Luke O’Brien Photography

A mist-shrouded Meredith Range - Tarkine

The highlight of Corinna has to be the secluded waterfall “Lover’s Falls”. It is not a fall that is easilly accessed by large tour groups so you can have some time to yourself in the deep green rainforest. We kayaked to these falls and had the place to ourselves for an hour or two before another small group appeared. Taking photos of these falls was not without it’s challenges, namely avoiding the spray off the waterfall. The ferns surrounding the waterfall, however, made for beautiful framing and composition opportunities. The ferns were a brilliant green, and the red tannin stained water was quite an eyecatching contrast.

Lovers Falls, Tarkine

The weather was surprisingly still while we visited the falls considering the wind, rain and hail that hit at other times during our few days in the region. We even experienced snow in the rainforest near Waratah on the way to Philosophers Falls, which is another must-see Tarkine rainforest walk, especially in wet weather.

The lush green rainforest of Tasmania's Tarkine

The evening rewarded too with a full moon lighting up the misty Pieman River. Below is a 2 minute long exposure photograph of the Pieman at night.

Pieman River at Corinna, Night Scene

Access to Corinna is quite straightforward, and the only unsealed section of road is the final 25 kms once you pass the mining town of Savage River. Don’t underestimate the driving times however, the road is quite narrow and windy, so you will need to allow the best part of 90 minutes to drive the 70km from Waratah to Corinna. There is accommodation & activity information on the Corinna Wilderness Experience website.

Part 2 of my Top 5 Photographic Locations in Tasmania is the wild lands of the North West, the Tarkine.

The word “Tarkine” does for me what few other locations names can – it conjures up an image of somewhere wild and a land as old as time itself yet at the same time new and fresh and waiting to be discovered. To take a few steps off track in this area could have you stepping on land that has not been walked before.

The rewards for landscape photography are many and varied. In the southern end of the Tarkine, based around Waratah and Corinna you have magnificent rainforest walks such as Philosophers Falls, and mountain views from peaks such as Mt Donaldson. Much longer and remoter walks await in the Norfolk or Meredith Ranges.

Philosopher Falls, in Tasmania's Tarkine

The Tarkine coast between the Pieman River in the south and the Arthur River in the north is as rugged and wild as you could ask for. Full of intricately jagged and lichened rocks and long wind blown sand dunes.

Tarkine Coast at Arthur River

The road which links Waratah and Corinna affords wonderful landscape views, so too the “Road to Nowhere” which links Corinna and Arthur River and is comparable to the Lyell Highway (which links Queenstown and Hobart via Lake St Clair) in terms of imparting a sense of being in a truly timeless and untouched environment.

Norfolk Range, Tarkine

The northern end of the Tarkine is home to Arthur River and the South Arthur Forest Reserve.

Tarkine Highlights:

Philosopher Falls

Mt Donaldson

Coastline at Arthur River

All in all as you should allow as much time as you can to fully explore this area, and a week would be great if you can. Apart from walking and exploring time, driving times in the region are reasonably long, as a lot of the roads are unsealed. Corinna has some great accommodation, and Arthur River has accommodation and camping. Be careful of large log truck traffic when you are on the slow and windy unsealed roads.

These Australian nature photos perfectly capture the great contrasts of our land. From the tropical north which experiences wet monsoon rains each summer and a prolonged dry season through winter; to the arid and dry inland which makes up most of the continent; and the green forest fringe of the coastlines. Tasmania is an island, and due to its location at the southernmost part of Australia also has a wide variety of landscapes, and I am presenting these images as a summary of the variety of landscapes that can be experienced here.

East Coast: The eastern half of Tasmania is known for long sandy beaches and gentler, lower mountains, typified by The Hazards, a granite range at the centre of the Freycinet National Park.

Wineglass Bay, Freycinet Peninsula - View from the Hazards

The south east corner is home to very tall and sheer sea cliffs, which are made of dolerite, and drop vertically for 200+ metres in some places. The Tasman Peninsula and Bruny Island are great locations to view this coastline, either by a tourist-friendly sea cruise, or on foot.

Cape Hauy, Tasman Peninsula. Night Scene.

Moving inland from the east coast is a corridor of green. Dry and tall eucalypt forest, as well as grasslands and more shrubby eucalypt forest, and further inland is the tall wet forest that Tasmania is renowned for. Eucalypts in excess of 90 metres stand above ancient Gondwanic rainforest. Mt Field National Park and the Styx Valley of the Giants are great locations to photograph for any visitor to Tasmania.

Tasmanian Rainforest Scene, South West Tasmania

The rainforest and tall trees soon give way to the mountains of the Centre and West Coast which are a popular subject for nature photos. The most famous walk in this region is the Overland Track, which stretches from Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake in the north, to Lake St Clair in the south.

