Highland Lakes

  Bronte, Tasmania, Australia
Saturday, February 21, 2009

We decided to head back to Bronte Lagoon to the 'secret spot' where the fishing school was held expecting to have the place to ourselves.

Bronte Lake morning mist

On arrival we found 3 couples in camper vans travelling together on holiday from New SouthWales so we had to share the lagoon. It is a huge lagoon so we were able to find a private spot but close enough to be social. It turned out that they were fisher people too and knew of the place as one couple had also been on the fishing school. They lit a camp fire each night so we joined them some evenings for chats around the fire. We enjoyed their company and sharing the day's fishing or travelling tales.Other nights fishing itself took priority.

Site of the first trout catch - Bronte lagoon

Well, I have to announce that here was the spot that David caught his first wild rainbow trout all alone and unaided. It was about 1lb 4oz (fishing folk here seem to use old weights still). I will publish some photos of fish and fishing in this blog but may have to limit it in the future as you will probably tire of photos of David fishing in lakes, rivers etc. no matter how beautiful they are (the scenery, I mean). This one was cause for much excitement, you will understand, as David was beginning to wonder if he would ever be successful at fly-fishing.

David's first rainbow trout

Tasmania is a paradise for anyone keen on fly-fishing as, having purchased an annual licence for a reasonable fee, one can fish just about any lake or river in the state at no extra cost. There are so many beautiful waters to fish as we are to find out. They are scenically beautiful too so good for non-fishers like me to walk and explore or just relax and enjoy the scenery or the sound of birds as I read.

Eastern Quoll as seen nightly at Bronte

Apart from the fishing at Bronte there was abundant wildlife and we saw Eastern spotted quolls each evening in addition to wallabies, possums and wombats and the meadows around the lagoon were bright with wildflowers such as these yellow paper daisies.

Paper daisies at Bronte Lagoon

Having the truck with us this time meant we could explore the area from our base at Bronte.

Lake St Clair

We spent one exceptional day at Lake St Clair which is in a World Heritage listed region and is surrounded by dramatic peaks rising vertically 1000 metres above the magnificent lake.

Ferry on Lake St Clair

We took a ferry up the lake (this is apparently the highest altitude marine journey in Australia;) and then did a 4 hour walk back through forests by the lake with spectacular views.

Tiger snake on Lake St Clair track

One thing I did not like was this big tiger snake which was on the path as we approached; they seem to be common in Tasmania at this time of year.

Tiger snake Lake St Clair

Another day we visited the 'Wall in the Wilderness' which is the ongoing project of an amazing sculptor/artist/woodcarver.

Wall in the Wilderness with sculptor

   It is expected to take over 5 years to complete and will measure 100 metres in length and 3 metres high using 10 different subjects to portray the history of the area. As a visitor one is not allowed to take any photographs so I found a website that had some and this is one of the details from  the 'wall'. If you are interested you can visit www.thewalltasmania.com  which has a few more photos.

Wall in the Wilderness detail

In addition to the 'wall' other pieces of his work are on display. He also carves 3 dimensional sculptures  from Tasmanian Huon Pine and one was a glove made from a butter-coloured wood and it looked just like chamois leather; I pointed it out to David and he said that it was not wood and just a glove left on the table so went to pick it up; it was wood. That is how realistic his carvings are; a man with exceptional talent.

We also explored other lakes in the area and David fished and practised his casting techniques with renewed vigour after his first success.

Fishing Lake King William

We planned to celebrate Valentine's day with dinner for 2 under the stars but the weather turned cold so we ate our rainbow trout inside with the heater on; not quite so romantic but still tasty and we did go out later for a walk under the stars and the sky was amazing. We think it was the best display of stars we have ever seen apart from an observatory. The sky seemed to be a dome full of stars that came down to meet the lake and the forests all around us; quite magical and all we could do was watch in silence and admiration.
That reminds me of a cartoon in the local paper that showed a girl getting dressed up as her boyfriend had promised a night out for just the 2 of them with moonlight and seafood. He arrives in waders with fishing rod in hand.

We left Bronte after a wonderful 10 days to head to the South West National park and the World Heritage wilderness areas.

On  the way we found a caravan park by a lake that had an outdoor heated swimming pool; the first we had seen or heard of here in Tasmania. It was in a village that had been built to house workers on the hydro-electric scheme and the facilities remained there after the workers left so an enterprising couple bought the pub, store etc. and the sale included the caravan park area with swimming pool. It was a surprise for them but they are now running it well as a caravan park. The place, Wayatinah, was a great success as we enjoyed the pool and David caught 2 good-sized wild brown trout. When we arrived David asked around about the fishing and all the men said they had not had any luck so he was surprised and delighted to catch one the first evening we arrived.

Wayatinah Lake brown trout

After that he was treated with great respect as it is a small community and word spreads fast. Other people going fishing came to ask advice about the best time to fish and whether to use a 'woolly worm' or a 'red tag'; yes fly-fishing has a language all its own and the range of names for the various flies is amazing. No wonder David wants to return next year to the school to learn more. Anyway I had difficulty keeping a straight face when I heard David giving advice though I must admit he is starting to look like a 'real' fly-fisherman and catching fish too. We are not yet sick of trout for dinner but will be having a short break from fishing as we travel away from the lakes.

Trout for dinner