Geology Part 1 – Stories from the Great Southern Road Trip

Confessed Geology Nerd!

I’m a rock nerd! I have more than a passing interest in geology and geological formations. Given that I’m a high school science teacher I feel that interest is very legitimate! While my knowledge is rudimentary, (my degree was mostly chemistry) I know enough to be able to read the stories held in rocks. Although it’s more like the abridged Readers’ Digest version, the outline is there! I know the difference between igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks but can’t identify many by name. My recent Great Southern Road Trip gave me lots of opportunities to check out some interesting scenery.

Geology and Geotourism is an increasingly popular way to travel and Geotrails are becoming more common. I have a great map called the Geotourism Map of NSW but I have not found one for the other states. It gives locations and details of some of the interesting formations.

This post shows some of the features I snapped along my way down the NSW coast and ~~then in Tasmania.~~ I missed plenty! I will just have to go back on another road trip – darn. I will give the broad brush strokes of what took my interest rather than a detailed explanation of the geology or geological history. (If you’re a geologist I’m happy to have your input in the comments below!)

Originally, I was planning on covering the geology encountered in both NSW and Tassie in this one post but it’s getting too long so I’ve split it into a two-parter.

Far South Coast of NSW

Jervis Bay – Moe’s Rock and surrounds

I don’t know who Moe was but the rock platforms in this area look bubbly and aerated. More likely there is some differential weathering of the sandstone. The colour of the sandstone also varies significantly. The lumpy, almost pillowy surface adds a lot of interest. While you are here in Booderee National Park have a look at the Cape St George Lighthouse. For the pedantic, Jervis Bay is actually not part of NSW but is governed by the ACT. In addition to whiter than white beaches there is a large-ish naval base there.

Bateman’s Bay – Denham’s Beach.

At the north end of Denham’s Beach there are two interesting features. Firstly the nicely folded rock wall and secondly the large potato like rocks strewn over the rock platform. When I first came across them, I really thought they were potatoes. Smooth, round and light coloured. Some have a coating of green algae. The rock wall has several very distinct strata. At the base is the dark rock which also makes up the platform. It is overlaid with lighter rock with embedded darker stripes.

Eden – South End of Aslings Beach

At the south end of Aslings Beach there is a magnificently striated and folded rock wall. At the base, there is a man-made rock pool. The layers are multi-coloured and in the right light glow with a rich red hue. These two photos taken at different times of the day and from a different angle and show off the folds and erosion.

Light to Light Walk – Green Cape National Park

You can walk from Boyd’s Tower to Green Cape Lighthouse. It is a 33 km walk and typically done over two days. Along the way there are LOTS on interesting features. The colour of the rocks is spectacular especially in contrast to the green-blue ocean. If you don’t want to do the walk, you can still access some of the spots via road. I did parts of the Light to Light Walk and have written about it in another post.

Australia’s Highest Peak – Mt Kosciuszko,

A COVID lockdown in Victoria meant I needed to change my plans (quickly!!!) and head west. I climbed to the top of Mt Kosciuszko on a fine sunny day via the Main Range Loop Track. I have written a separate post about the walk. The landscape is dominated by large granite tors. You can read about how tors form on Wikipedia.

The Rock – near Wagga Wagga

Maybe a little more thought could have gone into the name for this particular landform? The Rock juts out from the landscape very dramatically and is about 30 km south-west of Wagga Wagga. There is a walking trail to the summit, which according to the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, is a 6 km return walk. At this stage of my road trip I was a tight schedule to get to Melbourne to board the Spirit of Tasmania, so whizzed past without stopping! (Except to pull over to take the photo!!)

Part 2 – Tasmania

Check out my next post showcasing the geology and some of the geological features in Tasmania. Coming soon!

Stories from the Great Southern Road Trip – Lighthouses.

Lighthouses! I like ‘em and it would seem that many others do too. I will blame my fondness on epi-genetics. Somewhere in my relatively recent history one of my ancestors was involved in building lighthouses in Australia. In particular the Macquarie Lighthouse in Sydney’s Watson’s Bay. I have written about lighthouses in my home town of Wollongong, Scotland and Maine, USA in previous posts.

In this post I am not planning on going into any detail about the lighthouses themselves but rather quick anecdotes about my visits and some photos. There are plenty of other websites which have lots of information and maps. Check out Lighthouses of Australia and Wikipedia.

Lighthouses on the Bucket List.

My bucket list includes a very ambitious and totally impractical goal of photographing every lighthouse in Australia. No mean feat given there are around 350 of them and over 25,000 km of coastline! My more realistic 60 before 60 list (60 things to do before I turn 60) has an item “to see at least 15 new lighthouses” as one of the things to tick off before May 2021. I am pleased to say that this item is in fact done and dusted after checking out ten new lighthouses on my recent Great Southern Road Trip to add to the five others I had already recorded. Unfortunately, due to a COVID lockdown in Victoria I missed several that I had planned to see including staying overnight at the Wilson’s Promontory Lightstation.

