Central Highlands (Tasmania)

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Central Highlands
Tasmania
Wc Piguenit - Mount Olympus, Lake St Clair, Tasmania, the source of the Derwent - Google Art Project.jpg
Mount Olympus depicted by W.C. Piguenit in 1875.
Population2,141 [1]
LGA(s) Central Highlands
State electorate(s) Lyons
Federal division(s) Lyons
Localities around Central Highlands:
North West Tasmania Northern TasmaniaNorth East Tasmania
West Coast Tasmania Central Highlands Midlands
South West Tasmania Southern TasmaniaEast Coast Tasmania

The Central Highlands is a region in Tasmania, Australia where geographical and administrative boundaries closely coincide. It is also known as The Lake Country of Tasmania. [2]

Contents

Geographical region

Pine Lake in the Central Highlands region of Tasmania Pine Lake, Central Highlands, Tasmania.jpg
Pine Lake in the Central Highlands region of Tasmania
Great Lake Great Lake, Tasmania.jpg
Great Lake

The mountains of Central Tasmania are mainly found in four different conservation reserves:

Administrative region

The Central Highlands Council incorporates most of the highland region.

Former Hydro communities

Early power developments by Hydro Tasmania in the Central Highlands included the communities of workers who were employed in construction. Significant numbers of the communities were migrants to Australia [3]

The Tarraleah community was one established in 1934 which was a significant early community for the Upper Derwent Power Development. The part of Tarraleah known as Ticklebelly Flat - the area of the married quarters of the community - has become a part of Hydro history, being utilised in the most comprehensive history of the Hydro to date, Heather Fenton's book Ticklebelly Tales. [4]

Fishing

The Central Highlands of Tasmania are home to famous trout fishing lakes and boasts some of the best trout fly fishing found anywhere in the world. The location played host to the 2019 World Fly Fishing Championships. The Central Highlands are on the bucket list for many fly fisherman with popular locations including Great Lake, Arthurs Lake, Woods Lake and Pinestock Lagoon. [5]

Tasmania heartland

The combined councils of the Central Highlands and the two Midlands councils - the southern and the northern have had for almost a decade a web based portal which combines the areas to a name of Tasmanian heartland. [6] The Central Highlands Council has been organising the annual Bushfest which includes various outdoor activities such as fishing, camping, hunting and adventure sports. [7] The event started in 2014 and witnesses a gathering of nearly 4000 people every year. [8]

Lakes

Many lakes are found in the Central Highlands - giving the region the tourist feature of the 'Lakes Region'; they include:

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake St Clair (Tasmania)</span> Lake in Tasmania, Australia

Lake St Clair or leeawulenna is a natural freshwater lake located in the Central Highlands area of Tasmania, Australia. The lake forms the southern end of the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park. It has an area of approximately 45 square kilometres (17 sq mi), and a maximum depth of 215 metres (705 ft), making it Australia's deepest lake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Highlands Council</span> Local government area in Tasmania, Australia

Central Highlands Council is a local government body in Tasmania, encompassing the Central Highlands region of the state. Central Highlands is classified as a rural local government area and has a population of 2,144, the two largest towns are Bothwell and Hamilton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midlands (Tasmania)</span> Region in Tasmania, Australia

The Midlands is a region of Tasmania between Launceston and Hobart. It also refers to the relatively flat, dry agricultural area, so named because it covers the region between the two cities. Its name is probably also influenced from the Midlands in the United Kingdom. It lends its name to the Southern Midlands Council, Northern Midlands Council, and the Midland Highway. The region is sometimes conflated or confused with the adjacent region of the Central Highlands—with the added term Tasmania's heartland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hydro Tasmania</span> Government hydro electricity provider in Tasmania, Australia

Hydro Tasmania, known for most of its history as the Hydro-Electric Commission (HEC) or The Hydro, is the trading name of the Hydro-Electric Corporation, a Tasmanian Government business enterprise which is the predominant electricity generator in the state of Tasmania, Australia. The Hydro was originally oriented towards hydro-electricity, due to Tasmania's dramatic topography and relatively high rainfall in the central and western parts of the state. Today Hydro Tasmania operates thirty hydro-electric and one gas power station, and is a joint owner in three wind farms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Western Tiers</span> Mountain range in Tasmania, Australia

The Great Western Tiers are a collection of mountain bluffs that form the northern edge of the Central Highlands plateau in Tasmania, Australia. The bluffs are contained within the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Site.

