The day started with a bang. I got up before the rest of the family and went exploring. Have 4wd, will explore the side tracks. I took a small dirt road that I thought might lead to a surf beach – I did take my board, but there’d never been enough waves to go out. The road eventually ran out before it came to a beach, but on the way back I saw a farmer riding a wheeled sled – kind of like a double size skateboard – and being pulled along by 3 dogs. Sorry, didn’t have the camera with me. I stopped for a chat, and she said that they’ll only pull her downhill, but both she and they enjoy it a lot. She was a slight lady in her 40s from Yorkshire - accent clear as a bell.
After packing, we headed north. Our first stop was the Tasmanian Devil Conservatory just before Eaglehawk Neck. The devils are dying from some parasitic cancer that spreads and kills them all. It started in the north west and is slowly making its way through the whole population. It’s quite a disaster because the devils eat the foxes, and the foxes eat the rest of the animals. No devils = problems for the rest of the species.
They’re going to build a fence across Eaglehawk Next to stop devils getting through, so that the small
population on the Tasman Peninsula will survive. For now, they’re breeding that population as hard they can, and the Devil Conservatory is part of that. It’s open to the public as a Devil Zoo, and also has local kangaroos and padmelons.
Here they are fighting – you can see why a facial cancer can spread so easy.
This is Kath’s favourite – she took this from a glass bubble people can get into inside the Devil’s enclosure.
From there, we had a quick run up through Tasmania, stopping at Ross for lunch, and then we went to Visit Andrew and Jenny Taylor. Jenny is some distant relative of Kath’s, and Andrew has been friends with us for a long time – drove Kath’s car for our wedding, for instance, and once I flatted with Andrew when I first came to live in Melbourne.
It was lovely to catch up with them, and we stayed for several hours. Andrew, btw, works in the opium poppy factory maintaining the equipment. Yes, that’s right – one of Tasmania’s mainstream crops is the opium poppy. They have a license to grow the poppy for medicinal use – they supply the world. There’s a lot of poppy fields too (they’re quite pretty, and were in flower while we were there), and they’re not particularly high security – just a fence with a notice saying to keep out. But apparently, if you stop and cross the fence, you’ll be visited within minutes by the police.
Finally, we ran up to the resort we were staying at for the night. We couldn’t find our normal budget accommodation, so Kath had booked as at the Tamar Valley Resort at Grindelwald. The kids were just hanging out to get to this place – it had a swimming pool, the first in Tasmania. So as soon as we checked in, they were changed and ready, impatient for their swim.
While they were swimming, I went out for Takeaway. The resort restaurant prices were …. Well, what you’d expect from a resort. But takeaway – I don’t think they really understand this concept in the Tamar Valley. I went down to the highway, and in a series of shops and shopping centers, I only found 4 takeaways. And they were all shut. Huh? And finally, when I found a thai place, it was empty. But nice. Yum.
After tea, we walked up a little hillock above the resort called the Tamarhorn, which has a good view down the Tamar Valley.
Also, it had a view north to the bush fire that was threatening to close our road for the next day.
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