February 16, 2023
The highlight today was the visit to the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary where we got to see Tasmanian Devils. They are slowly making a comeback from the face cancer that devastated their population. To help save the species, they were introduced to a little island off the coast of Tasmania, as well as to a reserve on the mainland of Australia in New South Wales. Both of these populations are thriving. Luckily, those who remained in Tasmania may be beginning to develop an immunity to the cancer. They are also close to developing a vaccine to protect them from it. Once it is ready, they are planning on introducing it through food.
Bonorong is like Featherdale used to be (with the addition of Tasmanian Devils and minus the koalas). Here several animals roam freely, including the kangaroos. Guests are allowed to feed the kangaroos (but not the other animals). We had a wonderful time! Although there was a bit of panic when Brent thought he'd lost his ship card among the kangaroos. Luckily, it turned up between the seats on the bus!
We got to see many other animals. The echidna was quite shy, but the keeper coaxed it out. I had never heard of a pademelon before, so it was exciting to see the two at the sanctuary. Once was an albino.
We enjoyed a scenic drive to and from the wildlife sanctuary that included parts of Hobart and the Tasmanian countryside. In Hobart, many of the old business buildings have been preserved and repurposed - many are now hotels. We went through their prize-winning roundabout which is apparently the best roundabout in the entire world.
Upon returning to Hobart, we had some time to have some fish and chips and wander about for their Wooden Boat Festival. We admired old steam trains and tried to find abalone to sample, but sadly we had just missed the abalone part of the food exhibition by about 10 minutes.
We were sailing away along with the wooden boats from the festival. It was fun to see the different boats as we passed them by.
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