Tasmania's Wild North West: Beyond the Ramparts of the Unknown

By Roderick Eime

Flying into the tiny north-western regional hub of Wynyard, you could easily imagine you are in the middle of nowhere – and that is why so many visitors come!

With a heritage that can be traced back to the early 19th Century, this far flung Van Diemen’s Land outpost was referred to in King George IV’s Royal Charter as “a huge tract of unsettled land, beyond the ramparts of the unknown.”

An easy 20 kilometre coastal drive from the working town of Burnie and a further 50 kilometres to Tasmania’s third largest city and Spirit of Tasmania ferry port, Devonport, Wynyard is perfectly placed to springboard nature lovers into the world-famous wilderness areas along the north and west coasts.

Before heading off into the wild, swing by Burnie and see why it is shaking off the outdated industrial character that has defined it for so long. At the Lactos Cheese Tasting and Sales Centre you can sample fine cheeses, including major brands Tasmanian Heritage, Mersey Valley and Australian Gold. Premium food produce is fast becoming a Tasmanian specialty and you’ll find Australia’s largest single malt whisky distillery in Burnie. Hellyers Road Distillery makes fine, single malt whisky distilled from Tasmanian grown malted barley and famously pure Tasmanian rainwater. The distillery also produces the Southern Lights brand premium grain vodka. If you’re visiting in winter, this stop-off is almost mandatory.

For a fortifying meal of local fresh seafood, visit Fish Frenzy located on the waterfront in Burnie. Tasting Tasmania author, Graeme Phillips, describes it as a “bright and spacious modern café with fresh fish and seafood every which way and then some.”

Eventually the lure of the renowned Tasmanian wilderness will beckon you but the “clarion call” will come from many directions.

Most will yield to the irresistible allure of the UNESCO World Heritage Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair National Park, a mere 70 kilometres drive. From the swank Voyages Cradle Mountain Lodge to modest hiking cabins, the options are plentiful.

The raw appeal of the Tasmanian mountainscape has captured the imagination of visitors for decades and none more so than pioneering outdoorsman, Austrian-born Gustav Weindorfer, who built a rough chalet next to the iconic Dove Lake in 1912.

Weindorfer is revered as the “founder” of Cradle Mountain wilderness recreation and is fondly remembered as an eccentric, idealistic yet jovial man who would host guests with generous lashings of his garlic and badger (wombat) stew.

“A mixture that would kill me in five minutes,” recalled local Bill Perkins in a eulogy to the colourful Austrian in 1982. Perkins first met Weindorfer in 1930, just before his death. Today you can see an authentic replica of Weindorfer’s cottage and outbuildings and get a feel for how people enjoyed the country almost one hundred years ago.

If you do nothing else, be sure to complete the Dove Lake circuit, a relaxed two hour dawdle around this imposing feature that is one of Australia’s most instantly recognisable vistas next to Uluru and Sydney’s Harbour Bridge.

If you really want to earn your “Wild Tasmania” badge, head north west from Wynyard into the Tarkine Forest region (the largest temperate rainforest in Australia) and plot a circuit via Stanley, Smithton, Corinna, Zeehan and Strahan. Get lost in the oblivion of true wilderness, a commodity that is fast disappearing in our shrinking, globalised world.

The intriguingly-named Dismal Swamp is a natural blackwood forest sinkhole, believed to be the only one of its kind in the world. Thirty minutes (40km) south west of Smithton, the visitors’ centre showcases Tasmanian specialty timbers with a contemporary interior crafted from blackwood and Tasmanian oak. From there the walkway descends to the floor of the sinkhole, or if you’re game take the exhilarating 110m slide from the viewing platform to the swamp floor. There’s an electric buggy option too.

Proclaimed by Bass and Flinders in 1798, historic Stanley is a delightfully sleepy hamlet distinguished by its characteristic, 150m high “nut”, a long extinct volcanic plug that forms an imposing natural citadel overlooking the town. Take the chairlift or walk to the top for panoramic views of Bass Strait.

