Dan Will Travel
I'm Dan and I WILL Travel
Sorry, no full sized kangaroos, but lots of very interesting rather weird critters, chiefly due to the island’s isolation.
The tough thing about trying to see them is that nearly all are nocturnal. But, if you count road kills along the road, I have probably seen all of them.
These shots are chiefly from Cradle Mountain Park, and the Tasmanian devil is a paid admission semi-zoo shot. There is a real crisis here over the devils as they have a cancer issue that is killing them off and there is yet to be a cure. Tasmania hunted the Tasmanian tiger into extinction in the 1930’s and they clearly do not want that happening again, so the entire island is behind the government efforts to isolate the sick ones, and try to find a cure for the cancer, I guess the only cancer that is contagious in mammals.
| That is about 30 mph on a highway. Some areas it was 55kmh, less than 30mph. Probably still too fast. On one 100 mile route through farms and forests I saw over 45 road kills! Over here, you just should NOT drive at night. |
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| A wombat, similar to a koala. Probably about 20 pounds. |
| A Bennet’s wallaby, pretty much a small kangaroo |
| Standing |
| The wombat and Bennet sharing a foraging area. |
| A pademelon with her young one. Probably the most common animal that you see here. |
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| This is an enchidna. sort of like an anteater, about 12″ long. one of only a few egg laying mammals. I stopped for a picnic and was treated to watching him eat in front of me the whole time. Nice. |
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| The Tasmanian devil, unfortunately caught begging, not natural. He is about 18 pounds, but can eat 1/3 of his weight in one sitting, see below. |
| Wrapping up a dinner of a pademelon leg. These guys eat everything, bones, fur, claws, you name it. And you can really hear the crunching of the bones as he goes at it. It went from a piece of meat that we would say was too large to eat to nothing in 20 minutes. |
My second day at Cradle mountain was much better weather wise, so I headed off to Marion Peak, 1000′ feet above the lake.
The final ascent and alternate descent involved chains to pull yourself up or work yourself down. For those of you that know me well, this was terrifying, but I actually did it. All to get the shots, I guess.
| Much nicer day today. Sure wish I had put my hat on for this hike |
| This is Marion Peak, 1000′ above Dove Lake. The goal for today. |
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| Leena Lake along the way |
| Leena Lake, Cradle Mountain in background. |
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| Wombat Pool. No wombats as it is daytime. |
| red lichen |
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| The final trail up the peak. You can see it in the center. What you cannot see are the chains you use to pull yourself up. |
| Some sort of common white lichen, looks like paint. |
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| Crater Lake along the route up |
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| I made it. A sweaty mess, seriously missing that hat I left in the car. Then, after seriously burning my head on this hike, I am reminded about the ozone layer hole over Tasmania. I sure can be stupid some times. |
| Dove lake far below |
| Another view of Crater Lake, this time from above. |
| They call this a trail? |
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| Tough but at least I can take 3′ steps due to my size. Brutal if you went up this way. tough enough going down. Just grab on and pull I guess. |
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| A classic view of Cradle Mountain |
| A telephoto close up. Note fresh snow on right ridge. |
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| Waterfall along trail. |
| Most all of the trail was a wooden walkway, covered in chicken wire to avoid slipping. |
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| View from the shore. I cannot find out for sure what colors the rock so golden like. This is an actual unaltered shot. |
| Looking down into a creek bed with the golden rock. It is not dirty water, just the color of the rock. |
| This rhody like flower is a Tasman waratah. Conditions seem to be similar to a rhododendron in the wold. |
| The waterfall from across the lake. |
| Final shot of the day. Nice hike. |