Devils, Bandits & Delicacies, Fortescue Bay

After a few days in the city between Motels and caravan parks it was nice to leave the city and venture beyond Hobart.

Sunday morning the 11th of March, we packed up camp, bound for the infamous Port Arthur.
I had said the name of the town thousands of times in my news reading days after the evils of Martin Bryant, so there were mixed emotions of excitement and sadness about visiting the historical site.
Our first stop along the way was another historical town called Richmond.
We stopped in a quaint little coffee shop for breakfast and wandered the streets, in and out of giftware shops.
Richard ended up buying himself a hat while Nina also got a cute Tassie cap.

Richard with his new cap

Nina with her new cap

We then stopped to look at a historic bridge built in the 1800's, said to be haunted by ghosts of the past.

The historic Richmond bridge, it's said to be haunted

We continued our journey,  in amazement at how one minute you could be surrounded by dense tall trees in a forest and then within a turn, you are on the edge of a cliff overlooking a bay... We stopped along the way to take photos of some of the views.

The lookout at Pirates Bay

We were also amazed at the amount of road kill on Tasmanian roads... There must be a dead animal on average every 1-2 kilometers. In Taranna,  we stopped at the Tasmanian Devil sanctuary and we all got to see the little Devils in the flesh for the first time... They we cute but feral all at once.  We watched as they were fed... Such aggressive little creatures with each other, as much as anything else. Their jaws are as strong as that of a Rottweiler so they had demolished their food before too long. I'd hate to come across a hungry one in the wild!!

Tassie devils

Lunchtime tug-o-war

We also saw some other Tasmanian wildlife like these Quolls....

Some sleepy spotted quolls

 And these Bennett's wallabies....

Our distant relation, Bennett's wallaby

 Their other name is  red-necked wallaby

Funny!!!

Too funny, just imagine the name Bennett and red-neck in the same sentence... It gave me a chuckle!

My little Tasmanian Devils

By mid afternoon we were in Port Arthur, the town itself is so much smaller that I had envisaged.
We called into the historical ruins but decided it was too late to see everything so we headed towards the Tasman National Park and a campsite called Fortescue Bay, where we set up camp for the next 3 nights.
Before long the Campfire was lit and the locals started coming out to say hello, including a Bennett's wallaby.. which we nicknamed Beno....

The boys collecting firewood

Beno meets Beno

Dinner and sleep after a long day of travelling but not before some late night entertainment... When someone or something decided to wander onto the roof of our caravan... It sounded like an elephant and we all froze in bed not knowing whether to go out and tackle this beast or let it leave when it was ready... Jack decided to head outside with the torch only to see a big possum on our roof....
Our expert tracking skills the next morning proved him right....

Possum prints

Possum poo on our annex

 Monday the 12th of March, Richard and I got up and went for an early morning walk up and down mountainsides, the views were amazing.
A quick brekky and before long the tinny was in the water and we were off trying our luck in the waters of Tasmania....  No luck.... But breathtaking views.

The lanterns,  Fortescue Bay

Nina and Richard fishing in the tinny, Fortescue Bay

Amazing views of Fortescue Bay

A drive into Port Arthur and around the peninsula took us to white beach and before long we had done a complete loop and were back at the National Park, in time for the kids to try to catch dinner.  Squid, tuna, salmon... Any of the fore mentioned would have been nice.  But it wasn't to be... So it was roast veggies on the fire....

The veggies cooking on the campfire

A few reds later and our intruder from the night before was back, more brazen that ever, even sitting beside Richard and then trying to break into our rubbish bin.

Richard with his new friend, the possum bandit

Today, Tuesday the 13th of March, the boys decided they would get an earlier start on the water, so off the three of them went with high hopes.
While the boys fished the girls sunned themselves & read fairy books on the beach.
It was a beautiful day, probably one of the warmest since we arrived in Tasmania.
It wasn't long before the boys were back, again... empty handed.  Right this meant war....

The boys donned their wetsuits, freezing southern ocean water or not, they were going to catch dinner - if it wasn't going to happen above the water they were going to get it below the water - Richard doing what he does best - within 15 minutes he had caught 6 abalone and a crayfish... he was amazing , it's like watching a seal at work, the boys were his pups learning their trade. (haha Richard wrote that last line)  

The report back was it was a great dive, with plenty of giant kelp and a stingray that was  over 6 ft across.

 So dinner was salt & pepper abalone, it was delicious and the first time any of us had ever tasted the delicacy.

Richard preparing the abalone

The kids played cricket while we cooked dinner - Nina (or Ponting, as she called herself)  - dancing, while being wicket keeper.  She made us all laugh!

The boys playing cricket while Ponting dances in the background

Then, the return of our possum bandit... Caught red handed trying to get into our bin.  He kept us up for Most of the night!

Our possum bandit, raiding the bin