AUSTRALIA: Overseas Adventure Travel, March 20-April 11

Part I: Pre-trip to Tasmania

Led by our fun and very capable Australian Michael Scheller nine of us began the"pre-trip"of our Australian adventure in Hobart, small city which is the capital of the Australian State of Tasmania, beautiful island separated from the mainland by the Bass Strait, sometimes called England of the South. Tasmania was discovered in 1642, by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, first called Van Dieman's Land after the governor of the Dutch East India Company. The entire population of full-blooded Aborigines was wiped out or exiled by English troops and settlers. In 1830, a Penal colony was established at Port Arthur for the "worst offenders," though many convicts were sent to Tasmania and Australia beginning in 1803, for petty crimes or as a means to rid England of the poor lower classes. The island is compact, rural, beautiful, with 28% preserved in national parks. It is surrounded by the Tasman Sea, Southern Ocean, and Pacific Ocean, and is affected by winds and cold from Antarctica. I found it breath-takingly beautiful.

In Hobart I enjoyed a visit to the Tasmanian museum and art gallery and was especially interested in the taxidermed Thylacine, Tasmanian marsupial tiger/wolf which has been extinct for 100 years, due to over-hunting by bounty-hunting settlers protecting their livestock.

The harbor on the Derwent River, Parliament Square, and the historical town with Mount Wellington in the background are lovely. Here are most of our group. We drove to Bonorang Wildlife Sanctuary to see Kookabura, other birds, wombats, echidna, Tasmanian devils, kangaroos, well cared for if injured (mostly on the roads).

We drove to the lovely historic town of Richmond with Australia's oldest bridge, a sandstone masterpiece built by convicts, as were most of the buildings, roads in Tasmania and Sydney during convict days.

In the afternoon some of us took the ferry from Hobart Harbor to the very weird Mona multimedia Museum, (Australia's largest private collection) built mostly underground, by gambling tycoon David Walsh. Australians, even before the Chinese, are the world's biggest gamblers (on horse and dog racing, football and everything else), begun by convicts.

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On the way to Port Arthur we stopped along the coast to admire gorgeous views of the rocky shore, seeing the tessellated mudstone edging the beach and Tasman's beautiful arch

One of the most impactful experiences of the trip was our visit to Port Arthur, island prison colony from 1830-1877, built for 12,000 of the more "hardened,"where men were taught ship-building, woodworking, farming, coal mining, bridge-building. Boys 7-15 were sent across the bay to Point Puer to separate them from the influence and abuse of men. Port Arthur was a beautiful, safe harbor to receive supplies and send off finished products, parts. Hobart is 42 minutes away. Vicious dogs and guards keeping them isolated. In most cases, the punishments were greater than the crime. Work accidents, consumption, scurvy, drownings, diseases, etc. killed 70%. The homes of officers and their families are in sharp contrast to the various prisoner facilities: cells

Island of the Dead (convicts buried on lower part, officers and families above) Across the way is the boys island.

Also at Port Arthur is a memorial to the horrific massacre (defined to be at least 4 deaths) in 1996, of about 35 people in a cafe on the premises by a psychopath with semi-automatic gun. Thanks to the government's destruction and banning of weapons, it was the last Australian massacre until December 14, 2025, at Bondi Beach.

Later in Ross we looked at bricks commemorating some of the convicts. Here are a few examples:

In Oaklands is a former grain windmill, now a distillery

And an evaporation pond with black swans

In the historic town of Ross is the former female factory (convicts).

an old roughly built by convicts sandstone bridge

and town center which had a pub on one corner, the church on another, and on the other 2 corners the jail and city hall (above), in the center a war memorial. Australia joined Britain in all their wars, then the US in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan.

And delicious meat pies for lunch. All our food was delicious!

We met Lugo and Pedro the Poser after enjoying the murals of Sheffield which followed the theme of Discovery

The Tasmanian countryside is stunning, everywhere thick with 100's of varieties of eucalyptus and pines and other trees. We traveled by small bus, so there was a little glare from the windows!

Mt. Roland
Western Tasmania is rich in minerals and Tasmania is very proud of its hydroelectric power, which it sells to others.

Unfortunately the early settlers did not understand the indigenous understanding of the natural burning of the land to generate new growth of eucalyptus, so now there are many tree farms to further growth.

Cradle Mountain National Park, established by Austrian, to become Australian, Gustav Waldheim & wife Kate at their chalet which has been reconstructed of original materials.

We loved the buffle grass, rain forest, Dove Lake and mountain views

After our first night in Launceston, 1 1/2 hour drive east of Cradle Mountain, we visited the very interesting Platypus House Wildlife center for echidnas and the rare platypus (misnamed spiny anteater), the only 2 egg-laying mammals, monotremes (one hole for reproduction and urine).

The echidnas were very cute, eating with their long quick skinny tongues and running around like chickens. After a 10 day gestation period the young spend time in mom's pouch.

We had a nice charcuterie lunch at Small Wonder Winery

That afternoon in Launceston I enjoyed the Royal Victoria Park Gallery, especially the indigenous block linoprints by Billy Missi'n (no photos), the Aboriginal culture exhibits and the extremely lifelike and a very eery silicon, hair, etc. sculptures of Sam Jinks

March 26 we departed for Cataract Canyon Gorge and rode the world's longest single chairlift span, walked across a suspension bridge, saw lots of wallabies, enjoyed another rainforest and walked the path to the King's Bridge (transported whole from the UK)

 

We then enjoyed the Tamar wetlands, where we saw 2 coral back (poisonous) snakes along the path, as well eagles and other birds

Later I went to Inveresk museum, old train yard (1909-37) with old trains, and to an extraordinary exhibit of large animals with metal and wood frames completely covered in hand-knitted yarns

I walked back through the beautiful City Park next to Albert Hall

Tasmania is deeply rooted in British culture but has its own flavor, wildness, language, and is filled with friendly, helpful, kind people.
And a huge thank you to our bus drivers and especially to our leader Michael who lives with his family in Melbourne, but has lived in Sydney and other places, has played Australian football and produced television shows.