Veronika Wild

  Looks like the Wilmot Bakery has been closed for a while Day 5 - My car holds together. There are no further leaks. Wet clothes occupy every available curtain rail and the backs of seats. I am on my last set of dry clothes. Steam rises when I put the heater on to stop the windscreen from fogging up. I pull out the gumboots. I am not putting those wet walking boots on again. The gumboots prove to be a good choice. The first part of the walk goes through a creek. Once past that, there’s a lot of fallen timber which I have to climb over, under or around, but otherwise the track is fairly clear until I get to the upper falls. It rains on and off and I find a few fungi. There used to be seven waterfalls here. Since the dam was built there are only two and a half. The locals say it’s not a patch on what it was before, but I am not disappointed.  Lower Forth Falls There are powerful cascades and riffles all along the river. After the upper fall some marker...

Cows and rainbows Day 4 -An encounter of the weird kind. Slept in Riana last night. It was Saturday night. After walking three waterfalls (OK, I admit two of them were easy) and wrestling the car over country roads, I was a bit tired. Riana South still has a real country store stocking everything from birthday cards to stockfeed and hardware. Further up the road in Riana proper, there’s also a nice little campground with hot showers. Yes, you pay here too, but it doesn’t seem quite as mercenary as some, though it too has gone up $6 since the camping book was published.  There was a barbecue in progress when I got there and a roaring fire. It was a private function – a family reunion, but one of the guests handed me some sausage anyway. We had a bit of a chat by the fire and then I attempted to turn in.   It wasn’t quiet for long. Some of the lads came to check out the van. ‘Wouldn’t mind a set - up like that,” said one. They tested out the bullbar by bouncing ...

Coastal Wattle near Smithton Day 4 -There was a sign just outside the campground that said “To Dip Falls.” With all that rain, it should be a good time to see them. Although it drizzles on and off again, it is.   There are two types of waterfalls in Tasmania. Those like this one which you can almost drive right up to, have a well -made track, signage and even a lookout so you can really see it, though it’s 25 Km off the highway. Then there are the wild waterfalls, the ones you have to struggle for like Adamson’s Falls– up in the mountains with rough roads, few signs and difficult tracks. You rarely meet another soul on these. Here cars come and cars go. People spill out.   I meet some of them on the stairs with their iPads and smartphones. Five minutes later they are gone. The falls are so impressive I want to look at some of the others in this area. Upper level Dip Falls - Class 1 Waterfall - Note railing on viewing platform - Taken with the big Canon Ta...