The Nut and The Devils

The island of Tasmania is heart-shaped.  Really!  It’s only as big as West Virginia, that’s 1/10 the size of Texas and ½ the size of Arkansas.  Because of its mountain ranges and the geographic diversity in each area, it seems much larger, and with 19 national parks, most of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, there is an abundance of things to do and see – much more than can be accomplished in five busy weeks. 

On the day we needed to leave Smithton, the weather was sunny and bright.  It was a good day to climb to the top of The Nut.  The Nut’s original name is a shortened version of the Aboriginal name for it which was Moo-Nut-Re-Ker.   Like the rock of Gibraltar, this chunk of 25-70 million-year-old basaltic volcanic rock stands alone just off the shore in Stanley.  It can be seen from miles away. 

The walk up the volcanic plug as it is called is short and it’s paved – oh, that sounds nice, but it is also nearly straight up 500 feet.  Even trail runners don’t run up this hill.  It’s a killer!  At the top, there’s a 2K circuit around the circumference of the plug where a 360-degree view of nearby and distant valley towns and farmland vales can be seen as well as islands near and far out into the ocean.  At one point on the top loop, a marker pointed toward Melbourne which is only 125 miles away over the sea.

Before we left the area, we had lunch at Hulsey’s, the premiere northern Tassie place for fresh seafood. 
We earned it!  Fish and crayfish from the ocean unloaded from their fleet go straight into their kitchen.  I treated myself to a Tasmanian saltwater crayfish – a big lobster as we would know them but without claws.  I had to have one.  It was heavenly!  I’ll say one thing, this girl can pick a lobster.  Not to be left out, I shared a few bites of my crayfish with Stan but he also had the most luscious seafood chowder I have ever seen!  The broth was much thinner than the thick seafood and clam chowders you might find in Cape Cod, but it was much richer tasting with huge chunks of fish, whole shrimp, and nice calamari rings served with grilled and buttered French bread.  Next time, I’ll get the chowder particularly since I’ve checked off the Tassie crayfish from my list.

The next stop was the towns of  Ulverstone and Devonport.  Still on the top left part of the heart shape, these two timeless towns sit on the ocean.  The beautiful and classic houses and the stores along the main street are circa 1800-1920 and perfectly well-kept.   Here’s a thought .. . . when your state is an island, there is an abundance of waterfront or water-view property available for a home — enough for everyone.  Picture this, driving west to east, the ocean is on your left, and pastoral farms of rounded hills of green pasture, and rich brown cultivated earth lie on the right.  There is a beautiful sight to be seen in any direction. 

Our apartment here in Ulverstone is not an apartment at all.  It is a three-bedroom house quality built in about 1975, about a city block from Button beach.  It is perfectly perfect.  It’s owned by two guys from Melbourne who came to Tasmania on vacation in 2018 and liked it so much that they moved here.  They left this house fully equipped for living complete with a pantry of dry and canned goods with a note:  “Feel free to use anything and feel free to contribute.”

The young Tasmanian lady, who greeted us at the reception desk at Wings Wildlife Center grew up here in northern Tasmania and is not as enamored with the state as we are, as our Airbnb hosts are, and as most folks we talked with here are.  She says, if you’re not a sports person, there’s really not much to do.  I can see that, especially if you are an 18 or 19-year-old. But for a state so small, it has lots of opportunities.  Primary industries include forestry, fishing, mining of copper, zinc, tin, iron, and gold, and agriculture including the production of beef, chicken, pork, dairy, and lamb, as well as a variety of fruits and tons of potatoes.  This level of commerce demands, of course, supporting industries like medical, banking, legal, education, and other service industries.  Some young girls, however, just want to get out.

We went to the Wings Wildlife Park for one reason:  I wanted to watch Tasmanian devils eat.  I’ve read that watching devils eat can be a ferocious show.  The diet of these little guys is primarily carrion (roadkill) and since they don’t know when they’ll get the next chance to eat, they can eat as much as 40% of their body weight in one sitting.  They fight over food and eat every smidge of roadkill gook including bones, hair, nails, and internal organs regardless of the freshness.  They clean up any mess on the road.  And they snarl and chase each other for every morsel.  Their bite is strong; their jaws open up to 80 degrees with the power to tear apart meat and crush skulls and bones. They have the strongest bite per body mass of any living mammalian carnivore.  Devil dining is usually done at night, so to see this commotion, we had to visit another wildlife center.  It was worth it!  But I have to add, the devils at the park are well-fed, so I imagine their fight over food is a little less ferocious here than in the wild roadside.

Devils are a very interesting sort.  I am completely intrigued by them.  These red-eared, giant-mouthed, small-dog-sized creatures are survivors yet today due to widespread disease, they are considered endangered.  They arecolored black but uniquely marked with white. No two are exactly alike. Females have babies called joeys, about once a year.  She delivers 25-30 rice-sized joeys.  From that point on, it’s up to the baby to survive.  It must find its way to the mother’s pouch and latch on to one of only four teats where it nurses for about four months.  Of the up to 40 babies born at a time, only 2-3 survive to adulthood.  The rest of the weaker babies are a protein source for the mom.  Sheesh!  The circle of life.