The view from my "office"

[RooFlyer]

Port Arthur.

 

[Flashback]

Port Arthur.

I thought it looked familiar

 

[TheRealTMA]

Where's that?

Looks like Stewarts Bay Lodge near Port Arthur? Rooflyer?

 

[Flashback]

Last weekend we went to the English Riviera..... if you have the chance, do stop in at coughington. Lovely village.

 

[Flashback]

We also spent some time along the Jurassic Coast (Lulworth Cove, Durdle Door, Sidmouth).

 

[RooFlyer]

Looks like Stewarts Bay Lodge near Port Arthur? Rooflyer?

Bingo, yes . Obviously been there?

 

[TheRealTMA]

Bingo, yes . Obviously been there?

Ta. Lovely place, yes. Nice food and atmospheric in the rain.

 

[OZDUCK]

Not actually my office.

My Son and Daughter and her family are currently in Karijini National Park. My Granddaughter has permission to be out of school, Year One, and has homework to keep up with.

Good Aussie kids (6 & 4) in the bush - with deliberately blurred faces - but you can still see how happy they are. This was just around sunset.



Their camp - taken from the roof of my sons vehicle. They are actually in an official campsite with running water, solar hot showers and flush toilets. The site is booked solid for the next few months but there is a hundred metres or so between each spot.



Moon in the evening sky

Karijini National Park

Everyone says ‘Karijini is amazing’ and it truly is! Breathtaking, rugged and stunning - the highlight of visiting Western Australia.

parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au

 

[Daver6]

And this is what the night sky looks like from that camp site. When I was there 10 years ago, if you weren't first in that shower, the solar heated water was all but gone. Cold shower it was.

 

[drron]

And this is what the night sky looks like from that camp site. When I was there 10 years ago, if you weren't first in that shower, the solar heated water was all but gone. Cold shower it was.

View attachment 223260

Sorry mrsdrron will only sleep under 5 stars.

 

[JohnM]

And this is what the night sky looks like from that camp site. When I was there 10 years ago, if you weren't first in that shower, the solar heated water was all but gone. Cold shower it was.

So you were also given a leave pass from grade 1, then?...

 

[RooFlyer]

More from the Port Arthur Historic Site (established in the 1830s).

'Separate prison' church - each convict had to stand in their own isolated booth - no talking in church or at any time while in the prison (this isn't the general gaol on site - its an internal place of extra punishment). Could be absolute silence for a year or so.



The asylum



Part of the best known building - the penitentiary. It was built as a flour mill, but they couldn't get enough water power to operate it. made do with men in the treadmill for a few years, then turned into prisoner barracks.





The site from the water. A cruise is included in the entry ticket.



The Isle of the Dead - the site's cemetery. Abt 1,000 buried here.



Behind the island is Point Puer, where they sent the boy prisoners. (say, 8-11). This was actually the site of the first compulsory education institution for children in the British Empire.



The historic site again. On the left, the 20-room Commandant's House.

 

[RooFlyer]

More Port Arthur - the church, built 1836 and burnt down in 1884.







The site is gorgeously kept; it was a fine, still day and hardly any tourists here made it a perfect, or should I say, fanTAStic day.

 

[RooFlyer]

The next day's office was more businesslike - the old coal mine at Saltwater river.

"Caring for coal mines" - that's the spirit!!



Remnant buildings are the guard barracks and (underground) solitary confinement cells.







These are the solitary cells - underground, so no windows, no air, dark and cold!





The main shaft, abt 50m deep. The white stuff is modern fibre-crete where they have stabilised the walls.



And, to reward those who dare to read about coal mines, a reward - mark this Tassie Pinot down to try. Sensational.

Our story – Six Friends

 

[p--and--t]

Probably not PC to make a joke, however that single person per stall church and solitary confinement are ahead of their time - could be useful in the age of Covid.

 

[RooFlyer]

Third day on the Tasman Peninsula and it was fine, not a breath of wind and not a cloud in the sky. Gorgeous mid-winter weather.

The Tasman Peninsula is known for its towering sea cliffs - mainly the dolerite spires a bit further south:

tasman island - Google Search

Near Port Arthur is more jointed sedimentary rock cliffs that make for some interesting features.

Waterfall Bay where a waterfall goes direct into the sea when it rains (the dark patch) - it hasn't been, so it wasn't! But can you see Hippolyte Rocks off to the left?









The jointing creates things like arches: Tasman's Arch



The Devil's Kitchen very quiet.





A hint of the dolerite terrain to the south.



The sea was so calm, the Blowhole wasn't doing much - not even a soft raspberry today.

 

[RooFlyer]

Pirate's Bay, where there is a small fleet of tuna boats that are for hire. Fantastic day's fishing; I've done it a few times, mostly when I was an undergraduate.



And that meant the infamous Lufra Hotel. Its gone a bit up-market today, but many a boozy night spent here before a day's fishing and during geology excursions ... sometimes with unfortunate results.



Now, nothing's for free, so there will be a test at the end of this post. Opposite the Lufra is the Tessellated Pavement - a wave-cut platform. Now, the sedimentary rocks here are just about horizontal, meaning all the rocks in one horizon are pretty homogeneous.

Here's a general view - the rock is jointed into 'tiles' by two sets of fractures.



Closer views









Joints even cut through some drop-stones in the rock:



This site is a classic Year 1 Geology Excursion field test site. So, let me pass on the favour.

What would cause the jointing like that? Yes, its 'stress', but what might caused the right-angled jointing/fractures?
Look at the pics 2 and 3. Notice how some of the tiles have 'pans' (depressions) and some have 'buns' (rises) in their middles. Why would that occur (depressions Vs rises)?

You don't get to adjourn to the Lufra until you get the correct answers.

 

[drron]

I will not take part in this competition as I can disclose an interest.In the 1960s I took a couple of trips to the Bouddi National Park with a school friend of mine who was doing a science degree.The trips were basically organised by one of his lecturers by the name of David Branagan.

 

[Captain Halliday]

Sticking with the rock theme, today’s office was a walk along the rock shelf at the northern end of Mooloolaba beach.

Looking south:





The shelf was flooded by the bigger waves:





Looking north:



Three in a row... perhaps a little too close:

 

[RooFlyer]

I will not take part in this competition as I can disclose an interest.In the 1960s I took a couple of trips to the Bouddi National Park with a school friend of mine who was doing a science degree.The trips were basically organised by one of his lecturers by the name of David Branagan.

Considering I think the usual reasons put forward for the second question are silly, you are welcome to contribute! What you need is less David Branagan and more Max Banks!