TASSIE WILDLIFE

The ever-present plovers.  Apparently very territorial and protective of their young.  Not surprising, as they nest on the ground.

 Tassie devils at a wildlife park.  Lovely healthy teenagers.  Although carnivorous they only eat carrion.

Also at the wildlife park were quolls.  They are carnivorous too, but they like to hunt and kill their prey.  This guy was very snoozy when the keeper first brought him out to show us.  But he got very fidgety when he woke up.

These young wombats were very happy and healthy.  They were orphans that were being reared by the wildlife park, for release back to the wild.

Then in the wild (actually nightly visitors to a friend's garden) were these cute little pademelons.

MURALS IN SHEFFIELD, TASMANIA

Sheffield in Tasmania is a small country town, with a great love of art.  Many of the shops on the main street retain their old world charm. 

Every year artists from around the world submit a small drawing for consideration for the annual mural competition.  Those who are chosen, come to the town and paint their mural.  These are left up for at least a year, sometimes longer, and are on display in the park.

This Tassie Devil is having great fun sploshing paint on the camel's head 

One of my favourites.  This guy in his hammock overlooking the lake 

Check out the reflections.  Past and present. 

TASSIE FESTIVALS

Kerry had never been to a music festival and wanted to cross that one off her bucket list.  So she enrolled us as volunteers at The Falls Festival in Marion Bay, thus avoiding the $300 cost of a weekend ticket.  

Our job (for 2 x 3-hour shifts over the course of the weekend) was to keep people out of the sand dunes on the designated area of the beach, thus protecting the nesting birds. Much nicer job than being on the loo crew!!  Here's me on our first shift.  

Opening ceremony and
traditional smoking of the space

The composting loos, organised by Bob Brown Foundation, were well kept, beautifully decorated, and mostly odour free.  There was a bunch of dried lavender in each one, so you could always hold a lavender sprig under your nose if necessary.

Amazing views out across the bay
from the main stage area

We had great fun 'people watching'

The weather got pretty hot, so people took to the beach to cool off

There was some interesting art and mosaics around

The Wilderness Society were at the festival and we went out on a 2-hour tour with them in to the nearby bush and mountain area.  We parked up the mini-bus and walked in to the forest, about 18 of us.  It was a great surprise to this young guy who was still in his swag, camped out in the middle of nowhere, in the shelter of an overhanging rock. He had been hiking and taking photographs.  So much for isolation.

We put up the annex to the van.  Wonderful additional space.  When it came to getting the tent pegs out again, it was another story.  We dug around with a screwdriver, twiddled, added water, dug some more, and eventually got the last one out. Hurray!!!

While this festival was very interesting, the music wasn't really my thing.  So a couple of weeks later we went off to CYGNET FOLK FESTIVAL.  That was more like it.  Fantastic music and great variety - not just your standard 'folk'.  And some dancing too.  Unfortunately it rained and was pretty cold most of the weekend, so not many pictures.  But we had a great time.

This band are called 'John John Festival''  They are from Japan and play celtic music.  Apparently it is very popular in Japan.  They played with such joy.

A display of home made instruments.  This one appeared to be steam driven

The Central Highlands of Tasmania

After arriving in Tassie, we spent one day in the north of the island.

We visited Beauty Point where they have Platypus World and Seahorse World.

Platypus

A pot-bellied seahorse.  

The male fertilizes and hatches the eggs in his pouch. But the big belly is just for show.  Big bellies are considered to be very sexy in seahorse society

Leafy sea-dragon - my favourites

Commercial poppy fields look beautiful in full flower

 We drove on to Cradle Mountain where we camped for one night

Dove Lake and Cradle Mountain

Echidna

Currawong

Kerry and I did the 3 hour hike around Dove Lake with Cradle Mountain in the background.  Beautiful day for it.

The road heading up and out of Queenstown was very winding.  I was glad to be on the opposite side of the road to the almost sheer drop.

The Central Highlands of Tassie. Stunning scenery

Visited 'The Wall' at Derwent Bridge.  It is a large indoor installation, carved by one man, in wood, depicting the story of Australian wildlife as well as the early settlers.  The work is stunning and the detail on the hands is incredible.