Tasmania, Australia - April 2019

[Galago]

The wombats look really healthy with no sign of the dreadful eczema like disease that was devastating them in 2016. Perhaps this was area specific, I don't know. Certainly the wombats I saw on Maria Island were not in good health and their numbers had been seriously reduced in Narawntapu NP. Did you learn anything about this?

[Treepol]

@monalisa I've not been to Warrawee since the big flood of 2016 which devastated Latrobe and neighbouring farms due to the bad road conditions, however I have heard that the platypus have returned but are not as easy to see as before the flood. 

 

There is oodles of cuteness in your TR, makes me think I should get out and about more, definitely need to visit Fernglade. Your wombat photos have me thinking that a trip to Cradle Mountain is long overdue.

[monalisa]

22 hours ago, janzin said:

omg Wombats are little fuzzballs! Loving it!

 

I'm curious if you saw much there in the way of birds...or are were you just not really looking at/for the smaller birds? Tasmania is considered an excellent birding destination!

 

@janzin I wasn't trying especially hard, but was somewhat actively looking out for unusual or colourful birds. On the walks we did, I noticed a lot of tiny brown ones but they were extremely quick to dart into bushes. I couldn't even see them properly with my eyes, they were that quick! I would suggest that Cradle Mountain is the wrong place for birding, but I have read that most national parks in TAS should be good. Actually come to think of it, the place I saw the most variety of birds was somebody's front yard in Burnie, so I'm sure they are around, just not where I was!

 

 

15 hours ago, Galago said:

The wombats look really healthy with no sign of the dreadful eczema like disease that was devastating them in 2016. Perhaps this was area specific, I don't know. Certainly the wombats I saw on Maria Island were not in good health and their numbers had been seriously reduced in Narawntapu NP. Did you learn anything about this?

 

@Galago No I hadn't heard about this at all, but it would explain why we never saw any at Narawntapu!  I'm glad to have seen that the Cradle Mountain wombats looked healthy at least. Yikes! I wonder how many (if any) are left at Narawntapu

 

 

10 hours ago, Treepol said:

definitely need to visit Fernglade. Your wombat photos have me thinking that a trip to Cradle Mountain is long overdue.

 

@Treepol I hope you have better luck than either I or Patty had at Fernglade! I want you to see them now just to prove that they actually exist there!  And absolutely, the Cradle Mountain wombats await!! 

 

[monalisa]

After the excitement of the mother and baby wombat (which I learned, like all marsupial babies is called a joey), we headed to Ronny Creek to look for more wombats (lol). But this time, they would be set against the gorgeous backdrop of the Ronny Creek to Dove Lake track! 

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone we passed on the track excitedly told us about wombats up ahead. We passed 4 or 5 before finding another baby wombat, all on its lonesome.

 

 

 

Presumably the mother was one of the wombats we had passed. It seemed like a significant distance to be from her joey, but since there are no natural predators around, the wombats have probably learned to chillax.

 

 

 

After a while watching this joey, we went back to one of the bigger ones a bit closer to the track.

Check out these claws!

 

 

 

 

As you can see, wombats spend a great deal of time munching grass. 

 

 

 

Hmmm there looks like there is tastier grass over there..

 

 

 

How do I cross with these people standing here?

 

 

 

We moved aside to let the wombat cross. Once it crossed, it ran off to a distant patch and started grazing again. Livin' the simple life..

 

 

Back at the Peppers lodge, a wallaby and pademelon were waiting for us.

 

 

 

 

From here we drove to Devils @ Cradle, which is a sanctuary for what are "insurance population" Tasmanian Devils. Facial Tumour Disease has wiped out potentially up to 90% of the population, so these sanctuaries house healthy devils that will hopefully breed more healthy devils, and play a part in getting the general population back up to decent numbers. There are some signs that a resistance is building to the disease, so fingers crossed for them. We watched some of the joeys run around, squabbling. Hearing their devil screeches was an experience. Once you hear it, you will understand their name. Hopefully someday I will be lucky enough to spot one of these incredible creatures in the wild.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not a great picture but this one shows one of the enclosures that I was impressed by. It is a fenced off part of actual forest, not recreated habitat. I believe most of the devils are in there. There are other more zoo-like enclosures, but I believe they were for specific purposes e.g. joeys only, pairs for mating, etc.  I recommend the experience as I could see that its purpose was educational and that the aim there was to save the species, rather than to present the animals for human entertainment.

