Tassie Part 15

Thurs 18th, Day 16:
North and inland to St Columba Falls due west of St Helens. Glorius man-fern heavy forest with lots of wattle. The thickness and height of the man-ferns give a glimpse of dinosaur forest. The falls are very nice.
Saw quite a few small birds including a pardalote or similar right by the track who was completley unconcerned by us. The info board at the head of the path has that story of a colonial woman who was lost in this forest for nine days and was tracked by two thylacines for two days who were just waiting for her to die. She spent one night tunnelled into a hollow fallen trunk with a thylacine looking in at each end. She made it out eventually when she found two woodcutters but refused to take her shoes off in their presence because her stockings were torn. What a lady!

On the drive out a young echidna crossed the road in front of us. We kept pace with him for several minutes.
The cheese place at Pyengana was crap. A tourist trap with no good cheese. Don't go there.

We drove through the thickly forested hills to Weldborough. Good views. We did a forest walk through southern beech forest with cloyingly twee signs.
Found a pub/backpackers in Weldborough. It is a pretty old building and is in very good nick. It is being run by the son and his girlfriend of a Melbourne couple who bought it as their retirement plan. The parents were tying up loose ends on the mainland before moving down. Georgeous setting. Much much prettier than St Helens.
After lunch with ciders we took the dirt road through beautiful farmland and forest to Mt Paris Dam. I think Caroline just saw the sign and said 'Let's go there!'
A juvenile tasmanian devil ran across the road up ahead.
Mt Paris Dam is no longer in use. There is a newer dam further into the hills that made it redundant. They blasted holes in it to let the water out.
"First time I've walked through a dam!" says The Aunt.

A pleasant lookout near Goshen (which I learned just last week is named after a place in the bible where something happened).

There was something that Caroline wanted to buy from a chainstore called Chickenfeed. I think it was pegs. We'd seen Chickenfeed shops all over Tasmania and while we were there it was announced the head office was moving to Sydney to start the chain up there. It is a bargain shop.
The first time I saw it I thought it actually was an animal feed place specialising in poultry pellets. The Aunt thought it was a fast food place like Red Rooster.
Anyway, Chickedfeed has everything - including kneepads.
We bought kneepads.
See our heroic poses wearing them in our cabin!