Website of the Week - 11th July 2004

My site, www.geoffmurray.com , was built with the intention of introducing people from overseas and Australia to the beauty of Tasmania, Australia's island state. Tasmania does not have typical Australian landscapes, being situated at approximately 40°South it tends to have a much more temperate climate than the rest of Australia and has some of the finest cool temperate rainforests in existence. Tasmania also had its last ice age much more recently than other parts of Australia, only 10,000 years ago, and therefore the mountains are generally far more wild and rugged.

Long ago, when the Southern continents were still joined to form the supercontinent Gondwana, Tasmania was joined to Antarctica, New Zealand and southern South America and there is still a striking resemblance with the ancient plants in South America and New Zealand. To walk amongst Tasmania's flora is to step back millions of years. 

The image I have attached is of a flowering alpine plant called Richea Scoparia, very prickly and unpleasant to walk through but beautiful to see in early Summer. The mountain in the background is called Hadrian's Wall. It is located in the Walls of Jerusalem National Park, an amphitheatre of mountains. A fabulous place to walk.