, there are no vines, and there is always lots of moss.

But then I climbed up to the lookout at Milkshake Hills (don’t know why the great name), thanking my stars it wasn’t summer, as it was a hot, exposed and quite steep walk.

Totally different country, with totally different plants, all low. Mainly she-oaks and tea-trees, I think.

Across the button grass slopes below, the eucalypt forest showed how badly it had been burnt.

I saw button grass stretches, mainly on plains, everywhere; apparently they had been kept from returning to forest by indigenous fire management over centuries. And I’d say it is called button grass because its flowers/seed heads are like small buttons on the end of the long stalks.

Too tired of driving to care, I camped that night at Waratah; not recommended!