We got up fairly early in Strahan as we had a 6 hour drive ahead of us. This drive went from the “Wild West Coast” to what turned out to be the “Mild East Coast”. The drive was not without its challenges, with about 60km of wet dirt roads spread amongst the curvy windy asphalt covered in road kill. Have I not mentioned the road-kill previously?
So, basically, do NOT drive at dusk or dawn, particularly if you don’t want a few dents and a bloody bumper. The road-kill here is EVERYWHERE! There are some sections of road where you’ll see a dead Wallaby (or some other animal which can’t be readily identified) about every 50 meters! It’s terribly disappointing and quite gross! No photos were taken, sorry for you lovers of blood and guts!
There was a spot off the road in the middle of nowhere where some guy has built wooden sculptures inside a building called “The Wall”. We didn’t enter the building, but we did take a couple photos of his sculptures outside on the light poles. First up is this grasshopper.
I’m not sure what this one is, perhaps a June Bug? We didn’t have time to go inside to see what “The Wall” was all about. I don’t think it had anything to do with Donald Trump., but likely had a lot to do with some wacky tobacky.
As we neared our next home for three days we stopped at this wonderful overlook of Coles Bay, with vineyards in the foreground to simply to make it more beautiful.
Our ultimate destination was Saffire Freycinet, an ultra-luxury lodge adjacent to Freycinet National Park.
It’s truly incredible! Look at this view upon entering the lobby!
Equally impressive views from our room! Three days of this! It’s ruined us for Livermore! Ok, Livermore didn’t have that much going for it in the first place.
About an hour after arrival we had our first excursion, to visit the on-site Tasmanian Devil enclosure. They have 5 Devils here (4 females and 1 male) all of them around the age of five, and past the point of reproducing. The Devils are kept here to protect them from a nasty mouth cancer that actually is spread from Devil to Devil, and has caused them to become an endangered species.
One of the Devils (May) could hear us coming, and met us at the edge of the enclosure. She even gave us the famous Devil evil snarl!
The next moment she was perfectly cute. Just like a teenager!
Our guide, Ash, was here to feed them, with some dead possums they get from a spot that is known to have disease free animals. Here is a video of two of the females, May and Masie, absolutely attacking this poor dead possum. It was funny that some of the guests couldn’t handle watching this.
The only male, Barney, was isolated as the females, despite the fact they are too old to reproduce, were in heat. Here he is knowing there is food coming, and anxious for it to appear!
Finally, Barney gets fed! He’s yanking on that piece of meat like a dog!
The next morning we had an excursion into Freycinet National Park for the iconic Wineglass Bay hike, yet another of Tasmania’s 60 Great Short Walks!
The hike is fairly easy, and quite crowded as this is THE hike to do in Freycinet National Park. That’s our lodge, Sapphire Freycinet, across Coles Bay. It really does blend in well with it’s surroundings.
The view of Wineglass Bay from the lookout is spectacular!
We had to have our guide take a photo. Thanks Ash!
Ok, one photo from here wasn’t enough!
We took a photo with our new friends from Brisbane (they just moved there from Mount Gambier…strange coincidence) Ian and Sherril McKay. We plan to have dinner with them one night while we are in Brisbane. People in Australia are super friendly and easy to get to know!
One last look at Wineglass Bay. Our guide, Ash, advised us that the tourist authorities will advise you that the name comes from the shape of the bay, but in actuality the names comes from the fact that this was the site of a major whaling station, and when they brought in the whales for slaughter, the entire bay turned red. Thanks for bringing us back to reality Ash!! Oh well, it’s a beautiful spot now, and whaling is strictly prohibited in Australia these days, so it remains quite blue!
Coming up next, more of the gorgeous Freycinet National Park!
Loved your photos and text…. I’m trying to catchup on your travels