February 2024 - Lagoon of Islands

Tasmania's Lagoon of Islands is not widely known. It is a little known hydro reserve in the Steppes, a wind swept and lonely area up on the edge of the Tasmanian highlands.

Here are some interesting snippets about how the Lagoon was first destroyed, and then rehabilitated, by Hydro Tasmania.

YouTube story of the restoration

ABC News story 22 April 2023 – restoration successful Tasmania's Lagoon of Islands is back to a healthy state after decades of poor water quality

Most of us hadn't been to the lagoon before, so it was with some anticipation that we (Wayne, Gerwyn, Di, Bob, Kat and Philip) met at the remote car parking area. Note: Apart from a little red plastic stick, the turnoff is not signed on Interlaken Road (another place many of us had not visited before), so navigating to the GPS coordinates is advised: -42.114668, 146.933985.

We found a boom gate across the boundary of the reserve, and that parking here suits SUVs and high wheelbase vehicles.

We headed off on a perfect cool summer day (after a heatwave the day before), glad that the fires to the west of us seemed to be under control and that their smoke was not reaching the lagoon. We were well prepared with sturdy shoes, gaiters and walking poles, wary of snakes. The water levels were lower than when Kat and Philip had visited previously (in June), and we were able to skirt the lagoon more closely, making a slightly shorter walk - 12km today.

It was fascinating to see how this previously dammed lagoon is slowly rehabilitating itself into a natural marshy wetland and wildlife reserve.

I think it's fair to say we enjoyed the first half of the walk more than the second half. On the eastern side we could see a good supply of waterbirds at home.

There was a large beach!

And a sandy bank behind which we could see the green grass and a tidemark showing where a smaller lagoon had been until recently.

The dune features some beautiful gums.

Back at the lagoon we saw several wombat homes.

After a short stop around the halfway mark for lunch, we continued around the shoreline, where Kat almost stepped on a snake! Apart from that, the main wildlife of interest on the western shore were sheep grazing (a large flock) and wild deer (a few) scurrying away into the hills.

The last section took us through some dry bushland.

And it was good to reach our vehicles and have another snack.

Three headed back home, while three of us continued the adventure by heading further along Interlaken Road (more gravel and really this felt quite remote, almost lawless) to the historic country town of Oatlands for a mini getaway. We had a delectable afternoon tea at Heritage on High Street, then some entertaining drinks and dinner at The Imbibers. Di was comfortable at the Kentish Hotel while Gerwyn and Wayne enjoyed their motorhome at the lakeside campground. On the (very) quiet Saturday morning, Di enjoyed the self-guided heritage walk along the High Street, admiring the well restored Georgian buildings.