The Great Lake, officially yingina / Great Lake, is a natural lake and man-made reservoir that is located in the central northern region of Tasmania, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lyell Highway</span> Highway in Western and Central Tasmania

The Lyell Highway is a highway in Tasmania, running from Hobart to Queenstown. It is the one of two transport routes that passes through the West Coast Range, the other being the B28 Anthony Road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crotty Dam</span> Dam in Western Tasmania, Australia

The Crotty Dam, also known during construction as the King Dam, or the King River Dam on initial approval, is a rockfill embankment dam with a controlled and uncontrolled spillway across the King River, between Mount Jukes and Mount Huxley, located in Western Tasmania, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Plateau Conservation Area</span> Protected area in Tasmania, Australia

Central Plateau Conservation Area is an animal and plant conservation area in Tasmania, Australia. It is adjacent to the Walls of Jerusalem National Park.

Miena is a small town at the southern end of the Great Lake in the Central Highlands of Tasmania, Australia. At the 2021 census, Miena and the surrounding area had a population of 127.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henty River</span> River in Western Tasmania, Australia

The Henty River is a perennial river in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. The river generally lies north of Queenstown and south of Zeehan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tungatinah Power Station</span> Power station in Tasmania, Australia

The Tungatinah Power Station is a conventional hydroelectric power station located in the Central Highlands region of Tasmania, Australia. The power station is situated on the Upper River Derwent catchment and is owned and operated by Hydro Tasmania.

The Sticht Range is a mountain range located in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. The range runs between two tributaries of the Eldon River and is located within the eastern part of the West Coast Range and has an unnamed peak with an elevation of 1,080 metres (3,540 ft) above sea level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South West Tasmania</span> Region in Tasmania, Australia

South West Tasmania is a region in Tasmania that has evoked curiosity as to its resources over the duration of European presence on the island.

Tarraleah is a rural locality in the local government area (LGA) of Central Highlands in the Central LGA region of Tasmania. The locality is about 53 kilometres (33 mi) north-west of the town of Hamilton. The 2016 census has a population of nil for the state suburb of Tarraleah.

Bronte Park is a rural locality in the local government area (LGA) of Central Highlands in the Central LGA region of Tasmania. The locality is about 82 kilometres (51 mi) north-west of the town of Hamilton. The 2016 census recorded a population of 28 for the state suburb of Bronte Park. It is a locality on the Marlborough Highway at the southern edge of the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park. It is located just north of the Lyell Highway and approximately halfway in between Hobart and Queenstown, and is also almost exactly in the geographic centre of the island.

The Scotts Peak Dam is a rockfill embankment dam without a spillway across the Huon River, located in the South West region of Tasmania, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bronte Lagoon</span> Lake in Tasmania, Australia

Bronte Lagoon is a lake that was created by Hydro Tasmania in the 1950s along with Bradys Lake, Lake Binney and Tungatinah Lagoon as water storages for the Tungatinah Power Station on the Nive River.

The Arthurs Lake is a man-made reservoir located in the Central Highlands region of Tasmania, Australia. The lake was created in the 1920s by the Hydro-Electric Commission of Tasmania damming the Upper Lake River, Blue Lake and Sand Lake as well as the Morass Marsh. The principal purpose of the lake is to support the generation of hydroelectricity.

Ticklebelly Tales by Heather Felton, was a book published in 2008 about the people who had worked for the Hydro Electric Commission of Tasmania from 1910 to 2006.

References

  1. "Central Highlands (M), 2016 Census QuickStats". Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  2. Royal Society of Tasmania conducted a symposium at Poatina, 11–12 November 1972 with the symposium of that title: Banks, M.R. (editor) (1973) The Lake Country of Tasmania Hobart, Royal Society of Tasmania - with the Keynote Address by Dr. A.B. Costin Characteristics and Use of Australian High Country - map one p.2 being of interest as it shows relative distribution of Alpine (6000 ft in imperial measurement) and Sub Alpine regions in south east Australia
  3. Quirk, Marilyn; Arts Tasmania; Hydro Tasmania (2006), Echoes on the mountain : remarkable migrant stories from the hydro villages of the Tasmanian central highlands, Marilyn Quirk, retrieved 26 November 2014
  4. Felton, Heather; Hydro Tasmania (2008), Ticklebelly tales and other stories from the people of the Hydro, Hydro Tasmania, ISBN   978-0-646-47724-4
  5. "Trout Fishing Near Central Highlands Tasmania". Trout Tales Tasmania.
  6. "Gateway to online information on all aspects of life, including local government, in Tasmania's heartland". A joint initiative of the Northern Midlands, the Southern Midlands, and the Central Highlands Councils. Midlands Initiatives for Local Enterprise Inc. 2002. Archived from the original on 18 May 2009.
  7. "HIGHLANDS BUSHFEST – BOTHWELL RECREATION GROUND". Central Highlands Council.
  8. "Tasmania to showcase outdoors at Highlands Bushfest". The Examiner. 11 November 2017.

Further reading