Hey, everyone! This past week has been a mix of adventure and relaxation. After a trip up north with my friend Mo to Cradle Mountain and the surrounding areas, I have been (mostly) chilling back in Hobart the remainder of the week. Cradle Mountain was really quite amazing and I wish I’d had more time to explore it!

Little Mishaps and Little Blue Penguins

The beginning of Mo’s and my adventure was slightly delayed. My mom would say it’s because Mercury is in retrograde haha and maybe she’s right! Mo was supposed to take a direct flight from Perth to Hobart. Instead, his flight was cancelled and he ended up flying Perth to Sydney, with an overnight in Sydney. The next day, he had to fly Sydney to Melbourne and THEN to Hobart. A much more frustrating flight than mine had been.

Still, he got here (a day late). He picked me up and we drove to our accommodation for the night which was a town called… Promised Land. I am not making that up. After dropping off our stuff, we decided to do a mini adventure before the sun set.

We drove from Promised Land to Devonport to try and see the little blue penguins, which are the world’s smallest penguins. I had seen a dead one along the beach my first few days in Hobart, but hadn’t yet seen one in Tasmania. I guess I’ve technically seen them on Penguin Island in Perth, but those ones were being cared for and not “in the wild.”

Anyway, the penguins are usually hunting for food all day long, but they all come back once it gets dark out. Mo and I had arrived too early so instead we drove to Latrobe which is supposed to be the “platypus capital of the world”. While I had seen a platypus already, I was hoping Mo would be able to see one as well. The walk around the forest reserve was nice, and there were little pademelons hanging around the area. No platypus, though!

We stopped for food and then went back to see the penguins. Apparently, bright light really disturbs the penguins but they can’t see red light. Luckily, I had a headtorch with a red light setting. They were making so much noise! They were really cute, too. A pair of them were even rooting haha.

From Devonport, we drove to Preservation Bay, which is supposed to be a prime location for spotting bioluminescent plankton. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any, so we began our journey back to Promised Land.

The cutest thing ever… upon returning to our accommodation, we saw a possum… and it proceeded to climb up the post to our balcony! I was dying. So adorable.

I was feeling pretty sleepy, so after reading a little bit, I went off to bed – looking forward to Cradle Mountain the following day.

Cradle Mountain

Cradle Mountain, baby! We arrived in the morning and it was feeling quite brisk out with a slight drizzle. After buying our park passes, we hopped on a shuttle and got off at the Ronny Creek stop – which is supposed to be the best location for seeing wombats.

While I’d seen wombats with Shawn around St. Helen’s, Cradle Mountain is supposed to have a thriving population of them. Shawn was actually in Cradle Mountain only a day prior and told me he saw probably a dozen of them, some of them very up close. I was excited!

And then… there were none hahaha. We walked along the boardwalk and then went for a hike up to Lilla Lake, to Wombat Pool, and then down to Dove Lake, where we were able to see a slightly obscured view of Cradle Mountain.

I was feeling a little let down, worrying I might not see a single wombat at Cradle Mountain. I was also trying to keep in mind that I was lucky enough to see a number of them already – but I wanted Mo to see them, too!

After Dove Lake, we took the shuttle back down to Ronny Creek one last time. The bus driver pointed out a wombat right on the other side of the creek as we pulled up to the stop. What a difference an hour or two makes. Suddenly, wombats were all over the place!

It was so cute to observe them up close. All they do is munch, munch, munch. I don’t think I saw a single wombat that was just hanging out. They were all eating.

My favorite sighting was a momma and her baby – typical.

The behavior of the wombats at Cradle Mountain was much different from those Shawn and I had seen around Ben Lomond National Park. I’m not sure if it’s because they’re so used to humans at Cradle Mountain or not, but they were pretty calm around us. Those I’d seen before (and since then) were very skittish and as soon as they noticed you were in a somewhat close proximity, they would flee into the shrubbery.

The wombats are very cute. Their faces are so square and they look like they could be a plush toy.

I wish I’d been able to spend more time with the wombats but we had a long drive to Launceston, so we began our journey to the accommodation for the evening.

Cataract Gorge at Launceston

Before the sun departed for the day, we decided to explore around Launceston. Cataract Gorge seemed to be a cool spot, recommended by my friend Kelsey (and also the internet) – so that’s where we went!

It was a really cool spot, but the most RANDOM thing about it… was that there were wild peacocks there. I have never, ever seen a peacock in the wild before. My friend Liam told me there was a resident peacock at Rottnest Island, and another at a university in Perth, but I’d never seen either and hadn’t thought much about it. What a totally random thing to see in Australia… a peacock. Why are they here?! Apparently, they were brought over during colonization.

There were also some really cute, darkly colored wallabies.

As it started to get dark out, we sought out some food for the night (I gorged myself on sushi, veggie laksa, spring rolls, and a bubble tea) and then we went back to our accommodation.

