Flew from Melbourne to Tasmania last week. Again, Qantas was terrific both in getting us on board, on time, in flight service, etc. they serve lunch or dinner depending on the time and drinks are included whether that is soda, wine, beer, or cocktails. Rented another Toyota Corolla in Hobart though not a hybrid this time. After driving around the country for a week, we’ve spent about 150 AUS which currently is less than $100 in gas. We probably saw an off the grid part of Hobart mostly. Kind of young fringe players and rather worn shops. We went out for a cocktail and ended up in the middle of a poker tournament amongst a very eclectic group of people. We really didn’t explore Hobart much. We noticed more political activism there via signs etc mostly geared towards the environment. We drove up Mount Wellington which overlooks the city but at the top the wind was blowing 20-30mph and the temp was 2 degrees C. The clouds surrounded us so we really couldn’t see the city. We drove down for a hike on the hill and that was fantastic. We were protected from the wind as we hiked up a watery gully and saw our first Pademelons. What are those? Look them up but locals call them wallababies. To me they were huge plump rats that hopped.
Gorgeous small waterfalls along the way and carpets of moss and ferns. We ended our hike where we started, the Cascade Brewery. A lovely, large regional beer maker. Not Budweiser size. More like an Anchor Steam. We drove around the peninsula there a little bit killing time. Rolling hills with sheep and cattle and an occasional vineyard. We ended up at Bonorong, a wildlife sanctuary. Katie had booked a special night tour there. We walked around in the last hour of daylight, feeding the many Kangaroos, seeing Wombats again, many cockatoos, the Tasmanian Devil and many other things. Nighttime comes and it is a whole new show. Many animals are now active. We were introduced to a variety of birds that for various reasons could not be released into the wild. Red-tailed Black Cockatoos, an albino (yellow) Black Cockatoo, a Little Corella, a pink Gulah, and the queen of the enclosure, a Sulfur-crested Cockatoo. The latter we have heard pretty much throughout Australia, an extremely loud screech. We went into the enclosures for both a Ring-tailed Possum and a Brush-tailed Possum. BTW, multiple Brush-tailed possums were visitors that night, climbing all over the trees around us.
We went into the enclosure with 3 Tawny Frog-Mouths. These birds blend in with the branches and trees so well, I’m sure we pass a million of them without knowing it. We fed Wallaby meat to the Spotted-tailed Quoll. Now the Quoll is about 1-2 kg. I asked, why are you feeding this little guy Wallaby meat. Well they are ferocious hunters and take down prey much larger then them all by themselves. There is another type of quoll called the Eastern Quoll. Smaller than the spotted tail and though they have spots, they are not on the tail. They are still big meat eaters. We went into the cage in the dark to feed them meat! Yep, we are tourists. We will do anything.
We finalized our time with an 11 month old Wombat. OMG! So cute. Soft fur at this point but apparently gets much coarser. They stand on 4 short legs and are a big old round thing that eats grass. They tell me he can run 25km/hr though and has minimal fat. I’m thinking spirit animal though Katie is fighting for that as well. I think it is my marsupial spirit animal.
We drove home at 10 km/hr trying not to hit any Wombats or Wallabies. Began our roadtrip with a short drive out to Mt. Field National Park. Again a beautiful drive with rolling hills, eucalyptus, sheep and cows. The park has two levels. A lower rainforest and an alpine area. We hiked them both that day. Our first hike took us out to Russell Falls along a gorgeous track.
Following that was Horsetail Falls. Again the tracks are amazing both the plants but also the construction with staircases and excellent markings. We included a side trip thru the tall trees. These are Eucalyptus that are 250’ tall. Last on this trail was another falls, Lady Barron Falls. We lunched in the park cafe as there is nothing else around in the area. We drove up to an alpine lake, Lake Dobson. The road was a windy gravel road, maybe 1 1/2 cars wide. The sides down low were covered in overhanging ferns making visibility a challenge. The hike around Lake Dobson reminded me of many alpine lake hikes in the Sierras except the trees were mostly eucalyptus. Just as a note, the eucalyptus trees here come in many many varieties. They take on features of Oak trees, Birch Trees, bushes like Manzanita, etc. the trunks of many of the trees are artwork.
Sometimes the views of the hills takes on a view of the Acacia trees in Africa and for sure you often feel like this is Jurassic Park. We did a long hike up the track for some views of Seal Lake. We passed some ski club buildings at the top and some archaic rope tows headed up the hills.
After the hike, we found a small all-in-one grocery store/post office/home/liquor store where we got canned Minestrone and a loaf of sliced sour dough. Yum! On our walk to Russell Falls earlier that day we saw signs for a glow worm grotto, so with flashlights in hand we drove back to the park very slowly that night. First off, millions of Pademelons on the lawn by the visitor center. Well more than 10. We hiked up to the glow worms and if you turned your head certain ways you could see the faints glows. A bit underwhelming. On the trail, many possum. One walked right up to me as I shined my light on him. He came within a foot. Saw I was there. Gave a little start and went around. Drove to Queenstown the following day and stopped at St Clare Lake which is a lower elevation part of the Cradle Mountain National Park. We had a great hike out around Lake St Clare, mainly looking for Platypus but none found. We stopped again at several points along the way. Had lunch along an elevated rainforest walkway and managed some pics at Nelson Falls.
