Off grid

Phoenix

All-Pro
Location
Melbourne, Australia
Name
Phoenix Gonzales
I decided to go hiking and camping for a week around the Franklin-Gordon national park in Tasmania 2 months ago. While camping and enjoying the great outdoors is a popular past time in Tasmania almost everyone I know reckons I'm a complete lunatic for doing so for a couple of reasons
1. Camping season is just starting as the weather is just starting to warm up.
2. Since I am camping out of season, I will be on my own and completely alone in the wilderness for a week.
3. It is about a 1-2 drive to get any phone signal and The closest town is about a 2-3 hours drive.

I'm not an adrenaline junkie or a hardcore bushman, I do not have a death wish and I am not suicidal (well only in the mornings), but always wanted to camp around Tasmania and a series of events presented me with the opportunity to do so, so I decided to go for it.

I just got around looking at the photos from my camera. I didn't get to take any shots from my camp site as it rained all the time, and there's nothing much to shoot around the campsite other than trees, bush, and more trees. I also found that I didn't have a lot of time, chop wood - drag to camp - do something about food - evening - sleep. Night time always came fast.

I just took some photos of Lavender farm, some photos along the Huon river and on top of Mount Wellington in Hobart.

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Those are beautiful, and you're not crazy for going. Quiet time is a great reset button. See any wildlife?

I enjoy camping with my friends, but I will admit I also really did enjoy camping on my own and I am looking forward doing it again.

Got to see a few wildlife;

There was a few Wallabies (mini Kangaroos) in the bush.

I accidentally stepped on a snake underneath the floor of my tent which darted away, I can only assume it was a Taipan / Brown snake as they're quite common in the area, I ended up jumping inside my tent and landing on my bum.

There was a wombat that did not have the slightest care in the world, I saw the little guy or big guy I should say walking about near midnight, I tried to offer it some nuts and fruits but it just went on it's business and didn't look at me, I saw it again around dawn going the other way, I am assuming it just finished the evening shift.
 
a week without people sounds great.....where do I sign up?

Great shots, as always

Thanks buddy. Much appreciated.

It was one of those spur of the moment situations. I always wanted to go camping there, but I had to take the ferry if I was to take my camping gear with me and it is not cheap. The company that I work for sent me there for a work function, I asked them if if they we're willing to shell out for the ferry instead of a flight and they said yes. It's not camping season and It can still be frosty in the evenings, but it was just too good to pass up the opportunity.

On a related note, I can probably achieve a week without people without going to the wilderness. It will involve not showering, and a diet that consists of cabbage, beans, garlic, cheese and beer.
 
How did Brown Trout get to Australia? Did someone import them?

I think it was an introduced as a species back in the 1800's or 1900's.

Unfortunately Australia doesn't have a good track record in the past in looking after their biodiversity. Rabbits were not native to the country and were introduced for food and hunting, now they're a major pest and a blight to farmers. Cane toads was also introduced in the past in a bid to control sugar cane beetles, and they ended up being more of a pest than the beetles.

A bit of trivia. Australia has the highest population of Camels in the world. They were introduced as a form of transport in the Australian desert, when transport technology got better they were just left to their own devices. The hot and arid conditions of the Australian deserts suited them perfectly where they bred and multiplied. There are now vast amounts of feral camels roaming the Australian desert.
 
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