All That Taz – Natural Wonders
Generous sunshine blessed our last day in Tasmania. We were on our way to Port Arthur. However, we detoured and stopped by a number of interesting natural sites.
The Tasman Arch
The Tasman Arch began as a small sea cave. Constant sea waves formed the Tasman Arch by erosions. The waves created pressures against the slabs and the boulders over thousands of years, and what remains now is a high suspended bridge atop a deep hole. It is really quite an amazing site. Nature is continuously at work, and the scenery can change into something even more drastic in the future. The Tasman Arch may collapse, resulting in another trench like the Devil’s Kitchen.
The Devil’s Kitchen
The Devil’s Kitchen is a long trench along steep rock walls on the coast. Our tour guide told us that small animals would wash up onto the trenches and they became the luncheon for the Tasmanian Devils. Thus the name Devil’s Kitchen.
Speaking of the Devil (no pun intended), visitors to Tasmania hoping to see the Tasmanian Devil would have to make a special effort to visit the reservations. The Tasmanian Devils used to populate all over Tasmania. There was a time that people could meet a Devil as they hiked in the Cradle Mountain. Yet a plague in the 1990s resulted in the deaths of 2/3 of all Tasmanian Devils, which are native to Tasmania. Since then people have made sure that the Devils are kept in the reservations, a safe environment in which they can thrive.
Tessellated Pavement
The earth’s movement fractured the rocks at the shore of Pirates Bay, and formed the Tessellated Pavement to its present-day appearance. There are two formations at the shore. The pan formation shows a series of tiles in concavity. At low ties, the pavement is exposed, resulting in salt crystallization of the tiles and thus their concavity. Then there is the loaf formation, which, closer to the shore, is more often soaked in water. The waves channel through the joints of the tiles, eroding the joints further. Thus the protruded appearance.
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