Tasmania Day 7- Part 2 - Cataract Gorge

We took one last look at Bridestowe Lavender Estate before leaving for our next destination.

We were off to Cataract Gorge in Launceston. Neither of us were particularly excited about this stop, but the gentleman who gave us the hire car had said it was his pick for Launceston.

We passed through the town of Lilydale on the way through, advertised as the "Home of the Painted Poles". Unsure what this meant, we decided to drive a bit slower, looking out for it. It wasn't long before we worked it out -

A lot of the power poles in the town were painted with mini murals. It was not as exciting as we had hoped.

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The Tasmanian Bin Chicken

Our first sight when getting out of the car at the carpark for the Gorge was the Greater Tasmanian Bin Chicken. Being from Sydney, we are quite familiar with the Sydney Bin Chicken; a graceful bird with dirty colourings over its white feathers, best known for stealing lunches from unsuspecting city workers eating their lunch in Hyde Park.

The main habitat of the Sydney Bin Chicken (also known as an Ibis) is bins - generally of the street variety. The Greater Tasmanian Bin Chicken was a much more regal and colourful creature, and enjoyed the vicinity of a brightly coloured dumpster.

The Greater Tasmanian Bin Chicken - or Peacock, as they are referred to here - is a splendid creature that was imported to this area in the late 1800s.

While beautiful, they are also quite noisy, as we found out -

We also spotted a female Peacock -

And a few young chicks -

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The Gorge

We ventured further through the gardens and were shortly at The Gorge -

The Gorge was a large basin, crossed by a rickety old suspension bridge over a waterfall and large rocks.

Being terrified of heights, the last thing I wanted to do was go across the bridge. Nonetheless, I was pushed on, and so I walked across, terrified of the slightest breeze.

While others may disagree, I don't think the crossing was worth the terror going both across and back over the bridge. (@forexbrokr: Ahhh, you suck)

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The Grounds

The area surrounding The Gorge was quite pretty, and many people were swimming in the basin. We heard many different bird calls, and spotted the usual sparrows.

@forexbrokr and I had a quick debate about whether Peacocks could fly, which was quickly resolved when a Peacock flew in front of us -

(I wasn't quick enough with the camera)

We saw a few pademelons -

And we also witnessed a male peacock trying to woo a female -

She was not impressed at all.

She even got bored and started preening -

We even managed to see a few adolescent male peacocks, their tail feathers not quite grown in yet -

The Gorge was nice, but it was the peacocks wandering freely that truly made it.

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Click the below links to see our earlier days:

Bridestowe Lavender Farm

Branxholm & Surrounds

The East Coast & Bay of Fires

Wineglass Bay

The Tasmanian Devil Unzoo

Tessellated Pavements, Tasman Arch & Devil's Kitchen

Bruny Island

MONA, Salmon Ponds & Russell Falls

The drive from Launceston to Hobart

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I'd love to read your comments, hear your thoughts or see your own photos, so please leave a comment below.

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