Weekend Adventurers :: The Styx Forest & Mt Field

One lazy Saturday morning, lolling around our much loved and lived in nest, we decided it was time to do something. Not the usual trip to the shops or the market, but an adventure. So we packed a thermos and some sandwiches and bundled the owlets into the car and headed north for the day.

We wanted to see big trees.



We've lived in Tasmania for over 8 years now and I'm not sure that we've ever visited the Styx forest before. It lies north of Hobart and just outside the Mt Field National Park and is home to some of the tallest trees on earth. Giant swamp gums standing 85m high. It also incorporates some of the forest that was recently included in the extension to the World Heritage Area. The bit that the government would like to return to logging. The area we visited is State forest and is currently harvested, although The Big Tree and the Bigger Tree themselves are protected.




So, on a whim, we popped out to spend some time with the trees and find out why they are worth looking after. And not just the trees, of course, but the whole forest around them too.




 It's all pretty amazing. Full of ferns and moss and dappled light. Full of green and water and birds and leeches! Full of ancient smells and silence... I imagine. I was there with three owlets, so it was hard to tell…




Afterwards, we were still up for adventure. And as we're in the middle of daylight savings and the days are so long (and Tiny napped earlier), we pressed on to Mt. Field National Park. Huz's favourite place in Tasmania.



We had time for a quick visit to Russell Falls as the afternoon sun shone through the trees. What a magical place and a beautiful time of day to visit. Often we're ferrying owlets home by late afternoon, so giving ourselves that extra time to just go slowly and have the experience, regardless of what time it was, was bliss.

Just what this family needed.

A reminder that so many beautiful, vulnerable, wild, amazing places are just on our doorstep. And we really should spend so much more time in them than we have. I feel a new blog series coming on…

Bring on the adventures!

Have you been on any adventures lately? 
Seen any big trees? 

Have a wonderful week. xx

**Photo's in this post are by me, Huz and Tiny!**