peregrination :: Tasmania [2022]

Southport

After breakfast, I headed down to Southport proper to look around. There was not much to see, to be honest.

Some of the housing at Southport
Mostly holiday home style buildings, but some new dwellings being built

Drove on to Huonville for mornos at the Bakery Cafe. Back on the highway to Hobart, there were some spectacular views when driving past Kingston, but nor convenient to stop to capture them.

State (old growth) forests on the highway near Huonville

In the spirit of touring, I stopped in at the Home Hill Winery, outside Huonville.

The cellar door at Home Hill Winery. A very modern space with cafe and merchandise outlet.

Drove directly through Hobart and out to the Tasman peninsula. This part of the drive was very innocuous.

Crossed two long causeways to the southern peninsula on the way to Sorrell.

View of Tiger Head Bay from near Cambridge

The GPS took me onto a C-road to short-cut across to Dunalley.

Rolling farmland then sweeping coastal views; beautiful countryside to drive through.

The view across Pirates Bay at Eaglehawk Neck (Eastern side)
Manually created panorama

Eaglehawk Neck

Dunalley down to Eaglehawk Neck. Turned off the GPS to travel down the Pirates Bay scenic route to the tessellated pavement.

This was a good decision. It was a spectacular drive even though the weather was its worst for this little bit.

Saw the sights at the pavement and then had lunch at the Lufra Hotel right there. They were busy for Father’s Day, so I didn’t linger.

View of Pirates Bay, looking South, from the Tessellated Pavement walk

Tessellated Pavement from the Tessellated Pavement walk

Information about the Tessellated Pavement

Pirates Bay, looking North, from the pavement

Lunch at the Lufra Hotel
Note how the weather has improved out of sight now that I’m inside

The Unzoo

Had read about the Unzoo where you can see Tasmanian Devils, so when that sign showed up I stopped to check out the attraction. It was lovely. A brief wildlife adventure.

A Tasmanian Devil. My first time seeing one of them live.

Apparently, the Tasmanian Devils are fed this way all the time (at the Unzoo) and never learn how to anticipate the swing of the food.

Feeding the Tasmanian Devil to entertain the visitors.

Brush hens eating the paddy melon's dinner — Brush hens eating the paddy melon’s dinner

Paddy melon comes to dinner — The paddy melon arrives for dinner (late)

The local kangaroo residents. The insouciance was palpable.

The bay where the wedge-tailed eagle lived
Food was left out to lure her in; but not today

The eagle was in these trees — The eagle flew down to perch in these trees
I could see it at the time; not sure about in the photo

Interesting display that plays to modern viewing expectations
The old TV screen frame presents a very specific view of the forest

Port Arthur

On to Port Arthur. The holiday camp appeared before the Historic Site, so I checked in to be sure that I would have a site for the night.

Went directly to the historic site to do the tourist thing. I’ve been before – before the 1996 tragedy – so when I was told that if I waited 15 minutes before buying a ticket, I’d only pay half price, I duly went to get a coffee to kill 15 minutes.

The historic site visitor centre — The (new to me) historic site visitor centre

The visitor centre coffee shop — Killing time in the visitor centre cafe

I planned a walk-around that would consume the time alloted by the half-price ticket (90 mins) and visited the main buildings of interest

I visited the penitentiary, police station, some residences, the old cathedral, and the contemplation garden that they’ made out of the old Broad Arrow Cafe, where the massacre took place.