Lake Pedder v Bathurst Harbour

[Tas Tom]

Maybe a controversial topic for only my second post in this forum but here goes...

As somebody who has lived in Tas for the last ten years and enjoys mountains and water ( but admittedly did not see Lake Pedder before the impoundment) I have just come back from a couple of days kayaking and walking in the SW corner of Pedder. Saturday paddle frm Scotts Pk Dam to the base of Terminal Peak, walk up Terminal and Mount Lloyd Jones and return to camp on the lake shore. Perfect weather, flat on the water and unbelievable views. In my opinion every bit as good as Bathurst Harbour, Mt Rugby, Mt Stokes etc where I spent a week doing the same thing a couple of years ago.

Not sure what Pedder was like before the impoundment but, in my view, it is still pretty spectacular. I see a lot of comment about Fake Pedder and maybe that is true but I am happy to enjoy what is there now...

Any comments??

[pazzar]

Unfortunately I was born after Pedder was flooded, but I guess we should value things on their own merit. The new Lake Pedder is still beautiful in its own right, its just a shame we had to lose a unique part of our great state. At least they had the decency to clear the trees from the lake shore. There are so many ugly hydro lakes that weren't cleared.

[stepbystep]

I was musing on this the other day. IF Pedder wasn't dammed what would it be like now?

I was thinking it would probably have a hut or huts and Tas Ex style tours etc, planes wouldn't be allowed to land on the beach etc etc

Bathurst Harbour does it for me over the new Pedder just because it is natural and when I spend time in a place like that I reflect on the place's history and that evokes feelings and reactions. Fake Pedder, although beautiful will always have an aura of sadness and loss. Perhaps those that go there without the burden of history just see a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains...

[Hallu]

I had the same intellectual problem with Lake Eildon. It's a beautiful area, but it's still "just" an artificial lake, and that bothers me (especially since they made something artificial into a national park...). I like to know the history of a place before I explore it, and learning it's all artificial destroys a fair bit of the experience for me. I went to Hanging Rock near Macedon in VIC this week-end and same thing : it's a beautiful geological feature, but having it all fenced, with a horse racetrack right by its side is just wrong.

[north-north-west]

I was musing on this the other day. IF Pedder wasn't dammed what would it be like now?

Oddly enough, earlier today I was musing along the lines of "If we hadn't stopped the Gordon-below-Franklin Dam, what would Tasmania - and SW Tassie in particular - be like today?"
How many gorges and valleys and natural lakes would be gone? Would we still have a Rhona, a Curly? Would we have lost easy foot access to the Denisons, the Sawback, the Arthurs, the way we lost it for Secheron and the rest of the Franklands? Secheron used to be an easy daywalk from base camp at Pedder.

Yeah, I can look at it and appreciate the beauty, but that will always be overridden by the sadness. It was such a beautiful place, not just physically beautiful but with a special feel to it.
And it's even sadder because of the realisation that things haven't really changed. We're still finding bigger and better ways to bugger up this island. Hydro, Forestry, Mining, it all gets uglier and uglier. And you can't bring back some things. Ever.

[taswegian]

Never been to Bathurst but have both 'Pedders'/
The thing about any impoundment that is subject to fluctuations in water level is the mess from FSL to whatever comes after that when the water is lowered.
Certainly tree removal helps but the shoreline of an artificial changing supply level lake is never the same as a natural lake.

NNW, given the ethos of the times and those in power back then I would suggest the GbelowF would have been just the start.
'Think of all the jobs...'

We're still finding bigger and better ways to bugger up this island

Its easier to do what has always happened than think outside the box and invent something new and innovative and exciting and yes - even job producing.

I often look at the upper Mersey dams and remember the beautiful rivers they once were. The confluence of the Fisher and the Mersey and such, and yes those ponds now have there own beauty but does that make it right? or an excuse to 'find bigger and better ways to bugger up this island'?

[tasadam]

Some good viewpoints so far.
Sure the new Lake Pedder is nice enough in its own merit, but that beach was how old? While the seas rose 10000 years ago (give or take a few) and so all the beaches at sea level are relatively new, that beach on the original Pedder was very unique because of its age.
I have a Pedder Penny, a treasured asset given to me by a good friend. I hold it and feel a connection with something I have never known in person.

Just stumbled on this PDF file - looks interesting, must take a closer look when not on the iphone.

http://www.lakepedder.org/resources/rep ... %20Geo.pdf