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

Hobart and MONA

Cascade Brewery, Hobart, Tasmania

Our other stop in Tasmania was the capital, Hobart. Hobart is a jumping off point for Antarctica, both for Australian and French scientific purposes and for tourism. As you know, we rather like Antarctica, so we had to actively resist trying to hop aboard a ship!

Hobart is an interesting mix of commerce. Aside from the Antarctica business, the port is very important for shipping, and the city has, amongst other things the Cascade Brewery and a Cadbury's Chocolate factory.

Narryna Heritage House, Hobart, Tasmania

The city feels a bit of a hybrid too. Some parts of it seem a little bit tired and generic, and have that 'declining high street' feel about them, whereas just around the corner there are some more vibrant areas, with independent shops, cafes and restaurants.


The good news is that it feels like the latter part is winning, and the city is on the way up, not down.

Battery Point, Hobart, Tasmania

We took a walk around Battery Point, which is a quiet but attractive area, with some pretty old buildings, and one of a few branches of an wonderful café called Jackson & McRoss.

After succumbing to one of their delicious cakes, we finished up in Prince's Wharf, which is one area that has certainly been smartened up.

There are plenty of places to eat, drink and shop here. Every Saturday morning, they have the excellent Salamanca market, and we had a great meal at Rockwall one evening.

Hobart, Tasmania

Hobart, Tasmania

MONA, Hobart, Tasmania

There are various museums and galleries in town where you can investigate the past, but we decided that in Hobart, our cultural experience had to be a bit more modern - with a visit to the much celebrated MONA.

MONA - the Museum of Old and New Art - is described by its imaginative owner and creator, David Walsh, as a 'subversive adult Disneyland'. It is certainly an intriguing place, not least because of the way that even getting there is part of the experience. Walsh made his money as a professional gambler, having invented a system to beat the system. While tourists have to pay to get in, locals can go for free.

MONA, Hobart, Tasmania

You can get there by road, but we took the MONA ferry, which goes from the harbour to their own jetty.

A word of warning, there are a lot of steps from the jetty to the entrance, so let them know when you book the ferry if mobility is a problem, and they will take you to an alternative jetty and shuttle you up to the entrance in a little golf buggy.

We opted to spend a bit more and go in the posh pit, where you get a little plate of nibbles and free drinks. It is more expensive, but if like us, you fit in a couple of drinks both ways, it actually is quite good value.

Bit.fall, MONA, Hobart, Tasmania

From the outside MONA looks like a single storey building, but there are actually three storeys underground, cut out of the rock. The sandstone has been left bare in parts, apparently because atheist Walsh wanted the 250 million year old rock to stand as a challenge to creationists.

You start at the bottom, and gradually work your way back up. It took us a while just to get started, because there is a bar at the start, which did some good cocktails. When you are ready to get going, there is information available on the exhibits through the I-pod you are given. It records what you look at, at you can have the record of it sent to you to look back on later.

MONA, Hobart, Tasmania

There was quite a large Gilbert and George exhibition, which was interesting, and there various other antiquities and bits of modern art.

One of our favourite things was an exhibit called 'Bit.fall', by Julius Popp. This was a huge computer controlled waterfall of sorts. It used 128 spouts to drip water in a way that forms words or phrases, which are taken from that day's news.

MONA, Hobart, Tasmania

We were less keen on the huge machine that replicates the human digestive system, literally taking in food and creating and disgorging 'poo', complete with bad smells.

The museum is sited on the Moorilla Estate winery, where you can do tours and tastings. There is also Moo's Brewery, which has some food, and the more upmarket The Source restaurant, so your eating and drinking needs are well catered for.

It is certainly an interesting place, and though modern art isn't generally our thing, we thought it was worth a visit.

 

Bit.fall, MONA, Hobart, Tasmania

Bit.fall, MONA, Hobart, Tasmania

Launceston, Tasmania

Albert Hall, Launceston, Tasmania

After Melbourne, we flew over to Launceston in Tasmania. We weren't hiring a car, and we didn't want to join lots of tours, so we knew we weren't going to see all of the sights - this was more an introduction to the two main cities.

Launceston, Tasmania

Launceston is quite an attractive city, with a mix of architecture from Victorian and Georgian, through Art Deco, and even on to a bit of Brutalist. It makes it a good place to walk around, and you can pick up a decent map of the heritage trail.

Launceston, Tasmania

Black Cow, Lucks Corner, Launceston, Tasmania

We were quite attracted by the Art Deco building on Lucks Corner, and were more attracted when we discovered it was now the Black Cow steak restaurant.

We felt we had to try it, but whilst it was fine, it wasn't the best steak - but then we are particularly fussy about our beef.

Customs House, Launceston, Tasmania

The city was settled back in 1806, and while it may not have the most exciting history, it does have a few claims of 'firsts'; it was the first Australian city to have underground sewers and hydro electric power, and it was first place in the Southern Hemisphere to use anaesthetic, apparently.

Launceston College, Launceston, Tasmania

Boags Brewery, Launceston, Tasmania

By lucky chance, a friend from Belgium, who we met in South America back in 2011, happened to be in Australia at this time, and we managed to find one evening where our schedules overlapped, so we met up here in Launceston. We went out to a rather good beer place called Saint John Craft Beer, which I would definitely recommend.

One the subject of beer, we did check out Boags Brewery, but while the place was interesting, the beers weren't especially to our taste.

Cataract Gorge, Launceston, Tasmania

To walk off those beers, we took a stroll up along the Cataract Gorge. We opted for the easy walk, which was a nice, mostly flat route along the riverside, rather than the one that takes you up the sides of the cliff.

Peacock, Cataract Gorge, Launceston, Tasmania

At the basin, there are some nice gardens, with a café, and free roaming wallabies and peacocks. If you want to, you can go for a swim, or you can take the longest single span chair lift in the world across the 308 metres to the other side, and carry on walking from there.

Overall, we quite liked Launceston for a short stop, and it would have been good as a base if we had been able to hire a car to get out to some of the local beauty spots.

Cataract Gorge, Launceston, Tasmania

Cataract Gorge, Launceston, Tasmania

Cataract Gorge, Launceston, Tasmania

Face in the rocks, Cataract Gorge, Launceston, Tasmania

Wallaby, Cataract Gorge, Launceston, Tasmania

Wallaby, Cataract Gorge, Launceston, Tasmania