Tasmania: Salamanca Market and Bonorong Wildlife Park

We managed to go to three major tourist attractions in one day, but it meant we didn't get quite enough time at each of them, though that's what happens when you only have so much time. First was the weekly Salamanca Market in downtown Hobart, which had tons of stalls. I got stuck at one selling cards and the cutest reusable tote bags with screenprinted Australian animals. I also tried a garlic bratwurst at a German food stall, which helped me power through the rest of the long day of driving.

 

Bonorong Wildlife Park was a great place to visit if you like animals. It is a rescue and rehabilitation place, so they really care about their wellbeing and do try to re-release if the animals are able to survive on their own. You get a bag of kangaroo food, so I finally got to hand-feed kangaroos, and there was a huge paddock full of them! One grabbed the bag out of my jacket pocket as I attempted to take photos, so they were not afraid to stuff their noses and hands around to get the food.

We heard the keeper talk about the wombat - didn't know that it has a large, thick plate on its backside so that if an enemy follows it into its burrow, it can basically crush its head against the roof of the burrow (including dogs!). It also is affectionate for about one to two years, then goes into a kind of 'adolescent' phase where it suddenly wants nothing to do with its mother (or human keeper). That's when they can re-release it because it doesn't need to be mothered anymore.

The keeper fed the Tasmanian devils, which look pretty peaceful until they are feeding. Apparently they got their name because they would make these devilish howling noises in the forests, and the Europeans had no idea what was making the sounds. 

 

Finally, we heard about koalas and got to pat one. They also have a bone structure that allows them to sit comfortably in trees for long periods, kind of like a V-shape.

This was our first time seeing spotted quoll - pretty much polka dot rat-looking animals! There was a black one and a tan one. There were also several colorful birds and an owl-looking bird with no neck that had an ominous look.

 

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

Last major animal excursion for the trip: Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane. It's a smaller wildlife center than the other ones we'd been to, but they had shows and demonstrations going every half hour or so which made it feel like there was a lot to do, and we actually ended up spending most of the day there. 

I really enjoyed the wild lorikeet feeding. The staff put solutions of nectar into little containers and we got to hold them up for the birds to land on. They were fierce, loud little creatures and gobbling up the food like a storm. Sometimes something would spook them and they would all fly away together and swoop back around in a loop. 

Next we went by the barn to see the baby chicks and guinea pigs and sheep and goats. They allowed little kids to hold the babies and they were so adorable! The chicks would cheep and the guinea pigs just sat there looking sad and not moving. I didn’t know they could stay so still. Afterward was the sheep dog and shearing presentation. The border collie was super fast and herded the sheep around the obstacles quite well. The other dog was used for rounding them in at the end to the enclosure. And then he could stand on top of the sheep to keep tabs on them. Seeing a sheep get sheared was an interesting experience. Poor sheep. 

We pet some kangaroos and took pictures of the wallabies that didn’t want to be touched. Then was the wildlife encounter with birds and a dingo, the birds of prey show which was fun because there were real, wild birds overhead (called kites) that were scaring the birds in the show, and a koala presentation where we learned some facts about koalas. We had to get the photo holding a koala -- at least the money is going to a good cause. It was heavier than I thought it would be and the smell of eucalyptus was quite strong (the trainer was feeding it leaves to keep it pacified). Finally, we saw the platypus and Tasmanian Devil presentations and checked out the rest of the animals. It started raining just as we were headed to the gift shop.