 

 

 

After the devil visit, we had dinner at the Peppers Lodge once again before returning to our accommodation. I went in for a shower while Tim decided to go for another night walk. When he returned to the cabin he told me he had seen a bunch of possums, and a possum/pademelon fight. Boooo. Of course I missed it, and it was now raining.

 

The rain eventually let up, but what was I to do? The possums were probably gone now and I'd already changed into my PJs ready for bed. After a few minutes umm-ing and ahh-ing, I threw on my raincoat and went out in my pyjamas of course! 

 

Was this little guy going to judge me and my navy and magenta snowflake themed PJs?  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cute!

[Atdahl]

@monalisa.  Wow...wow...wow!  What awesome photos!  I don't think I have seen better Platypus photos and the Wombats are definitely about the cutest thing ever (Although one particular lion cub still ranks #1 ).  Thanks so much for posting the details of your trip since I will certainly keep this information handy for a future TAS trip.  

 

Also, kudos for posting yet another TR...you are becoming quite prolific recently .

[monalisa]

3 hours ago, Atdahl said:

Although one particular lion cub still ranks #1 

 

@Atdahl Of course! I don't see how she could ever be topped!! 

 

3 hours ago, Atdahl said:

Also, kudos for posting yet another TR...you are becoming quite prolific recently .

 

Enjoy this short lived burst. We have absolutely nothing on the horizon planned now, it's very sad! We'll have to live vicariously through you and your Madagascar TR!

 

[gatoratlarge]

very cool!  I love these pics---best platypus pics and footage I've seen!  I saw a platypus near Cairns (Daintree?) but my pics are pretty rough---never saw a wombat and a devil??  I need to go to Tasmania!  Are the devils making a comeback?  Wasn't there some sort of cancer that was taking a toll on them?

[gatoratlarge]

Aww I typed before I read (I peeked at the pics first ) thanks for the info.  Very sad it's effect on 90% of the population!

[Chakra]

Cuteness overload indeed.  

Just for Trivial Pursuit : wombies have royal connection too.  HRH Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, second in line to the throne is known as Wombat  A nickname given to him by his late mother Lady Di, during their first trip down under, which he cherishes .

[monalisa]

@Chakra Thanks I love trivia like that!

She must have seen how cute they were and applied that nickname to her boy, how sweet

 

@gatoratlarge Thanks! Glad I have a few more platys to share then!

 

 

I'll do my best to speed through this last part of the TR before it completely falls by the wayside.

On the last day, we left Cradle Mountain in the morning (after quickly checking the platypus pond, only to come up empty again). We decided to hit up Mole Creek caravan park. The Sassafras River runs alongside the caravan park and is another supposed platypus hotspot. We walked up and down alongside the river for perhaps 45 minutes with no luck. One of the campers told us they had seen one that morning but that they had never been able to get a good photo. 

It was disappointing not finding one, but I think if we had had oodles of time, it would have been a great spot to wait. That particular stretch of river is narrow, somewhat shallow and clear, so if we had been lucky enough to see one it would have been amazing.

 

We resigned ourselves to the idea that we would probably not see another platypus on this trip as it was already around 10am, but we would try Deloraine once again. I stood on the same bridge for another 45 minutes but this time nothing. It was warmer than last time and there were a lot of ducks making noise and general commotion along the river.   

 

 

Tasmanian native hens

 

 

About an hour in, I was waved down by my husband and MIL who had found one. YAY!

I was happy to see another one, but it was pretty far, and I had gotten greedy from the previous encounters I'd had. I wanted more, more, MORE!!

 

 

I headed further up the river just to "check". It turned out to be a lovely walk in a surprisingly lovely town.  

