Australia - Part Six - Tasmania

Up at 5:30, I made myself some coffee and sat and relaxed for a short while before Damian woke up. It was nice just to rest, relax and read a little bit before starting the chaos of the day. I’d done laundry the night before, but the dryer in our room didn’t work – so the clothes that were strung about EVERYWHERE were still damp. Once Damian woke up we both showered and packed before our Uber to the airport came at 7:45. Fortunately, the ride to the airport was easy and we were soon at the terminal.

Even though I’d asked Damian to carry several things in his suitcase, mine was still significantly overweight, which caused a bit of drama. We couldn’t do automatic bag drop because my bag was too heavy – so I went to the customer service desk, and he was able to check my bag in but he couldn’t take the excess bag fee payment, so we had to go wait in a third line to pay – and the Qantas rep behind the counter said, ‘His bag weighs 19, yours weighs 26 – how about if they both just weight 23? Go get yourself a coffee.” Then she winked, indicating I wasn’t going to be charged $50. SWEET! So we went through security and literally did as instructed – getting a coffee and a croissant as we waited for boarding time.

The flight to Tasmania (Hobart) was fairly short - and Chris and Catherine were waiting at the airport to pick us up.  Damian grabbed his suitcase and walked over to where I was greeting Chris with a HUGE grin on his face.   "The customs dog just flagged your suitcase."  

Sure enough - I look over and customs is casually opening up my suitcase, so I wandered over to find out why.  Turns out you're not allowed to bring meat, fruit or plants into Tasmania - and I had kangaroo jerky and dried bananas and all sorts of stuff in there to bring home.  Because it was processed and not fresh, it was okay - but the customs agents got quite a good laugh over some of my presents.   “Koala poo chocolates" &  "Croc piss rum” – they are obviously ONLY tourist fare as none of them had heard of it. 

Chris drove us first over ot the Air B&B which is breathtaking. It’s called the Oysterhouse (because it used to be an oyster farm) and is right on the water with plenty of shoreline and a beautiful back deck to sit and watch the water. We relaxed for a bit and caught up, talking about everything from emigrating to Australia if Trump wins the next election to the upcoming Australian referendum on Aboriginal voices. Nothing contentious – just intelligent conversations about work, life, and politics.

Catherine made a GORGEOUS charcuterie board in about five minutes with all sorts of cheeses, meats, fruits, olives, etc. so we had a nice snack while waiting for dinnertime. I don’t much care for olives, but just like in Morocco - these were absolutely amazing. I wish I could figure out what they do to them.

For dinner we drove into Hobart city and had dinner at the wharf at a restaurant called Mures Upper Deck – Damian and I split an order of fish & chips made from blue eyed trevalli, which is a whitefish covered in almond crumbs and panko – absolutely lovely. Chris also had the fish, and Catherine enjoyed a seafood laksa – a medium spicy soup with assorted shellfish. After dinner, as much as I wanted to sit around the wood stove drinking hot chocolate and reminiscing about our trip to New Zealand thirty years ago, I was exhausted and fell asleep almost immediately.

WEDNESDAY

We woke up and enjoyed homemade lattes (I want one of these espresso machines, hint hint) and Catherine made bacon, eggs and toast as we casually prepared for the day.

We left about 10:00 and went to a small town called Richmond, which was very quaint – it reminds me a 

lot of Old Town in Alexandria. Very cute artist driven shops, coffee bars, and walking paths. It’s also right in the center of the Coal Valley winery region. Tasmania is quite colder than the rest of Australia, so they make different wines – none of which are sweet, and all of which are quite dry. Damian and Chris tried a whisky flight of local spirits (Beer whiskey, honey gin and some kind of flowery brandy)

We stopped into some local artist studios – my favorite one included some absolutely beautiful lampworking bead jewelry – and it was completely reasonably priced. (A gorgeous necklace, for example, was $100 AUD, or about $60-US – much different from the $280 price tags we see at the workhouse studio)

We walked down to a lovely bridge and saw a dozen people feeding ducks – and by ducks, I mean about 30 different breeds and varieties of ducks. They were everywhere and SO varied. 

