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Day 33: 5/10/12 Day 5 Tasmania
THe hostel last night wasn't great. I was on the top bunk which I hate anyway. I definitely woke the girl under me when I had to go to the toilet at 3am! Toilets werent great either. But it was only for one night!
We were off bright and early at 7.30am. We had some new people joining the group. There were five Chinese- I don't know much about them! They have English I think but talk to each other mostly. There was also an English girl called Sarah who was from near Birmingham. She was very chatty.
We went first to Catataract Gorge which is in Launceston. There was a lovely view over the gorge with a little waterfall under a suspensions bridge- which of course we had to walk across! Then we came to an area where there were peacocks. They had lovely long green tails with pretty coloured feathers. One of them opened their tail out completely so it was vertical behind him- it looked really cool! There was also a little kangaroo there with a Joey in its pouch! It was really cute but he wouldnt turn round for a proper photograph! The cheek of him! We had a nice walk along the river then to get back to the bus.
The Dutch mother went missing then as she got lost and couldnt find her way back. But we came upon her anyway!
We had a long bus journey then with lots of green valleys. I was talking to Jean from England who has done lots of travelling- Turkey, Moskow, St Petersburg..... Iots of places! She has to be sixty if she's a day- I hope I'm like that at that age. Carole from America was telling me about the international schools that Julie and her other daughter go to. Teachers get a two year contract and can extend it if they wish or they can move to another international area. It sounds interesting- something I'll have to look into!
We passed through Scotsdale which in 1900 was full of Chinese as it was a tin mine and they knew how to mine it. Now it has sheep, saw mills and potatoes.
We stopped then at Ringarooma (I think) to look at wooden Sculptures. They had planted trees in1918 to remember those from the area that died in the 1st world war. Around 2005 the trees had overgrown and were considered dangerous. So instead of cutting them down, an artist carved sculptures out of the trees, depicting those who had died. The sculptures were very pretty and they had little plaques telling the story of each person which was quite sad.
The valleys we were passing then were full of trees with yellow flowers. The sun was shining on them so it was lovely!
We came to a Waterfall then called Ralph's falls. It was only a Tiny waterfall- but there was an impressive view over the valley!
We were driving around Steep cliffs and very stony descents then which was fun!
Next we came to another waterfall- St columba falls. An Irish girl was sent over here with her brothers and her mother on a convict ship (her mother was the convict). She ended up married and living in this area and her sons found the waterfall. So she must have named it.
The bus driver spent a good bit of time then talking about the Tasmanian Devils which we should see tomorrow. They eat anything- skin, bones, fur of road kill. The devils are dying at the moment though due to a cancer in their mouth which causes lesions and stops them from eating. In the end they die of starvation. They fight each other all the time- which helps the spread of disease. The males and females even fight to see if they are interested in each other!
We pulled up at another Cheese factory then for lunch. I was surprised to see cow pats on the menu, which is actually a big cookie!
Other Australians call the Tasmanians Inbred, slow and two-headed! It seems theres some truth in it. There is Not enough iodine in the soil so people used to get growths in their neck, hence the two heads. People qere given free land and then tried to Keep it so they tended to Marry within the family. Also, schools were always a long way away so parents started Home schooling, even though they mightn't know much themselves.
We came to St Helen's next which is the largest city in the east coast and has a population of 5000. No convicts were brought here as there was no work. Today it's popular for Game fishing and holiday makers.
We went to the supermarket there and when we came out we were Abandoned! The bus was gone! After a good five or ten minutes wondering where he went to, he arrived back- he had gone for petrol!
Next was the Bay of fires, the main attraction today. It is Called this because the rocks around it are covered in lichen which is orange. Also a French guy that sailed by here saw a lot of fires as the trees were all burning. The aborigines used to Light fires to chase animals out so they could catc them. It turns out Its beneficial for the vegetation so they do it nowadays too.
