Touring the West

 We had an early start of our Bus Tour heading from Hobart to Russell Falls.  This pristine wilderness area was preserved by a government surveyor sent out to find logging sites who decided not to tell his employers of its location.

Then on to Lake St Clair, a huge freshwater lake used for irrigation, drinking water and the production of hydroelectricity.

Then on to Queenstown that I visited in 1958 when the mining was in full swing and the rampant environmental impacts were unabated.  There was no vegetation on the surrounding hills and the creeks of the area were filled with an orange, toxic sludge.  The creeks remain dangerously polluted but some vegetation is returning since the closure of the old mine.

The old funicular railway I rode as a kid (between Strachan and Queenstown) is now being partially restored. We continued on to Strachan where we stayed overlooking the harbour ready for our trip on the Gordon River the next day.