We walked over to the Richmond Gaol – one of the earliest jails that housed both male and female convicts. It was actually really interesting – they had separate solitary confinement for men and women, and the cells had true stories of inmates who had been kept in them and why. insert something interesting about the jail here.   "Lizzie Smyth sentenced to seven days in solitary for being disrespectful to the warden"

From there, Chris wanted to see a miniature village that was set up in the town. Gotta be frank – not my 

thing – but he really enjoyed it, and you can tell that they spent a great deal of time on the details.  At the onset of the walkthrough, they give you a set of challenges of things to look for - which I did, and did not manage to find a single one of them.

From there, lunch at a local pub before we headed onward towards the penguins. We stopped on the way at a winery to taste the local fare – it was just this little tiny house in the middle of absolutely nowhere. I think the man behind the bar was relieved to see us just to stave off the boredom. Had the weather been better, I’m sure there would have been more people, but it’s been cold and rainy and gray all day. I bought some fudge for my mom and we sampled the locally made brie and PICKLED WALNUT IN THE SHELL.  Never heard of such a thing - and honestly, I don't recommend them.  It was bizarre.   

Since we arrived in PENGUIN CITY (Bicheno) really early, we stopped for a light dinner and waited for it to open. Then we were loaded onto a mini van and driven a few kilometers to the beach. The penguin experience was beyond disappointing. I mean, we got to see the penguins come in from the ocean and head up to their nightly nesting points – but we were acres away from them, and they were lit only in red light so as not to blind the penguins. Meaning, you couldn’t really see anything but tiny specks on the beach – and there was no chance of decent photos. I left the group and headed back towards the minibus and managed to catch more than the rest of the folks, as I caught a penguin standing outside its little hut singing and calling for its mate. I got to see the stragglers who went up the other side of the beach head up to their nests. Still too dark for photos and too far away to get a good look – but it was neat to experience the nature bit of it. Would definitely not recommend to anyone to drive that freaking far for this, though. Hard pass. 

We drove home – everyone was absolutely exhausted but we had some great conversations in the car and got back to the Oysterhouse about 11.  Also saw kangaroo roadkill, and live echidnas.

THURSDAY

Had a nice leisurely breakfast. I made candied bacon and Catherine made toast and eggs. Got a quick shower in and sat enjoying coffee and water with Chris waiting for everyone to get ready. It’s nice not to be rushing around like maniacs, as I’m wonderfully sore and exhausted in the best of ways.

We headed out just before lunchtime to Port Arthur – a historic penal colony. 

We first went on a harbour cruise out to the Isle of the Dead, then to Pure Point where the first British boys penitentiary was set up – kids as young as 9 were sent there, though most were 13-15. The age of reason in England for kids was 7 at the time – so that’s when you could be sentenced. We then had lunch at the cafeteria because it was the only thing open.

After lunch we walked around the site to the penitentiary, the church, the officers quarters, the asylum – it was really interesting. We also visited the Port Arthur massacre memorial garden, which was beautiful.  It was a memorial garden for the worst mass murder in Australian history, i believe, which happened in 1996 when a man killed 35 people on a rampage.   Chris got really emotional over it - the event led to sweeping changes in Australian gun laws.  I told him we've had almost 300 mass shootings in the U.S. this year alone - and this was another reason we'd honestly consider repatriating.

When we’d worn ourselves out, it began to rain – we stopped at the Tasmanian Chocolate Foundry just down the road and grabbed some ice cream, some more fancy fudge, and an apron for my friend Donna.  Took a detour to KMart to replace Damian's broken bag and purchase a carry on for my heavy items, then back to the Oysterhouse for another AMAZING charcuterie spread.  More good food, good conversation, way too much wine.

Trying so hard not to feel sad because my trip is more than half over and I DON’T WANT TO LEAVE!

FRIDAY

Woke up and had some croissants and coffee for breakfast, packed up, cleaned up and headed to the airport for our flight to Melbourne. Chris and Catherine were flying out within 30 minutes of our flight, so it was very convenient.

Got to the airport – showed my boarding pass but no identification – weird. Also, anyone can go through security so you can meet people at their gates rather than at the baggage collection.  AND you can bring liquids   AND you don’t have to take off your shoes.

Australia - Part Five - V.I.P. Day at the Zoo (BEST DAY EVER!!!)

