After my 3 months in Tasmania, I couldn’t await my return to Sydney. Boarding an early flight from Launceston, I was anticipating seeing friends, and most of all, Tam, once again. I didn’t have to wait long – Tam was waiting for me at my gate, having somehow convinced Airport security she wasn’t a threat…:P
It was a fantastic reunion. She planned out everything that day, from getting my favourite gelato to an amazing homecooked dinner. Fish pie, chips, and veggies, with wine.
My last stop in Tasmania was in Launceston. Launceston’s the 2nd largest city in Tasmania and lies on the northern half of the island. I’d be flying out to Sydney the next day, but I still had an afternoon of free time. There is one area in Launceston known for nice hikes, so off to Cataract Gorge I went.
I returned to the Cradle Valley area that I had seen wombats at yesterday, in search of more of the cuddly creatures. It didn’t take long before I happened upon a young wombat near the boardwalk.
I made it to Dove Lake once again…and things were looking a bit better!
I awoke the next morning to more grey skies and damp surroundings. Unfortunately, the clouds had gotten lower and were nearly touching the ground. Things didn’t look hopeful for a better viewing of Cradle Mountain today, but that wasn’t about to stop me.
The access to Cradle Mountain and Valley is a winding road, and the Park tries to limit people entering to keep traffic to a minimum. To that end, there are a few different options to access the main part of Cradle Valley and Cradle Mountain. I had made use of the Shuttle Bus the day prior (and would utilize it once again), but this morning I had time to kill as I hoped the sun would burn through the clouds, so I took the Cradle Valley Boardwalk instead.
My time had come to leave Tasmania. I said my goodbyes to the people at Tasman Eco Village / Parsons Bay Retreat and departed on the only bus out of Nubeena, bright and early in the morning. It was good to get an early start, for I had a long journey.
For those that weren’t already aware, Wombats are awesome. Furry, cute and ground-dwelling, wombats are the somewhat forgotten part of Australian wildlife, overshadowed by the likes of Kangaroos and Koalas. But to me, they are the bestestest animal in Australia.
And I got to squeeze them. I so very much squeezed them. And it was awesome.
Near Nubeena was a small family plot of land that housed some special residents. They were rescue wombats, babies/young wombats that had been found abandoned/orphaned and were being raised by the family until they were big enough to strike out on their own. For wombats, this is a long, slow process, as wombats take a long while to mature (1-2 years). But that doesn’t mean these juveniles were the least bit small…
Most days at Tasman Eco Village were quite quiet and laidback. With 6 hours of work a day, and short daylight hours, the days went by quickly. That said, there was still some free time for me to explore the surrounding areas, and there was quite a bit of nice scenery to be seen, even on foot.
