Hobart

I typed this into Word each night so it was relevent to the day. I will only put up photos if the wifi can take it.

We planned to get going early and we did – Gran told me that she pulled back the blind earlier and the sky was full of stars. So, we did all the breakfast, ablutions and the van stuff and we were out of the camp by 9:30.
We had booked to see the platypuses at the zoo/aquarium at 10:00. They started with an intro and basic information and learned that they have been on this planet for 160 million years and they are very strange beasts. They are called Monotremes – and there’s a clue in the first part of that word – mono, meaning one. They have one hole and it serves many purposes, including breathing – I will leave you to imagine the other uses – the females are smaller and produce eggs that are reptilian (soft). You can look up the rest on Google.
We first went into a room with a large glass tank were there was one male and he swam about – the keeper fed it with worms and a yabbi (like a small crayfish) it scurried away for its life. With the food in the tank our platypus became very active.
We all took photos and some videos, but without a flash the shots were a bit hit and miss.
Then we went to see the females and they had access to and from smaller tanks that we could get close to.
Then we went to see the other Monotreme in the Ichida room – this had a sort of small forest and 3 Ichida’s lived there, but only 2 came out. We sat in a circle and the keeper put food in the centre. They were fun but couldn’t sit still and we left.
On the road we stopped 30 kms down the road at Exeter and had a coffee and had a plan to buy some meat to add to our veges in the fridge for dinners at Cradle Mountain but decided to try further down the line. And we didn’t get any meat so had tuna, rice and veges – pretty good dinner and icecream for afters.
Headed to Devonport (where the ferry crosses from Victoria) to try and buy some chemical toilet tablets – we did, and they cost $35 to 25 tablets – so we cut our losses and bought the liquid version for $22. Had lunch at a nearby Subway.
Then on the road south to Cradle Mountain. This was some drive passing through very rural roads, climbing up through tree forests – very narrow road, some tight bends – lots of 25km bends and a few 15km. They might be narrow, but they are all sealed and most without potholes.
Got to Cradle Mountain before 4 and found our campsite – plenty of space and right near the brand-new kitchen and ablution block – handy. We went down to the Information Centre and got our bus pass for tomorrows hikes (Sunday).
We are looking ahead at the weather, and we are likely to get some rain on Tuesday – the first rain for us since leaving Hobart.Read more