Unzoo

Well, that’s a wrap for Hobart. We loved this cute little city. So much character.

Minor issues getting back down the driveway from the apartment, but with some skilful driving from Ern and some all right directing from Daph, we made it out with only a few scrapes on the bull bar.

Moving on to Port Arthur, the most southern place we will visit in the Kombi. The drive is beautiful along the Tasmanian coastline with stunning scenery. We stopped at Pirates Bay to see the blowhole and got a hot chocolate to warm our cockles. The wind coming off the Tasman Sea is icy cold. It’s like the ends of the Earth. Daph thinks we are a little too close to Antarctica for her liking.

We stopped at the Tasmanian Devil Unzoo on the way. In an “unzoo” it’s the humans that are in captivity, watching the animals in the wild. It’s a fantastic venture attempting to save the endangered creatures. This is apparently the only place on Earth that has Tasmanian devils that are not affected by the fatal DFTD (devil facial tumour disease), which has depleted the population by ninety percent since 1996. So sad. It’s estimated there are only 10,000 left in the wild and the disease is spreading.

We learned that the Tasmanian devil has the most powerful bite relative to the body size of any living mammal on Earth! Daph is not going to get any closer than necessary, contrary to her usual nonchalant ways.

We are currently waiting for nightfall when Daph has booked a Port Arthur ghost tour, much to Ern’s dismay.