Aussie Animals

 After a lovely breakfast in Launceston, we started our journey north.  River Tamar splits the countryside with only a few places to cross from east to west and vice versa.  Today we headed up the western side of the river.

Our destination this morning was Seahorse World which sits on Beauty Point on a pier.  They advertise this as a ‘working farm’  but it turns out the only working the seahorses are doing is eating and multiplying.  The operation breads the seahorses for export all over the world for tropical aquariums.  The only way to view them is to take a guided tour.  

The tour began in a room containing a variety of the creatures.  They come in different sizes with different colorings.  These are mainly for the tourists because the ones that our native are the Potbellies, which look exactly like they sound.  We toured their breading room that contained vats of seahorses of differing ages from ones that are so small it’s hard to tell what they are to larger ones probably ready for shipping.  The facility is also helping to protect the endangered hand fish, so named because they don’t actually swim as much as they walk on hand-like fins.  

The final room held more tanks of seahorses but also Sea Dragons.  These look like something out of a science fiction movie with little tags extending off their bodies.  I couldn’t look away they were so interesting.  We also had the opportunity to ‘hold’ a seahorse between our finders which we did.

Next door to is Platypus House, another opportunity to see a couple of animals native to Australia.  Again, a guided tour took us first to view platypus in tanks where our guide feed them so that we could get a better look.  We also learned that you don’t want to get stung but a male because there’s no antibody and your choices would be putting you into a long-term coma or amputation to get rid of the unbearable burning.  Fortunately they are very shy creatures so we definitely won’t encounter them in the wild.

They also had a group of echidnas, which look very much like hedgehogs and anteaters but are no relation.  We sat in a room with them and watched them roam around.  They are very cute but definitely not cuddly. 

After our animal encounters we had a short drive to Small Wonders Winery where we had a lovely charcuterie platter and a tasting of their wines.  The platter was definitely enough to serve as lunch for us and we left with several bottles of wine for the rest of our trip.  Tasmania has several wine regions and are known for their sparkling wines and Pinot noirs.  It was a very civilized way to spend the afternoon.

Next we had to drive south to cross a bridge to the east side of the river where we would head north to Low Head.  We passed through Georgetown and stopped to get food for the house we were staying in that evening.  

Tonight’s accommodations is in a former lighthouse keepers house.  The lighthouse is still functioning but with automation there is no need for a keeper.  It is on a point that looks out over a rocky decline to the ocean.  What makes this place special is the fairy penguins (the smallest of the penguins) that come ashore every evening to sleep in the rock hills.  After unloading the car we started searching for the penguin poo that would tell us where they would make their way up.  We found our spot and camped out waiting for them.  We waited, and we waited, and we waited until we were ready to give up.  All of the sudden we say dozens of them coming out of the water.  They are noisy little creatures both making guttural sounds and clicking their feet on the rocks.  Unfortunately they come up after dark so it wasn’t the photo opportunity we were hoping for.  However, it was still a very cool experience and worth the wait.

Tomorrow: Eastern side of the Island