PPS Destinations Report
Tasmania, Australia
Date: February 2 - 9, 2002
Speaker: Dr. John Cummins, BDS, Wagga Wagga, Australia
Topic: Update in Digital Radiography
Reported by Ernst 'Ernie' Schmidt
In 'offering up' my report for Tasmania, as well as the other two weeks I spent in Australia, I am happy to say that this was one of the best destinations I have visited. Australia is a vast and varied, country but, I would have to admit that it was Tasmania that really captured my imagination as well as the desire to return.
Our trip began on January 30th, when five of our party
landed in Sydney in order to spend a few days in the nation's biggest
city. This is a very clean city (especially for one of its size) and the
downtown core is very pedestrian
friendly. During our three days there, we quickly saw what had to be seen
when one visits Sydney as well as some side excursions to places like Manley
Beach and Watson's Bay. It was during this first night that we had one of
those magical moments. We were all seated at Doyle's Seafood restaurant
(Watson's Bay) enjoying our fish n' chips (at a whopping $28 AUD per
plate), sipping Australian chardonnay while witnessing a fabulous
sunset over Sydney. Despite this, I was seriously getting the itch to get
out of a big city and get on with the wilderness portion of the trip. The
fact that we were experiencing cold weather as well as heavy showers on the last
day certainly was a factor as well.
Immediately on arrival in Hobart (State Capital of Tasmania), I quickly knew that this was my type of city. At about 180k population, the city is nestled around a large inlet surrounded by mountains in the 3000 foot range. Kind of made me feel like at home in Vancouver. Australia's second oldest city is also clean and neat but much more quaint and laid-back. A pleasant layout with delightful architecture as well as a beautiful harbour makes this one of the most under-rated tourist destination hubs (at least in my humble opinion). A very big draw with our group (now 10) was the weekly Salamanca Market , held every Saturday right at the harbour front. This outdoor market features everything from fresh vegetables and food to all sorts of local arts and crafts. Needless to say, our home is now decorated with a variety of them. Although I am not a big market person, I would have to say to any potential traveler, that this is a must do if you are there on a Saturday. In addition to the market, we had another mission which had to be undertaken. Since Blundstone shoes are made just outside Hobart (Moonah), we ended 'stocking up' with at least 12 pairs in order to satisfy the orders taken by our children as well as other neighbours wishing to maintain their fashion standing without a big dent to the pocket book.
After a pleasant half-day in Hobart, we all jumped in our
rented vehicles and made our way up towards the Central Highlands. After
stopping in Hamilton to have a bite and to buy more souvenirs at a quaint shop
originally built by convicts (Glen
Clyde House), we arrived at our first 'real' destination,
Lake
St. Clair Wilderness Lodge. This lodge, is situated in the southern
portion of the Lake St. Clair/Cradle Mountain National Park and is Australia's
deepest lake. Even though the beautiful scenery was very much like parts
of British Columbia or western Alberta, the striking features of this lake are
its surrounding gum (Eucalypts) and rain forests. I really enjoyed the
abundance of wildlife in Tasmania compared to any other place I have
visited. In a very short while we were able to observe wallabies, echidnas,
kookaburras as well as several species of parrots. On our first
whole day at Lk. St. Clair, Debbie and I spent the day with Barry Hickman (Tasmanian
Fly Fishing) being
guided on the waters of Lk. St. Clair. Since the day was unusually cold
and inclement, we caught but a few fish and I will talk more on this in a short
while. The second day was much more promising and Deb and I decided to
walk the 20kms round trip from the lodge to the top of Mount Rufus, taking a
different route back. Well, this had to be one of the highlights of our
trip and truly one of the best hikes we have ever undertaken. Although the
day started out a bit cool and cloudy, we worked our way through dense gum
forests and quickly began to ascend into bluer, and, more welcoming skies.
Within two hours, we had climbed above the tree line and had a spectacular view
from the 1400 metre summit. 
