Deloraine and Liffey

 

I woke up to another rainy day, I thought about hitting a trail, but the road was a bit slippery and after 20 feet of driving I decided it wasn’t worth the risk, so I turned around and headed for Trowunna wildlife sanctuary, a place the guide on the cave tour told me about. It was a really cool sanctuary. 

They rehabilitate and release a number of animals, as well as maintaining populations of a few other species. They had potoros, quolls, wombats, Tassie devils, a gorgeous white goshawk, owls, eagles, roos, and many more. Seeing Tassie devils in person in now certain what I saw in Cradle Mountain was not a devil, but that’s okay. You could buy a bag of feed when you walked in to feed the roos, and they sure knew the crinkle of that paper bag. I was followed by a gang of kangaroos who greedily eat from my hands. Some would even grasp my hand between their paws and hold it until they had eaten all the food I was holding. It was a lot of fun feeding them. I spent some time sitting and watching all the different animals. Quolls were one of my favorite. They have a rich chestnut brown fur with white spots. They are the size of a young cat, with a rounder body and a long tail. One pair was especially fun to watch as they chased eachother around the pen. Often one was carrying a large pile of leaves as it sprinted around hopping up and down on logs, chasing the other, and acting silly. 

After a few hours there was a tour/feeding which was great. We got to meet and gave pats to a young wombat they are rehabilitating for release, and a Tasmanian devil which is part of their breeding program. Both had soft hit wirey fur. 

Tasmanian devils are quite endangered especially due to a virus which causes facial tumors in the species. Over the last 10ish ?years 90% of the wild population of devils have died off from the virus, so zoos and sanctuaries have since been working hard to find a vaccine, establish a captive breeding population, and prevent spread. There is good news for the devils though, in the last 2 years a new vaccine has been developed which shows promising signs of preventing the spread of the disease. Furthermore, risk of extinction appears to be declining as there is evidence the wild population is near a stabilization rate where the percentage of death from the disease is equal to the birth rate when the population is low enough that devil interaction is low. Finally, some wild devils appear to be developing a natural immunity to the virus, as evolution takes its course. While the species is still endangered and at risk, things are looking up for this cool species. 

The final part of the tour was a devil feeding. They gave 7 of them half of a pademelon (like a small kangaroo) to eat. It was pretty spectacular. The devils have a 3,000lb/sq inch bite force (humans have like 100 I think) which is the same as a salt water crocodile. They are scavengers and eat every part of the animals, including the fur and bones. Their strong jaws crunch bones in a single bite and in 30 minutes there was not a single trace of their lunch. It was absolutely entrancing to watch. 

After the feeding I decided to dry off and head to town to get lunch and replenish my empty snack stash. I went to a lovely deli where I worked and ate local smoked salmon bruschetta before picking up supplies and heading back into the woods. 

My next stop was Liffey creek, an incredible free campground in a conservation area. Only I and a pair of grey nomads (retirees in rvs/trailers are called grey nomads) had camped here and it was a lovely site to sit by the river and read. 

The next day I woke up early (that’s daylights savings) and headed down the trail this site is known for. It’s a 6km hike along the river ending at a beautiful waterfall. It was beautiful and tranquil. I returned and sat by the river for a while enjoying the peace of being grand-cell service for a couple days, and listening to the river run. I was delighted by the passing of a platypus below me. 

I took a mid day nap, before heading out on another 4km trail in the uplands. It was also a lovely trail with stringy park eucalyptus and I saw many green rosellas (parrots). I even think I may have seen a wild Tassie (for real this time) although I can’t say for sure. I turned a corner and a medium sized black creature with a conical trail darted away from me. It didn’t hop like a wallaby or pademelon, who knows, but I believe it was a devil. I sat for 30 minutes hoping it would pass by again, but no such luck. Nonetheless it was a great walk I spent the rest of the evening eyeing rain clouds and sitting by the river luxuriating in the peace. Did I get in bed at 6pm? Yes. But it was cold outside and getting dark so why not. My tent is super cozy.