Tasmania or "Tassie" as Derrald and the locals like to call it, is an island found off the southern coast of Australia. Home of the Tasmanian Devil and Wineglass Bay, just so there is no confusion, Tasmania is NOT it's own country. It is one of the five states of Australia.
We flew into Hobart nice and early but did not have enough time to explore the city. We had an agenda to stick to and it included as much exploration of the East Coast as possible, starting with a visit to Port Arthur.
Port Arthur is not really on the East Coast. Port Arthur is it's own area located in the south east of the island. Originating as a timber station turned penal colony for criminal offenders it is now a popular tourist attraction set amongst breathtaking scenery.
Below you can see the the main prison quarters and in the background, a medical center built for the settlement.
This building started as an old flour mill and then was turned into convict confinement. The idea was to work your way upwards, so the ground floor was filled with the worst offenders who had to wear 20kg iron chains 24/7. The second floor held the men who had to wear 10kg chains, again 24/7. The third floor held common quarters, library and food and such. And finally, the top floor held the men who did not have to wear any chains at all. Where do you think we'd place the below offender?
Apparently, the location of the settlement was chosen because of this deep, protected harbour allowing for big boats to bring in hoards of criminals. The island just beyond the white boats became home to the first boys penal colony. Previously, young boys and older men had not been separated.
Part of the entrance fee includes a short ferry tour and it's quite the picture looking back at the ruins.
Derrald was delighted to find just the house for us. The "Accountant's House".
As well as teaching the men to read and write, and putting them to work on the land, one of the aims of the colony was to instill religion. They built this church. It was wonderful walking inside without a roof.
They also had a fun interactive museum area where you could read about the lives and experiences of different convicts. What kind of prisoner would you be?
Trying on a pair of the 20kg irons. Looks good in chains doesn't he?
Dusk brought out some of the most wonderful colors. Magic hour. It's the best. We continued our drive around the island, following one of my hunches, which took us to Remarkable Cave. TOTALLY worth the detour!
Yonder and beyond, there is naught but the great, frozen land mass of Antarctica. *Just for the record, New Zealand is located further south than Australia and is therefore closer to Antarctica but this is as far south as it gets for Aussies and it's a straight shot from here. Nothing but ocean till it meets the ice.
There was never a moment in Tasmania where we weren't in wonder with the beauty of the land. Every turn, every coastline, incredible.
This was my best shot of Remarkable Cave. I wish I could have recorded the sound of all the stones moving as the tide dragged them out and then crashed them back in again. Something about powerful forces of water rushing through tunnels making lots of noise gives one such an adrenaline rush. We stopped at multiple blow holes and caves. It's always exciting.
Our hotel for the first night was located in Eaglehawk Neck. A thin strip of land that connects Port Arthur to the mainland. It was the only choice convicts had for escaping across land and thus formed the infamous "dog line". A line of soldiers, lamps and dogs that would be alerted when there had been an attempted escape and would wait stretched out across the narrow strip in wait for the desperate fleeing man. The view from our hotel was magnificent... see the beach below.
If I were a soldier, this is how I would await my convict prey. I don't know who is scarier. The dog or an angry, hormonal woman.
The other natural wonder that just happened to be right next to our hotel was the Tessellated Pavement. A rock platform that has been carved with geometric lines from weather erosion. I hope I am making sense. You might be best just to check out the wiki explanation
here.
Here you can clearly see the two different kinds of formations. Pan and loaf. I do not remember which is which. I was mostly just enjoying our fall free clamber across the rocks
(unlike this time).
I love how clear the waters are around Tasmania. Look.
Our morning on the rocks concluded, it was time to jump back into our mini Nissan Micra and head further up the coast towards Bicheno. A small town located conveniently close to Coles Bay and the Freycinet National Park area.
Our journey, however, was not without some stops. First here, at Kate's Berry Farm. A lovely little cafe/store where we were recommended to try the scones with one of their homemade jams.
And the views were too!!
There are lots and lots of sheep in Tasmania. They kind of blend in with the grass though. I tried to grab a quick shot out the window as we were whizzing by this lot... I love seeing the sheep, the trees and the ocean in the background.
