Tasmania Australia episode 4. Cradle mountain in August

Apparently August is still part of winter here in the Southern Hemisphere. The agenda today was 4 walks — we donned every piece of clothing in our bags and managed about 1. Sleet and freezing rain waxed and waned throughout our exploration of this world heritage site. We did manage to see lots but mostly through the windows of our coach. Note the in this group of pics one with me on the shore of Dodd Lake with Cradle Mountain peak in background and what it looks like on a sunny day (a postcard). Not much difference....ya right. :) also note a pic of a series of water spouts forming on the lake. Now that was cool! Our driver expertly navigated us up, down and onward through the mountains, ending up in Launceston, aka Launey by the locals. Pronounced lawn - ee. On route today we once again poked through a number of quaint towns. All with their uniqueness. Sheffield - murals everywhere on every building, Cambletown - artistic sculptures, Royalton - topiaries, and Ash Grove - cheese. These Tassies do have s sense of humor for sure. Arrived in Launceston safely. Will be here for 2 nights. So much more to come. Do continue to check in on this blog.

Fwd: Tasmania Australia episode 3 Transition Day

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Begin forwarded message:

From: Maryann Watters <pudley1920@comcast.net>
Date: August 15, 2018 at 3:17:28 PM GMT+10
To: pudley1920.tazcat1954@blogger.com
Subject: Tasmania Australia episode 3  Transition Day

We said goodbye to Hobart today and set out for Cradle Mountain. Along the way we pulled off the main highway and poked into some very interesting historical little towns. We dallied in Oatland, Ross, Evandale, and Dolorame. Enjoy some pics of these places. Our guide, Matt, taught us a new game useful to while away the hours riding in a car. Called, Hey Cow. Ask me how it is played sometime.  Hilarious.   We wound our way up to Cradle Mountain. Absolutely amazingly beautiful drive. The lodge where we are staying is right near the entrance to the Cradle Mountain National Park.  The lot of us were thoroughly entertained by a few wallabies right out side our room. One could say we are easily entertained.... after dinner, went on a guided tour to locate some of the native local nocturnal marsupials. Very fun! We saw pademelons, wombats, brush tail opossums and one feral cat.  Snow and rain predicted tonight and tomorrow, should be interesting. Stay tuned!

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Tasmania Australia episode 3 wallaby and water fowl

Enjoy some pics of these beautiful creatures

Tasmania Australia episode 2 on our way to Port Arthur

Absolutely beautiful! We stopped at the overlook to Pirates Bay, Devils Kitchen, Tazman Arch, Doo Town (everyone must name their home using Doo, like Doo drop in, etc -hilarious), and a quick stop to take a pic of the Tasmanian Devil crossing sign. Don't see those very often...

Tasmania Australia episode 2 Port Arthur Penal Station

The first reported sighting by a European was 1/24/1642 by Able Tazman. Surprise, he named this island after himself. By the 1800's significant change in England was happening caused by the morphing from feudalism to industrialization. As a result there was significant over crowding along with a very high rate of unemployment. Add those two and you get prolific amount of crime. England's solution was to ship literally 10's of thousands men, women and, young boys to serve their punishment to the other side of the world. About 55,000 to the 13 Colonies. Port Arthur was one of 10 penal stations in Australia. 5 on the mainland and 5 on Tasmania. Port Arthur was established in 1833. It closed in 1877 after the end of convict transportation in 1853. At its peak the nearly 300 buildings housed over 2000 convicts, soldiers, and civil staff. The convicts were free labor and used to build all the structures at the penal stations and many of the government buildings in Hobart. There was ship building at Port Arthur until the government shut it down. Apparently the ship builders in this area could not compete against an operation with free labor and materials. Many convicts were able to work their way to free settler status and learn valuable trades. Some ended up in the Separate Prison. In reality, solitary confinement or the asylum next door. What a hard life this was to so many. It was certainly a historical site worth exploring.

Tasmania Australia episode 1 part 2 native wildlife

Dream come true!! Our tour today included a visit to the Bonorong wildlife sanctuary. We were able to touch a wombat, koala, kangaroos, emus. Able to see but not touch real Tasmanian Devils. So cool! Had no idea that kangaroos, wombats (under the age of 2) and koalas could be so docile. The Tasmanian devils — anything but docile. Nice to look at but bad idea to touch.
The birds here are quite interesting! The photo of the 2 birds are kookaburras. The multi color is a rosella. Hopefully more aviary pics to come.
Stay tuned!

Tasmania Australia episode 1 part 1

Tasmania! Founded in 1804 as a penal colony, is now one of the most interesting corners of the world. Inhabitants number around 260,000. It is not densely populated but is rich in history and bush land forests. Today our tour guide took us around the historical part of the city. Sandstone was used as their main building material in the 1800 and 1900's. It is the same color today as it was when originally quarried. Thanks to the little to no pollution in air. Attached are some of the sites to be scene in this fascinating city.
We also explored Richmond. Quite a quaint village with an English sort of feel. We lunched on meat pies, walk across the 1823 oldest bridge in Australia, and, of course, the Gaol ( old English word for jail).
Dinners last night and tonight were in two different local pubs. Yum! Accompanied by a local brew. What is not to like.
Part 2 of episode 1 is the bird and animal edition