We spent our first full night in Tasmania
wrapped up in two duvets shivering against the cold and being kept awake by blood-curdling
primal sounds originating from the wildlife sanctuary next door. Evidently, we found
ourselves immersed in a wild and rustic setting! And the noise and lack of
sleep may also explain why neither of us heard the pre-dawn alarm. However, a
spirited argument between two laughing Kookaburras in the tree over our cabin
ensured we were nonetheless wide awake just as the first rays of sun streamed
through the kitchen window.
After a hasty breakfast we jumped in the
car for the short drive back through Eaglehawk Neck for views of the Blow Hole,
Tasman Arch and Devils Kitchen along the coastline facing the Tasman Sea. These
natural wonders have been crafted over deep time through various weathering
processes – terraforming in action. We then drove to the end of Waterfall Bay Road for
a hike along the famous Waterfall Bay Walk to the lookout at Waterfall Bluff.
This elevated vantage point at the top of a 700ft sheer cliff face offers
phenomenal views along the coast as far as the dolerite columns and pinnacles
that are a major draw for rock climbers around the world.
Suitably impressed we rushed back to the car and reversed course
through Eaglehawk Neck to The Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park next door to
our cabin. There we watched ‘Missy’, a Tasmanian Devil, being fed chunks of flesh
from a freshly killed possum, before then proceeding to help feed a large
gathering of assorted Wallabies and Pademelon. Strolling through the rest
of the park we chanced upon other Devils feverishly scavenging for carrion of varying
amounts and types that is deliberately concealed in different places each day
to ensure they do not habituate. When not scavenging they seem to delight in
chasing each other; hissing and growling in the process, and staring each other down with jaws wide open. We also managed to catch our first sight of Quolls, a smaller marsupial carnivore – and so very cute. It was then time to rush down to Port Arthur Historic Site, the setting for the most notorious penal colony in the British Empire. It was difficult to imagine the hardships and brutality that inmates had to endure in this tranquil and beautiful setting. However, the many informative exhibits at the museum, along with the heartbreaking personal stories and letters from the incarcerated and the numerous historical records on display, did much to reveal their trauma.
Our mood was thus solemn as we then
proceeded to check in for the 3 Hour Wilderness Cruise with Tasman Island
Cruises. They use custom-built 1000hp zodiacs
to ferry up to 43 passengers out of the sheltered cove at Port Arthur into the jaws
of the Southern Ocean. These high speed boats are specially designed to contend
with the massive swells that circle the bottom of the world, with the skipper
deftly manoeuvring the inflatable close to the highest vertical sea cliffs in
the Southern Hemisphere at Cape Pillar, before then rushing off at speed to
round Tasman Island. This is home to the famous lighthouse that sailors head
for in the annual Sydney-Hobart boat race. We then headed north at high speed
past waterfalls, rock formations, archways and deep-sea caves. The coastline is
part of the Tasman National Park, home to a wide variety of wildlife including
hundreds of fur seals, both Australian and New Zealand subspecies, and abundant
sea birds in their thousands, including Buller’s albatross, diving gannets, sea
eagles, cliff-nesting cormorants and giant shearwaters. However, the highlight
of the trip was a close encounter with a small pod of common dolphins, followed by
a super pod of bottlenose dolphins. Both groups delighted in riding the bow
wave created by the fast-moving zodiacs, with the larger bottlenose dolphins
doing so effortlessly for several kilometers. The albatross, with their massive wing span, also had no difficulty keeping up with the boats, gliding effortlessly into a slight headwind to keep them permanently aloft. The skipper had also spotted various whale species during trips through the same waters end of last month. Clearly the waters in this part of the world, while cold, are teeming with wildlife.
On returning to shore we then rushed back
to our cabin in Taranna, showered, and then drove back to Eaglehawk Neck to
watch the sunset at the Tessellated Pavement. We then drove round to a beach
close to the Blow Hole to wait for Fairy Penguins to emerge from the sea. Alas,
by nightfall, they had still not returned, and so we slumped back to our cabin
for a late supper. We scoffed down our meagre rations with the help of a large bottle of wine, which was self-prescribed to dull throbbing aches and pains courtesy of the 3 hour spine-jarring jet boat ride through the Southern Ocean. We then crawled into bed exhausted, but were unable to find a comfortable sleeping position - clearly we had not drunk sufficient wine to completely deaden the senses...
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