Devils Unzoo, Tasman Arch and others

Tuesday, 23.01.18

I wake up at 7:30 am, but I continue reading and dreaming in bed until 9:30 am. Breakfast leisurely in the sun.

At 12:00 pm, I write postcards and journal entries, do the dishes, pack everything up, and decide that I want to drive down to Tasman Peninsula to visit Devils Unzoo, and then go to Eaglehawk Neck to see Tasman Arch, Blowhole, and Devils Kitchen.

On the way, I get some strawberries and raspberries, as well as the missing stamps.

The Tasmanian Devils Unzoo in Taranna is quite expensive at $35 and ultimately not really worth the money. It is a privately run wildlife park that does not want to be a zoo, but wants to provide the animals with more space, more exercise, and a more natural existence than elsewhere. So, I think of a very primitive form of keeping them, but I am quickly neutralized. The devils are in the same enclosures as elsewhere - what else can you do to prevent them from escaping? But what really annoys me is a large meadow with many kangaroos and wallabies that can be fed and petted by visitors. For me, this is no different from a zoo or the like, at least it's not normal to me. I participate in a guided tour (the price does not change whether with or without) and it leads through a forest to Little Norfolk Bay. The "ranger" tries to signal the eagle living there with the help of two pieces of wood that he claps together to indicate that there is fish for him on a tree stump. The eagle does not come, the seagulls steal the fish - at least a winged animal is freer than the poor kangaroos. Feeding one of the devils is a violently bloody affair, and for the first time you see the predator in these otherwise cute little animals. Greedily, it tears at the piece of meat hanging from the tree and when the short spectacle is over, everything is gone - bones and all. It cleans its bloody paws and moves on. Tasmanian devils have the strongest jaws of all carnivores, relative to their body size.

Their natural enemies are dingoes, which do not exist in Tasmania and only threaten the devils on the mainland. In addition, there are many feral cats in Australia, which also threaten the animals. Otherwise, dogs, cars, and the reduction of their habitat - practically the case for almost all animal species.

I walk to the so-called Bird Show, a presentation of 4 or 5 bird species that are native to this area. There are 12 endemic bird species in Tasmania, 11 of them in this park. However, since the birds shown are taken out of an aviary and sit obediently on a keeper's hand, I am once again not enthusiastic about this facility. I would not call it an "Un-Zoo". Nevertheless, the explanations given by this keeper are great, and one of the most impressive animals of this trip for me will be the Tawny Frogmouth, a gray-feathered bird that resembles an owl but lives completely differently. It is not a good flyer and attracts insects, for example, through its yellow-colored beak. It could be mistaken for a flower... At night, it sits quietly on a branch and has an almost 360° view due to its incredibly good eyes. Measured relative to its head, its eyes are as large as basketballs for us humans. While we need sunglasses for the sun, this bird has shading hairs above its eyes to keep out the moonlight. It only swoops down from its observation post when something crawls around in front of, next to, or beneath it that it finds tasty. While owls kill their prey on the ground, the Frogmouth takes its prey with it and kills it by slinging it against a branch.

It is 4:30 pm when I leave here and now head towards Eaglehawk Neck with the three natural attractions. I stop at the Blowhole first, but well - it's not really that impressive. It is also low tide, which does not make the inflowing amount of water particularly great, and somehow I have seen such blowholes better elsewhere. However, there is an ice cream stand in the parking lot that offers delicious fruit ice cream, just like in New Zealand, with freshly blended berries. The first ice cream in Tasmania - delicious!

The Tasman Arch is rather impressive, but well - good for a photo and then you drive on. Devil's Kitchen is a narrow passage between two 60-meter-high cliffs, where things can get rough with onshore winds and high tide. However, right now it is rather tame. I walk a 5-minute path, but even from there, you can't get a better view of the gorge, and then I cross these three things off my list.

Heading towards the campground, because today I want to start packing to avoid doing everything on Thursday when I also have to clean the camper.

The insect bite from yesterday is annoying. It has grown to the size of my hand and has formed several small water-filled blisters. It is hot, and I'm not entirely comfortable with it.

So, I start packing things that I definitely don't need anymore. However, I can no longer lift the bag into its old corner. For the past 2 weeks, it has been above the driver's seat under the table. Now I have to put it under the mattress. So, I take out the remaining food from there and squeeze the bag into the opening. Somehow, I'm lacking a third hand, because to hold up the flap for the compartment, you also have to lift the mattress, and in the end, I support the flap with my head and push and kick the bag into the opening.

For the first time, I don't secure any more pictures. I lie in bed at 10:00 pm and am quite tired. Today, I didn't really accomplish much.