The Bay was gorgeous. There was really white sand and bright blue water. The rocks around we're very bright orange also which made for spectacular viewing! We spent a while clambering over the rocks, getting different views, walking in the sand and picking up seashells. It's easily the best place weve seen in Tasmania so far!
On the way back from the bay, we saw Black swans in the water. I'd never seen black swans before! Later on he was talking about black swans living on a lagoon and how they go to China and Japan To feed and then fly back. That's a long way to go for food!
The driver then took a Shortcut which meant he was On a windy dirt track with cliffs on each side. The American woman was freaking out big time! We stopped at the top for a View over the valley. It looked good but the road was definitely not suitable for a bus with a trailer!
We passed through a town called Scamander which is named after some place in Turkey. About 5yrs ago they had a bush fire. The people had to stay on the beach as that is the safest please and 10 people lost their houses.
After passing through a winery which is just starting out we got to Bicheno which is a town of 800 people. Lots of people have holiday homes there.
This hostel was lovely- all wooden, like a log cabin and the beds were wooden also and set into the walk with little curtains blocking off everyone else if you wanted!
There was an optional Penguin tour Which seven of us did. The Little Blue Penguin is the breed of penguin that lives here. When it's dark they come back from the sea where they have spent the day feeding and come into burrows. We were with a tour guide who brought us to various viewing spots. He would just shine a torch and you'd see a cute little penguin waddling up the beach and up past the road up to their burrow. He was constantly telling us information aswell which was good. He showed us some that were in specially built burrows along the route. They have a lovely navy blue colour on their back. It seems all penguins are some shade of blue and not black at all. I think he said these are the smallest breed of penguins in the world. It's hard to tell the males from the females, but one saw one of each sitting on eggs in the boxes- they share the duties so that each can go to the sea to feed. Pregnancy lasts 21 days and then the sit in the egg for 36 days. The warmer they make the egg means they will get a boy. The first born, no matter whether it is a boy or a girl, will be in charge and they often poo on their siblings head so the parents won't like them as much. There usually only one or two eggs anyway. The parents go to feed everyday and when they come back they regurgitate the food for the babies. We actually saw some chicks waiting at the burrows for their parents to come back- they were brown and fluffy! The guide said it was the first night any chicks had been out so we were very lucky! The parents were blocking the burrows as much as they could so that they could protect their chicks. The males dig the burrows about a metre deep and then have it in a bowl shape so it's big enough for them to stand up. In mating season the females come and inspect the male and the burrow and if they don't like it they move on! The don't mate for life but often have the same partner for several mating seasons. When a burrow is built another male can come along and kick the first one out. Males don't fight over women, only over burrows. They leave the burrow in dark, spend the day at sea and return in darkness so they can be safe from predators. If they don't think its safe they can return to the sea, in which they can live for up to a year if necessary. After that they need to come ashore as they shed feathers. We could see them coming onto the shore, standing around in groups wondering who would go first and then waddling up the path right by us. It was the cutest thing I'd seen in a long time! The fact that we were in the dark just made it better! By the way they waddle as they have no knees, although they do have ankles and hips! They use their wings to swim, not their legs. They actually 'fly' through the water. They are really noisy too. They make a cuckoo kind of noise with two notes, but it's loud and croaky. Apparenlty their poo stinks too, which is not a good combination of they make a burrow user your house- which does happen! The only down side to the trip was that you couldn't take photos as It hurts their eyes. You can see photos and videos on Facebook and YouTube apparently if you look up Bicheno Penguins so that's one of the first things I'll be doing when I get back!
The guide also showed us some Stars. The sky was really clear and we could see lots of them. He showed us the Scorpion constellation, two stars which I think he called the point and the Southern Cross. I don't know too much about stars and I don't know what constellations are at home but I don't think you can see these ones in the northern hemisphere?!
When we got back I sat in the kitchen for a while with the English girl Sarah and the guide. There were Chinese people there too, eating oysters! I didn't realise but I was told they are still alive when you ear them! We were just chatting about the tour really and various customers the guide has had on the trip.
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