This
part of Tasmania is really untouched with no sign of logging or other resource
development. Even more spectacular than the view from the summit was the
descent down the backside of the mountain. This had to be one of the most
beautiful and picturesque areas featuring ever-changing landscapes and amazing
flora. At one point, we could not get over the combination of fern-like
trees, heather-like ground cover, gum forests, open plains, and, all
featuring a pathway of grass which seemed more like a strip from a putting
green. Add a backdrop of mountains and, truly, I would have to rate the
hiking in this national park as one of the biggest attractions in all of the
world and a certain must-do when visiting Australia.
With
the weather finally changing for the better, it was time for a second day of
fishing on Lake St. Clair. With our guide, Barry, we plied the beautiful
rainforest-lined shores with its gin-clear waters. The trick here seemed
to wind-drift along the shore structure, mostly made up of fallen gum trees and
rocks. Using a floating fly as a strike indicator, usually a gum
beetle, and a small stick caddis dropper, we cast along the
structure. Still a bit cool but beautifully sunny, Deb and I were able to
bring 15 fish to the net during the day. Towards the afternoon, the
fishing got better, with most of the
browns taking the surface gum beetles as the day warmed. Right near the
end, I cast to a cruising fish in amongst a tangle of fallen trees, with the
bottom clearly visible. From the depths, a 3 pound brown (spots as Barry
calls 'em) came up in order to enhance my photo collection. After
releasing this handsome 'spots', Deb immediately hooked a good fish on
the surface. After a good fight, we had a handsome 5 pound rainbow in the
boat. Not only are rainbows less common than browns, but this was truly an
impressive size of fish for this lake. This was a great day for us
and, I should add, very informative with Barry offering up a lot of information
on the natural history of the forests and surrounding landscape with its flora
and fauna. Amazingly, very few guides
and local fishermen fish this lake, preferring to fish other, better known
waters.
After another excellent meal at the Lake St. Clair
Lodge, we packed up and drove over to our next base, Central Highlands
Lodge. Now the scenery had changed from lush forested mountains to the
Central Highlands plateau with its open spaces. This lodge is situated on
Great Lake which, along with Arthur Lake, is considered among the flagship
fisheries for Tasmania. As we got together with the rest of the group, we
discussed our experiences. Most of our group had fished several of the
nearby productive lagoons with varied success. Again, wind-drifting was
the order of the day, casting to cruising or rising fish. Due to the
strange weather patterns which seem to be prevalent these days, success was
mixed throughout our group. At this point, Deb and I had only one real
fishing day left. After discussing this over with the guide, I asked that
we be taken to waters which were truly representative and unique to
Tasmania. It seems that the Western Lakes, a group of about 50 natural
lakes on a windswept plateau, are what really distinguish the fishery
here. On this day, Peter (Ausprey
Tours) took us to a shallow lake along a
tundra-like plateau. After about a 10 - 15 minute hike in the open,
punctuated by fleeting wallabies, we came upon a pretty shallow weedy lake.
When I say shallow, I mean that if it weren't for the greasy bottom, it would be
quite easy to wade across the whole lake, being no more than thigh deep.
Toward the later afternoon as the day warmed up, mayfly dun activity started up
and the fish began working the surface. After Deb released one and lost
another two, Peter had me change position to the 
weedy
downwind portion of the lake. Although it appeared to be only a foot deep
here, the weedy waters were actually thigh-deep. Casting to risers into
the 'teeth' of the wind, I placed a perfect cast in front of a cruiser.
