Instagram Promised a Platypus

While still within earshot of Devonport, we were slowly making our way inland as our hiking trip of North West Tasmania got off to a stellar start. I proposed that we make a stop at the Tasmanian Arboretum as our next pit stop on the way. Is it because I love trees? Nope. It’s because I saw an Instagram reel of someone who swears that seeing a platypus here is guaranteed on each visit. His reel backed this up with multiple sightings, which he said took him about 15 minutes to spot. Having never seen a platypus in the wild, we were all keen to give this a shot. It was only a few minutes down the road and in the general direction of where we were going anyway, so we drove there through beautiful farmland of rolling hills for a chance to see the elusive marsupial.

We parked the car and paid our entry fees by tapping a random EFTPOS terminal attached to the side of the café — an honesty system for paying entry fees here, it seems. Walking around the arboretum was relaxing and peaceful, even if it was giving a bit of cemetery vibes with all the memorial chairs overlooking the lake and landscape. Brigid and CK got distracted from the hunt for platypus (or is the plural platypi?) by these ground-dwelling birds that we affectionately named Tasmanian chickens. I thought they looked like mini velociraptors from Jurassic Park, sans the small front claw arms. They were cute though — although there’s no way they’d make as big a parma as a mainland chicken would.

Following “Dawsons Creek” to the main lake (no flashback to the ’90s there at all), I started the hunt. The clear water made it easy to see the bottom of the lake — except when a duck swam past with its head underwater, creating a trail of mud behind it as it rummaged around for snacks. Wait… do ducks sniff? Or am I just comparing them to a dog?

My eyes scanned the lake from cute stepping stones, bridges, and even a couple of memorial chairs in search of the guaranteed platypus sighting — all to no avail. Granted, I don’t think I sat still for a full 15 minutes in one place to really test the Instagrammer’s claim of how easy it is to find them. But alas — no elusive marsupials were discovered. Instagram: 1. Travel with Carl: 0.

Giving up, it was time to continue our road trip deeper into North West Tasmania. This was, after all, a hiking trip — and so far we’d really let the car do most of the hiking for us. Even without a platypus sighting, the arboretum is a relaxed place to visit — or potentially to remember a loved one, given the cemetery vibes — but probably not somewhere I’d go out of my way to see again. Oh well. Onwards and upwards. It was time for lunch.Read more