Amber and topaz…

Took a day off this week from the book and the farm to have a picnic in the Derwent Valley which we had heard always looks beautiful in the autumn. But we’d never managed to get there before leaf fall. I love amber and topaz, garnet and shiraz, pinot noir and chartreuse.  (Colours I mean, not alcohol!) And was determined we’d catch the colour before it dropped…

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The Derwent River at New Norfolk.

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The upper reaches, a good kayaking spot.

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One of the 100 year old oast houses in the valley at Plenty.

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The hop fields of Bushy Park – all those hops, all that beer!

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The old growth forests redolent of the Styx and Florentine valleys. Formally world heritage protected and now our  state and federal governments want to open them up again for logging. Sigh!

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The old Paradise Bakery at Maydena.

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The old general store.

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The Tyenna river at Maydena. Good trout fishing spot – drop a hook baited with white bread rolled into a plug in the mouth … true.

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I wish I knew what the peak was called but I don’t. It just appeared around the corner of a dirt road on the way to the Junee Caves (which is another story…)

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Yep, we almost missed it!

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The last of the thylacines.

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Back in the Big Smoke again. Only one and a half hours away from the furthest point beyond Maydena. What a God-given paradise we live in…