There are lots of animal sanctuaries and zoos to be seen in Australia. You're rather spoiled for choice. I did a little prior research and decided we would go to Natureworld as it was just ten minutes north of our stay in Bicheno and had all the animals we so wanted to see: Tasmanian Devils! Kangaroos! Wallabys! Wombats! They didn't have Koalas... but we'll put them on the list for next time.
The best part about our tour around the Natureworld park was getting to see Derrald's face as he reacted to the animals. I have seen many of these fellas before and have certainly had my share of feeding the kangaroos, so this time I got to be an observer not just of the animals but of someone's first interaction with them. Hilarious.
Inside Devilworld you can get your face up real close to some crazy Tasmanian Devils...
Outside, the fences are only about waist high and you could literally reach down and stroke the little devils... if you weren't afraid of having your hand bitten off. They can chew through bone, skin, meat, you name it with one crunch. Shudder.
We arrived in time to watch the Devils get fed. This one is chomping down on a piece of Kangaroo tail. Bones, fur and all.
Adorable Wombat. Don't let your guard down because these things grow BIG and heavy and can run really fast and cause some serious damage to your car should you cross one on the road. Luckily, we never did... cross one... although never in my entire life have I seen as much road kill as we did in Tasmania. Possums, Bandicoots, Rabbits and Kangaroos all meeting untimely demises. This wombat is still a youngin and so the park keeper was able to pick her up.
Now for the Kangaroos. Kangaroos do not need enclosures. They roam free around the park and you can buy feed bags to feed them and interact with them. It's super fun.
I love this photo. I've never seen such civilized Kangaroos before. Queueing for the gents. Good for them.
If you look closely at this photo you can see the toes of a joey poking out of this mama-roo's front pocket. If you were wondering how the joey gets IN that little pouch, it swan dives. Head first.
Feeding time.
Ever pulled on a Kangaroo's tail?
Australia has a huge variety of unique and colorful birds. We took a wander through the Aviary and quickly discovered which one of us was better suited to being a pirate when Derrald made special friends with this guy.
At the end of our walk through the Aviary our new found buddy sensed our time for departure and flew off back into the trees. But not without a kiss... just kidding... it does kind of look like they want to go in for a kiss though doesn't it?
Our morning at Natureworld being a huge success it was time to grab a bite to eat (more pies!!!!!!!!!!!) and head out to the nature reserve for some hiking.
Venturing into
Freycinet National Park will give you access to some of the most beautiful hiking trails in the county (maybe the world) as well as some great views of Wineglass Bay, voted one of the world's Top Ten Beaches.
It's becoming a bit of a joke that no matter where we go Derrald will utter at least once (sometimes a billion times) "this is exactly like Utah!". My response is usually mixed and a lot of the time "I don't see it". This is because of a couple reasons, firstly, I haven't seen that much of Utah, secondly, I've known places like Australia before I've known Utah and therefore, if anything, Utah is exactly like ...fill in the blank! Anyways, this picture of me below is NOT in Utah... it is in Freycinet, Tasmania. I swear.
It's amazing how looking one way you could be in one place and simply turning around transports you right out of that place to another. This is Derrald in front of the infamous Wineglass Bay.
We really couldn't get a photo that would do it any justice. The hike to the lookout where we are taking the photos is about one and half hours return.
It's also possible to hike down to the actual beach itself, but that is another hour and a half return and it was getting a bit late in the day for us so we skipped it in favor of taking another short hike around the lighthouse further up the coast.
You can see Wineglass Bay in the distance between the mountains on the left and the cliff on the right.
Back at our own beach in Bicheno, the rocks are red.
At night, the fairy penguins (or blue penguins) come in to nest. They are a noisy bunch and we could hear them in the evenings from our cabin which was only about a hundred metres from the shore. You can take a tour to see them coming in at dusk, which we did on our first night stay, but we also saw them in the wild (read: caught in our headlights) as we left for the airport on our final morning.
One final Tasmanian sunrise.
Oh, Tassie, you beauty!