After a boil, the fish came back and sucked in my dun. After a great
fight, including several high jumps, I managed to land what I considered to be
my most gratifying fish of the trip. On the way back, we decided to
quickly try one more shallow lake. Casting right along the shoreline in
about 1-2 feet of water, Debbie managed to raise a brown which we estimated at
over 6 pounds. I guess we always value what we don't have back at
home. After a bit of research and talking to our friendly guide,
Peter, I got the sense that the adventurous angler could easily wander for days
in pursuit of isolated wilderness lakes in this region. Besides the
Western Lakes, all with wild browns, some of the pictures he showed of other
lakes and rivers, some with handsome browns up to 7 pounds, convinced me that
this really is a world-class fishery. In short, Tasmania is to
shallow-lake/lagoon fishing as New Zealand is to river fishing. Having said this,
Tasmania does have some quality river fishing, although not of the reputation of
the NZ waters.
One day was spent at Central Highlands Lodge, whereby an informative lecture on Digital Radiography was presented by Dr. John Cummins, BDS, of Wagga Wagga, Australia. This was a good day for us practitioners as John has been at the forefront of digital radiography in Australia. For all of us, it was a great time to exchange notes and information. One highlight was followed by another. After the lecture, several of us piled into a vehicle and took a night-drive along some of the un-sealed roads. We delighted in the numerous sightings of wombats, possums, wallabies, platypus and yes, even several Tasmanian devils!! I can't say enough, how much I enjoyed the abundance of wildlife in Tasmania. Back at the lodge, a couple of beers (Tassie beers are world-class and popular throughout Australia) with guides Jamie, Peter (Ausprey Tours) and Angus (Davidson's Wild Trout Tasmania) really made me regret the brevity of our stay in Tassie. At that point, they had me whipped into a frenzy begging Deb for an extension to our holiday. On an amusing note, when I asked Angus as to why anglers weren't as aware of the world-class fishery in Tassie as they were in New Zealand, the subject of snakes came up. "In 11 years, I haven't seen a snake" was the reply. "We all feel that this must be a conspiracy put forth by the Kiwi guides in order to keep a good thing to themselves." By all accounts, there might be some truth to this. Many people I talked to before the trip 'informed' that they thought Tassie was the home of the 3 most poisonous snakes in the world. Guides like Angus just shrug whenever they hear this line.
After the fishing part of our trip was over, Deb and I spent a day driving around the northern part of the island. I was really impressed with the bucolic nature of the country. I found that many of the small towns, like Burnie on the north coast, were quaint, civilized and placed on beautiful beaches. After this day, we all headed back to Hobart where we checked in to our hotel and then took an excursion to Tasmania's most visited tourist attraction, Port Arthur. This historic penal institution with its imposing ruins is also a must-see for all travelers to Tasmania. Oh, by the way, did I mention that we arrived back in Hobart just in time to do the Salamanca Market again?
In summary, I felt that Tasmania was really the jewel-in-the-crown for Australia, with Hobart being one of the lost/hidden capitals of the tourist world. I found the food was much better than I had anticipated, especially when taken with liberal amounts of wine from Tasmania's emerging wine industry. Like South Island, New Zealand, I found the people to be very hospitable. When I planned this trip, I connected with trout guide, Barry Hickman, who served as spokesman for the Tasmanian Trout Guide Outfitters Association. It was Barry's lot to help us plan all the logistics for the trip, including transportation and accommodations and, for this, PPS owes a special debt of gratitude to Barry for all his hard work and organization. Following is a list of those persons/organizations who helped make this one of the most memorable trips. For those of you planning to visit Tasmania, you would do well to contact these individuals for your fishing needs.
Barry Hickman; Tasmanian Fly Fishing
Roger Butler; Red Tag Trout Tours
Peter Quigley; Ausprey Tours
Angus Davidson; Davidson's Wild Trout Tasmania
Richard Dax; Lake St. Clair Wilderness Holidays
Frank Hussey; Tourism Tasmania
In Short, two thumbs up for this destination. To see more pics of our trip, please check out the PPS Photo Album.
Dear Reader. If you have any questions about Tasmania as a travel destination, please do not hesitate to contact any of the above links as well as myself, Ernie Schmidt, DMD, at pps@shaw.ca.