New South Wales Lighthouses

Crookhaven Heads

This small, sad lighthouse is no longer in service and has been damaged by graffiti and vandalism. It is at the end of a short but pleasant stroll from the car park.

Cape St George

There is an amazing story about this sandstone lighthouse and reading the information boards is enough to make the visit special. The location for the light was very contentious. The people with the money advocating for one location and the people with the maritime expertise declaring it should be in another. Money won. Ships became confused and wrecks continued. The lighthouse is very near Wreck Bay, so called because of the number of wrecks that occurred there.. The Lighthouse is in the Booderee National Park which is strictly not in NSW but rather part of the Australian Capital Territory. It is managed by the local indigenous people and you need a valid visitor pass to enter. You can get this easily from the website. You also can catch a glimpse of the lighthouse at Point Perpendicular in the distance.

Point Perpendicular way off in the distance

Boyd’s Tower

Boyd’s Tower was never actually used as a lighthouse and served as a whale watching station. There is an excellent 33 km walk from the tower to Green Cape Lighthouse. There are several camping spots along the way. I did the two ends of the walk but not the middle section. You can read my Light the Light Walk post for more information. The tower is in Green Cape National Park and you need a valid pass.

Green Cape Lighthouse

Green Cape is managed by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. You are able to stay at the lighthouse in the various cottages. I stayed overnight in the assistant keeper’s cottage. It is big enough to accommodate 6 people very comfortably and I was rattling around on my own in such a large space! I had actually booked the much smaller Telegraph Station but due to a maintenance issue, I was upgraded! The grounds are home to some enormous wombats and tiny pademelons.

There is an onsite manager who keeps a very low profile. If you book ahead you can organise a tour of the lighthouse itself. The lighthouse is in the southern portion of Green Cape National Park and once again you must have a valid pass. It is also at the end of a long dirt road. I was fine in my AWD Subaru but it looked a bit hairy for those in two wheel drives.

Tasmanian Lighthouses

Bluff Hill Point Lighthouse

Killer bees and asbestos! If you don’t mind a bit of dirt driving this lighthouse is well worth a visit. It is situated a little north of the small township of Arthur River on Tasmania’s wild west coast. I had a fabulous time photographing wild seas and craggy rocks.

Rocky Cape

Rocky Cape Lighthouse is also at the end of a dirt road. The closest town is Stanley on Tasmania’s northern coast. Apart from the lighthouse there are several very good hikes in the area. I began the walk to Sisters Beach but abandoned the idea because the very strong wind nearly blew me off the steep, narrow track.

The view from Rocky Cape Lighthouse – a rocky cape!

Table Cape

I went to Table Cape Lighthouse in the wrong season! This lighthouse is surrounded by tulip farms and if you went in spring you would be able to see the mass plantings of tulips and the lighthouse. Have a look at this video from Discover Tasmania to get a hint at what you can see at the right time of year. Having said that the road is narrow and winding. The traffic must be horrendous with budding Instagrammers!

Low Head

If you don’t visit any other lighthouses in Tasmania or you’re not really a lighthouse enthusiast, make sure you do visit this one! In addition to the pretty little lighthouse with red stripes, there is a Pilot Station nearby which has a small maritime museum. The museum has an interesting collection and is run by volunteers. If that still is not your cup of tea, have a real cup of tea at the lovely little cafe! If it’s still on the menu don’t miss out on the Eton Mess! (I had it for lunch! Kicking the nutrition goals!) Once again there is accommodation at the lighthouse and at the pilot station.

Seen from a distance!

I did not actually visit the next three lighthouses and only got glimpses from a distance.

Mersey Bluff.

Mersey Bluff is in Devonport. You have to access it via a caravan park. It was my intention to try and catch it at sunrise but the boom gates, lack of signage and the dark, made me give up. I did not get to see it until the Spirit of Tasmania sailed past it as I was leaving Tasmania. This lighthouse has vertical red stripes, in contrast to the horizontal bands at nearby Low Head. Apparently a way for sailors to tell the difference in times of old….

Goose Island Lighthouse

This lighthouse is on one of the small islands near Flinders Island. The closest I could get was through the telescopic lens of my camera from the top of Mt Strzelecki. Even then it is just a tiny speck!

Entrance Island Lighthouse

This lighthouse is at the mouth of the Macqaurie Harbour near Strahan. I snapped this picture as I was cruising past on a Gordon River Cruise. As you can see the weather was not great!

