Mt. Field and Curringa Farms

The night before we left Lake St. Claire, we stayed up  (actually I took a little nap first) to see the triple header lunar eclipse. It was:

• A Blue Moon - the second full moon of the month
• A Super Moon - the moon was at its perigee (closest to the earth in its eliptical orbit and appearing 10 - 15% larger)
• A Blood Moon - with a lunar eclipse the sun's rays go through the earth's atmosphere before they illuminate the lunar surface and thus are orange in color.

It was warmer when we got up, but the weather was still unsettled. We said goodby to Lakew St. Claire and headed for our 3rd Tasmanian Park, and it's oldest.  Mt Fields.

The weather was sunny and the driving easy. Once again we were amazed that we seemed to be the only ones on the road. It is amazing how little traffic we encountered since leaving Launceston.  A nd on the A10 which  is the only highway that goes from the west coast to Hobart.

As we approached Mt. Fields I saw the dreaded lenticular cloud over the mountain top. But ever hopeful we decided to head for our planned walk. It was in the tarn lake region, an ecology we hadn't seen yet. But the cloud refused to lift and we walked up into it.

After enough time to stretch our legs, we sat down next to the trail and had lunch. We then headed back to the car, with an occasional glimpse of the valley floor, but that was it as far as views for the day.

We were headed to Curringa Farms, a working sheep ranch that also has cabins that can accommodate up to 30 people. Believe it or not, these entrepreneurial ranchers have also developed a visitor center and offer tours! A tour of a sheep farm - not something that would sell in the US but the Chinese tourists seem to love it.
































































As an aside, we so far we have met only a single tourist from the US - a student on the trail to Mt. Rufus. Otherwise it seems that tourists are limited to a few europeans and a large number of asians - mostly Chinese.

I have to say that Kathy's choice for accommodations was amazing. We had a vast view from our porch as well as from the bed. It was a studio, but the most comfortable place we have stayed yet. I could easily spend 3 or 4 days just hanging out.