Sunday, July 10, 2011

Tasmania, the hidden jewel of Australia 2010/08/01-15 day 13

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We woke up as soon as the first day light hits.

Guessed who’s the unexpected guest that came and visit us last night? It’s a fat possum, lol. Someone mentioned it in the log book and we were aware of its presence as soon as we heard scratching noise over the roof, and it will come into the hut through the opening on top of the door which is apparently big enough for a fat possum to squeeze and came in to steal food and poo, lol.

We had fun playing with the possum, we even saw its head peeping through the opening. Alex even waited for the possum to peep through the opening again with a wooden baseball bat, lol. Though in the end, we didn’t hit it, but we managed to kinda scare it away up onto the pine tree next to the hut. To be cautious, we blocked the opening with a piece of wood which is what you saw on the upper left pic :)

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The hut still under shade as the sun rises…

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Dixon’s kingdom in clear skies…yeah!!! Click to view enlarge photo!!!



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There’s icy patches from the patches of water. We didn’t thought that it would be such a good day today. We started early to get to Mt.Jerusalem before the sun gets to the top of us directly.

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More icy patches and it’s relatively new to see the icy diamond shapes!!! The boardwalk was really slippery with ice forming on it, everytime we walked through one, we could hear the ice sheets cracked, haha.

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The views around us was just so breathtaking under the clear skies!!!!

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I really love this shot of mine with the pencil pine skeletal!!!

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The hike to Mt.Jerusalem is not really that hard because it rises gradually but it’s longer. The view on top shows the pencil pines both in green and white skeletal remainings. Click to view enlarge photo!!!

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View from a higher and further vantage point :) Click to view enlarge photo!!!

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When we got higher, we could this MAGICAL alpine tarns!!! It was in awe and mesmerized by the water and ice reflections on the tarns!!! Just as Alex said, you don’t need to be a professional photographer to get these shots!!! It’s very true indeed, no matter how you shoot, because the mother nature is pretty, the photo always comes put pretty too. It’s all about timing and the moment!!

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Even better, the sun wasn’t high up yet, in fact the sun ray was shooting at the tarns at an angle that makes the reflections even more unique and special!!!!

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I can’t help but clicking away my camera shutter. Click to view enlarge photo!!!

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Also i wished i could stay there for the whole day just looking at the water and ice reflections!!!! Click to view enlarge photo!!!

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Unfortunately, we had to move on, as we ascent gradually (pretty slippery with all the wet ice), and got higher above the tree lines, the faraway views came clearer!!!

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The whole places just displayed to us all like a magical and fantasy garden!!!!

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Finally we were at the top of Mt.Jerusalem (1459m) !!! The peak allows a 360 degree view of every direction into Tasmania’s central plateau!!!! Click to view enlarge photo!!!

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And from here one can see the whole overland track which is represented by the peaks on the overland track!!! Click to view enlarge photo!!!


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There’s barn bluff and cradle mountain!!!!! AMAZING!!!!

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Looking east…which is decorated by a burn but slow regrowth of pencil pines

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Looking north…facing Lake Tyre, Lake Thor, Lake Sidon and Zion gate

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Looking maybe south??? haha…

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Looking South east….. into Chinaman’s plain which is dotted by thousands of alpine tarns & lakes!!!

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Looking South west…part of the reserve peaks on the faraway mountain ranges

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Our best stylish group photo throughout the whole trip, LOL!!!!

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We spent almost an hour on top of Mt.Jerusalem enjoying the view and the sun, lol. We all wished we can stay longer, but it’s time to leave. Saying goodbye to Mt.Jerusalem.

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Heading back to Dixon Kingdom’s hut, i noticed the creek have icicles formed on the plants where the water runs through!!!

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Jono and me taking our last photo with the nice little hut!!!

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Back on the track, last snap shot of halls buttress & solomons throne and the beautiful cushion plants which is everywhere.

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While on the peak of Mt.Jerusalem, we were trying to pinpoint where could the the temple ruin is. We decided to give it another go. Back on to the temple, the view across the valley was another irresistible view!!! There’s the pool of Bethesda on the bottom right hand corner which we didn’t visit.

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Finally we found the temple ruins!!! Where it’s located it seems to be on the slop on the other side of the temple. From there one can get a good view of the East walls and Mt. Jerusalem!!!

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We had a light snack at the ruin. The ruins wasn’t anywhere near what we saw on the net on the photo taken by people who take care of the backcountry huts ages ago. The picture on the net show a pretty complete stone hut, but now it seems like there’s only the wall left. We didn’t spent heaps of time there, but were happy to be able to find it…yeah!!!!

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On the way back we detour a bit to visit the Solomon jewels which we didn’t visit on our way in. It was another surprisingly pretty places, and live up to its name!!!

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Last snap shot of king david’s peak, maybe some day when i come back, i might climb it, lol. very FUNNY!!!!

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Last glimpse of Damancus gate…

We went all the way back to the car…on the way we met some europeans, have a nice chat. They were lucky to go in at the right time, but there seems to be weather moving in too, haha.

That’s how Tasmania highland is. We signed out and were happy to see Alex’s car in good shape. We managed to be out by mid-afternoon. Now we have to settle for tonight’s stay and get as close as possible to Devonport to board the ferry the following morning :)

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