The first sight most visitors will have of First Basin is walking west from the parking area past the chairlift. Gorge yourself on some facts before moseying further.


A couple of views from the east shore of the basin. Alexandra Suspension Bridge is to the left, guarding the entry of the South Esk River into the basin, while dolerite (bluestone) pillars guard the exit northward.


Looking north across the basin at the gateway to the northern gorge.


I've now crossed Alexandra Bridge, so the first photo looks back east and the second photo looks ahead at the trail around the basin.


A few eastward photos from the west side of the basin. The first photo looks back from where I took the first photos on this page (and at Cataract Gorge). The second photo is the very northern shore of the basin, and the third photo looks back south at First Basin from Esk entry (Alexandra Suspension Bridge) to Esk exit.


Imagine there was a bridge and I crossed back to the northeastern basin shore. Well, the only path here is at the top of the gorge, so I can look down across the basin at the south side and the inflow of the South Esk.


That's it for general scenery. Meet this giant sequoia on the northwest shore of the basin. The British of the 19th century carefully cultivated their gardens both private and public, sequoias were all the rage in the Victorian era, and this area was developed in the 1890s. I think you can put together how this got here.


Here are various peafowl, mostly peacocks but with some peahens thrown in for their amusement. Peacocks are also not native to Australia, and were also considered garden ornamentation during the Victorian era. Of course, some escaped, since they can fly and all, so now there is a resident feral peacock population in Cataract Gorge. And they meow. Yes, peacocks sound exactly like cats, at least around here. It's otherworldly to look around the gorge and hear cats calling to each other nonstop.

A superb fairywren. That's its actual name. But it is quite superb.


On my walk up the west side of the basin, I turned a corner and came face to face with a wallaby. He didn't seem to mind and, not being a kangaroo, didn't see fit to box me.

Walk south
Walk north
Alexandra Suspension Bridge
See more Australian animals

See more of Launceston
Back to Tasmania Non-Roads
Back to Non-Roads main page