The land of the devil and just what is a quoll??

As this was the 4th trip to Australia I wanted to get off the East coast and head somewhere else.  My sister agreed and planned a trek through the southern part of Tasmania!  Woohoo...I was going to the land of the devils and wombats and Cadbury Chocolate factory!

The airport was so retro it was cool.  I feel odd that I can say retro - when I mean: we could bring water into the airport, we didn't have to take off our shoes AND there were people in the waiting area who were NOT getting onto the plane - there were family members seeing each other off!  *sniff*

Kim says peek-a-boo

 In Tazi we first went to a little place called Snugg.  Oh, wait, to get there we rented this way cool camper van thingie.  I think the USA should hop on this trend for rental cars.  Maybe they do and I don't know it - but we rented this minivan that came equipped with a fold out bed, table, portable plug in refrigerator/cooler/freezer thing, stove, folding table, tea kettle, pots, pans, plates, towels, camp chairs, flashlight and bedding.  Basically everything you'd need to car camp which is what we did for the trip.

 So in Snugg we camped and went to Hastings Caves because of my silly fascination with going under ground.  It was a tourist cave so no crawling on hands and knees, but it was still pretty to see the formations and all.  We saw some cave crickets, worms and fungus.  Also, the history of Australia is so cool because of it being a penal colony, so even the story of discovering the cave was kinda cool.  Lots of poaching and illegal harvesting of things in this country.

Quoll

We went to Lake St. Clare where I got to see a quoll up close and personal along with a ring-tail possum and potaru and other sundry creatures.  Saw me a platypus in the most placid lake - stunning!  I believe I saw a dead wombat and quite possibly a Tasmanian devil on the road.  The roads throughout the state were soooooooooooo windy - very curvaceous!

We went to Port Arthur which was a prison back in the day. We did the night tour.  There really is NOTHING there except

 this abandoned ghost prison.  It was super creepy and I really enjoyed it.  The guide was kinda funny at times and the stories that were told were way interesting.  I wish we could have stayed longer to learn more about the prisoners.  You can do a day tour too, but the night tour was sufficient and extra scary.

We went to Wine Glass bay - which was beautiful.  A nice short hike to a wonderful overlook to see the shape of the bay and then you could 

hike down the steeeeeeep slope to the bay.  We did not hike to the bay because there was so much else to do (hike would have been 5 hours).  AND it would have only really been worth it if it had been warm enough to go swimming.  As it was, we were in sweaters and jackets even on the hike.  

 

We went to Biechno where you can see the fairy penguines come up onto the beach at night.  You aren't allowed to photograph them so the tour company provides photos if you want to see what they look like.  But they are little birds that waddle up and out of the sea each night.  They are noisy (as most penguins are) and will sometimes walk across your feet if you are in the way.  But this is only observed during breeding season.  When I was there they were a little more cautious. 

We made it to Richmond which has the oldest standing church in Australia and a bridge that was built in 1823.  Quite the storybook town.  Lots of wood crafts in Tasmania.

  

We went to the Salamaca Markets in Hobart along with a quick stop at the cadbury factory.  No, did not go into the factory though I wish I had now.  They charge $7 but its not a real tour.  You watch a DVD and thats about it.  They don't even give samples!  We also went to the Royal Botanical Gardens which was a pleasant surprise.  We had time to kill before our flight and wanted to do something that didn't cost money.  Basically, figure at least $25 for any activity and at least $25 for every night to camp.  So, it was refreshing to have something that didn't cost and was still interesting to see.

Tasmania had some strange signs, like their speed signs.  When leaving a village or town, instead of just posting the new speed limit that you should follow, they would post the speed limit you no longer had to follow.  So it would be a 50 with a circle cross through it.  It seemed like they never posted the proper speed limit, rather the speed you don't follow anymore.   It got confusing because I kept forgetting what the  previously posted proper speed was.  Those were posted so infrequently.  However there were HUGE signs that said all speed limits are 90 km unless otherwise posted.  No one went 90 km/hr - and the roads were freaking curvy.  I can't believe I forgot to take a photo of this even thought it is so very memorable...the impact from it anyway.

 Is that car running up and over a kangaroos feet? or is that kangaroo lifting the car?
No standing???? no standing on either side?  So is floating OK or sitting - maybe we have to dance??

All over they have these signs with a circle cross thing over a S.  Much like our No Parking signs with a P and the circle cross over it, they use the word Standing and letter S.  No Standing = No Parking.  How the heck would you figure this out???

From down under to Pura Vida, now the land of ABBA

The past month has been a bit up in the air.  OK, well, actually the past 2 or 3 months have been that way for me.  Let me 'splain...no there is too much.  Let me sum up.  Buttercup is marry' Humperdinck in little less than half an hour.  Oh! wait....thats my other life....

Still it might be too much, but I will be brief.  After deciding to take a job in Sweden, I finished my 2 other jobs at the university and quit the job I took with Idaho Game and Fish.  Quitting IDG&F was a different experience for me.  Ive never quit a job like that in the middle of work - but it was either survey for woodpeckers or move to sweden and study wolves/moose....hmmmmm what to do?

Kobe the tool man

After the confusion regarding the entry visa into Sweden and being given the choice of arrival date in August I immediately booked passage to Australia with super excitement to meet my nephew for the first time. 

Oscar, Alejandra, me

Then on a whim (after booking the australia trip), I decided that this would be the perfect time to head down to Costa Rica because I had friends there and 2 of those guys have the same birthday as me.  What kind of a world is it when you meet a guy from Puerto Rico and a gal from Nicaragua in Moscow Idaho who are all about 2 years apart and study the ecology of the landscape AND are born on the same day?  

I didn't plan out either trip.  I didn't really do much besides focus on finishing my jobs in Idaho and packing my stuff into a storage locker.  I did try to pack for Sweden but after looking over my suitcase of the things I was bringing - I realized I will freeze and need to repack.  So, here I am in my last few days before moving to Sweden trying to digest the past month or so of activity.  I will be leaving all that I know and is familiar (again) to experience a culture and society foreign to me.  I do not think it will be as big of a culture shock as India was, but there are still drawbacks.  For instance, expectations about what is familiar like foods.  You go to a completely foreign place like India you can't assume a bag of Doritos will taste like a bag of doritos in the USA.  If you can even FIND doritos and then are willing to pay the $8 for a bag, it may taste slightly different.  However, if you go to some place you assume is similar - like Australia (or Sweden) and see a bag of Doritos - I guarentee you they will NOT taste the same and you will be severely disappointed.  In India, you have to find something else, you have to be bold, adventurous and curious - in Australia I found myself forgetting that I wasn't in Kansas anymore and so when I bit into a sausage roll the taste was so unexpected it became unenjoyable.  The same thing happens more often with tomato sauce of any kind.  I do not like ketchup in anyother part of the world so far and pizza can be a real gamble.  So, stay away from what you think is familiar and you will discover all new flavors to enjoy.  Thats how I ate potatoes without "gagging" in India....For those of you who know me, this is a big deal.  I might ramble about this later....For now, Ive a few days left and then Im off to Sweden for a while.