Kingston

I spent the night in the Mt. Field National Park. It was so cold, I had to sleep in the car. Actually, it's been relatively chilly the whole time I've been here, so I wear my boots to sleep to keep my feet warm. I'm concerned I'm going to get foot rot, like a certain Greek bard, but so far, no fungus.
Mt. Field is famous for Russell Falls and now I know why. It's a 10 minute walk into the rain forest before you see the two-tiered fall. The mist rises from the pool below, and you feel transported into prehistoric times. There are low-lying ferns all about and a heavy gum tree canopy above. Unfortunately, I could not get the whole falls into the view finder on my camera, so I have pictures of parts of the falls. Although impressive, they were not as enormous as Iguassu, in Brasil. I wander up to the lookout area and find the river feeding the massive fall is rather quite small; maybe 12-15 feet wide and no more than 2 feet deep. I was amazed it could create such a spectacle. I continued on the walking track to the Tall Tree Walk. The gum trees in the area are very old and almost match the height of the Redwoods in CA. These gums top out at 98 meters, while the redwoods highest are about 111 meters. Strangely, with that height, they do not have the girth of the redwoods, but that doesn't diminish their impressiveness. I continue on to two more falls, Horseshoe and Lady Barrouns, which are smaller but equally as rewarding.

I left Mt. Field and headed for the Tahune Rainforest Airwalk. It took a couple hours, but I arrived in time to get into the visitors' center and buy my ticket. They have constructed a massive catwalk, about 100 feet above the forest floor, where you can walk around and study the canopy of the rain forest. There are two rivers, which converge here, the Picton and Huon, and the views from the catwalk are wonderful. The area had been logged significantly in the past, but there are some ginormous surviving trees, which stretch upward, beyond the catwalk, at least another 100 feet. Did you know that the gum tree has the hardest wood on the planet?

I drove over to the coast to spend the night in Snug. It's close to Kingston, where I want to see the Antarctic exhibit tomorrow morning. Righty-oRead more