Miena, Tasmania facts for kids
Quick facts for kids MienaTasmania |
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 Miena
Location in Tasmania
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| Postcode(s) | 7030 | ||||||||
| Elevation | 1,052 m (3,451 ft) | ||||||||
| Location |
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| LGA(s) | Central Highlands Council | ||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Lyons | ||||||||
| Federal Division(s) | Lyons | ||||||||
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Miena is a small town in the Central Highlands of Tasmania, Australia. It is located at the southern end of the large Great Lake. In 2021, Miena and the nearby areas had about 127 people living there.
Miena is a popular spot for visitors. You can find places to stay like hotels by the lake, self-contained lodges, and many small holiday homes called "shacks." The town is famous for its great lake fishing and its important hydro-electric dam.
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Exploring Miena's Past
The names Miena, Liawenee, and Waddamana show that Aboriginal people lived in this area for thousands of years. The Luggermairrenerpairer clan was one of the groups here. The name Miena, pronounced "my-enna," means "lagoon-like." These names were given to the area by Hydro Tasmania, the company that manages water and power.
In December 1817, John Beaumont, an early settler and Tasmania's first sheriff, explored the Central Highlands. You can find the Beaumont Memorial and his grave a short walk from the dam.
In 1831, George Augustus Robinson visited the Central Highlands. He was looking for Aboriginal people as part of his job to make peace. He camped where the dam is now and saw many swans, light-coloured kangaroos, and signs of platypus.
Murderers Hill, a peak 1055 metres high, is across from the Great Lake Hotel. It got its name from a sad event in 1840. A shepherd and a hut keeper were harmed there by bushrangers.
During the gold rush and a tough time in Tasmania in the 1860s, only Aboriginal people, shepherds, and a few bushrangers lived in the high country. Early colonists used these high areas as summer pastures for their sheep. Hunters also came to the Central Plateau. From the 1890s to the 1960s, trapping animals for their fur was a big activity.
Fishing and Local Services
When trout fish were brought to Tasmanian lakes in the 1890s, hundreds of visitors came to the highlands. A post office called Great Lake Post Office opened on August 1, 1897. It was later renamed Miena in 1920 but closed in 1942. It opened again in 1957 as a telephone office, closing once more in 1969. Today, the local post office is inside the Central Highland Lodge. There is also an amateur radio repeater on Barren Tier nearby.
Building the Miena Dam
The Miena Dam has three walls, but two are often underwater. The Tasmanian Hydro Electric Power and Metallurgical Co. built a small dam at the Great Lake's outlet in 1911. They planned to send water through canals and pipelines to Waddamana. There, it would generate power to treat complex ores.
In 1914, the government took over the company. By May 1916, the Waddamana Power Station had two power generators working. From 1919 to 1922, a new dam with many arches was built at Miena. This helped store more water in the Great Lake and allowed the power station to make more electricity. In 1967, a new rock-fill dam was built, and it was made even taller in 1982.
Today, the Waddamana Power Station is a museum. You can see old machines and learn about the early days of power development in the highlands.
Fly Fishing Championships
Many local lakes and lagoons, like Penstock Lagoon and the Great Lake, have hosted big fishing events. The World Fly Fishing Championships were held here in 1988, 2012, and 2019. Little Pine Lagoon is known as one of Tasmania's best places for fly fishing. The very center of Tasmania is on the western shore of Little Pine Lagoon.
Roads and Bushfires
The road to nearby Liawenee was paved in 2015. The upper part of the road to Breona was finished in April 2019.
The Miena area can have bushfires in the summer. In January 2019, people in the Miena shack community had to leave their homes. Fires crossed Barren Tier and Great Pine Tier. One house near Miena was destroyed. Warnings were also given for nearby Tods Corner, Penstock Lagoon, Liawenee, and Shannon.
Miena's Climate
Miena is one of the coldest places in Australia that isn't in the high mountains. It has cool summers and cold, wet winters. Miena has a climate called a "subpolar oceanic climate." This type of climate is unusual for an Australian town. It's similar to places like Punta Arenas in Chile or even Reykjavík in Iceland.
Snowfall is common and can be heavy in Miena. It snows on average 51.5 days each year, and snow can fall in any month. Heavy snow can sometimes close roads in the area, even during summer.
| Climate data for Miena Dam (1915–1943, rainfall 1889–2022); 1,052 m AMSL; 41.98° S, 146.72° E | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 15.4 (59.7) |
16.3 (61.3) |
14.0 (57.2) |
10.8 (51.4) |
8.0 (46.4) |
5.4 (41.7) |
4.3 (39.7) |
5.3 (41.5) |
7.5 (45.5) |
9.7 (49.5) |
12.2 (54.0) |
14.8 (58.6) |
10.3 (50.5) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 4.8 (40.6) |
5.5 (41.9) |
3.7 (38.7) |
2.1 (35.8) |
0.4 (32.7) |
−1.1 (30.0) |
−1.8 (28.8) |
−1.6 (29.1) |
−0.2 (31.6) |
1.1 (34.0) |
2.6 (36.7) |
4.2 (39.6) |
1.6 (35.0) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 51.8 (2.04) |
47.2 (1.86) |
55.3 (2.18) |
65.7 (2.59) |
73.7 (2.90) |
76.6 (3.02) |
86.4 (3.40) |
89.3 (3.52) |
80.2 (3.16) |
77.8 (3.06) |
63.5 (2.50) |
64.1 (2.52) |
839.2 (33.04) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 11.3 | 9.8 | 12.7 | 15.6 | 18.1 | 18.9 | 21.1 | 20.5 | 18.9 | 17.7 | 15.0 | 13.2 | 192.8 |
| Average afternoon relative humidity (%) | 67 | 67 | 68 | 73 | 78 | 81 | 81 | 78 | 76 | 73 | 69 | 67 | 73 |
| Source: Australian Bureau of Meteorology | |||||||||||||
