TOP: Tasmanian Devil
MIDDLE: Tasmanian Devil yawning
BOTTOM: Me, top of Mt Amos, with Wineglass Bay in the background.
FEELING GO - TASMANIAN DEVILS AND MELBOURNE REVELS
(REMEMBER: IF YOU'RE MENTIONED BY NAME ITS COS I LOVE YOU DEARLY. IF YOU'RE NOT, ITS ONLY TO PROTECT MYSELF IN THE LIBEL COURT)
With The Olympics and a little capital behind me the time came to leave Sydney and go and see some of the country. Ever since I had seen the whirling cloud of power and incomprehensible noise on the Warner Bros cartoons I had always wanted to see a Tasmanian Devil in the flesh, and now was that time. It took four days to get to Tasmania, calling in to Melbourne and waiting for the overnight SPIRIT OF TASMANIA to take me accross the Bass Strait to Devenport, an unassuming port town on Tasmania's northern shore. By now it had become clear that the mascot for Tasmanian tourism is the Thylacene, or as it is more commonly known, the Tasmanian Tiger. For those of you not in the know the Tasmanian Tiger is a large dog like creature with a huge gaping jaw and tiger like stripes on its lower back. It is also extinct, and once I had spent a little time walking round the town of Devenport it was easy to see why it had been chosen as the island's symbol. The last known Thylacene died in captivity in Hobart Zoo in 1936, and although it is offically extinct, people claim to have seen them from time to time out in the wilderness - more of that later.
THE TOUR
Since my time was limited, I had decided to take an organised tour of the island. I was picked up early in the morning, thrown into a "luxury" minibus and away we went, a real pot pourri of cultures and backgrounds. There were some mad Japanese girls who until that day I don't think had ever been further than the corner shop and became tremendously excited by every little trifiling detail of the trip, which was a constant source of amusment for the majority of us more seasoned travellers. God, that sounds dead snooty, dunnit?
Highlights of the tour - Wildlife Park (see below), Fairy Penguins, Wineglass Bay, Port Arthur (former prison colony), Hobart (small world, bumped into a good friend of my cousin), Cradle Mountain National Park - fantastic.
THE WILDLIFE
Because of its isolated nature, Tasmania has many species which are unique to the island, such as spotted tailed quolls, species of wombat and other things. I was able to finally see fairy penguins, but paid the price as I fell over and cut my knee. But what I really want to prattle on about are my own personal favourite animals in the whole wide world:- TASMANIAN DEVILS!!!
HISTORY:- Tasmanian Devils were once prolific on mainland Australia, but were driven to extinction by the introduction of Dingos by Man when He first populated Australia all those thousands of years ago. None were introduce to Tasmania and hence the Devils have survived, despite a brush with Western Settlers in more recent times. FACTS:- Despite their vicious reputation, Tasmanian Devils are not killers but scavengers. They use their powerful jaws to rip flash and bone from the dead carcasses of whatever creatures they find. In some ways they help farmers by removing the dead sheep from their land. A Tasmanian Devil could bite your hand off no problem. When it is mating season, males fight lengthy and barbaric battles for the right to mate. Once a female has chosen a mate, the male drags her around for three days before commiting the act. This is a direct contrast to the particular human ritual of mating normally carried out in the backs of cars and in nightclub alleyways, where usually the male commits the act and then the female follows him round for three days after. Incidentally, the Tasmanian Devil has one of the biggest sperm in the animal kingdom!
Now, would you like to see some?
Ohh, go on then...
TOP: Tasmanian Devil
MIDDLE: Tasmanian Devil yawning
BOTTOM: Me, top of Mt Amos, with Wineglass Bay in the background.
MELBOURNE
After my week in Tasmania I headed back to Melbourne for a week of sightseeing. Or at least that was the plan. Instead I was shocked to find that all the hard living in Sydney and hectic schedule of touring Tasmania had taken the wind out of my sails, so I just spent the week sleeping. I did meet some top folk in the Spencer St Hostel, and had a few beers with them of a night. Oh, and we got attacked by a taxi driver one night aswell. Oh, and I went up a big building to look at the city as the sun set. Oh, and I did get to meet my mystery e-mail pen pal after two and a half years of correspondence. But that was about it. I wanted to go to the Snowy Mountains, but the logistics were against me. Instead, I set about heading north again to Sydney, briefly stopping for a night out, before making my way back to Byron Bay where I had planned to stay for Christmas.