Tasmania: Maria (Muh-RYE-uh) Island

With the conference over, we rented a car to check out some of the east coast of Tasmania. The first must-do was Maria Island (the Australians pronounce it Muh-RYE-uh, and it definitely sounds more Australian that way!). This island used to have convicts, so there are some buildings, but it has been turned into a nature reserve with all kinds of animals. It is nicknamed Wombat Island, and sure enough, we got our fill of the cute wombats!! We took a ferry over with a couple dozen other folks and hiked around for several hours, seeing wallabies, kangaroos, birds, and plenty of wombats. The tide was too high to see all of the painted cliffs, but we saw a little of them. It was such an incredible opportunity that not many people will get to do, so I felt fortunate to be able to see so many Australian animals in the wild and enjoy a sunny day on an island at the bottom of the world.

Melbourne: Phillip Island and Penguin Parade

We took a full day tour out to Phillip Island, about a 90-minute drive from the central city of Melbourne, and home to the famous Penguin Parade of little blue penguins. It was a full and fun day seeing animals and not having to worry about transportation or what to do next. Sometimes that’s nice when you’re on vacation. This was also a gift that we prebooked.

At the Maru Wildlife Park we got to pet wallabies and kangaroos and see several other Australian animals in a small area. We saw our first joey in its pouch, and since we were there early, all of the wallabies and kangaroos actually were interested in the food that others had purchased to feed them and were a lot friendlier than the saturated animals in Brisbane! The joey was very cute, and it was also funny how its mom dragged it along, claws out and all, as she moved around.

How cute is this little joey!!

Koala

Kookaburras

Dingoes

Snapped one of this fella mid-eating :)

:-)

 

Sleeping Tasmanian devil

Pretty peacock strutting around the kangaroo and wallaby enclosure

We had lunch at a little beach area and then had a brief stop at a chocolate factory. It was a total tourist trap with high prices for the big gift shop and café. Nothing is as good as Whittaker’s chocolate here in NZ to me anymore anyway.

Next our tour guide drove around the far end of the island to look for wildlife and try to spot some penguins in their burrows. The wind was bitingly cold, but I am more used to it since living in Christchurch weather so was able to tolerate it pretty well. We saw some wild wallabies and lots of wild Cape Barren geese and beautiful coastline, which reminded me of California.

wild wallaby

little blue penguin in its burrow

Cape Barren goose

another little blue penguin

This is where you go after dark to watch the penguin parade.
No photos are allowed but this meant we could enjoy it without worrying about photos.

Once at the Penguin Parade when the sun was almost setting, we ate our packed dinner and headed to the stands out on the beach to watch the penguins come in after a day at sea. There were several groups of them that came in and they were so cute! The seagulls were a bit of an obstacle, standing menacingly in their way, and the penguins made several attempts before finally going up. Then they were flooding the hills past the beach as they dried off near their burrows. They were talking a lot (sounded like ducks or babies) and their sounds filled the air. On the walk back, we also saw a possum with its big eyes (they look very different from North American possums), but they are herbivores and won’t eat the penguins (cats and foxes will though). I was still hungry when we got back at night, so we roamed the streets and wound up getting Korean fried garlic chicken - it didn't taste that different from regular though.

Abel Tasman National Park - Coast Walk

On our second day in Abel Tasman National Park, we took the famous coast walk on a hot, sunny day. I enjoyed the bird life, a few blackberries, and taking off my shoes for a little wade into the water, although the sandflies managed to get a few bites in without me realizing until later. By the time we turned around, the tide had come in and the horseback riders had finished their ride along the sandbar. It felt more like Hawaii than the cold, windy New Zealand we are accustomed to, so this was a nice change of experience.

thought this looked like a mummified foot

not yet ripe blackberries

pukeko sighting!

quail on the lookout