Queenston or ‘town’ is remarkable as it is an old mining town and still bears the scars. Hills are devoid of trees. The creeks run a copper color and the downtown is stuck in the past. We had dinner at the oldest hotel in town. It was what you would see in an old western. We got up early to get to Cradle Mountain. It’s an hour and a half away but rumor is, there are Platypus (platypuses?, Platypi?) in a pond by the main lodge. Drove at dawn which is a no no as all the Wombats and Wallabies are out. Very tense drive, going slow, two hands on the wheel. Roadkill every 100 yards or so in places. Made it to the lodge and the pond without hitting anything and sure enough a platypus is diving for food in the pond. He goes down for 20 seconds then back up to the surface for 5-10 seconds, then repeats. I went to the lodge for coffee and Katie didn’t even notice. After a long viewing, I pulled Katie away and we walked the Enchanted Walk by the lodge. Just gorgeous scenery along the creek. Ferns, trees and ground covered in moss. Wallabies along the trail. Beautiful start to the day.
To access the main park you need to ride on a shuttle bus. We got off fairly early and walked on an elevated wooden walkway through the hills. Eucalyptus forests, button grass fields and great views.
From there we continued on up to Crater Lake, Wombat Pool and Dove Lake. An uphill climb most of the way with Wombats in the meadows mowing the lawn, waterfalls along the creeks, and cloud laden alpine lakes. Cradle Mountain itself was never visible as the clouds were too low. I am sure the views would be spectacular here. Even so, we had a great hike, probably about 8 miles total. We stopped in some fields near the lodge on the way back to the car and got some up close experiences with the Wombats. We sat on a walkway in a meadow and had one adult wombat come up to us chomping on the grass. Katie did not feed or pet it which was a huge surprise.
We walked out to Knivet Falls a short tromp through rainforest vegetation. After a quick stop at the pond to check on the Platypus we were off for Mole town where are lodging, the Wandering Trout, was. After an hour drive we arrived at our 1900’s hotel. The hotel featured a respected restaurant though it was closed for Good Friday and not a soul was to be found around the property. Goof Friday is one of two major holidays in Australia where everything shuts down. The other being Christmas. We find many of these small towns give you the feeling of mid 1900’s in their storefronts, houses, fences and yards. Still sheep and cow country. Just a note, all the roads in rural Australia are narrow. We are driving a Corolla and I can’t imagine driving one of the trucks we see on the roads. The speed limit is typically 100km/hr and there is no way I can drive that fast and stay on the road. Most Australians don’t drive that fast either, but occasionally a true wanker will come up on the rear end pushing for more speed thru the turns. I’ll also note the roads are almost uniformly rough. I don’t mean potholes and such, just the texture which makes the wheels howl. Once in a while you get a smooth patch and you go whoa I can hear the music that’s been playing. Katie is pretty tired of me saying ‘What?’ when she talks. On to Freycinet Natl Park. Along the Eastern Coast the park is home to Wineglass Bay and the Hazards Mountains.
Also supposed to be home to Echenids and Wombats. A couple of short hikes out to the lighthouse and down to the water got us warmed up for our hike up to Wineglass Lookout. Many stairs but Wallabies on the way and this time Katie fed them carrots.
We stayed that night in Swansea. Right on the bay. Good dinner at Saltshaker one of the few restaurants open in town. Coffee from across the street on Easter Sunday as there never is reasonable coffee in the rooms. Then back to Freycinet for a loop hike to Hazards Beach then Wine glass Beach then up over the mountain pass back to the car. The skies were cloudy again a very small amount of drizzle. We had our typical beer, cheese, salami, and crackers at Wineglass sitting on rocks watching the waves crash in. Too cold for swimming.
We had pizza for Easter dinner back at the saltshaker and woke to a brilliant sunrise and blue skies. Drove down to the ferry and rode over to Maria Island where there are supposed to be oodles of Echenids and Wombats. We’ve seen quite a few Wombats but no Echenids yet. We had a smooth ferry ride over and hiked about the Island visit the Painted Cliffs and the Fossil Cliffs. Lunch high up on the cliffs looking way down at the ocean and many Wombats including a mon and a baby.
No Echenids! A ranger there said she saw one in the 2 years she worked there five days a week. Ouch, the guidebooks are a little off on oodles. We drove down to the airport hotel in Hobart and are now on a flight to Sydney for another part of the journey. Loved Tasmania!
Here are a couple of curiosities.
The country offers free calling in many large and small cities. The idea is for those people in trouble to have easy access to help. I love it!
Not a political statement or anything but here is the take on animals on the road.
We have 5 days in Sydney then off on our campervan escapes up the East Coast. I will keep you posted 🙂