The nearby Highfield Historic Site epitomises the optimistic early settlement and is the site of land granted to the Van Diemens Land Company (VDL) in 1824. The homestead is a rare example of the elegant Regency period. Edward Curr, the chief agent of the VDL, started construction in 1832, and later additions were made by John Lee Archer, the colony's first important architect. The harsh life reaped a toll on the residents, particularly the convict labourers and there are many stories of ghosts still wandering the dark corridors including that of Curr’s infant daughter killed in an accident. She has been known to tug on the skirts of women visiting the property. If you dare, take the popular night-time ghost tour.

From Smithton, it’s a two hour drive to the remote village of Corinna, a former gold mining town settled in 1881. Today the entire village is a self-catering, eco-wilderness experience with authentic miner’s cottage accommodation, a totally refurbished hotel and river cruises aboard Arcadia II, a magnificent Huon pine river vessel. Kayaking, walking, fishing, bird watching and nature experiences are some of the activities available to guests.

A further 100 kilometres via Zeehan is Strahan, a once thriving lumber town, now a picturesque bayside site overlooking gorgeous Macquarie Harbour. Before Strahan, there was Sarah Island located within the harbour and reputably the worst penal colony in the land. The ruins are still there and "is remembered only as a place of degradation, depravity and woe." (Rev. John West, anti-transportation activist and publisher, 1842). Local historian and author, Richard Davey, conducts semi-theatrical lamplight tours of the island and he almost channels the spirits of the long-dead convicts as you survey the scattered brickwork that once served as shelter for the wretched men. He’ll tell you glee the tale of the men who escaped from the island and turned cannibal and those who seized a boat they built themselves and were eventually arrested in South America.

Complete your experience with a day cruise on the harbour and into the now legendary Gordon River or take the historic steam train to Queenstown, one of the most significant such journeys in the country.

Where to Stay:

Luxury: Voyages Cradle Mountain Lodge
“showcases the best Cradle Mountain has to offer”
http://www.cradlemountainlodge.com.au/ 1300 134 044

Motel: Best Western Murchison Lodge, Burnie
“Your base for a North Western experience”
http://murchison.bestwestern.com.au/ 03 6435 1106

Wilderness: Corinna Cottages
“an oasis in the heart of the Tarkine”
http://www.corinna.com.au 03 6446 1170

B&B: Sealers Cove Restaurant and Accommodation
“well-appointed, comfortable and homely”
http://www.stanley.com.au/ 03 6458 1414

Must-do, Must-see Checklist:

• Lactos Cheese Factory, Burnie
http://www.lactos.com.au
• Dismal Swamp, near Smithton
http://www.dismalswamp.com.au/
• Corinna Wilderness Experiences
www.corinna.com.au
• Strahan Experiences
www.strahan.com.au
• Highfield Historic Site, Stanley
http://www.historic-highfield.com.au/
• Hellyers Road Distillery, Burnie
http://www.hellyersroaddistillery.com/

Food and Wine:
Visit Graeme Phillips’s comprehensive and authoritive website:
www.tastingtasmania.com

Getting There
Regional Express flies six times each day from Burnie to Melbourne
www.rex.com.au

For more details on all Tasmania has to offer, visit the official site:
www.discovertasmania.com

Know Howe

by Louise Southerden, ASTW Travel Writer of the Year - Responsible Tourism

First Published: G Magazine, April 2008

It's hard not to be swept off your feet by Lord Howe Island. After two hours of flying over featureless blue, suddenly there it is, an oasis of natural beauty: the twin peaks of Mt Lidgbird and Mt Gower that dominate the island's southern end; isolated northern beaches populated by hundreds of thousands of seabirds and accessible only by sea kayak or on foot; a settlement of 350 locals and just 400 visitors; and a long, blue lagoon bounded by the most southerly coral reef in the world.

