Luke O’Brien Photography

Great to read recently Parks are adding new signs to the Overland Track, including some which provide some historic and educational information about the area as well as info on how to hike with a minimal impact on the environment.

Sign near Crater Lake on Tasmania's Overland Track

Thousands and Thousands of visitors take on the week long trek through the Tasmanian Wilderness every year so clear signage, including information on how to “tread lightly” in the fragile alpine environment is very important. It is always terrible to read of damage to fragile areas caused by people who are not respectful to the area they are in. Given the popularity of the Cradle Mountain area and the likelihood that it is many people’s first experience of the Tasmanian wilderness it seems like a great place to raise people’s awareness of these issues.

More info on the Overland Track is available on the Parks & Wildlife website.

UPDATE: SOLD! Didn’t last past 2pm today

We are very excited about this one of a kind natural edge Sassafras frame which Judy (Nitchi Design) has lovingly hand crafted from Tasmania’s beautiful Sassafras timber.

Tasmanian Sassafras Timber Frame

The image is my Tasmanian Snow Gum in the mist on Mt Wellington, and the print size is 50cm x 75cm. The frame itself is 1.1 metres high, and 85cm wide so it is very much a piece that needs a lot of wall space and will attract a lot of attention.

Tasmanian Sassafras Timber Frame

Sassafras is my personal favourite when it comes to Tassie timbers, the lines of black & grey that run through the timber are great, and go very well with the misty grey lines of the trees in this image. The orange and black lichen on the boulders go perfectly with the orangey-brown hues of the timber.

Tasmanian Sassafras Timber Frame

There will not be another frame exactly the same as this one. It may be possible to produce another one or two which are similar but it is an extremely limited opportunity.

Tasmanian Sassafras Timber Frame

Drop in anytime for a closer look!

Tasmanian Landscapes Gallery

46 Melville St Hobart

Some additional shots from our recent visit to Mt Field East. The bright sunny conditions weren’t necessarilly the best for wide landscape photos, so most of what I did was macro and abstract photography.

Pandani Frond, Mt Field Tasmania. The curly tips of the pandani frond are a great subject for macro photography. In this case the dry brown of an old frond contrasts richly against the deep green of the new fronds.

The seed capsules of this banksia with lichen, resembling something that could be part of the scenery in a Studio Ghibli movie! Nausica's Valley of the Winds perhaps?

Banksia Flower - Macro/Abstract

"Old Mans Beard" - an interesting lichen, yellow in colour that adds an interesting extra dimension to forest scenes. This is just one small tendril on the end of a branch.

Summer means big ol’ blue skies and nice warm weather – yes, even in Tasmania. The other day we took advantage of some stellar February weather and trundled off to Mt Field East. Mt Field East again is a dolerite mountain, although the tall columns of rock have long since collapsed and the mountain is basically a big pile of rocks. Still a very nice day walk.

The walk starts in eucalypt forest on the Lake Dobson road and you climb reasonably steadily for the first 30 minutes or so. Then the walk flattens out and you reach Lake Nicholls where there is a nice hut. This is a great spot for a break – and probably a swim too if you felt inclined!

Lake Nicholls - Mt Field East Day Walk, Tasmania

The walk continues upward from the hut and you start to cross a dolerite boulderfield with pandani sprinkled here and there and some wonderful old snow gums. It’s a steady climb but by no means difficult. Just watch your feet as some of the boulders are a little wobbly. You soon reach another plateau, this time its all low alpine vegetation such as pineapple grass and scoparia, with clumps of snow gums. You also get your first views of the peak here. After a short walk across the plateau you reach signposts – one pointing to the summit of Mt Field East and the other pointing back to the road. There are two routes back to the road – either retrace the way you came or head towards Seagers Lookout and Lake Fenton. Going this way involves walking a couple of kms down the road back to where you parked the car, but Seagers Lookout is a great vantage point and Lake Fenton is a nice lake where you can see Tasmania’s fagus trees – especially beautiful in the autumn months.

Mt Field East, Summit View

The climb to the summit doesn’t take too long from the signpost, but mostly traverses boulderfields. There are cairns and wooden posts keeping you on track, but if the clouds were down it would be quite easy to lose your way. The summit is 1274 metres, and offers great views to the Rodway Range in the West of the Park, and south to the distant ranges of the World Heritage Area. The views to the north & north east are of the Midlands – in summer the hills look very bare and yellow.

Mt Field East, Summit View

We had lunch with a swarm of skinks at the summit before heading down. Including photo stops we spent almost 7 hours on the circuit. We were also glad we walked from the first car park rather than Lake Fenton because it meant we were able to score a lift from Lake Fenton back to where we left the car which would have saved at least 30-40 minutes walking time!

Skinks at the summit of Mt Field East

I noticed a lot of great looking gum trees on the lower slopes above Lake Fenton and made a note to self to get back there one day in the mist or the rain – Tasmanian snow gums have the habit of really shining when they are wet, and show off great yellows and reds.

I found this fascinating animated graphic which shows the date and the magnitude of each and every earthquake that was felt across Japan last year. It’s all fairly unremarkable right up until around March 9 when a few big ones hit off the north east coast, and then the big one hits on March 11 which triggers the massive tsunami and thousands of aftershocks that continue for the entire year.

Midori and I visited Fukushima in July and pretty soon after arriving felt a major quake (magnitude 7.2 from memory). You can see that hit on July 10 on this animation. We were pretty spooked by it, especially when the NHK News reported that a tsunami warning had been issued. Luckily only a very small tsunami hit a couple of towns and no further damage was caused. I remember tweeting about it so friends and family back home would know we were ok.

In other Japan related news, I recently added some photos of last Novembers tsunami fundraising exhibition, including shots from Opening Night taken by Hobart based photographer, Mr Manabu Kondo. The event was a great success and we are proud to announce over $4290 was raised over the course of the week. Thanks very much for your generosity, Hobart.