Hello everyone! We've managed to find our way back to civilization after touring Tasmania for the past 3 weeks. It was a great trip that took us to the west coast of Tasmania through beautiful rolling country side and mountains. Along the way, we stopped at Cradle Mountain National Park, a famous and very busy Tramping (backpacking) area. Tramping is a very popular sport here and we've found backpackers of every age on our many hikes.
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| Cradle Mountain |
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| Streams trickled everywhere in the area. |
We spent a few nights in Strahan which is a small western coastal city situated on a massive harbor which is so protected, it appears to be more of a lake than an ocean harbor. We had fun on the Wilderness Rail Journey which took us up and across some incredible country and enjoyed the history lesson shared by the train tour guide.
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| Macquarie Harbour |
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| West Coast Wilderness Railway |
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| Views from the train were fabulous! |
Our next road trip took us back across the interior of the state to a remote spot called Tarraleah. Once a thriving rural community which formed to build a hydro power plant, nothing remains of the town except for a comfortable resort area which provides both rooms and camping options along with one pub/restaurant. We stayed in rooms that were built in what was originally the town's school. It was cool and rainy during our stay but we did manage to find a few new birds as well as some interesting bug creatures. Cheryl attracted her first leech (yes it was attached and sucking blood) and we found both a spider and a moth that were giant.
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| Good Morning Mr. Spider |
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| Yes, this is a moth! |
Ready for some sunshine and warmer temperatures, we drove across the state to Bruny Island which sits just one ferry ride away from Hobart. Nature is the star of this area with several pretty hikes available. We had a great house overlooking the bay and some amazing weather for the first few days. This is an island you must go prepared to visit as there are limited grocery options and nearly every restaurant closes at around 4:00 pm. The food scene may be limited on the island, but it is definitely serving up some tasty bites. We had the BEST raw oysters at a spot called Get Shucked where you can watch the oysters being unloaded by the oyster farmers. We also had some terrific local cheese and hand crafted beer at the Bruny Island Cheese Company.
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| Sunset on the patio |
One of our hikes took us through a reserve to some of the prettiest sand beaches we've seen on Tasmania. Like southern Aussie, Tasmania's coastline is generally very rocky and cliff lined. This beach would have been a great surfing beach, but is just too remote to carry a surf board to!
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| A great day to surf. |
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| Abundant sea life grows everywhere on the rocks |
One of the birding highlights on this island was the spotting of a pink robin! We found him in a rainforest on the island. Our bird identification list is still growing albeit at a much slower pace then when we first arrived in the country. We are nearing 360 new bird species identified here in Australia. This country is a birders paradise for sure!
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| Amazing beautiful Pink Robin |
For the second half of our stay on Bruny Island, we moved to the northern half which has a dryer climate and more farmland. We stayed at one of the quirkiest Air Bnb's since we started our journey. Actually, it was the owner of the place that was quirky in that he lived in what we would consider the mother-in-law's quarter of the home. He was a true Aussie character and willing to share his many life stories. The house was located in the woods with a lovely view of the bay which was filled with fresh oysters. On our first night, the host gathered fresh oysters and shared them with us out on the back porch along with a fine bottle of wine. He was such an interesting man and we enjoyed his company greatly. We watched sailboats come and go during our stay as the bay was a great place to moor at night. Early one morning, the host advised us of a sailboat in the bay which had been built for someone who was an officer in the Third Reich. Built of steel, this sailboat is capable of handling very heavy seas. Look at her size compared to the other sail boats in the bay!
From here, we head back to the main land to enjoy just a few more weeks in Tasmania. We still have some more history to learn, mountains to hike and birds to find.
Stay Curious!
Cheryl & Dan
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