Even David Attenborough once wrote that it is "so extraordinary it is almost unbelievable ... Few islands, surely, can be so accessible, so remarkable, yet so unspoilt."

But Lord Howe is not just a pretty face. Because of its isolation, the island is an important site for in situ conservation of many rare and endemic species - almost half its 241 native plant species are found nowhere else in the world; the same goes for both the island's reptiles, a skink and a gecko, and almost a thousand insect species.

According to Ian Hutton, Lord Howe's resident naturalist and author of 10 books about the island (he was also awarded an Order of Australia medal in 2006 for his contribution to conservation and tourism), "People talk about the Galapagos Islands because of Darwin's connection, but there's more diversity on Lord Howe Island and it's so intact - the island is very much as it was when it was first discovered."

Wildlife wonderland

Within an hour of arriving, we'd "rented" (by leaving a donation in the honesty box) masks, snorkels and fins at Ned's Beach and were communing with the fishes. The water was tropically warm, the visibility an astonishing 25 metres. Stepping off the beach, we entered a world of butterfly fish and rainbow-coloured wrasse, green turtles and blacktipped reef sharks, stingrays, clownfish, giant clams, corals and 14 kinds of sea. urchin.

It was like snorkelling through an aquarium. And no wonder: the warm East Australian Current that swirls down the Australian coast flows out to Lord Howe too, where it meets cold southern currents, bringing together more than 500 fish species and 90 different corals. This array of tropical and temperate marine creatures is protected within the Lord Howe Island Marine Park.

Lord Howe is also the best place in Australia to watch seabirds. Almost 170 species have been recorded living on or visiting the island group, and hundreds of thousands of seabirds nest there every year. Between September and March, just by standing on the beach at dusk you can witness a spectacular show: hundreds of muttonbirds skidding ashore then dashing through the palm forest to their burrows.

The day we went birdwatching with Ian Hutton at North Bay, we walked past sooty terns sitting silently on their nests just metres from our sandy feet, then entered a dark forest of Norfolk pines where, looking up into the branches, we saw dozens of nesting black noddies, some within easy reach of human hands.

All the birds seemed supremely unbothered by us. "That's one of the really special things about seabirds on Lord Howe Island," Hutton told us. "The birds have been on this predator-free island for millions of years, so they don't see us as anything but another bit of nature."

Green living

It's tempting, when you find a place like Lord Howe, to wonder: what would it be like to live here? It seems so idyllic. There's no mobile phone coverage and no litter - the morning after the 25h World Heritage anniversary concert, the only sign that a few hundred people had been partying on the grass at Ned's Beach was a couple of pairs of thongs, waiting for their owners to return.

There's also no crime: no room keys, no bike locks and you can leave your belongings safely on the beach while you swim. The locals are friendly too; it's easy to get used to complete strangers waving as you walk or ride by on the island's quiet roads.

It's also something of an eco-community. Green living isn't just a nice idea on Lord Howe; it's part of daily life. The island locals are dedicated to conserving water (supply is rainfall-dependent) and energy (electricity comes from a diesel-powered generator with fuel transported in steel containers to reduce the risk of a spill).

You can go a whole day without seeing a car, or needing one; even local businesspeople get around on bicycles. And transport back to your lodge is included when you dine at any of the island's fine restaurants.

Then there's the recycling system. Every public garbage bin on the island includes a section for food scraps as well as one for recyclables. All the island's organic waste - from homes, restaurants and public bins - plus sewage sludge, and paper and cardboard that has been shredded, go into a Vertical Composting Unit which creates compost that residents use on their gardens. It's the first time such a system has been used in an isolated community with World Heritage status.

Recyclable plastics, aluminium and glass are taken off the island and sold, which helps pay for the freight. Plastics and other nonrecyclables are compacted and shipped to a rubbish tip on the mainland. There's a userpays system to discourage dumping of household junk such as TV sets and old bicycles. And to encourage re-use of containers there's a Co-op store that stocks food and cleaning products.