Return to St. Helen’s

The last full day was pretty similar to when I was up near St. Helen’s with Shawn.

We drove to the Little Blue Lake which Mo really liked, but then we drove up to Mount William National Park, which I hadn’t been to before. It is pretty much at the northeastern-most tip of Tasmania. It was a secluded area, not too many people hiking there at all.

From Mount William, we drove down to the Bay of Fires. This time, there were much less people there and we were able to have the space pretty much to ourselves for a while. We cruised around some other areas along the coast, too.

While we initially had nixed a plan to check out Halls Falls, we decided we had enough time in the day. After dropping our stuff at the hotel, we drove over to it. The walk was very muddy, but it was pretty cool. I’ve mentioned it before, but I love lush terrains with ferns, moss, creeks, and waterfalls.

The waterfall was pretty sweet. I may have redeemed myself with Mo after having taken him to a waterfall back in Perth that was completely dried up for the summer haha.

Halls Falls was our last attraction for the evening. We drove back to Hobart the next morning, getting some great coastal views along the way (particularly getting a glimpse of Freycinet National Park and Chain of Lagoons). Before we parted ways, we drove up to the top of kunanyi. Mo seemed to really like that one – it really is an incredible view.

I don’t think Mo was completely impressed by Tasmania, but he also didn’t have much time here. I was pretty taken with it immediately – loving the wildlife, nature, views. It is such a contrast in terrain compared to Perth (even though Perth is still amazing in its own right).

Bioluminescent Plankton

I can’t believe I haven’t mentioned this yet, but during my first week here, I went down to the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania at night per my buddy Thomas’ suggestion, and saw the most magnificent display of bioluminescent plankton I’d ever seen before. While I had seen some of it in Coral Bay, this was next level. You could see the plankton along the edges of the water as they lapped up onto shore. If you put a stick or your hand in the water, the plankton lit up so brightly and vividly.

It was honestly incredible.

I went another night, but it wasn’t nearly as bright. Then returned a third time and it was completely gone. I joined a facebook group that said it may be on the other side of the river at this point. They move around with the tide, I guess?

Art of the Week

My friend Katelyn asked if I would draw her a tawny nurse shark… so here it is! I also bought a new yellow and pink marker from the store the other day – I was in desperate need of pink in my life as I haven’t had a pink marker since coming to Australia!

Reflections

On Saturdays, they have the Salamanca markets here in Hobart, which is certainly a hot-spot. It reminded me of Market Days in Chicago – with all sorts of vendors and tents selling food, home-made goods, photography, art, etc. It was pretty interesting, but the most bizarre part of it was a street performer who swallowed a sword to the hilt at the end of his act. Impressive! It was cringey, though.

Once back in Hobart after my trip with Mo, I was at the hostel for one night and had seen there were reports of the aurora nearby. I asked Thomas if he wanted to go try to check it out, so we drove up to Mount Nelson Signal Station. No luck, unfortunately, but we only stayed for maybe ten minutes. Unsatisfied, I decided to walk back up the mountain later that night, which took about an hour and a half. It was a cool walk – and I spotted some ring-tailed possums on the telephone wires along the way.

I also went another night to try to see the aurora with my friend Cheng. We drove down to Tinderbox Beach and it was a pretty clear night. Again, no luck. I’m hoping to see it before I leave Hobart, but even if not, I’m sure I’ll have a lot more opportunities when I go to New Zealand. We’ll see.

I got my hair cut the other day. It is now VERY short in the front, but it remains a mullet. The only reason I’m mentioning this is because while I was at the salon, I overheard another hairstylist talking to her client about how someone was killed by a crocodile. AWFUL, but I was like “man, Australia is so wild.” Hahaha.

Yesterday evening, I went with Shawn for a walk along the rivulet in search of the platypus as he hadn’t seen one yet. Sure enough, I was able to spot one in the same spot that I had first observed it! I was really happy Shawn was able to see it before he leaves in a couple of days.

I also went to TMAG which is the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. It was very interesting and informative. Lots of Aboriginal stories and artwork throughout. My favorite pieces were a necklace made of echidna quills and a piece by James Gleeson called “nest of premonitions”.

And last but not least… as I was wrapping up my trip with Mo, my friend Mason asked me if I’d be interested in house/cat sitting for him since he was going to Sydney for a long weekend. I was delighted! What a nice reprieve from hostel-life it has been. Being able to have a space to myself, alone, to watch TV and chill out… It has been really lovely. I haven’t done much the last few days, wanting to take advantage of the solace. I binged season two of The White Lotus (what a great show), did laundry, etc.

Mason returns tomorrow and then I’ll go back to the hostel for the remainder of my time in Hobart. Less than a week left at this point, and then I’ll fly off to Melbourne.

That’s all for now! Sending my love xx.

P.S. Please share this post if you enjoyed it! Maybe one day, I can do this full time. Who knows?