Self Directed Education: Tasmania Field Trip

Early on in the exchange, we decided that Tasmania was not on our list of places to go because, from all reports, it is very similar to Vancouver Island. However, Sophie got it in her head that she wanted to go, so I told her that if she did all the research, planning and booking for the trip, I would take her. Next thing I know, she's found flights, a campervan and mapped out a six day trip to the island state that involved wildlife parks, animal sanctuaries and the Cadbury Chocolate factory.

Our home for the week complete with a fridge, stove and surprisingly comfortable bed.

I can now confirm that the climate and scenery in Tassie is exactly Vancouver Island, as long as you ignore the different trees, loud birds and all the animals that could potentially kill you.

See? This could have been taken anywhere in the Gulf Islands

We spent a few days on the Tasman Peninsula, a huge chunk of land connected to the rest of Tassie by a narrow isthmus. Back in the day, convicts who had reoffended were sent to do hard time on the peninsula and the isthmus was guarded by a dog line to prevent the convicts from escaping.

A sculpture to show the size of the eighteen ferocious dogs strung across the dog line

Tasmanian Devils are in a spot of bother in Tassie - Facial Tumour cancer is wiping out the population in the northern parts of the state. The devils on the Tasman peninsula are still healthy so the dog line is going to be used again to deter the healthy devils from leaving the peninsula. Scientists are going to seed the isthmus with things the devils don't like to keep the healthy devils in the disease free zone.

These critters are pretty small - about the size of a rabbit - but very ferocious.

We visited several wildlife parks and fed scores of kangaroos and wallabys. They are messy eaters - my hand got goobered many times.

FYI - they like to be scratched on the chest, not the head or ears

Another highlight was our visit to the Cascades Female Factory where they housed women convicts. You get a tour of the site as well as an historical reinactment of what it was like to live in those times. 

Sophie is locked in solitary confinement and has to pick oakum out of rope as part of her punishment

I had a great time on the trip. The camper van took a little bit of getting used to - I had to practically tuck my knee into my armpit to put my foot on the clutch and I had to drive with my left hovering over the pedal because it was too high to rest my heel on the ground. The van was very comfy to sleep in, but I tried not to think about how many other people had used the sleeping bag before me. It was lovely to let Sophie make all the decisions - where to go, where to stay, how often to stop for coffee and croissants - I was just the chauffeur and credit card holder.

Guess what her favourite part of the trip was?