It's sponsored by the Lord Howe Island Board - the island equivalent of a local council - which reports directly to the NSW Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Water.
Lord Howe also leads the world in the eradication of noxious weeds and feral animals. The Board conducts compulsory inspections of people's properties with the goal of ridding the island of noxious weeds. Teams of six to 12 "weeders" go up into the mountains and hills every day to remove cherry guava, the worst weed on the island.

Thanks to $1.8 million in federal funding, in the last two years, 600,000 cherry guava trees have been removed. Asparagus fern, another voracious weed, is targeted by the island's popular Weeding Ecotours.

Since 1999, there have been no feral pigs, goats or cats on the island either, so species such as the Lord Howe island woodhen, one of the rarest birds in the world, have been able to make a comeback from the brink of extinction. The Lord Howe Island phasmid, the world's largest stick insect, is also on its way back. Since its rediscovery in 2001, it has been in a captive breeding program at Melbourne Zoo and will be reintroduced to Lord Howe when rats are eradicated, sometime in the next few years.

Mountain time

On our last day we climbed Mt Gower (875m), the "Everest of Lord Howe", to experience the island's ruggedness first hand. With much of the track unmarked and sections so steep that fixed ropes have been put in to help you climb up (and down) it's no wonder the walk takes a solid eight hours.

But it's worth it. At the top, we were rewarded with views of Ball's Pyramid, a volcanic sea stack which rises eerily from the sea mist 23 km away, and cool cloud forest - Lord Howe is one of only a handful of islands in the world to have a true cloud forest. It's a miniature fairy glen of mosses, ferns and epiphytes, the kind of place Gollum from The Lord of the Rings might inhabit.

That evening, back .at sea level, I stepped outside to savour the night air and the stars. Oh, the stars! The island is so far from any city that the night was star-spangled like a desert sky. As if I needed another reason to love Lord Howe.

Fast facts

Getting there: Lord Howe Island is 700km north-east of Sydney. QantasLink flies daily from Sydney and Brisbane (www.qantas.com.au).

Where to stay: Earl's Anchorage is one of the greenest accommodation options on the island. Its sustainable design ideas are based on lightweight construction and energy efficiency; there's solar hot water, with excess electricity stored in a battery bank, and greywater is treated and recycled on site (02 6563 2029, www.earlsanchorage.com.au). Pinetrees is the oldest and most central guest house (02 6563 2177, www.pinetrees.com.au). At the luxury end of the spectrum there's Arajilla (02 6563 2002, www.arajilla.com.au) and Capella Lodge (02 9918 4355, www.lordhowe.com). Camping is not permitted.

Howe to have fun

• Go swimming, snorkelling or sea kayaking, or take a sunset cruise on the lagoon with Islander Cruises (02 6563 2021) and Howea Divers (02 6563 2290 or visit www.howeadivers.com.au).

• Feed the fish at Ned's Beach; BYO stale bread, wade in up to your knees and hand-feed dozens of metre-long kingfish, wrasse, silver drummer and various other species.

• Explore the island's 11 beautiful beaches, all easy biking distance from town. Ned's Beach was voted Australia's Cleanest Beach in 2004.

• Go birdwatching with Ian Hutton: visit www.lordhowe-tours.com.au. For a calendar of mating and nesting seasons for a number of bird species, see www.lordhoweisland.info.

• Walk one of the island's many trails. Pick up a copy of A Rambler's Guide to Lord Howe Island for $10 from the museum.

• Climb Mt Gower (access is with a licensed guide only). Contact Sea to Summit Expeditions (02 6563 2218, www.lordhoweisland.info/services/sea.htmi) or Lord Howe Environmental Tours (02 6563 2214, www.lordhoweisland.info/services/environ.html).

• Scuba dive more than 50 world-class sites, including Ball's Pyramid, with Islander Cruises and Howea Divers (see above).

