Hobart / Mon & Tue Feb 12 & 13

We're docked in Hobart for a day and a half. Hobart is the capitol and largest city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. It's also the second oldest capitol in Australia. Yesterday we went on a private tour with Karin and Joe - a couple from Georgia that we've gotten to know. We took a hike in beautiful Mt. Field National Park, went to Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary and saw a number of other scenic and historical sites. 

To get to Mount Field National Park we drove along the Derwent River.

The National Park was quite scenic. We took a long walk and saw some beautiful waterfalls, huge trees and the random wallaby (small kangaroo).

 

Russell Falls

 

After Mount Field we had lunch at a cute local restaurant located on the river. Our waitress had an interesting story to tell us about a Zombie Run she'd taken recently in Auckland. Crazy!

After lunch we spent a bit of time looking for a platypus. Our tour guide found one in the river near the place we had lunch but it was hard to get a good photo of it. 

Our next stop was Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary where we got close up views of native animals that had been injured and were at the sanctuary to recover. We saw several tiger snakes (second most poisonous snake in the world), kangaroos, a tasmania devil, a koala and a beautifully colored bird called a Rainbow Lorikeet.

We also learned that kangaroos like to be petted under their necks!

On our way back to Hobart we drove over the Richmond Bridge. It's a sandstone bridge that was built by convict labor in 1825 and it is Australia’s oldest surviving large stone arch bridge.

To finish the tour, our guide drove us around several scenic neighborhoods and Hobart's CBD.

This morning we walked around historic Salamanca Square. 

We leave Hobart this afternoon heading for Kangaroo Island. Captain is taking an alternate route because of rough seas. We’re expecting 30’ waves. YIKES!