Mar. 1

Our tour here was billed as "the Wonders of Tasmania" and sure enough, we're seeing lots of wonders. We started at an animal sanctuary where all of the animals have been rescued, many when their mothers became road kill. If possible, the animals are released into the wild when they are old enough. Not only could we see these animals close up, but we were able to touch many of them. The baby wombat, Patsy, was adorable and loved people. We were told that when she is older, she'd become solitary and shy. We were also able to pet the koala, a kangaroo, a joey (baby kangaroo), and a possum. They were carrying the joey around in a pillowcase! The possums here are not like our possums at home, here they have a lot of fur and brushy tail. We saw, but could not touch, Tasmanian devils. Their ears literally turn red when they are angry!

Next stop was a national park, and a walk to see a lovely waterfall. We passed by a spot in the creek where a family of platypuses lived, but they weren't out. Then off to a sheep farm for a demonstration of handling the sheep with dogs, and shearing. And an incredible barbequed steak lunch.