Tasmania Day 3

Wow, I'm behind. In order to get even "kind of" caught up I'm going to have to make these posts short and sweet.

Day 3 started with us leaving Launceston and heading in the direction of Cradle Mountain. Our first stop, however, was a set of caves known not only for interesting stalagtite/stalagmite formations - but for "glow worms". The caves were not as nice as the ones we went to in the Bule Mountains (Jenolan Caves), but when they shut all the lights off and the little glowing spots appeared all over the ceiling... that was pretty cool! They are not really "worms", but the little bugs glow to attract food (prey) to get stuck in the web. No photos of the worms since we were not allowed to take any.

Then we went to Cradle Mountain National Park. Every time we told people we were going to Tasmania the person would ask, "Are you going to Cradle Mountian?" One of hte best known places in Tasmania, I would compare Cradle Mountain - Lake St Clair National Parks (they are attached and form one giant area) to Yosemite National Park in the States. Huge area with lots of differing terrains, landscapes, vegitation and interesting places. Day 5 we would hit the Lake St Clair part on our way back to Hobart, but today was a day Clarice was really looking forward to. Every picture she had seen of Cradle Mountain in our guidebooks was wonderful and she wanted to see it for herself. Well... she did. At times. When the low clouds parted. Oh, and when the rain stopped. Not the weather we would have liked, but the day turned out to be a success. We sat in the transit station eating lunch watching the rain pour and both were thinking, "If he/she suggests leaving we're out of here." Instead, because she wanted to see Cradle Mountain so badly, Clarice said, "Let's take the bus up to the start of the trail and see if the rain slows a bit." It was more of a drizzle when we got off the bus so we said, "We'll go this far (looking at the map) and if it doesn't let up we'll head back. The rain eventually let up and we made it all the way around the 6 km track that circles Dove Lake at the base of Cradle Mountain.

Cradle Mountain from on the trail (left) and at the trailhead (right)

The 2 of us at the start of the hike - loving the weather and the low clouds!

When we got back to the car and were putting the bags in the back I saw this little guy! A Wombat out in search of a snack!

After we left Cradle Mountain... the sun came out. Doesn't that figure. We needed to get to Burnie on the northern coast by tonight, but first we planned on one more stop in a little out of the way hamlet called Sheffield. Friends who had been there told us that, to attract tourists and to keep the town alive, in the 1980s the town commissioned huge murals to be painted on the sides of the town buildings depicting life in Tasmania. They were a hit, attracting people travelling to Cradle Mountain and have turned into a yearly "Mural Festival" and contest with new murals painted in a special town square set apart just for murals.

The last shot is Clarice pointing to the signature of the artist. It reads "Purdue 2000"! The artist's name is Cheyenne PURDUE!

After Sheffield we headed to Burnie and our hotel/place to sleep for the evening. As we approached, Clarice remembered that this area of Tasmania is known to have penguins nesting all along the northern coast. We decided to check-in to the hotel and then try and find someplace to go on a "penguin watch". In our hotel room was the customary "things to do" book and Clarice found an article that said, "To see penguins, call Keith" and gave a number. No name of the business, no address, not even a last name. Just "Keith". I was skeptical to say the least, afraid of being mugged and killed to say the worst. Clarice called anyway.

Keith turned out to be a wonderful bloke who works for the Parks and Wildlife Department. He has spent his life studying penguins and participate in several rescue efforts after oil spills all over the world. He was hilarious. Of Asian descent, I expected an accent... but not a thick Aussie broag! He said that instead of the 30-50 person "tours" that were actually pretty hard on the penguins, he led small 12 person max groups that he could better control. And it was FREE! He only asked a donation if you felt "the experience was worth it". I had no cash other then a $50 and I felt guilty not giving him anything, but after 10 minutes I leaned over to Clarice and said, "I'm giving him the $50." Totally worth it. The tours cost at least $35 a person and we had a group of 8 for a 2.5 hour show!

He led us down to a little beach where he had set up two levels of bleachers. We all sat down and he told us exactlyhow things were going to work. He explained that we were going to see Little Penguins (their species name) and they are the smallest full-grown penguins in the world. There will be between 40-50 and they will come up in groups in 2 places - buy the rocks to our left and the rock cliff to our right... Very good information and all spot on perfect. It was so funny to see him point a red-light flashlight down one corner of the beach and here him say things like, "If group 3 has started over here..." then move the flashlight... "Group 3 will be starting over here"... and their they were! We even had to sit completely still and quiet while 10 penguins walked 2 feet away from us up to their nest right behind us!

After all the penguins had made it safely to their nests (we waited a bit to make sure no others were coming) he took us on a beach walk and visited several nests where parents (penguins mate for life) were raising their little chicks. We even saw mom and dad feedling little ones! Needless to say, this was one of the highlights of our trip and something I will never forget. The penguins themselves were awesome, but it was Keith's information, hilarity and just general love for the little birds that made the experience. And to think I was worried we were going to be mugged and killed! :-) My only regret is that we could not take pictures, but I picked up a postcard with some of the little buggers making their way up a beach.

Anyway, that was Day 3. Stay tuned for more!