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MARIA ISLAND, TASMANIA Sunday
At 6:00 this morning it was as bright a morning as we've seen!! Such sunshine!! We were up and out of those sacks and on the way in minutes. We wanted to go back to the beach for a bit to collect shells and see the penguin trails. We walked farther down the beach to see all the areas they made trails. We caught the ferry with no hitch! From there it was a race against time and driving conditions. It was a lovely ride back to Hobart and then out in the other directions. As I've said a hundred times the flowers everywhere are blooming and are beautiful. All along the road side things grow wild that we try to cultivate. We were headed northeast out of Hobart up the coast. Part of the road was very narrow and very winding and the speed was marked 100 k. It was such a joke!! I don't think anyone could have gone that speed and stayed on the road!! We drove into the ferry landing at 10:25 a.m. We had not had supper the night before nor breakfast this morning! This landing was affiliated with the resort there so we had two ham "rolls" made up (sandwiches), bought some sodas and chips and were set to go!! Luck has been with us all the way!! This ferry carried no cars as there are no roads on Maria Island..... no accommodations..... no supplies. There is running water and there are several sets of bathrooms. The ranger met the ferry and we all proceeded to the visitor center to buy our park passes and get a little general information. This island has not been lived on in quite awhile but has an active history. It was at one time a penal facility. A concrete factory operated here for years. The last person buried on this island was 94 years old. The woman was the wife of one of the men killed in an accident in that factory in 1890 when he was 42 years old. They had seven children. She became a pastorialist and ran the boarding house. She was buried here in 1945.
There is a little village of the old buildings there. Backpackers can sleep in the bunks of one of the penal buildings now. We bush walked for about five hours. We were able to take two of the circuit walks. One was to the painted cliffs and one to the fossil cliffs. There was a whole island of walks for those that stayed for a few days. The painted cliffs were beautiful formations of layers of different colors of sandstone. The shapes were so unusual - worn by the water. We were there at about mid tide and we could just make it around the corner to see the wall. When the tide is high you just can't get around the edge. The water was as clear as any we've seen. No coral here because the water is too cool but lots of folks go there to dive because it is so clear. The beach on this side was sandy and white and scenic!! We had our "lunch" early on the sand in the sun. This was our sunniest and brightest day! I was in short sleeves for the first time here and enjoyed. When I got in the wind off the water on the other side of the island the long sleeves had to come back! The other trail to the fossil cliffs was in the opposite direction. We went through the village and out the back way. We walked along the meadow-valley where we noticed about three tents. It is a pretty dry area but we came across beautiful blooming succulents. We enjoyed all the huge Blue-gum Eucalyptus trees. There bark is unusual and they are magnificent trees. We came across one that was burned out in the bottom and Rus and I could both stand up in it. Would be a wonderful place to get in out of the weather. The whole path in that section had the aroma of Eucalyptus. Our path took us around a bend and then down and up through a meadow. We could see a sign at the end of the trail and couldn't read it until we got up close....."dangerous cliffs".... You get up there and all of a sudden the ocean looms in front of you!! The cliffs were shear drop-offs. Below the surf hits the rocks and sprays up. Was SO beautiful! We enjoyed all that for awhile and continued on around the end of the island. There are some sort of geese all over this island. We found some pairs on this side that were nesting and had young ones with them. There is a little landing strip tucked in here. One fella we met in Hobart at the Botanical Gardens ferry landing was telling us about it. He flew some friends there and the pilot had to buzz the runway several times to get the kangaroos and geese away before they could land.
Kangaroo We explored a couple of the old buildings filled with old machinery. Lots of birds roost in the place!! Rus enjoyed all that. I was getting antsy cause it was almost time for the ferry and I hadn't seen a kangaroo yet. I just felt like if I climbed up the hill and got in the bush area I'd see one. I took off up the hill.. About the time I spotted one I realized Rusty had the cameras!!! I broke our cardinal rule we've developed - GO NO WHERE WITHOUT THE CAMERA!! Turns out I had one of them but not the cam-corder. I sat and watched this fella about fifteen minutes. He kept letting me get closer. Once he didn't feel like I was a threat he continued eating. It was so fun. I ran back down the hill and got Rusty. I felt like we could find him again. He seemed content. We got back up there and we both enjoyed him and got some film. They are most active at dawn and dusk so you really don't see them too much in the day. We saw enough animal signs to know a lot of critters live here! I'd had loved to stay here overnight too!
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| Our luck was with us. We caught the ferry at 4:00 p.m.
as planned. Then we began our winding road headed for Hobart. The man at the
car place at the last minute had told us if we got the car back between five and seven it
would be o.k. That little bit of grace made it possible. We drove by the
hostel to drop our bags off so that when we hiked home from his place of business we
wouldn't be loaded down. We had a good walk. Rus had been talking about
having crayfish (lobster) for dinner since we'd gotten here so tonight was the
night. We had found a place that looked like they specialized in that. It was
Sunday evening and very quiet. It was a wonderful dinner. The crayfish
was very tender and sweet.... the best I've had. It was elegantly presented and
there we sat in our bush-walking duds!! We walked the wharf one more time to get an ice cream cone and let Rus check out the boats one more time. He found a crayfisher that was just unloading his traps. He had a good haul! Rus counted 26 boxes on the truck they had loaded and they were still working. Each box was probably about 20 kilos worth!! One more look at the "Devil Cat" and we headed home to pack! I hate to leave Tasmania.... perhaps more than anywhere we've been so far. I want to come back here for a month. It's so beautiful and feels so unpopulated. Almost half of the state is national park or forest. I have an excursion already planned - has mountain biking, rafting and bush walking for 13 days!!
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