We awoke earlier than the alarm – at least I did - far too excited to sleep! Our driver, Darren, showed up early and we found ourselves the only occupants of the Croc Tours minivan – a personal chauffeur to the zoo! Darren is a full time high school teacher (English and Humanities) and taught us a lot about the history of Australia, the Australia zoo, the different aboriginal tribes – I mean, the JOURNEY to the zoo was incredible just listening to his stories.

We arrived before the zoo opened for business, so Darren took us across the road to the Wildlife hospital and we walked through the “sneak peak” area where you can see where they triage and operate. They’re a non-profit donation-driven company that will take ANY injured wildlife creature 24/7 as long as it is native to Australia (you can’t bring in cats or dogs or anything like that). 

We saw the nurses working with a baby roo, who they brought over to the window as if we were new parents standing outside to greet our young one. It was absolutely adorable.

After that, we headed back over to the zoo and met our guide for the day, Jade.

First stop – Komodo dragon with her keepers Jimmy and Bruce (Dublin). She was absolutely beautiful! I never thought I’d be petting a Komodo dragon like a puppy, I won’t lie – it was spectacular. The zookeepers were really wonderful telling us about Komodo dragons, their behavior in the wild, and what the sounds she made meant so we wouldn’t be worried or afraid. They directed us where to sit/stand and how/where to pet her – keeping a watchful eye on her to make sure there wasn’t any unexpected behavior. I never for a moment felt afraid or unsafe – just in absolute awe.  Jade was not only our escort for the day, but also our personal photographer - so we could really relax and enjoy the experience.

From there we went and met an Echidna named Dame. Dame is a male echidna, but they didn’t actually realize that at the time he was named and it didn’t seem to make sense to rename him once he’d adjusted to it. We again snapped some photos and then spent some time with the keeper learning about echidnas and their behavior. 

They tend to bury themselves and can be very difficult to see –fortunately, they brought Dame over for his breakfast, so he was more than happy to sit and pose for photos while slurping up his mealworm paste. As he was eating there was a water dragon lizard slowly inching towards his food – the water dragon lizards were EVERYWHERE throughout the day – they have the funniest run. The keeper ensured that Dame got to eat, and once we were done with photos put him on the ground with his special feeding bowl. Not going to lie – Dame had a tongue to rival Diesel’s – VERY impressive.

Next, we drove to Bindi’s island and met the ancient tortoises (who thankfully were not mating) and the lemurs that live on the island. There are 11 lemurs on the island, and we were able to find 9 nine of them. Jade was completely enamored with them and their orange eyes – she said you can tell them apart by their eyes, which range from soft orange to nearly glowing fluorescent orange.

Visiting the Asia section of the park next, we met with the Tiger keeper and learned a lot about Sumatran Tigers. No, we didn’t get to pet this one or get anywhere close to it – but it was kind of neat.

We then talked with the elephant keeper for a bit. The three female elephants at the zoo are Sumatran elephants, which are the smallest of the Asian elephant species. The keeper explained that they brought the females over first to get them acclimated to their new home before bringing over a male for breeding, but then Covid hit and everything kind of came to a halt. Apparently, transporting large animals (like elephants) requires several years of planning, permits and paperwork – so they are hoping to get a male within the next few years to see if they can breed some new baby elephants.

We also were lucky enough to see the Red Panda climb down from their perch for a wee.  (I mean, seeing the Panda was really cool - not the wee part.) 

Throughout the day, everyone we spoke with reinforced the zoo’s focus on conservation and preservation – a philosophy they’ve followed since it first opened in the 1960’s, run by Steve Irwin’s parents. We were also reminded several times that the fee we’d paid for the Platinum tour went a LONG way towards helping the animals. Since this was BY FAR the most expensive thing we’re doing in Australia, it really did make me feel good to know that it wasn’t just a guilty pleasure (getting to interact with beautiful creatures) – and that our dollars made a difference.

After the elephants, we went to a grassy field where there were multiple trainers waiting for us, each holding an animal or two. We took a group photo and then had the opportunity to interact and learn about each of the animals. My favorite was EASILY the koala – who was so incredibly soft and cuddly I didn’t want to give her back. Her handler, Birdie, was VERY protective of her and made sure I was holding her the right way – and then took her back long before I wanted to give her up. No matter how much I begged, pleaded or bribed, Birdie refused to let me smuggle the koala home with me.

