The world according to K

Photies show A Tasmanian Devil ( they do exist ), Me on top of Mt Amos, View of wineglass bay from top of My Amos, Sea cave, The randy male kangaroo, The Famous Roz, Me on top of Mt Amos

I always say people make a trip – and the crew who joined us for the second leg of the East Coast of Tassie were brilliant and certainly made the trip for me.

Age Discrimination -looks deceive

Roz was the first of our new arrivals to join the bus at Davenport. Aged about 76-78 she clambered on to the bus in full walking gear- but obviously frail looking. You could sense what everyone was thinking…is she on the wrong trip ..after all this is adventure activity…if she is on our trip how will it change things ….the itinery…will she be moaning,…..” Roz puts everyone’s mind at rest when she pipes up in a broad New York accent..”That’s right Granny is here..but I dont walk..these shoes are for show..I just bus it…I just like the company of younger people ….not for chrisakes old people!!!! ”

ROZ

Roz it turns is from Florida – ( Old Old OLD Shambling people..says Roz ), originally from New York. She is travelling around Australia for 2 months. Her next trip is camping in the outback for 31 days crossing the interior of Aussie. She refuses to go on “Old people “trips…as they bore her to death..she prefers younger company….she more than realises her limitations. She will not walk any where dangerous – will not trek , but tells us to take pictures whilst she waits at base with her book in hand. She sees more – and has a laugh as everyone takes her under their wing. She is hysterical – realising she made a mistake in her first marriage after the 1st day..they stayed married 15 years.She believes the best rings are those from second marriages. Roz so made me laugh…she was a gem. I loved talking to her and hearing about her travel adventures ( she has been everywhere).

The funniest Roz moments for me were when she held court at the dinner table ( head of table ) and told hilarious stories, about the fact that everything in her apartment and wardrobe is black. She once cajoled a dry cleaning company for losing her black skirt. She found it days later on her black couch..camoflauged..she apologised to the company blaming it on her age. She shared wine with me – but prefers Vodka. On a Ghost tour of Port Arthur ,which was appalling due to the young guides inablity to conjure up any form of excitement or mystery in his presentation – Roz pipes up a little too loudly ” What is he saying ..I dont understand this Australian English…he should stick to his day job…”

Roz you were hysterical..many thanks for making it such a funny trip. Keep away from zimmer frames.

The others on the trip included the family of three Canadians – 2 sisters and their daughter Lisa. Great great fun. Then there were the two Irish girls Marie and Susanna great laughs all around and hopefully we will all stay in touch.

The East Coast

Warmer weather to the point that the sunscreen came out. The scenery was different again – gentler rolling hills – fields of tulips and flowers- stunning beaches – interesting gorgeous little towns. The highlight for me was climbing Mount Amos to overlook Wineglass bay. A hard hard trekk upwards and even hairier coming down putting holes in my trouser bottoms. The views from the top were stunnning – and so so worth it.
Lovely picnic lunches in idyllc surroundings and great company at night.

Tasmanian devils
I must make a confession . I thought these creatures were a myth or cartoon character. I didnt actually realise that they truly existed until I got to Tassie. As an endangered species they are now only found in refuges or animal compounds. They have been wiped out from the mainland entirely and only exist in limited numbers in Tassie. They suffer from a mystery face cancer that forms growths on their faces – and which has puzzled scientists for years.

I finally got to see a TASMANIAN DEVIL- and they are such sweet creatures… not… at all what I expected. They eat – well anything that is dead – bones included- but they are awkward lumbering animals – small in size and loud especially when fighting amongst themselves for food…( ears being bitten off in the furore is very common)- see photies.

Port Arthur

We stayed one night in Port Arthur. This was originally a penal colony and the church – town – prison etc have all been preserved. It is now a tourist destination offering tours of the town – and a ghost tour at night. This particualr ghost tour was a complete waste of money – and the only thing I was frightened of was Roz the mouth saying too much too loud. In saying that Susanna the Irish gal was hysterical with her own side version of the GHOST TOUR after a bottle of wine…hysterical Susanna.

I really didnt like Port Arthur. It felt very depressing and you could feel the weight of sadness seeping from the place. I thought this was just because it was a former prison -but I found out later that Port Arthur was the scene of the worst modern day killing spree in the western world. A gunman in the 1990’s went beserk – killing women, men children- holding the village hostage for about 24hours. He killed 35 people that day.

Very little is mentioned about the massacre- and we were warned in the visitor centre not to mention it …there was a high liklihood that the person you asked had probably lost somebody that day. How horrendous!!!

Off the record …we were told by the guide that after the massacre the village literally became a ghost town. People moved away , unable to live there anymore. Really all that remains is the old prison and buildings …for tourism.

No wonder I felt so depressed.

Sexual Assualt by a Kangaroo

At a particular animal centre near Port Arthur – they had hordes of kangaroos and wallabies – semi tame due to the fact that they were very used to be being hand fed by humans. You can get very close to them here..but one male got too close to me personally … for comfort..

We were watching two roos in particular acting very strange. The male suddenly tries to mount the female who brushes him off with the slap of a paw. We are all laughing – watching the male roo with his male member dangling down looking bemused. Suddenly he spots me and starts to hop over in my direction with big leaps …..his member dangling noticably below.Still laughing I back off ..but still he bounds over …then I start running as he hops over in front of me and blocks my way….-paws out and donger looking precariously close. I was actually very frightened at this stage and shouting for help as he is pawing at me and coming closer, I run quickly in another direction and he eventually backs off after I threaten him with my hand…..a slap in the face literally. This is to howls of laughter behind – with one of the Canadians Loius nearly wetting herself with laughter. Yes I was nearly raped by a male kangaroo.

On telling the guide afterwards – and saying that I was actually quite frightened by the whole episode – he said ..”oh its quite common…were you ovulating??

Incredulous I replied “mind your own business”

His reply ‘Oh well it must be because you wore a blue top ….???”

Yes I have wonderful and strange memories of Tasmania. Raw, beautiful and strange and so unpredictable.

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