Arches, Kitchens, Blowholes, & Doo Town

Big rock things

15/12/2014 - 15/12/2014 23 °C

Tasmans Arch
A cave's roof collapses to form a bridges chasm.
Tasmans arch is what's left of a large sea cave, or tunnel, that was created by wave action over many thousands of years. Is the arch growing or is the roof thinning, or are the walls expanding?

Devil's Kitchen

From a humble cave to a great gulch.
This geographical feature probably started as a sea cave, then a tunnel and developed into this modern form after the collapse of the cave roof.
It is one of several such coastal landforms in the Tasman National Park that have developed in the Permian-age siltstone.

The Blowhole
The Blowhole, a former sea cave and tunnel, is an old blowhole. The roof at the rear of the tunnel collapsed to create a broad arch with a blowhole behind it.
The Blowhole point was originaly an unbroken line of cliffs of siltstone.

The blowhole only lives up to its name when seas are rough and in the right direction. Swells enter the tunnel and sea spray and air are blasted through the funnel, creating an explosive effect in the small joints at the back of the inlet.

The Blowhole is in a little fishing village called Doo Town..

There are conflicting stories about how the town got it's name, but my favourite comes from a newspaper article in which it tells the story of Bill Edridge junior's father who bought a shack there in 1939. After discussing his acquisition with his mates he said "It'll do us", referring to his wife and family, and so he named his house, and Doo Us was born. The tradition caught on and today most of the 30 cottages have "Doo" names, including "Do-in-time", "Didgeri-Do", "Just-Do-It", Much-a-Do", "Af2Do", What-a-Do", "Make-Doo" and "Doctor-Doo-Little".

A walk along from Doo Town, takes you past Patersons Arch...

and along to Waterfall Bay...

The walk along the Tasman Peninsula Coastline leads you through a dense forest, where it's clear to see the effects of a bush fire in the last year or two...

It may help to explain why some of the trees appear to have wrinkles...