According to the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service website...
'Mount Field National Park is one of Tasmania’s oldest national parks and is also one of its most diverse. Spectacular glaciated landscapes compete for attention with cascading waterfalls, including the breathtaking, three-tiered Russell Falls - arguably one of the most impressive waterfalls in Tasmania...
The land that is now protected as Mount Field National Park is part of the homelands of the Big River nation of Tasmanian Aborigines. They knew this place when it was buried in glacial ice, and later as rainforests and eucalypt forests flourished. Cave sites, ochre mines, hand-stencil art, rock engravings, and stone tool quarries provide a glimpse of their extraordinary lives here.'
My friend Richard knows people who still refer to Mt Field as 'the' National Park because it was the first and for many years the only natural area to be protected by law in Tasmania. Russell Falls was the first part to be declared the State's first nature reserve in 1885.
My process involves being introduced to a place by people who have some connection with it and stories to tell. All Tasmanian's have a connection to this place and I first heard about it on April Fools Day 2022 during my reccie before moving here from a landscape painter. The full moon that weekend was amazing and to many people it signals a time to take risks and eliminate self-doubt.
Today I joined a women's meetup group who were camping there and had visited the Tarn the day before. It was a really hot weekend and yesterday two people got heat stroke and had to be airlifted out. Therefore today we stuck to the shadier paths which were beautiful and enriched by these women's stories.
When everyone left I went up to Lake Dobson, but along the way I pulled over and discovered an amazing path lined by charismatic trees, rocks and sounds who shared their amazing stories with me. So grateful for this wonderful day.
