Tasmania

We arrived at the island of Tasmania after spending a day at sea and this would be our first official stop on the cruise. The high was 61 degrees so it was a bit chilly and those sunrise pictures in the last post would have been taken about 6:00 a.m.

We had a quick breakfast and headed to the gangway to go on a tour of the Bonorong Wildlife Conservation Center. This was a similar type of park to the one we saw at Featherdale. We had a private tour for 10 with a great guide.

The kangaroos and wallabies roamed free and hopped wherever they chose to. We saw several Tasmanian Devils. These animals have razor sharp teeth and tend to hide in dark shelters like hollowed trees. They just looked like huge rats! Glad they were in an enclosure with posted signs DO NOT FEED. Doesn't he looked annoyed?

On this tour we also went to the Field National Park (UNESCO site) and walked through a temperate rain forest. It is home to the world's second tallest hardwood trees. Only the giant sequoia's in California are bigger. The forest was primarily made up of ferns, moss, and eucalyptus trees. We also saw Russell Falls and the had lunch by a small river formed from the falls.
Good thing we had layers of clothing to put on. We did not expect the number of cool days during their "summer."

From this point on we had to let all the tour guides know that the ladies had to have retail therapy booked into each stop. Heck, we even stopped at a small grocery/farmers market on this tour to get cheese and crackers to take back to the ship for before dinner snacks. We also discovered a great little cookie called a Tim Tam. NOT a diet item! No one on this trip passed up a single opportunity to eat!