• Lord Howe Island Museum is open 9am-3pm Mon-Fri, loam-2pm weekends; public talks 5.30pm on Sunday, Monday, Thursday and Friday.

More info: Call Lord Howe Island Visitor Information Centre on 1800 240 937 or visit www.lordhoweisland.info

On 17 December 2007, the Lord Howe Island Group - comprising Lord Howe Island, Ball's Pyramid, the Admiralty Islands, Mutton Bird Island and surrounding coral reefs - celebrated 25 years of being World Heritage listed.

Weeding Ecotours run from June to August, removing asparagus ferns in the mornings with afternoons free to explore the island. Visit www.lordhowe-tours.com.au for more information.

Top 5 Unknown Tourist Attractions Of the World

Source:

If you want to find "Neverland" here is some help with the best secret tourist attractions on Earth. We are sure that you and the others have not heard of them before:

Willunga, Australia: This town in Australia is an hour’s drive towards the south of Adelaide. You will find the town in the McLaren Vale area and its specialty lies in the abundance of Shiraz and other red wines that taste heavenly. The limelight is taken away by Russell's Pizza - a local pizza parlor. The Willunga Farmers Market also offers fresh stuff and the beef found here tastes great, as the cows are grass fed only.

Chapada Dos Veadeiros, Brazil: The 253-square-mile national park in Chapada dos Veadeiros is the ideal place to get refreshed. It gives you all the positive vibes and has a large concentration of natural quartz crystals that are considered to have magical powers. According to most Brazilians, this place has the highest concentrated energy than any other place in the world. The place also makes way for many interesting activities like hiking, swimming, bird watching and waterfall exploration.

Graskop, South Africa: This South African town has a lovely mix of hip artists and traditional Afrikaner farmers. Anyone interested in traditional and contemporary African culture would like to visit this place. You can meet many African groups here and have a taste of their culture. The artistic scene here is colorful due to the recent inflow of Zulu, Shangaan, Swazi, and other African groups that have crept into this area since the end of apartheid.

Weymouth, England: Sandy beaches, cobblestoned streets and Georgian homes of Weymouth run along the English Channel. All those who love this kind of an atmosphere should visit Weymouth for a memorable experience. Weymouth is also one of the best diving spots in the world with waters teeming with Roman shipwrecks, submarines from both world wars and the remains of a 16th-century Dutch sailing fleets. The charm of the English city is superb and it will give you that old English feeling.

Gaziantep, Turkey: The food flavor is wonderful here. It may be normal to have just 4 spices in Turkish food in most parts of Turkey, but here they use at least 15 spices. Do not leave the place without tasting the food here. The dessert's main ingredient - pistachios, are found in abundance in the surrounding countryside.

Six Travellers Who Changed The World Forever

Today, you can circumnavigate the entire world within a day but it has not been like this always. Travelers of the earlier centuries had to get through some of the most difficult routes, encounter deadliest hazards and sail through deep ruffling waters to unknown destinations and that too without food and plagued with unknown diseases. Their unparalleled efforts and ruthless itineraries will continue to inspire and influence the world travelers for generations.

Into the Blue (1950)

A fascinating British documentary about the development of civil airlines immediately after the Second World War.

Thailand: Visiting Hua Hin

Where can travellers escape to for a beach resort retreat that’s budget-friendly as well as being known as ‘fit for royalty’? Thailand’s Hua Hin of course.

AUSSIES’ MAKE SEADREAM A CARIBBEAN COUP

david ellis

MODERN-day pirates may have guests ducking for cover on cruise ships off Somalia, but when a baker's-dozen Aussies decided on a brief "commandeering" of the world's Number One motor-yacht in the Caribbean last month, fellow guests didn't go running for cover – they went running for their cameras.

SeaDream I had just sailed 4952km across the Atlantic from Tenerife in the Canary Islands, and had dropped anchor off sunny St Barts in the French West Indies when the Aussies sprang their Caribbean Coup.

