Unfortunately, a poor night's sleep was had by the both of us. As although this bnb is a very nice house, with a gorgeous guest bathroom for our exclusive use, the bed has strange cotton sheets on it. It's amazing what a difference terrible sheets make... :(

We make cheese sarnies for later, and jump into Kiki. First stop is takeaway coffee and refuelling (for the car). We then take the long, meandering road to the Narawntapu National Park - a place where we are reliably informed has lots and lots of wildlife.

As we travel there, we also see lots and LOTS of former wildlife. Emphasis on former. There is an inordinate number of poor roadkill victims on Tasmania's roads. And even more so when driving in the country. To give you some idea, we started counting the 'fallen' for a 5 minute period, and we counted 20. Finding this too sad, we stop counting. We wonder whether this is because the Tasmanian government can't afford to clear them? This state is the poorest of the lot, followed by SA, and is currently engaged in fighting bushfires. Or, perhaps it could be an effort to provide food for the currently endangered Tasmanian Devil? The second hypothesis of course would work both ways... as, if the Devil was munching on this free food by the side of the road... Then he might get hit also? To this end, we do also see several signs asking us to slow at dusk for fear of hitting a Devil.

We pay $24 for entry to the Narawntapu National Park. More than we expected, but we're sure it will all go to a good cause. Embarking on a 2 hour round trip walk, we bring our luncheon along with us. Initially, walking through thick vegetation in the sun, it's unrewarding. However, we then start to walk on the open grass plane on the return back to the car, and soon spot kangaroos. Like... massive grey ones. No wallabies here! We approach with caution as these fellas are probably much less accustomed to humans, and true to our assumption, they're indeed much more skittish. We observe the little joeys staying very near to their mothers, and the largest kangaroo generally acting as clan security / Alpha Male. It all gets particularly interesting when the largest kangaroo we spot starts to do his defensive routine at us. First, he grunts and starts to scratch the floor in front of him with his little front arms. Then, just as they say they do in the guide books, he stood fully up on his hind legs - some 6 feet tall.

We take this as our cue to leave his clan alone, and depart!!

Making it back to our car unscathed, the only other thing to note about the National Park were the bush flies. SO MANY FLIES. Too many.

Next, we head to Latrobe for the 'Big' Platypus. Not sure of the provenance of this particular 'big thing', but the probable reason is that many platypii live round these parts. Indeed Latrobe's City Council insignia has a platypus on it. Alas, we saw none of these famously shy creatures whilst walking around the nearby Pig Island. Stranded within the Mersey River, Pig Island was just gorgeous. There is a lovely cool breeze, and it felt like the most English midsummer's day yet. (Apart from the bleeding bush flies!)

Opposite Pig Island is the Australian Axemans' Hall of Fame, which is actually housed inside a larger building where an Axemans Makers Market was being held. The market was full of wooden tat, but the hall of fame was actually quite extraordinary. Here they've made woodchopping a competitive sport, where the 'athletes' come from TAS, NSW, VIC, QLD, as well as New Zealand and the US. They've housed all the trophies won by the greats of the sport, and we enjoy watching a video of a competition. If you were wondering, Dave Foster is the man to beat (Tassie, of course). He won everything. Many times. Google this man mountain if you want to know more.

East Devonport for coffee and cake. A lovely old building - a former Rectory turned cafe. Once we had sat down, we particularly enjoyed watching another conversation that the owner (?) had with a fellow Australian patron, who had brought along a couple of plastic food containers. It went something like this...

Owner - Ah! So you brought me some food, have you?

Patron - Haha, no! Sorry, we just had some food left over in the car...

Owner - (beat) You must be from NSW then. Am I right?

Patron - Yes, actually

Owner - Where abouts?

Patron - Newcastle

Owner - Oh, what a s*** hole.

Devonport itself is unremarkable. It is apparently Tasmania's third largest town, but is clearly the main industrial port. Our guide book informs us that there is a ferry from here to Melbourne across the Bass Strait. So now you know!

We opt to drive back down on Highway 1, via Deloraine. It's a different route to the one we used whilst approaching the north and it's boring. Very boring.

...but then we drive into another haze cloud, and the world turns orangey / red. It's incredible how quickly the conditions change here! We have been checking the local ABC radio station frequently for updates on the numerous bush fires that have been burning, and apparently, the Tasmanian fire service is now getting help from their counterparts in Victoria and New South Wales!

We detour briefly to Westbury for the 'Big Cricket Wickets'. They're massive!! Built in honour of Jack Badcock, the first Tasmanian to score a Test Century (118 vs England at the MCG in 1937). It should be noted that he did move to South Australia to play for most of his career... Shhh!!

We make it home in time to have awkward dinner with our host's wife and 2 small children. We fear that their pets have been locked outside on account of us, but we're too British to raise the subject. ...we just hear the poor dog paw away at the door, periodically.

Spent a good 4 hours planning the rest of our time in Australia. We're going to go to Uluru in the Northern Territory. Excited!

And with that we're pooped. Bed.

AF