Mirror like reflections of Cradle Mountain on Dove Lake - NB - it doesn't look like this everyday!

Lake St Clair and Mt Ida, from Echo Point

The north west is home to the Tarkine, which is home to Australia’s largest rainforest. The region includes a wild, untouched coastline, and vast buttongrass plains, and has become a major tourism location in Tasmania. Most of the rainforest is inaccessible, other than by days on foot, but great walks to introduce yourself to the region include Philosopher’s Falls, and Mt Donaldson.

Tasmania's Tarkine, dawn from Mt Donaldson

And, moving further north we have a remarkable natural formation called The Nut, at Stanley. This rocky mound is all that is left of an ancient volcano, and can be climbed (or you can ride the chair lift) in only a few minutes. There is a walking trail around the top of The Nut which takes 30 minutes or so.

The Southern Cross swirls above The Nut, in Tasmania's Stanley

The Tarkine is a huge area of ancient landscapes, with great landscape vistas from the Waratah-Corinna, and Corinna-Arthur River roads. These drives rival those of the World Heritage Area near Lake St Clair or the Anthony Road out of Roseberry in terms of the views and experience of a truly timeless and unique landscape. Of course, if you’re willing to get a little dirty, and most likely, rained upon (they don’t call it rainforest for nothing!) then there are a lot of spectacular walks to immerse yourself in.

Philosopher Falls near Waratah, in Tasmania's Tarkine

Philosopher’s Falls is one of the best rainforest/waterfall short walks in the Tarkine (or maybe in all of Tasmania??) – and there are now two walking tracks, although the original one is very much unofficial, and probably not promoted anymore. The new one starts from a freshly flattened and gravelled car park, and as unlikely as it sounds to anyone who has done the original track, the falls are now accessible by a mostly flat 30-odd minute walk. The view above is the one from the riverside at the end of the original walk. For some reason the road was gated and locked when I visited but the walk to the start of the track is barely 15 mins, and it really is a rewarding walk.

Tarkine Forest at Philosophers Falls

The cool, dark rainforest of Tasmania's Tarkine

Philosopher Falls is in the headwaters of the mighty Arthur River which flows north, and then west, where it meets the sea at the Arthur River township (see Edge of the World). In this area is the South Arthur Forest Drive, which takes you to places such as Sumac Lookout and various forest reserves along the way.

The Arthur River from Sumac Lookout, Tarkine

The highlight for me in this area was the abstract details of the plants and rivers. Waterdrops on tiny unfolding ferns, spiderwebs glistening in dew and sunlight, and water cascading over rocky outcrops.  

Tarkine Forest Abstracts

Tarkine Driving Times:

Burnie~Waratah: 1 hour

Waratah~Corinna: 1.5 hours

Waratah~Cradle Mountain: 1 hour

Burnie~Arthur River: 2 hours

Arthur River~Corinna: 2.5 hours

The Tarkine is a very large wilderness area in north west Tasmania, covering the land between the Arthur River in the north, the Pieman River in the south, and the Murchison Highway which connects Burnie to Waratah & Corinna. The region is known for sweeping landscapes over Australia’s largest stretch of continuous rainforest, as well as tall eucalypt forest, buttongrass plains and fast flowing rivers, such as the Arthur, Pieman and Rapid Rivers. My trip earlier this month was based at the northern end, photographing the Arthur River-Couta Rocks area, with a day in the South Arthur Forests. I also photographed Philosopher Falls set in magnificent forest near Waratah – but for the moment, here are some shots of the coastline in the Arthur River area.

Rocky Tarkine Coast near Arthur River, north west Tasmania

Day 1 literally did not stop raining – as I neared Launceston the rain started and4~5 hours later at Arthur River it was still coming down. As the end of the day got closer, however, there was a break in the weather. The clouds of the coast were looking quite thick, and my hopes weren’t high for a west coast sunset, but through a small gap between the clouds and the horizon, some brilliant orange light broke through. 

Sunset over the "Edge of the World"

The rocky landscape is also full of great lichen and fascinating and wildly shaped rocks, particularly further down toward Couta Rocks. These areas allowed for some great abstract rock texture & lichen pattern photography.

"Triplet Collection" Abstracts - Rocky Tarkine Coast

The Tarkine is one of the places that really set me off on the path of a photographer here in Tas – when I was still living in Melbourne, and made a trip through the Tarkine a lot of years ago, the images of what I saw stayed very vividly with me, and all of a sudden it has been a few years since I last went back. I’ll be posting again shortly with some more photos of the other areas I visited this time, but in the meantime please feel free to drop by the Landscapes Gallery in Hobart - we have just celebrated 1 full year in Melville St - and are looking forward to continue sharing my photographic travels with you over the coming years!

Tarkine Beach Panorama

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