NewsFlash: Tasmanian Devils Are Adorable

Deb says: “… but wombats are cuter.”

Ryan, Soyok, Deb and I visited Tasmania April 23-25. We started off in Hobart, rented a car, and drove up the Eastern coast through Triabunna, and Bicheno, to a beautiful and giant vacation rental in St. Helens. Unfortunately we didn’t arrive at the rental house until latish in the evening, and left it early the morning, so we didn’t get a chance to really relax into the house.

But arriving late was totally worth our extra afternoon activity. We stopped on a whim at a potentially-hokey-looking wildlife center called Nature World because it promised Tasmanian Devils, and we didn’t want to return from Tasmania having to respond with a “No” to everyone’s first question. But it turned out to be a beautiful, thoughtfully-run, and very large rescue center and wildlife habitat.

The man running the Tasmanian Devils explained to us how they had two types of animals there: the animals on the rehabilitation track would be released into the wild in the future, and therefore were not socialized with people, and the injured, domesticated or otherwise un-releasable animals who were never going to return to the wild were heavily socialized with people for great cuteness. Two of his devils in particular has bonded to him like he was their mom, and would follow him around while making attempts at his attention. If he stood still for a while, they would cuddle up next to his feet, chomp onto a pant leg and fall asleep.

The wild ones however will kill and eat anything slow or diseased, including its bones (their stomachs can digest almost anything, including bacteria in rotting meat), are completely antisocial, and will kill and even eat each other if they get within whisker-distance while feasting, so don’t try to tame a wild devil as a pet. The cute ones mentioned above are something like 5th generation captive devils, and they’re the first generation to be this social. But they sure were cute.

Most of the park is open for people and animals to roam around. We were petting and playing with kangaroos when a herd of deer ran by and some geese who sounded like pigs tried to steal our food. The wide range of interspecies interactions was wonderful.

The next day we explored beaches at Peron Dunes and Binnalong Bay of the Bay of Fires. We stopped at the Pyengana Dairy where we participated in a great little cheese tasting, bought some cheese, and shared some very hearty ice cream. We got stuck in a traffic jam made up of our car, dozens of cows, one dog, and a cowboy on an ATV. We then drove the rest of the way up to Launceston, where we stopped for the night at the Colonial Inn.

In the morning we ate a serious breakfast made for us by the sole vegetarian restaurant in northern Tasmania. It was amazing. The sweet potato and zuchini hashbrowns with fried eggs and roasted peppers on top was the high point for me.

All fueled-up, we walked to and around Cataract Gorge which involved a lake, a river, a suspension bridge, a playground, a hike up and down some big hills, a skate park, and a grassy harbor.

We visited The Design Center of Tasmania which housed all sorts of wooden art. Some of it reminded Deb and me of some of uncle Al’s fine work.

Then back down to the Hobart Airport Hotel and the next morning we flew out to Melbourne.

Loads of photos here.