Wild Places and Open Spaces

Driving off the boat we found ourselves in a traffic jam at 7:00 in the morning. We finally found out why – we were going through the agricultural checkpoint where they had dogs sniffing out cars! We opened all our doors and hatch, and he had a go, but apparently didn’t find anything of interest. It is a good idea that they do this in Tasmania – they don’t need any more problems from the mainland!

Yet another car issue….the first thing on our agenda was to get a new tire and a muffler job. Our right rear tire was bald and our muffler needed to be replaced badly…it sounded like we were trailing tin cans along behind us, and the vibrating was pretty annoying. So, off we drove to Launceston – a large enough town we figured we could at least get the tire done.

First things first though – we needed a nap, so we found a park just outside of town to set the tent up at and got a few winks that we didn’t get on the boat. Once refreshed, we ventured out to find the wherabouts of the local garage. Because it was New Years Day, we ended up having to wait a couple of days until it reopened. No worries, we needed it done, so we’d have to wait. We explored around the area, and found we really liked it. On one of our walks we were introduced to the huge freshwater crayfish they have here. The one we saw was a foot long, but apparently they can get to 10lbs! Also, they are so protected that if you are caught disturbing them (deliberately or accidentally) you risk a $10,000 fine!

We also met an interesting American couple during our stay – they have been travelling the world via bicycle for 5 years, and plan to continue to do so for as long as they physically can. They have written a book on their travels so far which they sell to keep the $$$ coming in. Check them out at www.DownTheRoad.org (we think our Palinka family friends will be especially interested!).

We got our tire replaced ($75.00) but were unable to get the muffler done due to lack of parts. The garage however, set something up for us in Hobart (the capital) where we would be in a few days time, which helped us out. So off we were again, trailing our tins, to find some adventure. We found it a Freycinet National Park. Unfortunately, it was terribly busy, and we were afraid that this maybe the case everywhere on the island. Anyways, we hiked to the famous Wineglass Bay and Hazards for some beauty lookouts and some exercise – 11km worth of it. One more thing about the weather in Tassie – it can be cloudy, then rain, then turn into the most beautiful day all in the span of 20 minutes, which is exactly what happened to us this day.

Unfortunately, at our next destination of Port Arthur, the weather didn’t change from rain until after we left. Port Arthur is the home to the largest penal colony on Tasmania. It operated between 1830-1877, and over 12,000 convicts served sentences here. The prison is on a peninsula, and the peninsula is connected to the rest of the island by a very narrow isthmus called Eaglehawk Neck. This isthmus used to have dogs along its width guarding it to deter ‘would be’ escapees. It was very pricy for admission ($25.00 each) but well worth it. (As an aside, the bicycling Americans that we met said that if we walked to the prison from the caravan park we could get in for free…they forgot to mention the sign as you enter the prison grounds “admission cost $25.00, if caught with no ticket you face imprisonment”. Kinda funny seeing as we were visiting a prison, but I guess the Americans didn’t mind the risk!) Many of the buildings are moss covered remnants of what they used to be, but this makes it even creepier when walking around places such as their solitary confinement cells.

On a sad note, you may have heard a few years back (April 1996) of a mass shooting in Tasmania. It was here, at the Port Arthur prison site, where a gunman opened fire on staff and visitors, killing 35 people and injuring many others. It was just a normal day – the employees got ready to go to work as usual, and the tourists were excited to see the historical site on their vacation. Who knew that a mad man would create such a tragedy that day…

Jim went on a lone walk one rainy night in Port Arthur in the campground and saw a potaroo – a miniature pademelon looking creature. Shy and nocturnal, it is the only one seen yet this trip.

We did a couple short day walks in the area, and on one of which Jim took a dive down some slippery steps in the rain while walking down to see a cave – it was hilarious, but he actually buggered his shoulder a bit – it is healing, but it has given him quite a pain in the neck, so to speak.

Waterlogged, we left Port Arthur to make our way to Hobart to get our tinny, vibrating car fixed.

We spent some time at the free, amazing Hobart museum while we waited to hear the damage the car would cost us…$279.80. OUCH, but could have been worse I guess.

Sounding much better now, but not smelling any better – have I ever mentioned that our car stinks as well? Might as well now…you see, living in small quarters as we do (a two man tent and car) can be difficult at times due to the, err, smell of things. We don’t do laundry until we really need to, so our dirty clothes sit in a bag in our car. Our garbage also sits in our car quite often because many campsites don’t have ‘rubbish bins’ they want you to take your garbage home with you. However, this is hard when since we don’t have a home. We also sit in our car, which is not pretty after a long, stinky hike and we take our shoes off, which, you guessed it, have to stay in our car as well. Makes for one ‘hellova smell. The foot odour/problem is probably the worst. They are quadrupled if sea water ever gets on your shoes – if that happens you might as well throw them out – except, you guessed it, we don’t have the cash to buy new shoes if this happens. And yes, it has happened, much to my nose’s dismay. Needless to say, we are both pretty comfortable with all the smells, but that doesn’t mean we like them!

Okay, where was I. Oh yes, we were now headed to Bruny Island – an island off the southeast coast that we took a $25.00 ferry to. South Bruny National Park is here, and we did some good hikes and some rock pooling here (playing around, looking for creatures in the tide pools when the tide is out). But, the most incredible thing we did here was watch the shearwaters and penguins come onto land from the sea at night.

The Little (Fairy) Penguins we have spoken about before but the Shearwaters are also an amazing bird. The Shearwaters fly out at sea all day and come onto shore into burrows on the ground at night. They are Australias most numerous species – they have 23 million of them in colonies all over the continent off shore. Their wing span is a phenomenal 1 metre across, and yet they weigh only 500 grams! The parents produce only one egg and both the mother and father help to feed it. The chicks grow, doubling the weight of their parents within a few months. In April, the parents fly to the Arctic, leaving hte fat downy birds in their burrows deprived of food. All the young birds can do is wait and hope that their flight feathers come in before their fat reserves run out. 2-3 weeks after the parents have left, the young bird tries out its wings – in an amazing feat of animal instinct – they fly to the Arctic with no guidance at all. They return with the adults to the same colony in September. The oldest known shearwater was 38 years old!

This one night we waited patiently for dark to come. A still, quiet night turned into a noisy, mass confusion. Dark birds began circling above our heads, before dive bombing the ground at their burrows. They don’t land well, so it literally looks like they crash on the ground before fumbling their way to their burrow (they are built to be great flyers, not walkers, as their legs are really far back on their body). As all this is happening, the Little young penguins are emerging from their burrows, knowing that with dark, comes their parents in from sea with food. Once most of the shearwaters were put to bed, the adult penguins started making their way up to the beach, up the hill to their burrows. The young usually would call for them, directing them where to go. It all seems like a disorganized mess, as the adults look like they have no idea where they are going, not to mention how awkwardly they walk on land, and the babies are crying out in desperation for the food they are bringing. It was such an emotional, magical reunion to watch once they actually found one another. The fact that the shearwaters and penguins share the same colony is actually quite rare as well – adding to the amazing evening. We camped for free both nights we stayed on Bruny Island – that is something that is quite prevalent all over Tasmania – lots of free camping. Works for us!

This entry was posted on Monday, January 15th, 2007 at 8:19 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.