Tasmania 2023

I woke to lots of rain but no snow on Cradle Mountain. It made me aware just how lucky I’d been with the weather yesterday. It was a day for indoor activities so I set off for the Mole Creek Caves.

Not long after I’d started the low pressure light for the tyres came on. There wasn’t a lot I could do except check to see if I had a flat tyre as there were no service stations around to check the pressure. I know from the work cars that these warning lights can be very sensitive and finically. Every time I stopped I checked the tyres and couldn’t even tell which type was likely to be low. At some point the warning light went off.

I got to the Mole Creek Caves in time for a tour of the Marakoopa cave. It was really interesting, a bit tight in a couple of places but really interesting formations. There were also glow worms in the cave.

I stopped off at the Mole Creek Hotel for lunch. It is very Tasmanian Tiger themed and very much a country pub serving good food.

From there I made my way to Low Head which is at the mouth of the Tamar River. The main reason for coming here is penguins and platypuses. The penguins were tonight. I was worried about the wind but apparently the three things you need for good penguin sightings are high tide, dark night and the wind coming in from the Bass Strait. We had the wind. The wind makes it easier for the penguins to communicate. The high tide makes it easier to get up the beach and the dark night means less predators although they don’t have many predators at Low Head as there is a fenced reserve for them. There was 9 of us on the tour and we saw 5 groups of 10-20 penguins over the space of an hour. It was definitely worth the cold weather. I added a neck gaiter to my cold weather gear yesterday. I can wear it in a variety of ways but it’s to cover my face.

Platypuses are tomorrow.Читать далее

Yesterday’s beautiful weather disappeared as the cloud came in today. It was cool but no rain.
This area is the Bay of Fires so named by the English navigator who saw the fires the local aboriginal people had set to manage the flora and fauna of the area. I did a boat tour of the various small bays. The boat was a small one, not a jet boat but similar in style. I don’t think I will be going on a jet boat soon. No sea sickness though which is good (I did take medication just in case).

The bays all have brilliant white sands, turquoise water and orange covered rocks.
Further out the sea was a dark inky blue. We took it slowly in the bays and fast between the bays. There were only 5 of us on the boat (plus the skipper and tour guide) and I was glad I didn’t have to worry about the person in from as I gripped the seat in front of me. On the way back we went straight across the water and it was rough, bouncing up and down. It was also really cold. They provided us with jackets and the neck gaiter I bought at Cradle Mountain came in very handy.
We did see two seals on the way back. One of the other tourists spotted them. I have no idea how given the speed we were going and the colour of the water. They froliced around the boat for a few minutes.

I went to Pyengana Dairy for some lunch and cheese tasting. They make chedder cheese there. Out the back is the milking shed. It’s all automated with the cows coming in for milking whenever they want. They wear a tag that records all the details of the milking for each cow. Very interesting process to watch.

I took a look around St Helens then returned to Binalong Bay to see the bays from the land. This evening I took another walk around the sanctuary. The walk last night was better. I did spot several superb fairy wrens and native hens than are also known as turbo chooks as they run around like crazy.Читать далее