Tasman Peninsula and Tassie Devils

Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania

We did choose to do one tour while we were in Tasmania, and we picked one the took us on a boat trip round the Tasman Peninsula in the morning, dropping off at Port Arthur, and then in the afternoon, went to the Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park.

We used a company called Pennicott Wilderness Journeys, which has decent eco credentials, and we would happily recommend them.

Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania

Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania

The collected us from the harbour in Hobart at some horribly early time of the morning, and tooyk us to Eaglehawk Neck, where we got on one of the 43 seater open deck boats for our cruise.

Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania

Obviously as our trip was by boat, we didn't visit, but there is an village nearby called Doo Town, where in 1935, a resident called Eric Round named his weekend place here 'Doo I', and started a trend. All of the places in the village we soon being renamed with things like 'Doo Me', 'Doo Us', 'Xanadoo', 'Love Me Doo' and 'Doolittle'. It seems that there is now only one exception - a place called 'Medhurst'.

Fur seals, Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania

Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania

The tour took us around the quite spectacular scenery of the Tasman Peninsula, with its soaring dolerite cliffs, that are home to many nesting birds.

The base of the cliffs at areas like Cape Hauy, act as a place for the Australian and New Zealand fur seals to haul out and take a rest.

Humpback whale, Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania

Fur seals, Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania

Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania

There are numerous rock formations along the way, where the sea and weather have carved out arches, like the Tasman Arch and Devil's Kitchen, and left tall standing pillars, such at the Candlestick and the Totem Pole.

Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania

Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania

Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania

Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania

At the end of the peninsula is Cape Pillar, which has the highest vertical sea cliffs in southern hemisphere, reaching some 300 metres.

Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania

Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania

There is a lighthouse on the top of the cliffs, and you can still see the old flying fox that they used to haul provisions up to it, before it was automated.

Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania

Dolphins, Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania

As well as the seals and birds, we also spotted humpback whales and common dolphins along the way.

Dolphins, Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania

Dolphins, Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania

Port Arthur, Tasmania

The boat trip finishes up at Port Arthur, which was began as a convict penal settlement in 1830, but became an important industrial area too.

Echidna, Tasmania

It has also been the site of a more recent, but tragic event, which had a major impact on Australian gun laws. On Sunday 28 April 1996, a young man from Hobart went on a shooting rampage here. He was captured, and subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment with no option for parole, but he had murdered 35 people and injured many more.

The nation was shocked, but it opened up a debate on the ownership of automatic and semi automatic weapons, which although there were strong feelings on both sides, led to Australia bringing in some of the strictest gun control laws in the world.

Whilst no doubt this is an interesting site, we chose not to stay to look around here, but instead to go on to the Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park. We knew there was next to no chance of finding one of these iconic creatures in the wild, so figured a conservation park was our next best option.

Tasmanian Devil, Tasmania

On the way, the driver spotted an echidna, or spiny anteater, and stopped so that we could go and get a better look.


The Tasmanian Devil does, as the name implies, only live in Tasmania, and even here, they has been in terrible decline owing to a prevalence of facial cancer, which at best causes them nasty disfigurements, but also can make it impossible for them to eat, thereby causing them to starve to death.

Tasmanian Devil, Tasmania

Like kangaroos, they are marsupials, but these are the largest of the carnivorous marsupials. They are nocturnal and will often eat carcasses of already dead animals.

They eat everything, including the bones and hair. They are small in size, but they have very muscular jaws, giving them one of the most powerful bites in the animal kingdom.

Tasmanian Devil, Tasmania

They are typically quite shy creatures and the males in particular are generally solitary, perhaps because they generally have a pretty lousy temperament.

In any perceived threat, they becoming enraged, growling, baring their teeth, and attacking. They also make a quite disconcerting screaming noise.

Tasmanian Devil, Tasmania

Their aggressive behaviour and bad temper is not confined to unknown threats. In the conservation park here, while we saw some pairs happily curled up asleep together, even some of those that are in a shared enclosure can act very nastily towards each other, especially around meal times.

Tasmanian Devil, Tasmania

Tasmanian Devil, Tasmania

Kangaroo with joey, Tasmania

The park doesn't just have Tassie Devils, we also saw kangaroos and wallabies, and various birds.

Wallaby with joey, Tasmania

Quolls, Tasmania

One of our favourite animals was the quoll, which again is a carnivorous marsupial, but smaller and cuter than the devil.

Quolls, Tasmania