Wombat Tales

I’ll bet some of you have been wondering what Harry and Wally have been up to. (Harry is Bern’s wombat and Wally the one eyed wonder is Jenn’s wombat) This Easter Break Harry went off to Sydney to check things out while Wally went to Melbourne. They met up in Hobart and the adventure began. First they HAD to go shopping at the Salamanca Market. There were just so many amazing things there. Wally’s owner has a thing for wooden crafts and there were many great things to choose from. Harry’s owner found some beautiful hand painted art cards. Of course there were nice things to eat too like salmon and prawn pie and chicken satay. Yummy. Then it was off to the Museum and Art Gallery. The film footage of the Tassie Tigers was fascinating. The Wombats had to endure another bit of shopping as Jenn’s memory card for her camera was full. The afternoon was spent discovering the delights of the Cadbury Factory. The wombats left the factory with several purple bags-I did wonder what they were up to but everyone had a big smile. We did find out that the chocolate produced in Oz is sweetened with cane sugar while the chocolate in North America is sweetened with corn syrup. That explains the different taste. Don’t tell anyone but Bern prefers the Aussie chocolate now, but she had to eat lots of samples to be sure. One of the highlights of the Tassie trip was the Tahune Airwalk. The Huen Pine Forrest was remarkable. These brave wombats not only did the air walk but went on the swinging bridges and the cantilever bridge as well. Good on you mates! On the way back to Hobart we stopped at a roadside market-since it is autumn the apples are in season. There are many "honour system" road side stands. Bern has seen these in the Annapolis Valley of NS but Jenn from Winnipeg was impressed by them.We bought a bag of bright red apples with the very controversial name of "Geeveston Fanny Reds". Wally and Harry being natives were shocked at the name but Bern, Jenn and Danna(Jenn's daughter) just thought they were really really good eating apples. On our last day in Tassie we went down to Port Arthur to see the Port Arthur Historic Sites. On the way we made a detour to the Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park. We had been told by some other travelers to time our visit at the Devil's feeding times. Interesting Dinner parties those devils have. they live up to their names. They are nearly as civil as Harry and Wally are when they eat. In fact the noise they make is outright scary. It was also mating season for the devils and they bite each others faces. Apparently the more scarred the better the love life. Hmm not sure it works that way with humans. We were able to hand feed some Forester Kangaroos and some Pattimellons( you will have to google them or wait for the pictures). We also saw some Eastern Quoll's, Red-Necked Wallaby's and Green Rosella's. There are some fascinating creatures living here. The route to Port Arthur is referred to as the convict trail. While I know the gals enjoyed their day visiting this historic site I know Bern found that there were no real "vibes" there. Australia is a young country-and many things have been destroyed by bush fires. After the prison was closed, the town was renamed and the buildings that were left were mostly moved or destroyed in an effort to rid the place of the stain of the prison. When we arrived at the site we were delt a card from a deck that represented a real prisoner at the site-we could then find and follow our prisoner to see what happened to him. Neat idea. Bern liked Tasmania. I hope she will come back and I hope she will bring her furry friends with her. The next part of our journey involved a flight to Melbourne and a road trip down the Great Ocean Road. That is another story for another day. I hope you folks back in Canada are enjoying spring.
G'day eh!
Harry, Wally and Bern