Better late than never! The time I'd previously spent hand crafting the blog is now occupied with driving, exploring, finding accommodation, cooking and talking to fellow travellers!
Back from 10 days in Tasmania - brilliant place! Weather was typically changeable but when the sun shone, the natural beauty of the place was just mind blowing. Some of the vistas defy description, overloading your senses with colour, light, contrast, flora and fauna. Whether its wide open mountain ranges or damp fern gullies at the base of a rainforest, the state of Tasmania really does deliver on its promise of a great visitor experience.
For tourists, the two key features of Tassie are probably the convict/settlement history and the landscapes.
Port Arthur is perhaps the focal point for history buffs - from 1830 to 1877, serial offenders from the British Empire ended up here. It was a harsh regime of work and punishment, and many people never left. Today, the site is partially restored and you can easily spend a day there wandering around the buildings and gardens - the tour includes a cruise around the tiny Isle of the Dead, where more than 1000 people rest in peace - most of them must have been buried vertically!
Port Arthur is located on the Tasman Peninsular which is characterised by a very dramatic coastline with the highest cliffs in the southern hemisphere. I did a fabulous 3 hour "ECO Cruise". This was the best 3 hours of the whole holiday, no question. The boat ride alone justifies the price of the cruise - three 275bhp engines, unparalleled handling and stability and fantastic all round (open air) viewing.
We were riding the swell right up against the base of the ocean cliffs, putting the nose of the boat into caves and circumnavigating rock pinnacles with surging white water all around. Total fun! Couple this with the coastal scenery and gin clear waters, it was sensory overload....really... almost too much to take in.
Then there was the wildlife, oh yes, the ECO bit! Colonies of Australian, and smaller New Zealand fur seals....
....circling Albatrosses; a pod of inquisitive dolphins; cormorants, gannets, and the highlight, a young Humpback Whale, feeding just metres from our stationary boat! I'd seen plenty of Humpbacks off the coast of WA, through binoculars, but this was incredible, you could hear it exhaling, and on one occasion it even surfaced with its mouth wide open. Fantastic!
Another major tourist draw on the east coast of Tasmania is Cape Freychinet, which includes the astonishing Wineglass Bay. Did a long, hot walk around this National Park.
The Tasmanian Devil is probably the iconic local species today (the Tassie Tiger is long extinct). The wild population is under threat from disease (and human activity) and various wildlife parks exist to support them. Funny little creatures, the size of a small pig, with a grizzly appetite for meat, bone, fur and feather - as scavengers they have to eat fast and efficiently!
The Tasmanian Devil is probably the iconic local species today (the Tassie Tiger is long extinct). The wild population is under threat from disease (and human activity) and various wildlife parks exist to support them. Funny little creatures, the size of a small pig, with a grizzly appetite for meat, bone, fur and feather - as scavengers they have to eat fast and efficiently!
Tiger snake
Ostrich - probably the funniest bird on the planet - got a great movie of this fella running around! 
.... and me feeding some friendly locals.
.... and me feeding some friendly locals.
that's all for now .. more from Tasmania soon, and then glorious Sydney!
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