A Day in Tasmania

On the first day of 2012, we caught the shuttle from the Falls Fest back to the Hobart Airport in the morning. We had a rental car booked for the day (not cheap!), and our flight back to Melbourne wasn't until 9pm, so we had a full day to explore Tasmania. I knew we wouldn't have time to make it over to Cradle Mountain (where most tourists go), but I wanted to see something Tasmania was known for. So after a huge buffet breakfast at a casino in the town of Hobart (to wait out the rain), we headed out to Freycinet National Park. The first thing I noticed was that Tasmania only has a few main highways that run through the country, and the roads are extremely windy with very narrow lanes. It made for kind of scary driving, but the land was pretty. There were lots of sheep in green pastures and beautiful, remote beaches. 

On the way, we pulled off the road to stop at a little winery. It happened to be Freycinet Vineyard, and they've won some pretty major awards for their wine. We enjoyed a tasting; their 2010 Pinot Noir was especially good.

After about two and a half hours, we finally made it to Cole's Bay at Freycinet National Park. Our mission was to walk to Wineglass Bay, and that's what we did. This bay is considered one of the top ten beaches in the world. It's supposedly shaped like a wine glass, though I don't really see it. I think it's a gem because it's so remote; you can't drive to it. This picture is from one of the lookout points. 

Other than the water, the hike was rather Colorado-ish with big boulders and such. Of course, we were surrounded by eucalyptus trees instead of aspens!









We walked down to the beach to get a closer look. The orange on the rocks reminded me a lot of Squeaky Beach at Wilson's Promontory. The water was a beautiful shade of blue, but when I saw hundreds of little blue bottle jellyfish (and some big clear ones) washed up on shore, I had no desire to swim at this beach!

This wallaby was hanging out on the beach. It was very friendly; I think tourists feed it. We saw another one on the trail right before the beach as well. Overall, it was a decent hike, and it was cool to see Wineglass Bay and say we were on one of the top ten beaches in the world.

On the drive back to the airport, Zack spotted an emu in the field on the side of the road, so I finally got to see one in the wild. They are such strange, big birds! We stopped in a little town for some fish and chips (for me) and fresh oysters (for Zack) and talked about how Tasmania is basically a miniature version of Australia with a nautical feel. In fact, Hobart reminded me a little bit of Seattle.

Originally we thought we'd have to make another trip back to Tasmania sometime to really see the state and get the Tasmanian experience, but we both felt satisfied with our short trip. Yes, it would have been cool to visit Cradle Mountain or tour the Cadbury Chocolate Factory (they weren't open on New Year's Day), but there are so many other places we'd like to see in Australia and beyond, so I think we've crossed Tasmania off our list.

Everyone wants to know if we saw a Tasmanian devil. The short answer is no. The long answer is that they are extremely rare to see in the wild because a facial tumor disease that has been spreading and decreasing their population. You can go to wildlife centers and such and see them there, but we'd already seen them at the zoo and Maru Animal Park with my family, so we didn't take the time to see them in Tassie. So yeah, that was our day in Tasmania and our start to 2012!

Wombats at Wilson's and Other Aussie Experiences

Squeaky Beach's orange colored rocks.

Last weekend, we went camping at Wilson's Promontory with Alena and Todd (from Chicago), Orla and Ben (Ireland/England), and Kate (Australia). We all met up down there on Friday night (it's about a 3 1/2 hour drive from Melbourne), set up our tents, and enjoyed Orla's bolognese sauce and pasta for dinner.

On the drive down there, we saw lots of wildlife along the road. Zack spotted the first wombat, and I almost hit a wallaby. The coolest part was when a huge kangaroo hopped alongside our car down the road. I would stop when it stopped and then drive when it started hopping again; it was acting like it wanted us to follow it! After a few minutes, it did some pogo stick-like jumps across the road and bounded away. Very cool. Very Australian.

Hanging out at camp-notice it's called Sultana Bran instead of Raisin Bran here!

A little bit cramped compared to Colorado!