Gathering at the ship's stern they swiftly lowered the official Norwegian flag, and in a flash had a 2-metre Australian one fluttering in its place - providing unique photo-opportunities aboard SeaDream I and on surrounding pleasure boats as well: it's not every day luxury cruisers are seen in those parts with the Aussie flag flapping from their flagstaff.

After a Champagne toast down our flag came and that of Norway (SeaDream Yacht Club is Norwegian-owned,) run-up again by SeaDream's security officer – one of only two deck officers who knew of the "surprise" event: the other was the Captain, who'd quietly given his approval.

The thirteen Australians were the third biggest group after Americans and British amongst the-just 91-guests on board, and also the most Aussies ever to make the annual 11-night relocation from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean where SeaDream escapes the Northern Winter.

And despite dire predictions from doomsayer mates, passengers on the boutique 4,300 tonne SeaDream I – and that included this writer – were not tossed around on a wild and stormy Atlantic: SeaDream's mega-motor-cruisers travel well south, missing the stormier conditions of the North Atlantic.

Apart from rain showers on the first day that prevented dining on deck, breakfasts and lunches were taken outdoors under shade-covers for the remaining 10-days, and the open-air Top of the Yacht Bar became a late-morning focal point for flutes of Champagne, rainbow cocktails in voluminous glasses, beers from Europe, America and Mexico, and wines from around the world (that are all included in the holiday price.)

A 3m swell eased after the first few days and from then-on it was much like lake sailing… in fact, so smooth was it towards the end that Captain Bjarne Smorawski had to reduce speed to avoid arriving ahead of schedule into our first Caribbean port, St Maartens.

And again despite the doomsayers, there was plenty to keep us occupied on our eight non-stop days across the Atlantic: a Handwriting Analyst and People Profiler, and an Astronomer each gave several talks to interested guests, while poolside was the place to chin-wag, read a book, or take a nap in the sun (and raise a languid hand to have your favourite drink miraculously appear – and your stewards clean your sunglasses and mist you with cool water if they deduced signs of fatigue in these gruelling conditions.)

And then there was the food, oh glorious food: Chef d'Cuisine, Tomasz and Pastry Chef Garfield (dubbed "The Pound A Day Men") offered sensation after sensation from traditional breakfast favourites through internationally-inspired luncheons, evening cocktails and dinner – always a particularly grand 5-star affair with Starters (Gratinated Escargots with Aubergine Compote and Champignon de Paris amongst the choices one night,) Middle Courses (Cream of Mushroom Soup infused with Truffle Oil another,) Chef's Main Dishes (decisions decisions: Grilled Lobster Tail, Roast Baby Lamb Loin or Duck L'Orange one evening,) and Garfield's sinful desserts that might include Chocolate Soufflé with Baileys Sauce….

For the Pound A Day guilty there were brisk morning walks around the top deck (that also raised funds for Miami's Children's' Bereavement Centre,) Tai Chi and Stretch Sessions, Yoga, golf on the 50-course Simulator, a state-of-the-art Fitness Centre, an optional-cost Spa, and less physically-demanding quizzes, trivia sessions, Black Jack lessons and Sundowners at the Top of the Yacht Bar to prepare one for the evening's pre-dinner Cocktail Party…

And yes, we survived to hopefully do it all again…

(The 55-couples/95-crew SeaDream I sails 11-nights from San Juan to Lisbon on May 3 2009 with prices from US$3527pp twin-share, inclusive of all 5-star dining, drinks from the open bars and wines with meals, nightly Cocktail Parties, use of a 50-course golf simulator, gratuities, port charges and taxes. See travel agents or visit www.seadream.com for more information including 2009's Mediterranean itineraries.)

                                                        ………………….

PHOTO CAPTIONS:

[] CARIBBEAN coup – not every day the Aussie flag flutters from a luxury ship in the Caribbean.

[] SEADREAM I slips by an idyllic Caribbean isle.


