Hobart, Tasmania (Part 2)

Tasmania on Day 3 - Richmond

This day was supposed to be a visit to the historical Port Arthur. But due to the bush fire incidents near Port Arthur, Tours Tasmania (and other tour operators offering trips to Port Arthur) could not bring visitors there. I was told that Port Arthur would be inaccessible to all for a week or two, until the authority and public department restore the electricity line which have destroyed in the fire. This was the most disappointing thing for me as I was dying to visit Port Arthur from the day I plan to visit Tasmania. But nothing can overcome the power of nature, so I respect that and regarded this matter as a very strong reason to return to Tasmania. 

As a substitution to the cancelled trip, Tours Tasmania offered another package, which was a lot cheaper and interesting too. It was a trip to Richmond (again), Bonorong Wildlife Park and Mount Wellington. This was a good offer and a good alternative to the cancelled Port Arthur trip. So the trip commenced at 9.30 am and the first destination was Richmond. And by the way, there were 8 people in this day trip.

Though I visited Richmond the day before, I thought that this was another chance for me to search for my missing mobile phone. Hahah....but long story short, I still could not locate it and I gave up searching. So I decided to totally forget about my mobile phone and start treating my eyes with the beautiful surrounding views in Richmond. I went to St. John church to see the building nearer. It was not that big but being the oldest church in Australia, this building must be very important to the locals. 

This church was actually located at the other side of the bridge and at the right angle, a nice view of the bridge and the church could be photographed from the picnic area close to the Richmond Gaol.

Richmond bridge viewed from the church

Richmond bridge and St. John church viewed from the picnic ground near Richmond Gaol

Bonorong Wildlife Park

After spending 1.5 hours in Richmond, the tour guide brought us to Bonorong Wildlife Park. The was the most unforgettable thing to do because this was my first time looking and learning more about the infamous Tasmanian Devils. I thought these Tassies (that's what they are normally called) were huge but they were no bigger than a fully grown cat. And another interesting fact is, Tasmanian Devils are marsupials. I thought they were belonging to the bear or canine or feline family but they were not. At this park too, I got to see awaken koala (in Caversham, all koalas were asleep) and I could see how cuddly and adorable this little marsupial. Like any other wildlife park in Australia, kangaroos and wallabies are the most common inmates and just cannot stop admiring them. I never get bored with these animals for they are not found anywhere else in the world except Australia.

Little Tassies begging for food

Mine..mine...mine!!

Neither a feline nor a canine...but marsupial!!

Kangaroo

Wallaby

Mt. Wellington

Two hours later, we headed back to Hobart, to get to Mt. Wellington. Before going up to the summit, we stopped half way to do a short walk to the Sphinx Rock where another nice view of Hobart could be seen from another angle.

Along the nice and easy walking track, I was attracted with the variations of berries and some other flowering plants. I was told that berries in Tasmania are all edible but it was just the taste that matters. In some places, red berries are no-no and if you eat it, you might suffer poisoning and die. I am not a berry lover but whenever I get the chance to eat fresh berries, I will never resist. There was also clusters of rocks which looked like a land slide had just occurred. But the fact is that, these rocks were there as a result of geological activity which happened thousand/millions of years ago. It was a slow process and as a result of weathering, hyperbaric activity and some other scientific explanations which are beyond my area of studies.

Edible cherries, but does not taste that nice

A type of plant leaving a nice smell when rubbing the leaves...not the flowers

Dolorites

In less than 30 minutes of walking, we finally reached Sphinx Rock. Though it was a bit misty, it did help to freshen the mind and enough to carve a smile on ones face. We spend only a few minutes here and then we returned to the coach and headed to the Pinnacles of Mt. Wellington. It was windy (most of the time) and freaking cold too. The view? Incredible!!. But I was unable to get a good picture up here due to limitation of knowledge and skills in photography. And on top of that, I did not have complete equipments/accessories to help my dearly camera perform better when it comes to landscape/wide-angle photography.

View of Hobart city from Sphinx Rock

The organ pipes of Mt. Wellington

Another peak conquered, but not by hiking.

Nice shrubs up here

After exposing ourselves with the freezing coldness, it was time to return to our hostels. I felt that I this day was an enjoying day though I was a little starving. I was too lazy to prepare my own food before the trip, and reluctant to buy prepared food out there (believed that it was worth spending for something else). I depended on several cereal bars/granola bars for energy on that day. And I survived!!

So when arriving the hostel, I decided to boil some fettuccine, heat the ready made Alfredo sauce and had mushroom soup for my dinner. I did all this before 6 pm so that I could avoid congestion in the hostel kitchen and had my meal peacefully.