 

 

 

 

 

Complete with crazy artwork

 

 

 

As I walked further up the river I saw another bridge. 

Yay for bridges once again!!

 

After only about 5 minutes I saw movement and knew instinctively what it was and ran right over to where the bubbles were.

 

 

 

 

 

The white blur at the bottom is because I am leaning right over the bridge at this point. He was right beneath where I was standing and I would have fallen in if I had tried anymore 

 

 

 

A kindly older gentleman stopped on the bridge to talk to me about platypuses and unfortunately I missed many great photo ops trying not to be rude. Oh well.. next time! 

 

 

 

There was just one more animal on the wishlist for this trip.. a kangaroo.

The last stop on the itinerary was Narawntapu National Park, a place that dubs itself the "Serengeti of Tasmania" (lol). From the marketing material we could expect to see kangaroos, wallabies, pademelons and wombats.

 

We arrived mid afternoon and did a 2 hour walk through the park towards the beach.

This place was pademelon central. We saw so many that I didn't bother taking many more pictures of them.

 

 

 

No other macropods on the trail though, until we got to the beach where this one lonely wallaby was munching on some leaves

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The one bird I saw, which unfortunately I don't know how to identify.

 

 

 

By the time we completed the trail, it was late afternoon and the wallabies began to appear out of nowhere. 

 

 

 

 

 

What are you lookin at??

 

 

 

 

 

Is this baby pademelon not the cutest?!

 

 

Still no kangaroo so we headed out to a large field area where we expected they might be grazing.

And there they were in numbers. We could see now why this place was Serengeti-esque

 

 

 

 

These are Eastern Grey Kangaroos

 

 

 

Both young..

 

 

 

And old (check out those claws)

 

 

 

 

With that, the final animal was ticked off the list! It was time to go home. 

 

 

 

Thanks for hanging around and reading my TR! I hope you're not too sad it's over 

 

 

[Zubbie15]

Thanks for sharing @monalisa, I hope the next time we get to Australia we’ll be able to include Tasmania.  It definitely seems very different from the other parts of the country that we went to on our first visit. Do you know if the animals are as visible in the winter? I expect our next visit will have to be during the long summer school  holidays here, in July or August. 

[Atdahl]

@monalisa wow, more great photos!  You had such good luck with all the animals.  I can't believe you got more great photos of a Platypus.  Bridges are certainly the key .  

 

It's amazing how much you saw in such a short time.  Tasmania is definitely towards the top of my list now.

 

Alan

[offshorebirder]

I love the Platypus and Wombat overload!    Congrats on what sounds like a very fun trip.

[monalisa]

On 5/20/2019 at 7:31 AM, Zubbie15 said:

 Do you know if the animals are as visible in the winter? I expect our next visit will have to be during the long summer school  holidays here, in July or August. 

 

@Zubbie15 It depends on the species. If you were looking for echidnas or platypus I believe there would be much lower chance in winter. Kangaroos and wombats should still be around but somewhat less active.

If you could choose going at the tail end of August I would pick that over July as July is the middle of winter. That said, our winter is not as bad as American or European winters (average prob 10C/50F), and with climate change our winters have been pretty out of whack in recent years. It's winter now and this week in Sydney it's been 26C/79F, so the animal behaviour may also be affected.

[Caracal]

@monalisa - this report is a wonderful advertisement for Tasmania and its wildlife. Can't believe the wonderful platypus sightings and your superb photos of them. I have had occasional glimpses of them in our local river but I stress  the words  occasional and glimpse!

I believe the bird in #35 is an immature Nankeen Night-Heron.

Your well planned trip certainly paid dividends with the abundant wildlife and great scenery.

Did enjoy the wombat photos and the video but there have been times when wombats have seemed far from cute to me - namely on two occasions when they got under the house I used to live in out of town!

 

[Kitsafari]

Tasmania has always been high on our travel list and I still don't know why we havent gotten there yet!

 

you had such awesome sightings - incredible platypus, cute fuzzy wombats and exciting devils! thanks for sharing. 

 

wombats are so adorable!