The day was ours so we picked a brochure and headed out in our rental car. Greg was back by the time we got organized so he was able to join us. Our destination today would be the Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park but first a little history about where we are. I’ve heard that my Mom’s friend Staci and her daughter Morgan have been reading my blog. I think Morgan is sharing some of it with her class at school. I’m hoping that Staci is editing some of it…I’m not so sure it’s all good content for kids her age. SO…in order to make this interesting for Morgan and her class I’m going to tell you something about Tasmania. By the way, hello from all the way on the bottom of the earth to Morgan and Staci and hello to her entire class!! Tasmania is an island and a state located 150 miles south of Australia. Its capital is Hobart which is where we are currently located. The population is close to 500,000 and its area is just over 26,000 square miles. It is promoted as the Natural State and the “Island of Inspiration” because of its unspoiled natural environment.
The first settlers came to the island in 1803 for the purpose of preventing the French from claiming the Island. The early settlers were mostly convicts and their military guards that were tasked with developing agriculture and other industries. There were many convict-based settlements including secondary prisons such as the penal colonies at Port Arthur in the southeast and Macquarie Harbour on the West Coast. Most of these prisons and buildings still remain in Hobart.
So we are headed off to see some Tasmanian Devils. Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is the cartoon character that is spinning uncontrollably causing havoc to everyone and everything he comes into contact with. It also reminds me of growing up and my brother who loved the Tasmanian devil. What a disappointment to get to the conservation center and see a short little pig-like black thing laying under a rock! Seriously though, the Tasmanian Devil is a carnivorous marsupial that is found exclusively on the island of Tasmania. It’s small, stocky and muscular. It has black fur with white patches and has a loud and disturbing screech-like growl. They are vicious and are predominantly scavengers. I didn’t hear the screech-like growl as these little devils just lay around under rocks and sleep. At the end of the day they did get up and run around a bit but only looked like cute little dogs at the pound. The real treat at the Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park was the Kangaroos! We were able to go inside the fence with them. We started to creep slowly closer and closer. Of course, we are taking pictures every time we got another foot closer. Before we knew it we were scratching behind their ears!! Face to face with a kangaroo and when I put my hand out to touch him he stretched out his neck like my dog does when he wants his neck scratched!! We all agree this is the highlight of the trip…who does that? We did!
On our way back to the front we stopped at the bird show. By this time, it was pouring down rain so we figured it would be cancelled. We were in luck…the bird handler led us into shelter and brought the birds to us. That was neat. He was very patient and allowed us to take pictures, touch them and even had them landing on our arms. One of them grabbed a coin out of my hand.
Another one we held while he was perched on a stick. He was a strange bird…something that I would say looked like it came out of Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. 
We left the Conservation Park pleased with our choice and headed back to the hotel to call Nick for dinner. Remember, Nick and Mel are the Aussie team we flew with.Nice insisted we go to dinner at his favorite restaurant in Hobart. It was called Piccalilly. A very pricey, small portion kind of place. The food was good, the wine was great but the fellowship was the best part of the evening. We all had a good time. I knew we were looking at a hefty bill but whatever…how many times are you in Hobart Australia? Just as I suspected…our bill for the 8 of us was $960. Thank goodness Nick insisted on paying for all the beer and wine!! That was a big hunk from the bill. Don (the Army doc) kept telling us that he shouldn’t drink too much because he tended to do silly things, like doing the splits, when he gets tipsy. By the time we got back to the hotel it was time for Don to show his stuff. Right on the front steps of the hotel…Don put on George’s mack daddy sunglasses and dropped down in the splits. I was lucky enough to snap a great picture…I think this one may need to end up at Tripler Medical Center on someone’s screen background!! By the way, George got his sunglasses when he purchased a drink at the hotel bar. There was a bartending contest earlier in the evening which we thought would be one of those bartending flair competitions (like Tom Cruise in Cocktail). It was totally boring because there was absolutely no flair but one of the judges ended up being the World Flair Champion which was fun to watch. Anyway, the sunglasses were quite popular throughout the evening.We find out tonight that Dave (the aircraft commander) has been asked to be on the Australian Today Show. This is cool…it means we have another day to hang out in Hobart.
By the way...if you click on the links I've made it should lead you to the news articles I'm referencing.
No comments:
Post a Comment