April 21 Earth Day (Day 207)
Today we headed east and then south through almost the center of Tasmania towards Hobart. The whole south-west quarter of the island is inaccessible, by car anyway, consisting of the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park, the Southwest Conservation Area and the Southwest National Park, with only one road penetrating between the three large land areas. Our first stop was at a beautiful waterfall accessed by a boardwalk through the rainforest.
Nelson Falls in the rainforest.
Continuing on, we rose up into grasslands and crossed the island divide!
Not the ‘Continental Divide’, but the divide between the higher, wetter west, and the lower drier east of the island.
The tussock grassland, a little more wet today due to the low clouds and occasional sprinkle of rain.
And along the roadside, the distinct square poo of the wombat! We haven’t seen a live wombat yet, but here is proof!
We continued down into the drier, lower east, past the town of Ouse and found our free campsite for the night at Bethune Park Camping Area on Meadowbank Lake.
We saw and heard our first big flock of sulpher crested cockatoos here, as well as a lone kookaburra that sat in a gum tree for quite awhile.