About Park Passes

If you are going to be doing any road tripping in Australia it is very worthwhile to invest in park passes. I bought an annual pass for Tasmania online even though I was only going to be there for a few weeks. The annual pass was MUCH cheaper and more flexible than buying individual day passes for each park. Incidentally, even if you are just hiking and not driving, you need a visitor pass which you are meant to carry with you. I already had an annual pass for NSW National Parks.

You can only buy day passes for Booderee. I could not find a similar system for Victoria parks. I’m not saying you don’t need one but I could not find it online.

A year without alcohol – tick!

Last year was a different sort of year for all of us. My year began with an intentional change that started well before COVID19 came on the scene with a year-long challenge called the “Year of Zero”. As part of the challenge, I planned to go a full year without alcohol. In my post, in May 2020, I said I’d report back on how I went. Here’s that report.

I won! I did ditch the alcohol!

I went the whole year without alcohol! It ended up being less of a challenge than I had thought. The hardest part was actually deciding if I would start drinking again. I had concerns and doubts because I was feeling fabulous! No hangovers, no missed days spent resting on the couch, more money, feeling clear-headed, and all the benefits you’d expect to gain from not putting poison into your body. My joints ached less; I had fewer cold sores. My gut was more settled. I slept better. A repeat liver function test came back with excellent results. I didn’t lose weight which I thought I would. I didn’t lose friends. In fact, my social life didn’t suffer at all! It’s a bit hard to get a good handle on this aspect because my dry year coincided with COVID lockdowns.

My friends got over hassling me about drinking, although one actually said “welcome back” when I had a glass of wine with them. There’s something a bit off with the state of the world if that’s the perception of giving up the booze!

I used the app Habit Bull to keep me on track.

I’ve starting drinking alcohol again.

As the end of the year approached, I spent a lot of my mental energy deciding what to do. Would I drink? Wouldn’t I drink? Was my obsession about making this decision proving I was or wasn’t an alcoholic or, at best, someone with alcohol abuse disorder. (Something I have only just discovered is a “thing”).

WHAT SHOULD I DO!!

In the end, I decided I would have a few drinks on social occasions. Soon after “breaking the drought”, I overdid it and woke up with a horrendous hangover! One of the worst I’ve had. Even though I had drunk much less than I would have normally have had on a “big night”. Out of practice, I guess. I imagined my poor liver shrivelling up and keeling over. It was scary.

After that night, I had a stiff talk with myself and set down some internal rules. I would only drink when I was out. I wouldn’t drink at home alone. Ever! And then I would never have more than two.

It didn’t take long before I started to argue with myself and the internal dialogue was very persuasive.

You’re an adult and you can have a drink when you feel like it! Relax! You’re on holidays!
Robyn’s brain!

I quickly fell back into my old habits, albeit with more moderation.

Giving alcohol the flick for good?

In the vein of “when you’re ready to learn, the teacher will come” platitude, I have noticed more and more articles both in print and on the net about people being sober-curious and stepping back from our alcohol-laden society. I know I am not alone in this state of confusion about what our culture deems normal and acceptable and consideration for our own health. The stigma of being a non-drinker is nearly as bad as being a heavy drinker! For example, look at Charlie Hale’s article in Wellbeing’s Issue #190 about mindful drinking.

Sober Curious

The term sober curious was coined by Ruby Warrington in her books Sober Curious and the Sober Curious Reset. The book’s marketing blurb describes exactly how I’m feeling – without the green juice!

It’s the nagging question more and more of us are finding harder to ignore, whether we have a “problem” with alcohol or not. After all, we yoga. We green juice. We meditate. We self-care. And yet, come the end of a long work day, the start of a weekend, an awkward social situation, we drink. One glass of wine turns into two turns into a bottle. In the face of how we care for ourselves otherwise, it’s hard to avoid how alcohol really makes us feel… terrible.

How different would our lives be if we stopped drinking on autopilot If we stopped drinking altogether Really different, it turns out. Really better. Frank, funny, and always judgment free, Sober Curious is a bold guide to choosing to live hangover-free, from Ruby Warrington, one of the leading voices of the new sobriety movement.
Booktopia’s blurb about the Sober Curious Book

What next?

I’m ready to have a good talk with you Alcohol! You’re not working for me anymore!

Having the whole year off the booze and then three months drinking alcohol again, has been like completing a controlled experiment. The results of the study show that I prefer the no alcohol condition. I’ve decided I don’t need booze, and although I do really like a glass of wine, I’ve learnt it’s better for me not to “break the seal”. I have ordered Ruby’s books, and I’ll write a review after I have read them. In the meantime, I know I am not a moderator and do better at abstaining.

So abstain I will.