After living in Australia for ten months, travelling all over this beautiful country for a total of six or seven weeks,1 we have seen kangaroos in the wild, wombats in the wild, koalas, wallabies, fruit bats in the wild, reef fish and sharks in the underwater wild, and even crocodiles outside of a zoo. In all this time, though, two of my very favorites have remained elusive: the "freaks of nature" we call monotremes,2 of which there are only two species in the whole world, both native to Australia: the echidna and the duck-billed platypus. We have seen them in photographs, sent postcards of an echidna to Rai & Vina telling them they're being replaced by this spiky anteater,3 squinted at real live platypi3 in a darkened tank at the aquarium, and seen live echidnas in the zoo-- but in all this time, we've yet to see either of them in their natural habitat.
As our departure from Australia is imminent, D in particular has been worried that she won't be able to check echidnas and platypuses off her list. But five days in Tassie, and her problem is solved. We spotted our first echidna on our second day here-- in broad daylight5 he crossed the road in front of us on the Tasman Peninsula. The day after that, a second one crossed in front of us. When we pulled over to get a closer look, he made a beeline for a tree in someone's front yard and stuck his head into the roots, a strikingly "if I can't see you, you're not really there" gesture. But when he took a peek about 90 seconds later, we were still there. Oops. We took some photos and then let him be. As we drove west and north this afternoon across the island state of Tasmania, we saw three more echidnas in the space of ten minutes, all on the side of the road.
All right, so echidnas seem to be a bit more common in these parts than on the mainland. And by all accounts platypi are more common here, too-- but still very difficult to spot. We spent last night in a beautiful isolated cottage on a lake rumored to have some platypuses6 in it-- but at dusk we didn't see a one. So D woke up this morning at the chilly crack of dawn,7 bundled up in sweats, and went alone to the lake... and her efforts were rewarded. Not 10 minutes after she got there, a platypus paddled his way in front of her, 10 feet from the shore, his body mostly underwater, but his bill and his V-shaped wake unmistakeable. They are extremely shy animals-- when he surfaced and noticed a tall dark shape on the nearby bank, he dove under and disappeared, never to be seen again.8
The platypus sighting was the crowning piece of a thoroughly enjoyable night spent a this self-contained cabin. They call the cabin "Over the Back," and it lies over a hill, 3 km back from the main road and the homestead of Curringa Farm. The owners of Curringa Farm run the cottage, which is outfitted with a full kitchen, deck, a wood fireplace, and a spa bath. They also farm sheep, and we got to watch some sheep shearing on our arrival9 and tour the farm before we left this morning. Curringa Farm's other claim to fame is that they own the secret recipe for the award-winning "Royal Danish Sweetheart Cake," which was selected by a panel of dessert chefs in Denmark to be the official Tasmanian recipe of the traditional Danish cake for the wedding of (Tasmanian-born) Princess Mary to the Crown Prince of Denmark. (Sure, we'll order some and try it, but how good can it be, really? Oh, boy, it was that good, believe us!)
The night at Over the Back was a bit more than we usually pay for a night of accommodation, but we decided before coming to Tassie to treat ourselves to this. If we'd had more time, we would have loved to stay another night-- we cannot recommend it enough!
We aren't quite as enthusiastic about our first day in Tassie, which we spent in Hobart without a rental car.10 It rained more or less all day, and the main thing we'd been excited about doing11 had evidently closed more than a year ago. So, we moped around a bit, chilly and damp, and ate our way through the food places that had been recommended to us in Hobart. The next day, Saturday, was a little better-- we spent most of it at the Salamanca markets that run only on Saturdays. "Markets" is not quite the right term-- at least, not the way Australians use it! The renowned Salamanca markets in Hobart are better described to Americans as a craft fair... that runs every week.
When the markets closed up, we packed up our stuff, caught a bus to the airport and picked up our rental car. Then, off to the Tasman Peninsula, home of Port Arthur, one of the best-known "convinct settlements" for which Tasmania is famous. Of course, all of Australia was a "convict settlement," in that England sentenced her criminals to be "transported" there. Tassie, known then as Van Diemen's Land, was considered one of the harshest places to be sent. Port Arthur and Macquarie Harbour/Sarah Island way over on the other side of the state12 were places of punishment for "secondary offenders," or people who re-offended after they arrived. The conditions and the facilities of Port Arthur (and Sarah Island) were legendary-- they were at times cutting edge, at times unbelievably brutal, often both, and nearly always essentially slave labor.
On our arrival Saturday night in Port Arthur13 we took a "ghost tour" of the historic site after dark. (No ghosts were seen on our tour... that we know of!) Then, Sunday, we returned to the Historic Site in daylight and walked through many of the ruined buildings.
Yesterday, we visited some of the non-convict attractions of the Tasman Peninsula: natural formations of rock and stone on the shorelines. Then, we left the east coast of Tassie to make our way to the west coast. The cottage we stayed at last night was not quite halfway, so we spent most of this afternoon driving up over the mountains, through immense areas of protected wilderness, until we finally came out here at Strahan.14
Strahan is a "sleepy fishing village" that has transformed into a
fairly major tourist destination because of its significance in
convict history. Tomorrow, we take a six-hour cruise on Macquarie
Harbour, with a stop and a guided tour of Sarah Island. Time, distance,
and "untamed" wilderness separate Strahan from Port Arthur... but in
the histories of Van Diemen's Land, they are quite closely linked.
;)
- D
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NOTES
1So far, that is-- we still have another
week of travel in front of us.
2"Monotreme" derives from the fact that
they have one channel for reproduction, birth, liquid and solid waste,
but the key defining characteristic of monotremes is that they are
mammals who lay eggs and feed their young milk.
3Really, you have to believe me that
echidnas are actually as cute or cuter than cats and dogs, although
they do not make good lap pets.
4There is some confusion as to the
correct plural form of "platypus"-- according to the rules of Latin, it
should be "platypi" but this is used inconsistently. And who speaks
Latin anymore?
5We had mistakenly believed echidnas to
be nocturnal.
6I've chosen to deal with the plural
confusion by alternating forms...
7Dawn, this far south at this time of
year, comes at about 5:00am.
8Well, not by D at least.
9Actually, the rams were being sheared
by professional shearers, so this was a special treat. Although, the
rams had been drugged slightly in a new attempt to make them easier to
handle during the shearing-- so they looked and acted kinda funny!
10Our lack of a rental car was planned.
11Hobart used to have an Antarctic
Expedition Fun Centre, since it's proximity to the icy southern
continent makes it a base for research expeditions.
12We're on our way there now, and we'll
cruise the harbour and tour the island there tomorrow!