Tasmania

Where?
Tasmania (not to be confused with Tanzania in Africa) is an island 150 miles off the Southeast corner of Australia. Affectionately called "Tassie" or "Tas" by Aussies, it is one of Australia's eight states, and the 26th largest island in the world.  Roy and I spent a wonderful two weeks in April exploring "this Island of Inspiration". 

Did you know that Tas and the state of Maine are roughly the same size? In square miles, Maine is just slightly larger and has twice the population of Tasmania's 550,000.
Did you know Hobart is the state capital of Tasmania? A beautiful small city on the eastern coast where we started our clockwise 950 miles or 1,500 km drive of this unique island that has a little bit of everything: beaches, forests, mountains, rolling hills and peaceful valleys, small cities and quaint towns.

 We immediately felt right at home when we saw one of these. Much of Tas is heavily forested.  There has been a long, bitter and still ongoing fight between "the Greens" and the timber industry concerning logging practices. 

 Did you know most of the early settlers were transported convicts and their military guards? Some 50,000 between 1803-1853. One of the harshest penal colony being Port Arthur, just north of Hobart. The site burned in the late 1800's but is now part of the Port Arthur Historic site. 

convict built Chapel

Did you know that almost 45% of Tas lies in Reserves, National Parks and World Heritage Sites? Promoted as "the Natural State" or "A World Apart not a World Away".

Old growth White Gum

Nelson Falls

Did you know one of the most distinctive landmarks on the northernwest coast is called "the Nut"? 

Did you know Sheffield is called "The Town of Murals"?

Beloved local Dr. Sender

Did you know there are Japanese macaque monkeys in Launceston's City Park? A gift from their sister city Ikeda, Japan.

Did it rain? Are you kidding?  Of course!  The Woodward travel curse is alive and well down Down Under.
It was Fall during this trip and the temperatures were on the cool side and we although we had some rain every day, thankfully not too much.

 What did Roy do on the trip? Besides organizing the entire trip, principle driver (I didn't trust myself), luggage handler (to save my back), bed warmer, and financial wizard.  I could not ask for, or ever want, a better traveling companion. Surely you can guess what he did for fun though......

at Cataract Gorge near Launceston

80 birds sighted on the entire trip with 25 of those being new for Roy's Australian Bird list.

scarlet robin

Extra pair of bird watching eyes slacking on the job

What did I do? Photographer, breakfast shopper, navigator, post card sender, bird watching helper/student and enjoyed being with my Sweetie.

Waratah

 Did you know there really is an animal called The Tasmanian Devil? Unlike the Looney Tunes cartoon character TAZ - I would display a picture but it is copyrighted - it is a small (about the size of a small dog) nocturnal carnivorous  marsupial - yes, with a pouch, that has one of the most powerful jaws for body mass size.  We were told they have quite a ferocious growl.  They are found only in Tasmania.

I got to pet one! 

Sadly, the devil population has been decimated in the last twenty years due to a Facial tumor disease. Currently there is no cure and the species have been listed as endangered.






Are there any poisonous snakes on Tasmania? I was really hoping that being an island away from Australia, there wouldn't be any.  HaHa. 
Only two though. Thankfully we didn't meet Mr. Tiger snake up close and personal. Roy saw the other one, a copperhead, swimming, from the boat while he was fishing. Aren't we lucky?! hmmmm

 

tiger snake

 Are there any wild koalas on Tas? Sadly no.  Kangaroos and wallaby's though - we saw many during our travels and got to meet a few.

Did you know there once was a marsupial called The Tasmanian Tiger? Or Thylacine, it resembled a wild dog with stripes and was the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world. Sadly it was hunted to extinction in the early 1900's. 

If you were ask most Aussies to name the #1 thing to see in Tasmania, they would probably say, Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Claire National Park.  It is a very popular backpacking or "treking"destination.

Cradle Mountain and Dove lake (borrowed from Wikipedia)

Now, remember me mentioning some rain?  So Roy went fishing and I took a day tour to see this beautiful place. When I left Launceston it was sunny with maybe a few clouds.  We don't call it the Woodward curse for nothing. 2 hours later I am standing in front said mountain.  Darn it!!!!

In the early 1900's Gustav (Austrian immigrant Botanist/farmer) and Kate Weindorfer bought several hundred acres and built a small rustic chalet to encourage people to come visit their beloved Cradle Mountain. They called the chalet "Waldheim" or "home in the forest" and was built of local King Billy Pine.

 Sadly Kate would die in 1916 before the National Park was established in 1921 and Gustave died much too early in 1931.
Thank you Gustav and Kate.

Gustav and Kate

Much of Tassie reminded us of our childhood home in Northern California.

Rhonadontron

Just when a girl thinks this trip couldn't get any better, on our way home, my sweet husband surprised me with tickets to this in Melbourne. We were sweating bullets when our late afternoon flight was delayed, and literally ran into our hotel, the fastest checked in history, literally dropped our luggage and RAN across the street to the theater.

It was FANTASTIC!!!  Ninety minutes without an intermission.  You would never know Angela Lansbury is 87 and James Earl Jones is 82 years old. 
As if this trip weren't interesting enough, Roy's company routed me from Houston through Doha, Qatar on my way to Darwin. I had never flown through the Middle East and will admit to being a little nervous.
Coming home I left from Melbourne to Darwin to Doha to Houston. 55+ hours on planes or in airports.  Was I ever glad to get home!