Hey, everyone! This week has been all about monotremes for me. What is a monotreme, you may ask? A monotreme is a type of mammal… that lays eggs! This includes platypus, short-beaked echidnas, and long-beaked echidnas. Luckily, Australia is home to both platypus and short-beaked echidnas, and I was lucky enough to see both this week!

Echidna

As you may already know, I have been wanting to see an echidna up close again since November. I saw one along the side of the road at dusk back in Kalbarri, but it was dark out and I wasn’t able to observe it for very long or check out its awesome features.

I have this thing on hikes where I’ll sort of obsess about seeing something (remember when I really wanted to see a snake again?) and then keep my eye out for it practically the entire time. I don’t know why I do it – I guess it’s sort of having a “wildlife goal” in mind haha. Obviously, it is wild, and can never guarantee a sighting of anything. However, I finally got lucky.

I was hiking along the Cascades Trail which goes up to Kunanyi / Mount Wellington, with the end of my hike being at a cute, little waterfall called Myrtle Gully Falls. I didn’t want to hike up to the top of the mountain because it’s basically a five hour commitment one way, which makes for a long day. The waterfall seemed like a good point to turn back and the views along the way were really cool. It was a lush forest with plenty of ferns and moss.

Along the walk, I saw some wallabies and pademelons, but it wasn’t until the return trip that my day was absolutely made.

The thing with echidnas is that they resemble so much of the Australian foliage – kind of spiky, short little shrubs. At times, I’ll even see a large stone in the ground and think “is that an echidna?” They’re easy to mistake. So, when I saw a big hump along a fallen tree, I didn’t think much of it… until I noticed it was moving.

Immediately, I knew.

I wandered closer to it, in absolute awe that I was able to find one in the daylight and watch it from a relatively close distance. It was the cutest creature. Its face is adorable, especially the beady, little eyes. It was foraging for food, sticking its snout into the fallen tree, searching for insects to eat.

I was able to watch it for a while, snapping pictures along the way. While it didn’t seem to pay me any mind, there were two times that I accidentally moved too fast and it quickly burrowed its head and put up its spikes. It wasn’t my intention to scare it or to potentially get too close. I like to try and keep my distance with wildlife, for their sake. With that said, it would walk right by me as I was watching it, preoccupied with finding food.

My favorite moment was when it started searching for food along a live tree. It stuck its snout under the bark, digging for food. Little flecks of woodchip fell onto its face like snow. Truly an adorable creature.

I went back to the main trail and it ended up crossing the trail right next to me and slowly hobbling uphill. I decided to let him be, thanking the universe for such an incredible interaction.

Platypus

The next of the monotremes to see was… the platypus. While they aren’t particularly rare, they’re regarded as rather elusive. Being nocturnal, they are normally seen at dusk or dawn. Since arriving in Hobart, I’ve gotten into the habit of exploring during the day, but walking along the rivulet near dusk in hopes of seeing the platypus. My new friend Mason told me his buddy had seen one only a few days prior around 3pm, which gave me renewed hope that it was possible.

After days of no luck… I found one. Well, an elderly couple had spotted it first. Walking along the rivulet, I was firmly focused on the river. There are a number of small bridges that look over the river and at one of them, a couple was peering down into the water. “Is it a platypus?” I asked as I approached. Sure enough!

I was ecstatic. Like the echidna, he was foraging for food. He would use his bill to search around and underneath rocks in the water. They typically eat insects, worms, stuff like that.

I observed him for literally two hours. I figured, some people come to Australia really hoping to see platypus and they never do… so I might as well make the most of it while I can. “Who knows if I’ll ever see one in the wild again?” I told myself.

While he was mostly very active, searching for food the entire time, there was a couple minutes where he rested in the water near a small little waterfall area, just laying in the water.

My favorite part of it was that the locals were happy to see them, too. As people would pass by the rivulet, I’d occasionally say “there’s a platypus here!” Some people would smile, look briefly, and walk away, but a couple of them came over to me and watched it for quite some time. I had some nice conversations with a few people as we watched the platypus. One woman in particular was really pleased to see it. She said there had been a heavy water flow a while back and she was afraid the platypus had been washed out of the rivulet. Others had said they see them quite frequently, sometimes even multiple days in a row.

After snapping many pictures and watching the little guy for some time, I decided to head back to the hostel as it started getting dark out.

The platypus was so weird looking. Apparently, when their skeleton was first discovered, naturalists thought it was a joke. The tail of a beaver, the bill of a duck, the feet of an otter. Such a strange specimen. To me, it looks like their bill is a mask that they wear – and underneath the mask, they must have a face similar to a marmot. I love them! And am so happy to have seen the little guy. I am going to continue to try and visit him in the evenings… although, it probably won’t be for two hours each time.

