Cradle Mountain, Tasmania Trip (Day 9)

23rd March 2016, Wednesday

Breakfast

Woke up on and off during the night but still woke up @ 7.00 am as we need to move out to Cradle Mountain today. So we packed our things and loaded them up to the car. Then we drove out to the bakery shop in town, which we bought some breads for breakfast. After that, we drove to Launceston, another town (almost 2 hours ride away). We travelled past many fields with sheep and cows, the roads were all wavy and up and down. We also passed by many smaller towns along the way.

Once we reached Launceston, we went to Coles supermarket to stock up water and food as we know there was very ulu up in cradle mountain and the restaurants were quite costly. We also went to pump some petrol for the car too (Don't want to run out of gas out in the nowhere...kekeke...). Then we continued another 150km up to the cradle mountain...long long way. We even played some music from our handphones so it won't get too bored and sleepy. There was even a sign to let the travellers know that they were leaving the last town along the way. We stopped by a small cafe named Round Hill Coffee, along the road. It was small, with only one group of customers inside. There was a big and fluffy cat sitting on the table outside too. We ordered a soup and chicken cutlet for lunch. After that, we continued on the road again.

Finally we reached Cradle Mountain Wildness Village. I went down to do the check-in, the staff informed us that there were only 3 eating places area the mountain and we will need to make reservation if we want to dine in the restaurants. And it was fully booked for the night too. Then she gave us the direction for us to drive to our cottage and the parking lot. We unloaded our stuffs once we reached the cottage. The cottage was not very nice from the outside but the inside was quite nicely decorated. But i do feel quite cold inside as the heater was not feeling strong enough. And there was no network totally and we can't use the wifi unless we pay for it and it was only at the reception area. not even in the cottage. Anyway we just rested for a while.

After that, we drove out to the visitors information centre to grab some information. We also booked the Devils@Cradle tour for our evening program. So we just stayed around there till 4.30 pm (really nothing much to do there). Then we drove up to the Devils@ Cradle office which was about 1 km away from the visitors information centre. As it was still early before the tour starts, the staff let us in to see the Tasmania Devils first on our own. My friend got scared as they resembles to rats, so she didn't want to go see. So i went alone down to see the devils and quolls (the devils' cousins) and wormbats. One of the devils was quite a bully inside its dome, keep bullying on the other devil, which was smaller in size. The wormbats were hidden at the back, we managed to catch them (as the tour didn't go to their area). They were very fluffy and big in size too.

The rest of the people started to come in slowly too, the tour guide gathered us in a briefing room @ 5.30 pm. In the room, she gave us introduction to the devils and Tasmanian tigers which were extinct. And because of this, the devils went up in the chain of the life cycle in Tasmania. However, the devils' population went down sharply due to a cancer disease which only targets on the devils and it was spreading fast. The tour guide told us that there wasn't any cure yet till now. Hence, the devils were on the endangered list now. She mentioned those kept in the protected area are currently free from the disease, however, they were also worried to let the devils out in the wild. She also showed us a 10 minutes video on the devils' behaviour and lifestyle. Apparently, the female devil can give birth up to 20 young but she could only feed 4 young. Due to this, many young can't survive, only the strongest can survive. Sometimes, the males do fight to see who is the strongest, however they don't fight to death. Once the winner emerges, they will stop and recognise the winner as the strongest. Every devil have their own unique white marking on their body too. So the staffs were using the different marking to recognise each devil. This marking will help the devils to camouflage in the bushes to hide away from their predators. After that, she explained more details on the devils, which later she told us she is going to feed the devils. So she went down to get some wormbats' torso for the devils. And she went in to the devils' open area and put down the torso.

We could see one of the devils (name: Chopper) approached and started to bite on the torso. However, when the other smaller devil tried to approach the torso, the other one made some loud noises to get him away from the torso. The guide told us that was the way the devils communicated, by making loud noises. And the devils' bite can be very fatal, its teeth were very sharp that it can break off the bones. But fortunately, the devils don't attack humans as far as she knows. And the devils can also open their mouth to at least 90 degrees angle, we could see it when the devils yawn.
Later, the guide brought us to see other 2 younger devils (age of 12 months) and later the compound where they put 2 males and 2 females for mating purpose. Normally, they will try to let the devils to mate naturally when the devils reach the suitable age.