(PHOTOS: Malcolm Andrews and SeaDream Yacht Club)

PRAGUE GETS A BANG OUT OF NEW YEAR

david ellis

IT'S the snow that does it, bouncing the extraordinary New Year fireworks off Prague's white-capped buildings, parks and streets like some huge movie-lot reflector, so that the whole city seems ablaze in a double-dazzle of flashing white, electric blue, orange, red, purple, green and gold….

And under-foot it crunches icily as we sway with other boisterous revellers on the jam-packed Charles Bridge that links the Old Town of the Czech Republic capital with the approaches to the hillside Castle on the other side of the black Vltava River.

On the hill behind the palace, the official fireworks have just started. They're a bit late: pyromaniacs have been exploding their unofficial hauls for the past six hours in the streets, narrow alleys and squares willy-nilly, enveloping the city in a haze of gunpowder smoke.

And when the palace fireworks begin at midnight, it's a signal for our fellow bridge observers to reciprocate with extra fervour: out of coat pockets and backpacks emerge small skyrockets that are lit and launched out of the hand. Sparks shower nearby revellers; laughter and squeals of delight fill the air and we expect to hear screams of pain too, but they must be drowned out by all the fun.

In the darkness on the river a huge, unseen black barge launches its salvo that out-performs those from behind the castle, lighting up the snowy rooftops and parks and reflecting brilliantly in a myriad hues on the water.

Meanwhile, some Aussie friends who had earlier taken up a vantage point for the countdown below the Old Town Square's Astronomical Clock, are jammed shoulder-to-shoulder with rowdy New Year's celebrants fuelled with beer, gluhwein and absinthe, the locally-distilled high-octane rocket-fuel.

Their's is a more confined space for a localized fireworks display, surrounded by the 60-metre Old Town Hall and the square's four-storey buildings. It is happening too in Wenceslas Square, which despite its name is not a square but a wide street, and in which fireworks now erupt from the steps of the National Museum.

Chaos. Cheers. Hugs and kisses as the New Year breathes its first suffocating seconds amid the acrid smoke. Just as had happened or would happen in countless cities around the globe on the stroke of midnight on December 31…

In just 15 minutes it's over, but not for the crowds: they disperse to bars and restaurants … or to let off more unofficial fireworks for hours to come, leaving the coming dawn's work crews to clear up the scorched paper and cardboard firework wrappings that have stained the snow red, pink and brown.

It looks like a vast battle-field.

And soon after dawn we stomp our way back across the 500-metres bridge named after Charles IV. It's already back to normal … hawkers, jazz and classical buskers entertaining scores of visitors just taking in the view up and down the river, and of the castle.

Promenading on the bridge is a favourite thing to do in ancient Prague, as is exploring the castle and its squares that date back to the 9th century.

We make our way through the charming baroque Mala Stala (Little Quarter) on the Royal Way route, discovering fascinating narrow laneways behind the main street and fall into a fabulous café for a thick, rich hot chocolate, European style.

And a Champagne starter to kick off the first day of the New Year.

At the castle, we're in time for the changing of the guard before losing ourselves in the royal courtyards, the gardens, St Vitus Cathedral, the Old Royal Palace, Basilica of St George and Dalibor Tower.

Unexpected is Zlata Ulicka, or Golden Lane, a cobbled alley along the northern wall of the castle populated by small colourful cottages once occupied by the castle guards in the 16th century, and later our Lonely Planet guidebook tells us, by royal goldsmiths.

We spend some final time taking in the views over the sprawl of surrounding white roof tops and then return to the bridge via the Castle Steps route that's now strangely devoid of fellow tourists …

It's not so easy finding a bed in Prague for New Year, but give Tempo Holidays a call on 1300 558 987 or try www.tempoholidays.com


[] PRAGUE'S snowy New Year roof tops


[] NARROW canals and alleyways are a highlight of Old Prague


[] PRAGUE Castle brings plenty of surprises


(Photos: Austrian Tourist Office)