Australian industry

G'day!

Resting elephant seal

I forgot to mention earlier that a female (or juvenile male) elephant seal beached itself on our beach for 48 hours.  We went to visit it several times as did the Conservation Park ranger who also put a sign up advising onlookers not to get too close.  It was about 10' long and its right eye was very bloodshot.  We thought maybe it was sick and dying but after 1 day, it moved itself further onto the beach and into the grassy area.  The next day it moved back onto the sand and a few hours later, it was off the beach.  I guess it just needed a rest.  Apparently it is very unusual for any seals to beach themselves here.

 Well, gotta keep movin' on.   I was fortunate that our host helped me and Sarah, the English wwoofer, hitch a shuttle bus and catamaran tourboat ride all the way into Hobart so that I could do some sightseeing before traveling to Northern Tasmania.   Looked for dolphins but didn't see any.

Tasman Bridge - closest 2 pylons replaced after 1975 disaster

Interesting piece of history:  on a foggy January 1975 night, a bulk carrier with 10,000 tons of zinc ore aboard hit 2 of the pylons supporting the Tasman Bridge.  A 127 meter section, 3 spans, fell into the river and onto the deck.  Seven crew were trapped and killed when the ship sank within 35 minutes.  Four cars drove over the edge killing 5 people.  Two cars hung over the lip; after reaching safety, the occupants warned other drivers saving several lives.   The carrier remains underwater.  It took almost 3 years to restore the bridge; the pile caps supporting the 18th and 19th pylons are larger than the original ones.  We were lucky with the Oakland Bridge incident a few years ago.

Zinc ore carrier being unloaded

Zinc processing plant

We passed the zinc processing plant that the carrier was headed toward.  Australia is very rich in minerals and is the world's top, second, or third producer and/or exporter of opals (95%), coal, lead, gold, nickel, uranium, zinc, iron ore, copper, bauxite/aluminum, and silver. It also has the third largest commercially-viable deposits of diamonds (after Russia and Botswana) and produces oil shale, petroleum, and natural gas.

We also passed the long boathouses of International Catamarans Tasmania, the market leader builder of high speed ferries, the ferries that I've been riding on.  With all the islands around here and most Aussies living close to the coasts, there's a high need for high speed car and passenger ferries for work and for pleasure.

I spent a few days in Hobart just relaxing and siteseeing.  More about that in my next post.

Cheers!
Cyn