Jan 27: The Perfect Day

Groggy and still half asleep, I left the ferry unsure of which direction to head. I had booked 9 days to explore Tasmania, but consistent with my adventure to date, I had no plan whatsoever.

I decided to turn right our of Devonport, aiming for Cradle Mountain. Cradle Mountain is saddle shaped, and ends up on all kinds of Tasmanian postcards. I have been hiking in several parts of the world... and to date this is EASILY my favorite. You scramble up boulders, heaving yourself up the hill. This is the first day of a 6 day bushwalk called the overland track - which is commonly regarded as a world class hike.

And as a special bonus, when I finished my hike, there was a "wombat walk" going on where I got a chance to learn more about the wombat. Did you know a wombat has a top speed of 40km an hour (humans top out around 35), and is the only marsupial with a pouch that faces downwards so that it doesn't fill up with dirt while they dig?

I ended my day parked at the side of a placid lake in the mountains. As I stood silently, listening to the sound of the fish jump, a little wallaby snuck up beside me to have a drink at the edge of the water. It was the perfect end to a perfect day.

Jan 26: Happy Australia Day

Happy Birthday Australia. Today Australia turns 222, based on the date the colony of New South Wales was established as a penal settlement. I have decided to celebrate by visiting with one of Australia's most famous icons, the Koala bear.

The Koala reserve on Phillip Island is a great place to see Koalas in semi-wild conditions. Unlike birds or snakes, they are easy to photograph, as they are more or less sedentary. The Koala is not really related to the bear - it is instead a close cousin of the possum and the wombat (which looks like a giant hamster).

I got a rare chance to see the spectacular Melbourne fireworks from the sea, as Trusty Rusty and I boarded an overnight ferry to Tasmania.

There is a second reason to celebrate... though this one is strictly personal. Since I was a little kid, I have always bit my nails. I've tried a couple of different tactics to quit, but the nasty habit always seemed to re-emerge in times of stress. For the first time I can remember, I actually had to buy nail-clippers to trim my fingernails. While it might seem like a morbid and unsanitary point to highlight, I think it symbolically represents my own personal victory over the stresses of everyday life.

Jan 25: Phillip Island

Eager to get back to nature, Will and Leah aimed me in the direction of Phillip Island. It is a small area, a little over an hour south of Melbourne, famous for its Koala Sanctuary, and its Penguin colony.

Every evening, just past dusk, the penguins line up on the water's edge, and get ready to make a break for the foliage at the edge of the beach. Nimble and quick in the water, but slow and unweildly on the land, crossing the sand beach is when the penguins are most vulnerable to predators.

It is a great experience to watch, very reminiscient of kids first earning to play sports. They huddle together in a crowd, and inch forward as a group. One brave penguin might make a break for it... only to turn back seconds later to rejoin the safety of the group. Eventually they summon the courage to inch ahead to the grassy knolls, where they meander through the tiny little paths in the rough tufts of grass to find their own little burrows. Unfortunately, camera use is prohibited on the tour, so I don't have any photos to share.

Jan 24: Australian Open

As luck would have it, I happened to be cruising through Melbourne at the same time as the Australian Open. I played tennis as a little kid against older kids who would pound me into the court every Monday morning starting at 5:30am. Despite the emotional scarring, I still love to watch the game - and this was my first chance to see professional tennis live.

I spent the afternoon in a solo seat next to a wonderful Australian fellow named Paul, who spends his time writing new music. He is a former bar musician turned vocal coach. The tennis was great fun. I have never seen such a polite stadium full of people. There was no drinking in the stands, and all talking was kept to a quiet whisper.

For dinner, I met up with Will and Leah. We stopped for Italian food in the trendy St. Kilda area of Melbourne. Only days ahead of her planned delivery date, I don't think I've ever met a woman quite as pregnant as Leah. It was so wonderful to get to know the happy couple... just as their family is about to grow.

Jan 23: Melbourne Zoo... and the Platypus!

Despite controversy over the social acceptance of zoos and the ethics surrounding them, I am a huge fan. In the past two years, I've visited the zoos in Calgary, Toronto, and San Francisco. The Melbourne Zoo is just as exceptional as the other three.

Though it is a touch smaller, what it lacks in size it makes up for with a choice few incredible Australian exhibits: the koala bears, and the platypus.

The koalas are at least as cute and cuddly looking as any teddy bear. They are slow and lethargic, sometimes sleeping as much as 20 hours a day. They move so mechanically, you would swear they were robotic, crunching on ecalyptus leaves and then dozing in and out of a perpetual series of naps. They seem to be the most peaceful of creatures.

The platypus is strange and curious. From an obscure Australian family of two animals called monotrenes (named because they have one exit point - the cloaca), they are thought to be a potential link between mammals and reptiles. They have a duck bill, webbed feet, a lush coat of fur and a beaver's tail. They lay eggs as opposed to bearing live young, and are one of the few mammals known to be venomous. This little guy is noctural, so the viewing is quite dark - making photography very difficult. He is very quick, and based on my observation, partial to doing clockwise circles in his giant aquarium. I watched him in two sessions, totalling about a half hour, and I don't think I saw him stop swimming once.

The zoo does have regular exhibits - with all of the amazing wonders of the animal kingdom you would expect. I took the opportunity to take out the SLR camera for the first time to give it a test run. I brought it all this way... might as well use it :)

Later in the evening, I met up with Will and Leah. Will is Ken's older brother. I had met him briefly in Sydney, and he offered to meet me for beers and to put me up for the evening.