PermeateFree said:

sarahs mum said:

Aerial video captured in almost perfect flying conditions from 800-2000ft above the river bed, following the Franklin and Gordon Rivers from the Lyell Highway to Macquarie Harbour. Covers 138km of exquisite wild rivers traversing the rainforest wilderness of Western Tasmania. The Upper Franklin ravines dissect rugged country, falling 320m in 67km, while the Lower Franklin meanders lazily across a wide floodplain, falling just 30m in 29km before joining the mighty Gordon River. Rafting locations are annotated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgVWFMozgPM

Beautiful rugged country. You get some appreciation of the difficulties of escaped convicts trying to cross the interior to reach China. When that video began, was that the place that the first photo of the burnt country that I think you put up recently?

PermeateFree said:

sarahs mum said:

Aerial video captured in almost perfect flying conditions from 800-2000ft above the river bed, following the Franklin and Gordon Rivers from the Lyell Highway to Macquarie Harbour. Covers 138km of exquisite wild rivers traversing the rainforest wilderness of Western Tasmania. The Upper Franklin ravines dissect rugged country, falling 320m in 67km, while the Lower Franklin meanders lazily across a wide floodplain, falling just 30m in 29km before joining the mighty Gordon River. Rafting locations are annotated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgVWFMozgPM

Beautiful rugged country. You get some appreciation of the difficulties of escaped convicts trying to cross the interior to reach China. When that video began, was that the place that the first photo of the burnt country that I think you put up recently?

Interesting stream of consciosness on watching that. Eg.

Open spaces, how dare they encroach on the wilderness.
Is that logging.
Another open space. No, that’s a dried lake bed.
This is real wilderness. You could die in there.
Geology! It’s rugged enough to see some of the rocks
The river cut straight through that ridge
Heading towards the mountains, we must be going upstream
You wouldn’t see much from a canoe, what with the steep sides and trees it’d be dark
Selfish of rafters, keeping this to themselves
That earlier cut through the ridge would make a great dam site
How the heck could whites even try to drive aboriginals out of this territory
So much space, so few vertebrate species
Eucalypts are recent migrants here
The land is opening out. This is a better place for rafters, it’s interesting
Ah, U shaped valleys, must be getting higher
Hold on, joins the Gordon, the river is flowing in the other direction

Etc.

Some of the flat barren bits are buttongrass plains

What is buttongrass moorland?
Buttongrass

Typical buttongrass moorlands
in central Tasmania

Buttongrass moorland is low vegetation dominated by sedges (grass-like plants) and heaths and usually growing in poorly drained sites. The most typical species is commonly known as ‘buttongrass’ (Gymnoschoenus sphaerocephalus). Buttongrass is a member of the sedge family – Cyperaceae. Buttongrass moorlands occupy some of the most nutrient poor situations to be found in the world and are one of the most fire-adapted ecosystems to have evolved.
Where does Buttongrass moorland grow?

Buttongrass is very common in western Tasmania. It also occurs in other areas of south eastern Australia (South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales) though it is less common there than in Tasmania. In Tasmania buttongrass moorlands occupy more than one million hectares, approximately one seventh of the island. It is the most common vegetation type in many parts of the west and south west of the State where annual rainfall exceeds 1000 mm. While it does occur in eastern Tasmania it is confined to creek lines and depressions.

Two easily accessible locations to see buttongrass moorlands are The Lyell Highway where it intersects Cradle Mountain – Lake St Clair National Park and the Strathgordon Road within the Southwest National Park.

https://www.parks.tas.gov.au/?base=3224

It is a long time since I read Flanagan’s Death of a River Guide.

But a lot of it comes drifting back watching the nomenclature. The Churn. The Cauldron.

When that video began, was that the place that the first photo of the burnt country that I think you put up recently?

—-

I suppose where it starts is not that far from the Gell River fire? But it was further north.

The fire in the south was further east that this trip.

one of the comments on the youtube page.

6 hours ago
Magical and mesmerising, slow and meditative. The river takes hold of your heart and won’t let go, just as we must never let go of it and what’s worth fighting for. Not just a river… Thank you so much for recording this.