Dinner

Then later she took us to the quolls' compound, where she also fed them with the raw meats. The quolls were smaller in size, weighed about 2 kg plus and they jump on trees. After the tour, we were free to go off or walk around to the see the devils. So we went back to the cottage, where we started to make our dinner. After preparing the dinner, we just watched the TV while having our dinner. Then we just rested for the day.

Hotel Stayed:
Cradle Mountain Wildness Village

Places Visited:
Devils@Cradle

Bicheno, Tasmania Trip (Day 7)

21st March 2016, Monday

Today is checkout day and we are heading to Bicheno. We woke up @ 6.30 am and prepared to go Daci & Daci Bakery for breakfast. We walked to the bakery and there were a few customers there inside.  The breads and tarts looked very nice to eat, we ordered a french toast, salmon burger, sandwich and creme burlee. The food were big portion and quite nice. After our breakfast, we headed back to the apartment for our luggage and prepared to hit the road to Bicheno. We loaded our luggage up to the car. Firstly, we headed to Kates berry farm, which was an hour ride away.

Pancakes with mixed berries

When we reached Kates berry farm, it was just a small shop and a cafe. We bought some fruit jams and special chocolate, like it was coasted with fruit jams. Then we ordered a pancake with mixed berries and we chose a table to sit with a super nice sea view in the distance. After relaxing, we continued to Bicheno. It was a small town with everything  in sight. We checked to the chalet house, Bicheno By the Bay and we booked for the night penguins tour for the same day too. Then we drove up to our cottage. It was a small place with 2 rooms and a common toilet. We can also see the sea just across the road. It was cosy to stay in.

Living room of our cottage

After we settled in, we went out to explore the town. We walked up to the whale lookout, which located on top of Governor's island. From there, we can see the ocean on one side and the whole of bicheno town on the other side. Then we walked down to the blowhole which was near the beach. The wind was blowing strong too, love the weather. We just stood there and enjoyed the sea wind and listened to the waves. After seeing the blowhole, we headed out to find food as we haven't eat lunch. We walked to the seafood eating place, but we decided to give it a miss for that moment. Instead, we went out in the town and went in a small cafe called Pork's place. We ordered a large seafood platter, a pizza and we finished everything. The staff was quite surprised we were able to finish everything on the plates. One thing bad in the cafe was that we had to chase houseflies away while eating...hohohoho....

Blowhole

Then we went to walk around in the small supermarket nearby and went back to the beach again while waiting for the penguin tour. After walking for some time, we went back to the cottage where we watched tv first to pass time. We left the house again @ 7.30 pm and walked to the penguin tour office. My friend bought a penguin hat to keep her warm while waiting for the bus to pick us up. Then the bus came and we boarded and the bus went on to pick up some more people from other hotels. Then the bus brought us to the beach where the guide was waiting for us. I saw some stars up in the sky but didn't manage to see southern lights.

Courtesy of Bicheno Penguins Tour

The tour guide gave us introduction on the blue penguins (which is the smallest species of the penguins) and photography was not allowed as the penguins were not used to the flash lights. The tour guide told us that the penguins have been around the beach for many years and they were originally on the island slightly further called diamond island. The tour guide also told us that we can even walk to the diamond island during very low tide. There were too many penguins living on the island until there was no space, so the penguins now swim up to the shore of bicheno. Currently, it is the season where the penguins are changing their feathers. So the penguins were all hiding inside their burrows for weeks, so the penguins count was very low. But luckily, we did managed to see one penguin very up close and it was very fluffy with the feathers. The tour guide showed us some wooden boxes which she told us that they were done by the students for the penguins to stay in. She opened one box and we could see all the dropped feathers inside but there was no penguins.

The tour guide also told us that once there was a penguin family that the parents penguins actually moved to the burrow next door just to get away from its own kids. It is natural that the parents penguins will leave their kids to survive on the own when the kids are old enough. And the female penguins will always have 2 eggs each time it gets pregnant where the male and female will take care of each egg. And the peak season to see the penguins will be around August, where there may be around 500 penguins around the shore.

After the tour, we headed back to the starting point where we boarded the bus to go back to the tour office. It was raining lightly, we walked back to the cottage, where we rested for the day.

Hotel Stayed:
Bicheno By the Bay

Places Visited:
Kates Berry Farm
Bicheno