In addition to the koala, there was a shingle scaled lizard, a little turtle, a non laughing Kookabura, a gorgeous python that I willingly kept around my neck for a good long while. (he python handler was really good looking, so I was somewhat distracted by the fact that I had a python around my neck), a wombat, a dingo (who was too shy to interact) and a gorgeous Macaw.

This is when I realized that we are the ONLY two people on the VIP tour today – Jade says they only do Platinum tours once or twice a week because it requires so many resources to pull off this many amazing encounters. That’s partially why they are so expensive.

After the many photos and conversations, we headed to the Steve Irwin lodge, which opened only a few years ago. The idea was that Steve wanted people to experience the zoo without having to rush or drive to and from town – unfortunately, they were WAY too expensive to actually stay in. We could have stayed at the lodge OR taken the platinum tour – and I’m glad I chose the tour!

At the lodge we enjoyed a delightful lunch next to a window overlooking a field with kangaroos and emus just lounging in the sun. The food was lovely, but it took about an hour and twenty minutes to get our food even though the restaurant was empty – so we had to eat it in about 10 minutes with no time to wander around.

The shuttle took us back over to the zoo where Jade was waiting with the golf cart to take us to our VIP tickets for the big show – the Crocodile feeding show. Okay, it was REALLY hoaky. They had two hosts with really bad jokes trying to rile up the crowd to yell larger than the other side. I had my hopes up that perhaps one of the Irwins would participate in the show, since they’d done so yesterday – and since today was a public holiday – but it wasn’t to be. Once the jokes were over, there was a really beautiful display of the trained birds at the zoo (although the bird that’s supposed to fly into the crowd to steal a five dollar bill out of a volunteer’s hand flatly refused, to the great amusement of everyone in the stands). 

Then….the Croc. It was ENORMOUS – Aggro is 20 feet long and weighs over 1,000 pounds but boy, can he move quickly when motivated! The two guys working with the Croc were Jimmy (who we met earlier with the Komodo dragon) and his boss, Keith. Keith was standing in the water talking about how you should NEVER go in the water where crocs live because they can sense your vibration, and he's stomping to show how the croc notices the movement. They don’t need to see you – they can feel the subtle movements. And as he’s talking, the enormous beast is getting closer….and closer….and I’m gripping Damian’s knee for dear life. 

I mean, I UNDERSTAND they do this every day, and there are about 20-30 additional keepers standing about watching for unexpected behavior ready to jump in and cause a distraction or something – but even knowing all this, it was TERRIFYING. They showed where the croc was most dangerous (overhanging the water or within 2 meters of the shore) but simply reiterated over and over to simply stay out of the water. The croc was definitely a highlight. I asked keeper Bruce, who was one of the watchers near the VIP section if Damian and I were going to get to pet that one (pointing at the croc). He laughed and said, “Not today.”

Back in the cart, we headed to the Africa section of the park and had an incredible encounter with DJ, the rhinoceros. This was in a back paddock away from the publicly accessible part of the zoo, where DJ liked to hang out. His three girlfriends were in the public area, but DJ prefers to be left alone during the day – and then they all return to the rhino barn at night for a cuddle.

DJ was MASSIVE – with skin that could exfoliate a rock easily. But if you put your hand between his belly and the fat upper portion of his leg, where he hadn’t been explosed to the sun and the mud bed, his skin was incredibly soft. (That’s what baby rhinos feel like according to the keepers). Also, if you grabbed the skin roll by his upper legs you could really feel how thick his skin was. Again, I never thought I’d get to pet a rhinoceros let alone fall in love with one – but he was BEAUTIFUL. His head weighs about 250 kilos, so raising his head takes a tremendous amount of muscle, which you can see when he does it. He spends the majority of his day out grazing on the grass and laying in the sun (or mud).

