Port Arthur and Hobart, Tasmania

Feb. 12-13, 2023

Covering a land area of 26,410 sq. miles, the island state of Tasmania is Australia’s smallest state. It is located off the southern coast of Australia. Tasmania has the 3rd smallest population in Australia after Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory. The state’s capital city is Hobart. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people make up 4 percent of Tasmania’s population. Tasmania is Australia’s smallest state. Its area accounts for only 0.9 percent of Australia’s total area. Tasmania has an estimated population of 512,000. This makes Tasmania the 6th most populous state in Australia, but it’s the 4th most densely populated with a density of 7 people per square kilometer, or 19 per square mile. Almost 50% of the population is living in the greater Hobart area.

Tasmania is the most mountainous state in Australia. The central and western parts of the island state are dominated by the Central Highlands. Mount Ossa, which rises to an elevation of about a mile is the highest point in Tasmania. The central-eastern parts of the island state are occupied by the flat Midlands. Most parts of Tasmania are covered by dense forests and the Southwest National Park supports some of the Southern Hemisphere’s remaining temperate rainforests.

Our first stop in Tasmania was Port Arthur (lower south-east on map). Port Arthur is an inlet of the Tasman Sea on the south coast of the Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania, Australia. It is known for the settlement established there in 1830 by George Arthur as the major site for punishing transported convicts. It was established as a timber station, but soon became a prison for the worst offenders from Britain and Australia. It was known for its harsh conditions and isolation, and was considered an inescapable prison, like Alcatraz. Some of the prisoners tried to escape, but most of them failed or were recaptured. Although transportation of convicts ceased in 1853, the complex functioned for another 24 years, and altogether some 12,000 to 14,000 prisoners were there at one time or another. The partially restored ruins of the penal colony, a church built by convicts (1836–40) and the spot called “Isle of the Dead” (with many unmarked graves, mainly of convicts) still stand today. Today, Port Arthur is a historic site and a popular tourist attraction, but also a place of tragedy, as it was the site of a massacre in 1996, when a gunman killed 35 people and wounded 23 more.

Port Arthur is accessible from Hobart, 63 miles northwest, by the Arthur Highway. The whole Tasman Peninsula is registered as part of Australia’s National Estate (places preserved as part of Australia’s national heritage).

Then it was back to the ship for a short sail to Hobart to visit an animal refuge. On the way out we passed beautiful dolerite cliffs.

Hobart is the largest city, chief port, and capital of Tasmania, Australia. Located in the southeastern corner of the state on the west bank of the River Derwent estuary (2 miles wide), 12 miles above its mouth, the city ranges along steep foothills with Mount Wellington (4,167 feet), often snow-covered, in the near background. Hobart is Australia’s most southerly city.

Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary (pronounced “Bon-a-rong” – The name ‘Bonorong’ is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning ‘native companion”) was established in 1981 as a sanctuary for injured and orphaned wildlife and is Tasmania’s most popular wildlife park. At Bonorong you can see native animals which are extinct everywhere but Tasmania such as the famous Tasmanian Devil, Tasmanian Bettong, Eastern Quoll and Tasmanian Pademelon. We also see favorites like wombats, kangaroos, possums, lizards, native birds and so many more.

This Sanctuary is on land originally owned by the Mumirimina people. The Mumirimina people were dispossessed of their land and did not survive the early colonial period of Tasmania. The sanctuary pays respects to their memory, and it acknowledges the Palawa people, today’s Tasmanian Aboriginal community, as the traditional owners of the land.

The keeper first introduced us to a baby wombat. Wombats are nocturnal, so this little girl had difficulty staying awake. You can barely see her head poking out from her pouch, err. blanket.

Next, we met an echidna. Echidnas, sometimes known as spiny anteaters, are quill-covered monotremes (egg-laying mammals). Their diet consists of ants and termites, but they are not closely related to the true anteaters of the Americas. Perhaps their closest relative is the European hedgehog. This little fellow was severely injured by an automobile and had to have its hind leg amputated. He got around pretty well despite a “hitch in his gitalong.”

Then it was time for the rai·son d’ê·tre for our visit to Bonorong Animal Sanctuary, the Tasmanian Devil. Devils are so named because of the loud screetch. A Tasmanian devil is a stocky carnivorous marsupial with heavy forequarters, weak hindquarters, and a large squarish head. The Tasmanian devil is named for the Australian island-state of Tasmania, its only native habitat. Vaguely bearlike in appearance and weighing up to 26 pounds, it is 20 to 31 inches long and has a bushy tail about half that length. The coat is mainly black, and there is a whitish breast mark. Gaping jaws and strong teeth, along with its husky snarl and often bad temper, result in its devilish expression. It is mainly a scavenger, feeding on carrion such as roadkill and dead sheep. The larvae of certain beetles are its major source of live food, but it has been known to attack poultry. Since 1996 the Tasmanian devils living on Tasmania have been threatened by a contagious cancer called devil facial tumor disease (DFTD), which produces large, often grotesque tumors around the head and mouth. The tumors grow large enough to interfere with the animal’s ability to eat, resulting in starvation.

It wouldn’t be a visit to Australia without seeing some ‘roos so here they are. The sanctuary has more than 140 of them. They are so accustomed to humans you can feed them and even pet them.

Blue-tongued lizards are the largest of all the skinks. They can grow up to 60 cm long. They are usually grey with broad brown stripes across their back and tail, and of course their most unique distinguishing feature is their blue tongue. These fellows wouldn’t stick out their tongue for us. Too polite, I guess.

As we exited the sanctuary we passed a dangerous guest, the tiger snake. The tiger snake is an Australian member of the cobra family. The snake’s venom, which contains a blood-clotting agent as well as a nerve paralyzer, is potentially fatal to humans. Before striking, the tiger snake flattens its head and neck, cobra fashion. In a study, 17% of identified snakebite victims in Australia were found to be caused by tiger snakes. This snake is often found in southern Australia and Tasmania, including coastal regions near wetlands, creeks, dams, and watercourses.