Tasmania

Jim, Nancy and I have been so excited to get to Tasmania, partly because everyone keeps telling us how wonderful it is, and partly to meet Nella Pickup, who helped make our entire trip possible.

Well, all of the stories are true! We are actually staying with Nella and her husband, Richard, and we love them both. They have made us completely welcome in their home (which Nella's father and Richard built themselves, by the way). Yesterday, Sunday, our first full day in Tasmania, Nella and Richard had planned quite a treat.

The morning began with breakfast, and I had porridge. It is so delicious! No wonder the Baby Bear was pissed that Goldilocks ate his up. Then we drove out toward Cradle Mountain to see Tasmanian Devils. Before we got there, we stopped off in a little town for morning tea. We had pumpkin scones with cream, which were also delicious. And we had another very multicultural experience! This little restaurant where we ate was Scottish. So while we had tea and scones, a gentleman was playing bagpipes. Then another gentleman got up and played a sort of Japanese flute. Outside the restaurant was a man with an alpaca. The man let me pet Rosina (the alpaca) who was lovely, and she made the funniest sound. Now I know what alpacas sound like. Anyway, it was all very strange and wonderful.

We got to Cradle Mountain, had a quick lunch, and went to see the Tassie Devils. I'm here to tell you that they are entirely misrepresented. First of all, they are totally cute. (I'll post pictures later.) Second of all, they don't attack people. They are mostly scavengers. We even got to pet one! That was a really unusual privilege. However, the refuge had one that was predisposed to be a bit nicer, and then has been hand-reared and has spent lots and lots of time with humans. He was very, very soft.

The Tasmanian Devils are in deep trouble. As a result of inbreeding (they exist ONLY on Tasmania, and Tasmania is not a large island), they have developed a cancer. The cancer is on their face. When they fight and bite each other's faces, cancer cells graft to the teeth, and when the Devil bites another Devil, he/she kind of injects the cancer into the bitee. In the last 13 years, 75% of Devils have died from this cancer. If things go the way they are going now, they could be extinct in 12 years or so. So there are a few refuges that are breeding healthy Devils and then releasing them into the wild, trying to widen the gene pool. It's really sad.

On the way home, we stopped at a delicious chocolate shop for afternoon tea. This chocolate shop was fantastic! Not only did it have chocolate, it had a cafe, and a museum, and gardens and everything. It was, of course, delicious. I bought some chocolate to take back home to the U.S. Whether it gets there without me eating it is another matter entirely. Their dark chocolate was particularly heavenly. I forget the name of the owners -- I'll put it in later when I have wifi on my laptop and can have my stuff around me.

Eagle-eyes Jim spotted an echidna on the highway as we were driving home. Kudos to Richard who pulled over so we could go look at it. It tried to burrow down and hide, but only succeeded in hiding it's face. It kind of reminded me of Sterling, who hides her face in my armpit at the vet, believing that she can't see the vet, so the vet must not be able to see her. :) Anyway, the echidna, even without a face, was so cute, and it's spikes are really, really big. This evening we plan to poke around Nella and Richard's property at dusk, looking for a wombat.

Back at Nella and Richard's, we had a very homey evening in. After a decadent meal of lamb and tiramisu, we watched Bones and Castle on TV and ironed.

We are so, so glad that we have extra days in Tasmania. We are in love.