The devil in Tassie

Autumn. I was visiting Tasmania for the first time.

It was unseasonally warm. The apple isle had been in the grip of an extended hot season. As always in Australia, the resulting storms and lightning strikes had started many fires. Wide, rolling fires, hard to extinguish, continuing for weeks with the ongoing heat. Steady fires, edging their way forward through great swathes of the south-east, south-west and central highlands. The Huon Valley was a write-off, my planned visit to Tahune now forgotten, the Airwalk a crispy, blackened mess at the end of a closed road.

The east coast was immune, dramatic and beautiful. The north-western inland forests were still reasonably lush and green. Clouds hugged mountains, exposed cliffs were mossy and ferny. It was dry but the thickly-forested landscape survived. I tried to capture the surrounding countryside: granite, pines, rainforest gullies.

With 2 days left and now travelling on my own, I headed south towards Lake Pedder via the central highlands. Rolling hills of pale yellow grasses, remnants of dry forest and empty roads. Despite heading south it was heating up; 39 degrees with hot winds buffeting the car. I didn’t see anyone else for miles. I think Tasmanians were as shocked as I was by the weather and stayed hidden in their homes.

I was determined to reach Strathgordon and explore Lake Pedder, although unsure if the road in would be open. Fires had already rumbled through adjacent Mount View and Southwest National Parks. But luck was with me and with no other soul in sight, I cruised into gently smoking, formerly fire-affected areas. I chose my rest stops carefully as the sun started to disappear behind grey-white drifting smoke.

Then, I rounded a bend and saw this:

The fresh fire was to the north east of me with prevailing winds pushing smoke in my direction. Despite it’s distance, the windblown embers made it feel very close. Battling mind-games, I decided to keep going. I wanted to stop and take more photos of the scorched landscape, apocalyptically beautiful, but fear and uncertainty won out. I felt relieved to reach Lake Pedder.

Lake Pedder was gorgeous, stunning, even with a wind-disturbed surface. A little way further west of the lake is Gordon Dam and then, world heritage wilderness. I drove to the Dam and was the only one there. The scale of the dam wall is immense. My fear of heights and the strong, hot winds made for a slow walk down to the wall with a death-grip on those handrails. But I did it.

Overnight the conditions changed. A misty rain settled in and the temperature dropped by 20 degrees. The Tassie I expected was back. Retracing my steps of the day before, everything smelled of damp fire and smoke. Some plants already had light green growth peeking through, recovering from earlier fires. Others remained softly sizzling in the dampness, their leaves curled delicately as a result of bushfire, traumatised.

I left Southwest NP and headed into the Franklin Gordon Wild Rivers area. It couldn’t have been more different (but that’s another blog post).

Lou x