You can really tell that DJ’s keepers are incredibly fond of him – we got that everywhere we went, but especially here. And again, they were wonderful about explaining how best to approach him and what to do / not to do. For example, we had to stand no further than his front let – because if for some reason DJ wanted to quickly turn his head (not even in an aggressive way), that 250 kilo bulldozer of a head would definitely knock you flat. As with all the animals, the keepers discouraged fast phrenetic movements and speaking with a soft and comforting tone. They gave us so much time with this beautiful creature, answering all our questions and telling us about the dangers to rhinos in the wild (primarily trophy hunters and horn poachers.) It makes no sense to me because 1) after spending time with DJ, you would NEVER want to see this beautiful guy harmed; but 2) the horns are made up of keratin – the same stuff as your fingernails – so despite ancient Asian beliefs that rhino horn could cause sexual arousal and heal multiple diseases, there is absolutely ZERO science to support it. Most rhinos in the wild have had their horns cut shorter by rangers (but not too short as to cause them harm) to keep poachers from going after their horns.

We washed our now filthy (but wonderfully soft and exfoliated) hands and headed over to the meerkat enclosure. I thought, Meercats?  Really?  That's going to suck after seeing a RHINO up close and personal - but it was SO MUCH FUN.  

Five little meercat sisters scrambling all over us while the keeper spoke to us about meercats and fed them.  Meercats jumping on your shoulders, your head, your hands, Damian’s hat, throwing each other off and screaming at each other as they were vying for food. (I was very grateful the keeper explained this ahead of time – meercats fight like siblings – they aren’t aggressive, and it certainly isn’t aimed at you – you’re just a pathway to the pouch full of food!) 

We played there for quite a while, with all the zoo patrons looking on with envy as we played with the meercats. No doubt Damian and I will show up in many family albums and YouTube videos – although again, we were just the climbing apparatus.

Next we went over to the giraffe enclosure and fed a giraffe. I’ve done this before, so it wasn’t that big a deal – but it was fun to walk up to the front of the hoards of people lined up and simply step up, feed them, get some photos, and then head back towards the golf cart. Jade gave us the rundown of all the giraffes in the enclosure – including the Guinness World Record holder for the tallest giraffe in captivity, Forest, who stood at 18 feet, 8 inches.  He's the primary breeding male, and there was the cutest four month old baby giraffe hanging about the paddock.

From there (and I know you’re getting tired reading this – so you can imagine how exhausted we were at this phase) we had an inside tour of the Wildlife hospital.

It was, well, very boring. It was an animal hospital. We saw empty operating tables. Empty x-ray machine. Empty holding pens. Empty barometric tank. Not a single animal. So I asked Jade if we could cut it short and move on, which we did. By this point, it’s 4:00 and the zoo is closing in less than an hour – and there is so much we haven’t seen!

We made a quick stop at the Koala nursery to see all the babies hanging on their mamas. Koala babies aren’t particular – if their mama isn’t around, they’ll choose the closest adult to cuddle. After holding one, I don’t blame them.

Then we stopped to see the Tasmanian Devil.  They were called devils because of their red ears and how they can glow at night in reflection and look like devil eyes.

Next we headed over to see the Quaca – I was really excited about seeing them (I'd never even heard of them before) but the handler had just put them all to bed at 4:00.  BOOOOO!  Here's a generic picture of a Quaca that we didn't see, just because I know you're all wondering what the heck a Quaca is.

Finally, the kangaroo feed.  Jade gave us some kangaroo food and we went into a field full of lounging kangaroos - most of whom had been fed by tourists all day so weren't even bothered to look at us.  Damian tried feeding one of the wallabys, but they weren't quite so people friendly (very shy).

Jade left us here to feed the kangaroos and the wallabies while she went and loaded up our photos she’d taken throughout the day. We fed them and headed over to the retail shops, where I bought some gifts and a piece of artwork (a photograph by Robert Irwin) to hang at home. Jade picked us up, gave us our photos and a bag of free swag, then took us back to the front of the zoo to meet Darren our driver.

This was a MAGICAL day. Absolutely extraordinary – and everything I hoped it would be (which is nice, considering the cost). I LOVED IT. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

We tipped Jade quite well and jumped into the van with Darren for the drive back to Brisbane. I swear it took three times as long to get home, although we were very lucky with traffic since it was a public holiday. He again entertained us with stories, but mostly personal ones about his life in Australia, his fiancée, etc.

Arriving back at the hotel about 7, I texted Anna and Mark and told them if we were gonna go out, we needed to go out NOW because I was tired and hangry! We walked to an Irish restaurant in the middle of town – the food was good, but I was just overcome by the day and felt extremely sick after eating. I headed back to the hotel and was asleep before Damian even made it back.  Dreaming of all the koalas......