We stayed at the Tidal River campground, which had great facilities but was kind of jam packed with tents and people. You also weren't allowed to have a campfire. Maybe we're a little spoiled with the Colorado camping we used to do. We sure did miss having Molly there; she was the best camping dog ever!

The sand really squeaks!

On Saturday, we went to Squeaky Beach, which is aptly named because the gorgeous white sand actually does make a squeaking sound when you walk on it! We did some boogie boarding, played some beach games, walked among the rocks, and got sunburnt even though it was pretty cloudy all day.

Enjoying a boogie board ride.

Poor Pacific gull!

In the afternoon, Zack and I saw a bird flapping around in the water. We watched it for a bit, and as it struggled onto the sand, we noticed that it was bleeding and had fishing line wound around its neck. It was also dragging a small weight from its leg. We found someone with a phone, and he called a ranger. When the ranger came, we tried to help him catch the bird, but it flew away (and lost the weight in the process). The ranger said as long as it could fly and feed, the hook that it probably swallowed would eventually rust out and it would be fine. He also said it was a Pacific gull, and they are notorious for stealing fishermen's bait. I hope the poor thing is okay!

Part of our spread!

For dinner, we cooked up some burgers. We had another Australian experience around the BBQ. Zack and I crowded around the meat with other Aussies and shared one guy's homemade Shiraz wine and swapped stories. It was really fun, and we brought back the yummy burgers to our hungry fellow campers.

Seriously so crazy to have a wombat come up to your campsite!

Some campers near us actually had one go in their tent!

As it started to get dark, the wombats came out. These guys weren't shy at all; they came right up into our campsite and walked under our picnic table and next to our tents! They were definitely looking for food. It was one of the strangest Australian experiences we've had.

Ha-it's CO for Colorado-we didn't even try to do this!

We ended the evening with a loud board game and sparklers, and we climbed into our tents just before the rain started. Next I'll post about the beautiful hike we did on Sunday.

Nothing like a little soccer on a white sand beach!

A Night with Australian Animals

Yes, that is a wallaby hopping past our patio door!

After our first day on the Great Ocean Road, my family and I stayed at Fauna Australia Wildlife Retreat for the night. We were in the Kangaroo Family Unit, which wasn't extremely luxurious, but we were there for the wildlife experience. And we got it! This place has Australian animals all over its grounds, and the owners even leave you a bag of carrots, encouraging you to feed them and get up close and personal with them. So we did!

Wombats look like a mix between pigs and koalas!

Wallaby and baby

There were wombats, emus, wallabies, various birds, potoroos, etc. Most of the animals were in enclosures, but several wallabies roamed free and hopped all over the place! By the way, a wallaby is basically a smaller version of a kangaroo. There are other differences, but you can Google it if you care.

Morgan's a little scared of the hungry emus!

After dark, we went outside again and saw all of the nocturnal animals come to life. Sugar gliders were jumping, koalas were climbing up and down trees, bandicoots were running around, etc. We left a carrot on our porch, and it was gone in the early morning. The wallabies chased each other in loops that passed by our patio door while we ate breakfast.

Picture perfect koala!

And a little more wildlife commentary from Morgan…Later in the morning we got a chance to have some time with the koalas, which were extraordinarily tame, and anticipated the food of their caretaker by coming to the gate like little dogs.  They were all around us, not afraid to come right up and grab the eucalyptus from our hands.  One even bit me!  These koalas were brought from Kangaroo Island, where there is an overpopulation problem, and have been raised and bred in captivity so they can be used for educational purposes at schools, programs, etc.  It was fun to have everyone surrounded by friendly koalas!

Aubree here again...Morgan had been having all the fun holding and petting koalas up until this point in the trip, so it was fun for the rest of us to get the chance to pet the furry friends. They were so funny, climbing up the trees, running around on the ground, and eating the leaves we gave them. The picture below cracks me up; my mom was a little freaked out when Banjo the koala made a sudden move for her branch!

It's just a koala, Mom!

A cute one of Morgan and a koala.

If you're looking for somewhere to stay along the Great Ocean Road, Fauna Australia Wildlife Retreat is good fun. Don't expect anything fancy, but do expect to see lots of awesome Australian animals!

My new Facebook profile picture!