History of the Central Highlands of Tasmania

He also has a great little fire pot which keeps the shack so nice and warm during the cold days and it’s so nice just to sit back in his comfortable chairs and stare out across the lake looking for people fishing and if they’re catching any fish. They even have a wood-fired oven and stove which is unusual. You don’t see many of those around these days.

The Central Plateau of Tasmania really is an amazing place, from bushwalking in the World Heritage rainforest, to camping by a lake, to catching a big Trout. Also learning the amazing history of the Hydroelectric scheme from my father was fascinating and seeing all the infrastructure was magical. Everywhere you look are big towers carrying electricity lines from the power stations in the dams. They would create these giant avenues through the forest for them to run and they were straight as an arrow. One of my father’s key jobs was to build these mighty towers and they were impressive. Legend has it, that he was once dared to walk across the thin metal bars on top. He tells me he did, but I’m not too sure, as it would be incredibly difficult to do. But they didn’t just build them on the land, some of them were in the lake as well, as the power lines crossed a bay. You had to be careful when you were fishing around them.

Then there are the dams themselves, so impressive up close, simply the scale of them towering in the landscape was impressive.

Then there were the pipes, huge pipes that ran down mountains and across plains, taking the water to where it needed to be. The most amazing ones were the ones made from wood. There was a scarcity of metal during the war years, so they got the chalk out and built wooden pipes, huge wooden pipes a couple of metres in diameter, simply amazing. However wooden pipes aren’t quite as robust as metal pipes and it wasn’t unusual for us to be driving along and up ahead there’s a giant spout of water coming out of a hole in them. On the plus side, the grass and trees were growing quite well around the leak.

How they constructed all of this infrastructure in the middle of nowhere, in such a rugged country is simply amazing.

The Cradle Mountain infrastructure is also under constant maintenance and improvement. When I first started going, there was just a pub on the road as you went in and some tracks through the bush. Now the Cradle Mountain Lodge is refurbished and also has accommodation in cabins around the lodge. You can also fly fish in the small dam next to the lodge. They’ve also installed boardwalks and seating along the trails.

The Lodge resides right at the entrance to the Cradle Mountain world heritage area. It’s still a bit of a drive into the mountain itself. When we first started going you would drive your own car, and park at Dove Lake. But it got too busy and overcrowded, so they now run buses every 15-20 minutes that stop along the way and give you a guided tour. The road in has changed as well. What was once a rutted bumpy dirt track, is now a sealed road. You can still drive in if you arrive before the shuttle buses start, but I wouldn’t want to meet a bus driving out because the road is narrow and the buses are big. Gustav Weindorfer wouldn’t recognise the place, but I’m sure he would be very impressed, because it continues to be a national park for the people, for all time. It’s even more magnificent, and even more people know about it and enjoy it very much.

The Central Highlands of Tasmania really are so impressive, for so many different reasons, thanks to so many different people. From the soaring mountains, plunging valleys, fertile plains, serene lakes, big Trout, and impressive hydroelectric infrastructure. For me, it’s all that and more, because it contains so many amazing memories of fishing and bushwalking. My father, mother, brother, and sister, all learnt key skills and capabilities up in the Central Highlands, which they passed on to me. Thus the Central Highlands has a special place in my heart, just driving through it brings that special connection alive. Doing this also creates new history, with new memories, just as precious as the old memories. That’s the real beauty of history, it’s constantly being made.

Still Top Rod why is he? why is he!

The Central Highlands is such a significant location for my family, that when my dad, unfortunately, passed away from cancer, my brother created the most amazing memorial for him up at his shack up at the Great Lake. He needed a new gate for his shack’s driveway. So he got cracking and whipped one up in his workshop. He then let the design evolve and he decided to fancy it up by enlisting his neighbor’s help. His neighbour creates the most amazing metal cutouts. He found a fish cutout lying in the backyard, so it inspired him to ask him to make a man catch the fish. Which then inspired him to dedicate it to our dad. But he then let it evolve even more and added Rob the dog, who was our dad’s favourite dog. The way he let the design evolve, makes it an even more fitting tribute to our father because he taught us how to let designs evolve into beautiful things that you can sit back and be proud of. I am so unbelievably proud that my brother made this memorial for our father and put it in a location that meant so much to all of us. I then let the design evolve even more by buying a plaque for the gate which read “Denis McCormack still top rod” It was always a competition to be Top Rod. He was still Top Rod in our eyes. We then spread our father’s ashes at the gate.