Kunanyi / Mount Wellington

I recently read that Kunanyi was originally named Table Mountain, due to its similarity to Table Mountain in Cape Town. They certainly have a similar vibe, with the city being right near the ocean and having a massive mountain towering over the city.

One day, one of my new friends Cheng drove me up to see the top of Kunanyi. Kunanyi is the Aboriginal name for the mountain, meaning simply “mountain”. Mount Wellington is the white man name for it, although it seems there is some contention so even on GoogleMaps it shows as “kunanyi / Mount Wellington”.

You can tell the mountain is quite large, but it wasn’t until standing on top of it that you can appreciate its height. The city was so small below, and the views were… wow. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything like it before aside from in an airplane.

We walked around the top for a while, but it was pretty cold out and I was hungry, so we went back down to the city. In the evening, there was a possibility of seeing the aurora australis (southern lights), so we drove back up to try and see them. Along the way, we saw plenty of wallabies, padymelons, POSSUMS, and even owls! The possums are so cute – way different from the evil American possums.

We also saw a tawny frogmouth, which is this bird that looks like a small owl with a really weird beak. I wasn’t able to snap a picture that night, but I did see one on a walk the other night and got a picture then! I wish I could see it during the daytime, because they are so goofy looking.

Surprise, surprise, but Kunanyi was even colder at night. No aurora australis, either. I’m hoping I’ll be able to see it while I’m here but even if not, they are occasionally visible in New Zealand, too. Hope is not lost!

Cape Raoul

My friend Mason invited me to join him and his two friends Brenda and Jess on a hiking trip to Cape Raoul, near Port Arthur. I wasn’t sure where we were going, as the original plan was Hartz National Park with Cape Raoul and Mount Field National Park being backup options. It was supposed to rain all day, so it was all up in the air.

We ended up going to Cape Raoul and WOW was it spectacular.

The trail was about five hours roundtrip, with gorgeous views of cliffs, dolomites, trees, and the occasional marsupial.

Much of the trail at the beginning was a descent, so in the back of my mind I was like “oh, man, it is going to be rough getting back later” haha. It was definitely a lot of cardio. Worth it, though.

At the end of the trail, there was the Cape Lookout, but the best spot was Seal Lookout, where we could see and hear a whole colony of seals at the base of one of the dolomite formations. What a home they have!

The weather was on and off. Brenda and I were taking off our hoodies, putting our hoodies back on, putting our rain jackets on. While there wasn’t a torrential downpour (thank God because I only have one pair of shoes haha), it did drizzle while we were having lunch at Seal Lookout. The clouds rolling in looked so ominous, at times obscuring our view of the cliffs completely.

And then it was time to head back! It was honestly one of the best hikes I’ve done in a long time. Western Australia had some great walking trails, but the scenery at Cape Raoul was ever changing. Walking through a forest of eucalyptus trees, into dense shrubbery, into a plateau with small bushes… and then to the cliffs. It was so, so cool and I’m happy to have shared it with my new friends. I’m really grateful they let me tag along!

Art of the Week

I actually haven’t drawn anything new this week. I’ve been busy exploring! I plan to draw today as this is my “chill” day. With that said, my friend Jamie actually got a drawing I made for her TATTOOED! She told me she was going to do it, but I wasn’t sure if she actually would. And sure enough! I’m seriously so honored – it’s pretty amazing when someone gets my artwork tattooed on them.

Reflections

There have been a lot of other cool moments this past week, too.

One afternoon, I walked through Sandy Bay to get to the Lower and Upper Reservoirs in hopes of finding a platypus (prior to actually seeing one).

I hiked at Knocklofty Reserve which is near my hostel and saw some marsupials along the way.

I walked across the Tasman Bridge and over to Rosny Hill lookout, which had a great view of the city.

I went to the Royal Tasmanian Gardens (which – while not a comparison – was nothing compared to Kings Park Botanical Gardens in Perth)

It has been a busy week! Today is a much needed relaxation day. I will draw and probably watch some shows. I might even play some guitar as I just found out that they have a bunch of little guitars at the hostel for anyone’s use! So cool! It has been seven months since I’ve played a guitar, so I’m looking forward to that.

My friend Mo is flying out here on the 15th and hiring a car, so it will be nice to see even more of Tasmania and explore with him.

In the meantime… I have no idea what I’ll be doing this next week! I haven’t been planning much. Maybe I’ll meet some people who want to go exploring, or maybe I’ll just explore the city more thoroughly. Without a doubt, there will be more hiking adventures in the coming days.

Until next time! Sending my love xxxx