Day 21 Maria Island

Well, it looks like the weathermen all go to the same school. When we got up, it wasn’t perfect, but there was definitely sun and NO RAIN. The morning started with a bit of excitement, though.  I was toasting some bread in a pop-up toaster, and wanted to heat a croissant at the same time. Not a good idea.  The croissant kept the bread from popping up and shutting off the toaster leading to burned bread and croissant as well as a persistent sharp shrill of the fire alarm.  Jeri was sure the local volunteer fire department would be visiting, but they didn’t show.  Neither did our host, so this was either a common occurrence or he fled the burning building.  Anyway, fanning the alarm finally silenced it and we snuck away to the ferry.

The ferry ride over to Maria Island took about 45 minutes.  The three with wimpy stomachs forgot to take any antiemetics for motion sickness.  Rhonda was quite concerned and asked the captain if he thought she would be ok.  He reassured her telling her that the water didn’t get any calmer than it was.  Little did we know that by the afternoon we would be getting to see the other end of the spectrum.

The ride over was very smooth, and we disembarked in Darlington (the one and only named town on the island) by 10:30.  Darlington was first built as a probation station to house repeat offenders.  From 1825-1832 nearly 500 convicts were detained here.  These units are now used as park ranger headquarters and cabins for hikers.

The park is well known for its abundant wildlife, birds, wallabies, Tasmanian pademelon (similar to a wallaby, but much smaller about 2 ft. from nose to tip of tail, and the wombat. We took a fairly easy hike around the north part of the island passing old cement factory equipment (which was the island’s major industry), an old resevoir, and finally ending at Fossil Bay.  As we approached the headland, the wind began to pick up, and Jeri and Rhonda nearly blue away in some of the gusts.  The wind seemed to abate slightly, and we found a sheltered spot to have lunch of leftovers from breakfast.  In checking our dining site for wildlife, Milt found a penguin in a burrow under a rock.  How it climbed up so far and at such a steep angle we‘ll never know.

Cape Barren Geese

Pademelon

Fairy Penguins

FOR MOLLY

Wombat

Wombat

Wallaby

Wallaby

As we approached Darlington, the wind again picked up and was now blowing at 30-40kts.  The  glass surface of the water we had crossed, was now a tempest tossing our little boat and covering it with waves as we plowed back to Triubuna.