Where were you when.....

 You often hear people saying that they clearly remember what they were doing when 9/11 struck, when Princess Diana died, or when JFK was shot, those historic newsworthy moments. I can only remember the first two of these as I am too young to remember Kennedy's murder. I was in Florence/Firenze, Italy, when I heard about 9/11 and in Stratford-upon-Avon in England the morning after Diana's death when I heard the news.

The same will be said for Trump in the future. Even now, people are reminiscing about what they were doing on January 6th 2021, but any indictments that stick will be massive news. There have been some highly prominent trials in the fairly recent past, with Saddam Hussein and OJ Simpson coming prominently to mind. But these will be nothing compared to what we can expect from the upcoming Trump trials.

Currently there are 4 major cases in Florida (secret documents), New York (Stormy Daniels hush money), Washington (January 6th), Georgia (election interference). There's also the civil case brought by E Jean Carroll and possible future indictments about retaining documents in his Bedminster home. There's a good case tracker in the Guardian.

Of all of these, the January 6th case seems the most important after the dramatic scenes of the US Capitol being stormed. It may not be the one that eventually brings Trump down, but it is certainly an epic trial, hinting at insurrection and treason. Living in Australia, we often hear American news the next day because of time zone differences. But the news of this indictment came to me in real time as I was climbing the Nut in Stanley to try to see a sunrise. The Nut is a large headland overlooking the historic town of Stanley and the surrounding coastline of North West Tasmania. The walk around the Nut gives great panoramic views and is listed as one of Tasmania's 60 Great Short Walks.

Unfortunately, I was not to see a sunrise because of cloudy weather, but I did see a lot of beautiful scenery, lots of gorse showing and wattle beginning to flower, and a load of pademelons, small marsupials that look like little wallabies.

Gorse grows abundantly in Tasmania although considered an invasive species

Wattle flowers beginning to show on this Coastal Wattle

Pademelons are small Marsupials

North West: Tasmania Road Trip Days 2 and 3

 After driving to Stanley, we decided to use it as a base to explore the North West of Tasmania a little. To be fair, this is only going to be a taste of the Island which we'll hopefully be able to explore in more depth over the years.

The journeys from Stanley on Days 2 and 3

On day 2 the main effort was a journey to the coast. But I decided to take a walk up The Nut in Stanley to see if a sunrise would happen. It didn't because of cloud cover, but I did hear about Trump's latest indictment while taking my early morning walk!

The Nut overlooking the town of Stanley 

Some of the best views of the North Coast are from The Nut 

 When I got back to our hotel, Caroline and I headed off to Arthur's River and the Edge of the World where nothing stands between us and South America on this latitude. The sea is big and the waves are immense as the Roaring Forties rage in from the Southern Ocean. After checking out the Edge of the World we went back to Stanley via a stop at West Point where we saw wombats roaming around and the most amazing rocks and surf.

Foamy seas at the Edge of the World 

Great surf crashing into the rocks at West Point 

Tasmania is a lush, verdant land. This pond has formed inland at West Point 

We were both aching a bit when we woke this morning, but decided to take a trip to Dip Falls Forest Reserve. And what a trip! The falls were flowing madly after recent rains. The sound was thunderous as the water cascaded over 2 drops of about 40 metres total. It was the most powerful waterfall I've seen in Australia, and the forest surrounds were lush and verdant. After viewing the falls we walked to some huge trees, over 60 metres tall and one giant was 17 metres in girth around the bottom. 

The monumental Dip Falls 

Dip Falls, lower tier (Caroline's photo)

Since coming to Tasmania a year ago, we've learned that the island is full of waterways. There are many rivers, including some major systems like the Derwent in the south, the Esk in the North, the Gordon in the West and the Huon in the south east, but there are some other major rivers that are less systemic like the Arthur River in the North West which is the state's third longest river. The Dip River flows from the Dipwood Mountain range to its east, and then carries on north until it joins the Black River which also comes out of the same range. Tasmania also has a large number of lakes some of which we will be seeing on our trip in days to come, and is, of course, surrounded by sea. So the island is incredibly lush all over.

Lots of fungus around in the damp conditions like this Coral Tooth Fungus 

This massive Brown Top Paperbark is over 60 metres high and has a 17 metre girth!

Ferns are abundant, and some even look to be smiling at you 😊 

The lush, verdant Dip River Forest Reserve 

It's a great place for walking, although a lot of the walking tracks are quite challenging. There is a list of Tasmania's 60 Great Short Walks which I'm beginning to work my way through. Stanley Nut is one of the walks in this series, and I'm hoping to get to a couple more before the trip is through.

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