WEDNESDAY, 11 MAY 2011 AN AIRBRIDGE, KANGAROOS, WOMBATS, TASMANIAN DEVILS, AND KOALAS

After sleeping in and eating breakfast we headed for the Tahune Airwalk as suggested by the concierge. Like New Zealand, Tasmania’s forests are mostly rainforests. The Tasmanian trees are different,  it has fewer ferns than New Zealand’s, and it is beautiful, but it is still a rainforest, and we decided we will bypass the rainforest when we get to Cairns.

It took 90 minutes to drive to the Tauna Forest where there are two rivers that converge-the Picton and the Huon.

Somebody got the idea to build a walkway that hangs 120  feet in the air above the convergence and in the canopy of the trees. It took about 30 minutes to walk to the bridge, much of which was on a manmade path that you could look down through as you walked.

 There are some spectacularly large and magnificent eucalyptus trees.

 

The bridge itself is suspended in air by four cables and afforded a beautiful view.

After finishing on the bridge we took the path that lead across two swinging bridges, one for each river. We really got them swaying!

We took a different road back to Hobart, on a winding road through the hills, grabbed a quick early dinner, then drove to Brighton to experience the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary night tour. The sanctuary takes in injured and orphaned animals, most of which are marsupials, and releases those that can be healed and cares for those that cannot. It was an incredible experience as we:

Fed kangaroos;

held Morris, a young wombat who was orphaned when his mom was killed by a car;

met and fed Prada, a Tasmanian Devil who demonstrated how loud and noisy Tassie Devils are;

Got up close and personal with a couple of koalas;

fed a pair of Tawny Frogmouths who were both blind in their left eye as a result of running into cars;

met a blond possum;

Watched Cosmo, a vicious quoll, eat his dinner;

And watched three shy rat kangaroos. This is Fry...he was so named because he was found hiding in a McDonald’s french fry holder on the roadside next to his dead mother.






 We also talked with Fred, a 95 year old cockatoo, who has outlived three generations of one family, but ended up at the sanctuary when his last owner died without leaving any descendants.

It was an incredible and unforgettable experience!