The weather on Tasmania’s west coast is often wet, wild and windy, but I
managed to pull three fantastic days out of the hat for my mini-break during
this week. With no intention of taking part in the tourist ventures Strahan is
famous for, namely the Macquarie Harbour cruise and Abt Railway trip, I walk,
read, write, take photos, collect rocks and leaves, and eat.
The process of a long walk is an interesting one. I start out just
walking, intending to go from here to there, but partway in there is a shift
from simply admiring the surroundings, the bigger picture, as smaller details
catch my attention and cry out to be noticed. My eyes change their focus, my
pace slows, and I stop. I enjoy the spectacle of a grand vista, a stunning view,
but it’s the finer details that always fascinate me. Since I was a little
tacker, the seemingly infinite varieties of moss, lichen and fungi have been a
source of much delight, so to find a fungi wonderland on the Hogarth Falls
track makes the whole trip particularly rewarding.
My amateur photographic attempts are rewarded with ducks mid-flight over
the water, fungi I’ve never seen before, water dripping off feathery moss,
lichen on gravestones which have been standing for a hundred and sixty years,
clear tannin stained water, mirror images in the harbour so clear the waterline
disappears, smooth pebbles with markings both bold and so fine I marvel at how
they came to be.
The seabirds busy themselves near the water’s edge, the trails of their
footprints crisscrossing the sand patterns on the beach lashed by the waters of
the Southern Ocean. A massive lump of bull kelp, stem still intact, stretches
out like the entrails of some marooned monster, twisted strands of dark
chocolate brown rubber, with folds of translucent orange where it catches the
sunlight.
The longer I wander, and wonder, the more I see. Not just because of
time spent observing, but in focussing on what is directly in front of me,
details stand out. Intricacies of texture, size, shape and colour delight the
senses, highlighting the cycle of life of each organism, the importance of these little things which make up the whole, and the crucial
link between them.
By slowing my pace, I don’t just look, I see. I don’t just hear, I
listen.
heightens the senses
helps you see
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