Farewell to Tassie

Cradle Mountain

We drove back into Cradle Mountain National Park to take the shuttle bus as far as we could and do some hiking.  We were early and were one of the first ones on the bus.  After several stops, however, the bus became crowded.  It was a cold but lovely day.

We hiked to Glacier Rock to take photos of Cradle Mountain.  Unfortunately they had closed most of the hiking trails in order to bring materials in by helicopter to repair the historic boat launch.  As a result, all hikers were pushed to only one or two remaining trails.  With the chopper arriving every fifteen minutes with a load and so many hikers on the trail, we decided to take the bus back to a less crowded and noisy area.  We took a few more photos and returned to take the bus back to the front of the park.

To my delight, near the lodge we found another mother wombat and her precious baby.  We took another short hike before returning to our campsite from the evening before.

Baby wombat

We found Lake Lea not far up the road.  It was a lovely spot, and we were the only ones around.  We hiked up the road that evening and discovered another wombat and lots of kangaroos and wallabies.

Lake Lea near Cradle Mountain

We awoke to a heavy fog draping the lake.  Later, the brisk morning brought another surprise... a platypus swimming across the lake.

Platypus on Lake Lea

With rain in the forecast, we decided to head towards the upper end of Tassie.  Ultimately we ended up in Stanley and the Nut, a volcanic plug that rises above this historic town.

Stanley under the Nut

While we were there, we discovered that Stanley also had a fairy penguin colony.  The community had built a boardwalk for viewing.  David and I were excited.  Surely this would be the day that we could finally photograph these elusive penguins.  We arrived around 4:30, ready to wait for the little birds to return from their day at sea.

As the sun set, the boardwalk became dimly lit with small red lights.  We have learned that we cannot use a flash when photographing the penguins.  They are greatly disturbed and their eyes can be damaged by most artificial lights, but they cannot see red or amber lights.  We waited... and waited for the little guys to arrive.  A wallaby came out from under the boardwalk.  I took a photo to see if it would be blurry.  It was.  We waited another half hour.  Still no penguins.

Wallaby under red lights on boardwalk at Stanley, Tasmania

It has now become a joke for David and me.  We ask each other, "want to find some penguins tonight?"  We have tried three times and have failed to see even one of the little guys.

Our time in Tasmania was drawing to a close, and the weather was deteriorating rapidly.  In fact, the weather forecast promised rain and more rain for the next several days.  After checking the weather on Australia's mainland, we made the decision to move our departure date up a day rather than try to sit in the rain for our two remaining days.

We arrived in Devonport to catch the ferry the following evening.  We spent the day visiting the area museums and doing our laundry.  We were looking forward to visiting Tiagarra, our first museum dedicated to the Aboriginal peoples of Australia.  Unfortunately, it was closed.  We were terribly disappointed.  We have found so little information about the Aboriginal culture during our time here.  It is as if 40,000 years of history have disappeared.  Surely we will learn more about this amazing culture before leaving Australia.

We strolled over to the lighthouse and found a wallaby along the path.  By the time we reached the van, it began to mist.  As rain settled in around us, we washed clothes and spent the afternoon in Devonport's maritime museum.

Lighthouse at Devenport, Tasmania

Devonport wallaby

It was raining in earnest when we boarded the ferry around seven that evening.  Our night voyage rocked with heavy waves because of the rain, and our sleep was restless because of it.  When we docked around seven the next morning, both David and I braced ourselves for another drive through Melbourne with its crazy drivers.  To our surprise, traffic was light and my brilliant navigator had us on a great route.  We were out of the city in no time.  And, at least to our knowledge, not one driver cursed at my driving.

Life is good, indeed.  Now we are on to Australia's Great Ocean Road.