Our Trip to Australia, Part Two - Tasmania and Its Wildlife
There’s so much to see in Australia - if you’ve never been, I encourage you to make the trip.
After a glorious, but brief stay in Sydney, Alexis, Jude, Truman, Pamela, and I traveled to the island state of Tasmania, also known colloquially as Tassie - the 26th largest island in the world. We spent several days in its capital city of Hobart, filled with picturesque views, rugged mountains and captivating wildlife. One of the highlights of our trip was a visit to the Bonoring Wildlife Sanctuary, a rescue center for endangered and injured native animals. Enjoy these photos.
But first, a few scenic images from our plane taken by my granddaughter, Jude - she is an avid photographer.
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- We flew Virgin Australia to Tasmania, and while reading the in-flight magazine, I caught something very interesting… if you follow my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48, you may already know…
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- It was this line at the end of this story – “Where is Martha, Texas” – it was quite amusing. I wondered if Marfa, the small desert city in west Texas, had changed its name.
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- Jude loves taking photos from the airplane. Here we are during the early morning flight. Tasmania is located 150-miles to the south of the Australian mainland, separated by the Bass Strait.
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- Bass Strait is approximately 160-miles wide and 310-miles long, with an average depth of 200-feet. The widest opening between Cape Portland on the North-Eastern tip of Tasmania and Point Hicks on the Australian mainland.
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- Tasmania is the only Australian state that is an island. It is often referred to as the ‘Holiday Isle’ or ‘Apple Isle’ in reference to its outstanding apple industry.
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- Jude captured this photo of the land and water – it is so very clean.
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- The flight from Sydney to Hobart was just under two hours – here we are nearing our destination.
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- Hobart is the second-driest capital city in Australia. It receives about half as much rain per year as Sydney.
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- Once we landed, we went straight to Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary in Brighton – just outside of Hobart, a wonderful and informative center. https://www.bonorong.com.au/
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- Here we are on the way – Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary, pronounced “Bon-a-rong”, which is Aboriginal and means “Native Companion” was established in 1981 and is Tasmania’s most popular wildlife park.
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- Do you know… about 500-thousand native animals are killed on Tasmania’s roads each year? That equates to about one animal per head of Tasmania’s population, giving the state one of the highest roadkill rates in the world. The motorists lobby in Tasmania has launched a joint campaign to reduce this number.
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- Here is a metal structure of an animal reminding drivers to drive carefully. Bonorong, which runs a statewide wildlife rescue service, receives thousands of calls a year because of roadside and other accidents.
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- Bonorong operates 24-hours a day, seven-days a week, and much of it is done with volunteers. It was nice to see so many people visiting and learning about the work done at Bonorong. The children were so excited to see the animals.
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- Bonorong has signs everywhere informing the public about the animals in residents and how they are helped.
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- Here is a Forester kangaroo with its one-year old joey in her pouch. The word “kangaroo” derives from the Guugu Yimithirr word gangurru, referring to grey kangaroos. Kangaroos are often referred to as “roos” for short. Male kangaroos are called bucks, boomers, or jacks. Females are does, flyers, or jills. And the young ones are joeys.
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- Here is a group just lounging in their enclosure – watching all the activity at the Sanctuary. Kangaroos live and travel in organized groups called “mobs”.
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- We were instructed to pet them only under their chins, on their necks.
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- Here is a joey looking to hop back in its mom’s pouch.
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- This is a quoll. Quolls are carnivorous marsupials native to mainland Australia, New Guinea, and Tasmania. They are primarily nocturnal and spend most of the day in a den. It is very rare to see two, but I was able to capture this photo. If you look closely, there are two quolls on this ledge.
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- Their coats are brown or black, with a sparse scattering of white spots. They have bright pink noses and long snouts. Adults are between nine and 29-inches long, with hairy tails about 13-inches long.
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- And while they are small and cute, they DO bite.
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- This is a bettong. Also known as the southern or eastern bettong, these little creatures were once common along the coastal areas of eastern Australia, from south-east Queensland to the south-east tip of South Australia. Due to the introduction of the red fox and the European rabbit, this species of bettong is now extinct on the mainland, and has a ‘near threatened’ classification in Tasmania.
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- Bettongs have distinctive hind limbs, perfect for hopping, and short forelimbs. They are colored brown-grey on top and have white or light bellies. The tail of the bettong is as long as the head and body and usually has a white tip.
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- There are also many snakes and lizards at Bonorong. Bonorong never turns animals away. Its innovative service provides safety and care to thousands of animals every year.
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- Greg Irons is the director of Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary and is extremely passionate about caring for Tasmania’s wildlife and ecology. He was so nice to give us a tour of the facility and to teach us about the animals there. Here he is with a sulphur-crested cockatoo.
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- I loved seeing all the birds – many of them are so colorful.
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- Here is Truman petting an echidna. The short-beaked echidna is one of four living species of echidna and the only member of the genus Tachyglossus. It is covered in fur and spines and has a distinctive snout and a specialized tongue, which it uses to catch its insect prey.
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- Due to strict wildlife regulations, most guests at the Sanctuary are not permitted to hold the animals, but if you’re with a Bonorong expert, you can sometimes pet the animals. Bonorong is very protective, and never forces its creatures to interact with the public. These echidnas seemed to like our visit.
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- Sometimes called the spiny anteater, the short-beaked echidna measures a bit more than a foot long and weighs six to 15-pounds.
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- Echidnas are monotremes, or mammals that lay eggs.
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- I was lucky to get this photo of one echidna as it looked up at me.
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- These owl-like creatures are frogmouths. The tawny frogmouth is a species native to and found throughout the Australian mainland and Tasmania. Tawny frogmouths are big-headed, stocky birds often mistaken for owls due to their nocturnal habits and similar coloring.
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- Tawny frogmouths have three distinct colors, but this grey brown is the most common in both sexes.
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- Truman couldn’t wait to see the famous Tasmanian Devil, which is only found in Tasmania. It is the largest carnivorous marsupial.
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- Its spine-chilling screeches, black color, and reputed bad-temper, led the early European settlers to call it The Devil. Although it is only the size of a small dog, it can sound and look incredibly fierce.
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- These feisty little mammals have a coat of coarse brown or black fur and a stocky profile that gives them the appearance of a baby bear. Most have a white stripe or patch on their chest and light spots on their sides or rear end. They have long front legs and shorter rear legs, giving them a lumbering gait. The Tasmanian devil reaches 30 inches in length and weighs up to 26 pounds when full grown. Its oversize head houses sharp teeth and strong, muscular jaws that can deliver, pound for pound, one of the most powerful bites of any mammal.
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- Greg introduced the children to this orphaned baby wombat. It was among their favorite animals.
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- Wombats are short-legged, muscular quadrupedal marsupials that are native to Australia.
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- Here is Jude petting the wombat – she adored him. they are not often seen in the wild, but leave lots of distinctive evidence – cubic poop.
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- Wombats dig extensive burrow systems with their rodent-like front teeth and powerful claws. One distinctive adaptation of wombats is their backward-facing pouch, which protects young when the mothers are digging. Be sure to look at my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48 to see more photos of Jude, Truman and their new friend.
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- Greg and I posed for this photo together before we ended our visit. Please go to the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary web site to learn more about their mission and how you can help. https://www.bonorong.com.au/
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