We’ve decided to revisit the town of Ross. Whilst on our cycling tour we spent about an hour there, but felt rushed so now we have an opportunity to take our time.

We happily browse this very quaint place for about three hours and then travel on to Oatland. There we find a great little cottage to stay the night. It is called Thimble Cottage and I gather it has a thimble collection, but I totally missed it! Lawrie noticed though, so we weren’t both oblivious. There is a knit wear industry here, Casaveen by name. Missed the last tour by half an hour, drats! Still, there were two lovely sweaters that found their way to the car with us.

The next morning we amble about the partially restored flour mill and then find some topiaries that are in the development stages, but worth taking pictures of. All in all, Oatlands is a nice surprise and has an authentic historic appearance to it.

After a small debate we decide to go back to Carrick via the main highway. We haven’t seen Tasmanian devils nor platypuses in the wild and know that there are interpretation centres where we can get a close up look at these unusual creatures. We also thoroughly enjoyed this area and look forward to spending the last couple days here. On the way to Carrick we stop in at Woolmers Estate and National Rose Garden. Very interesting and worth the time for the tour and a pleasant hour in the Rose Garden. Beautiful!

Unfortunately Innes and Nicole at The Stables are booked for Saturday and we are shunted off to Westbury. This shunt finds us in a wonderfully appointed historic bakery redone into a cottage and having the best dinner ever at a restaurant called Hobnobs. Bonus!

Our final full day is spent at the Tasmanian devil research centre just a stone’s throw from Mole Creek. In addition to the devils there are wombats and kangaroos and spotted quolls and koalas. There is even a bird aviary as well as a few snakes and lizards.

Then it’s a quick walk to view the Alum Cliffs nearby. The sun was in the exact wrong position to get any really good pictures so they don’t do the place justice. Nevertheless you do get some impression of the depth and size of the cliffs.

Another cross country marathon finds us at Beauty Point to view another of the Australian marsupials - the duckbilled platypus. We don’t manage a picture that is worth including, but it has certainly been quite a day filled with some wonderful animals and the ever present incredible scenery. At the end of the day we are back at The Stables, just where we started almost a month ago. Sigh! We are not really looking forward to leaving tomorrow and hope there is something that prevents us from getting on the airplane!

The last day dawns very bright and sunny. Our airplane doesn’t leave until 1:20 pm so we take these few extra hours to go in search of a picture of the rare and elusive Tasmanian Panda Cows. After much driving about the countryside we do locate a small herd and here they are for you … the rare Tasmanian Panda Cows (LOL) Good bye from Tasmania!

Bright and earlyish on Tuesday morning we caught Tassie Link (the bus) from Lake St. Clair. Destination is Launceston and hopefully by 5:45 so we can pick up our rental car. The bus ride is an all day affair and of course Murphy’s Law says we will be late … and we are! Not just by a minute or two either, almost 40 minutes actually. However, we are flexible and alternate plan B goes into effect. Fiona’s B&B is lovely and we pick up our rental car in the morning instead. We have changed our route while we are being flexible and head off towards St. Helen’s on the East Coast. The day is pretty dull and rainy so when we arrive in St. Helen’s and find accommodation, we plunge into laundry and clean up mode. Always a good way to utilize a dull day!

We can think of forty different captions for this picture … and would love to hear any you think of when you see this. How about ‘A cow in goat’s clothing’ or ‘Watch me turn into a cow right before your eyes’? You get the idea … share them okay!

Thursday, today as we reckon the day to be, is spent on the beach called Bay of Fires. We arrived before dawn to catch some good photos. Then we packed up and travelled down the coast to Bicheno. Found a lovely cottage and hope to spot some penguins tonight. Holidays are wonderful things!

Penquins are found. They came in around 6:30. These are Fairy Penguins and are about foot high and look sort of furry. They come to shore after spending the day in the ocean feeding, returning to the same spot each night. These penguins come in only in the dark and scramble over the rocks and into the vegetation on the shoreline. They have individual burrows into which they dissappear for the night and will re-ermerge before light in the morning. Since you have to use a flashlight (torch the Tassies call them), we do not stay long nor do we take any pictures.
After seeing about half a dozen we retire to our cottage to enjoy each others company and wonder at the navigational abilities of these little creatures. Holidays truly are wonderful things.