TRAVELS AUSTRALASIA.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 2278, 15 September 1899, Page 8

TRAVELS AUSTRALASIA.

Specially writteu for L\ke Wakatip Mail.

By Altov C. Richards. TASM ANI AN T AKES. Of the Tasmanian lakes the first on the tour are Lakes Sire] I and Orescent, both of which arc reached l>v fVlowing the Parratah route northwunl from Hobart, passing through Lridgewa'er Junction. Colebrooke anil Stono.\ The lakes are about nineteen miles from Parratah. and the drive is through undulating country with occasi .nal glimpses of beautiful forest groves. The lakes, which adjoin each other, fire situated on Mr Pace's e.fate, and tliis gentleman has built a comfortable boarding lious". u It-t •.•hken House." —a name pl.-iw-ini!-.* of Switzerland. i> .a li '.rs are beautiful sheets of water surroun !'•(! by hit \ countrv, and though they cannot i>e compared, in point of beautv. to the New Zealand lakes. Manapmri or "VVaikare Moana. are favourite resorts chiefly on account of tho pure bracing atmosphere of the surrounding hills, and the many beautiful river scenes to be found along the Clvde river from its source in Lake Orescent to Both well on the Apslev route. The wav then leads past the Laroon of Islands to the Steppes eighteen miles from " Tuterlaken," and from here th" district round the Arthur Lakes may be explored. The Great Lake is unquestionably the Wakatipu of Tasmania—ruggedness and grai.deur In'ing its chief characterises—awl as it is some 1,100 feet above L°ke?orell, which also lies at a considerable height the air is verv rlear and i ire. It is beautiful at all times. bi.r is at its best when seen in the crimson flush of the afterglow. At such a tine- the surface is c! r.r awl calm, the sky tints bcinc mirrored in the sapphire waters, the soft shadows of the gloomy ro~l:s resting on the great expanse like "Sorrow's veil on Beauty's brow.'—

and when each pink tipped cloudlet flushed ly the glow from tin- palace of the sun is seen again on the bosom of the lake ;—when the purple shadows from the surrounding hills st'-al down and rest like a ha/. > over the wates, and the hill-tops draw tin l fleecy clouds into close embrace. All Nature then seems to give vent to a long drawn whispering hush as the last purple flush fades into grey, and one almost f mcies a grand solemn " Anvn" ouivering on the air. The wild grace and of the lake appal the beholder as a sense of awe steals to the soul in the presence of such magnificence and sublimity. The waters are also lashed to fury by sudden gu&ts blotring through the ravines and angrylooking clouds hurry across the darkening sky, whilst the rocky faces appear to be instinct with demoniac life and the trees, swaying to and fro, seem to whisper of the coming storm. On such occasions the Great lake is sunorb in its majestic splendour. This lake is the angler's paradise, as it swarms with magnificent trout, many of them weighing as high as thirty and forty pounds.

A noble riv°r, the Shannrn, takes its riae in the Great Lake, joining the Ousa at Ost-erley nnd the Derwent near Hamilton. At the snurco of ti»e De;■went is the " Killarnoy of the Tasnianian lakes, namely Lake St Olair. Like somo great sapphire, it is embosomed in the magnificeut forest ut the basa ol Mount Olynip'w, reilecting as in a mirror the- 2,3tK> feet of the ■wonderful basaltic greenstone " Giant of the Lake." Standing on the'uorth-west shore the best view is obtained, wicii the deep blue waters spread out in one perfect sheet and Mount Olyoipus, with its lesser brothers, filling up the back ground. Almost overhead is the sperb pinnr.cle of Mount Ida, and along the s'y.re n forest Baid to be equal to any in Southern Europe. In all directions are steep mountain slopes and from any summit of King William Range the vast panorama of the western ranges will reward the mountaineer for his climb. \Yh:eb» vr way the eye turns there is a .-n cession of striking summits, some seeming to merge into the azure of heaven, others shining like silver in the sunlight, and a multitude of deep ravines clothed •with a dense growth of myrtle and b9ech. Shining lakes which appear here and there atford a pleasing contrast to the surrounding rugged grandeur.

The route to the Hartz Mountain Lakes is by way of the channel from Hobirt to the Huon, passing Esperance and Southport, or by the Huon coach fom Hobart. After leaving "Hillcrest"—a comfortable boarding house the ascent is commenced through charmingly diversified scenery until the plateau (3,000 ft) is reached. A mile further on is the base of the Hartz Mountains and around this base lie Lakes Osborne, Percy, and Ksperance. three beautiful pellucid mountain gems, flanked by several smaller ones, the most beautiful of which is Lake H'Ksterre, named after the Marquis 1> Ksterre by his nephew, a colonial author. From the summit of the " flap a sujK-rb vi- w i.-, to !)»• obtained of crdo-sal iiiDunrains an l deep wllevs in ail directions, lhe falls of tip k rniandic nv< r should I e v.-ued on the way down, and a lovely fall on thr Arvp river, named the Angel's Tear, is one of the mo.-,t beautiful scenes in Southern Ta.ti.ania. A tiny stieam like a silver tliread fall.-, fivii: the cliff and joins the torrei,t, rr .riri" over the precipic. beir,-- ; wliiht, clothing the sid- s of tie gt-rje. n 1 eve,i up to tip edge of the might.v leapirg over the divide, is a ve.-dth <.f grass tree, fern, native laurel and sas sat'ras, the whole funning a « r»<»1 and grateful shade. [CoNcunKD. 1 ,