MOT Tour Day 7 - Devonport

Shore line, East Devonport

A pretty relaxed day started with a gentle stroll toward Pardoe Beach but didn't get that out of hand.

Actually it started half an hour earlier when we left our digs and got only to the end of the street and realised that the weather radar was about to be made foolish by Tasmania weather. Rain that wasn't going to happen, did. By the time we had hurried back, it was sprinkling with intent. By the time we put the jug on, it was raining. Half hour later, blue skies.

So on our real walk, the first half was easy as the southerly was at our backs. During that time we enjoyed the basalt rock beaches and the contrasting oranges and greens and yellow mixed in among it all. Bass Strait played a constant companion and the odd sea bird screamed complaints as they landed.

The highlight was sighting a Southern Brown Bandicoot foraging on the grassed areas near some thickets of low, ocean breeze-blocking trees and shrubs. The little fellow seemed to have been hungry because they are usually nocturnal. However, they have a people-friendly reputation and this bloke didn't disappoint. It was constantly pulling at the grass and roots. They are known to have a range of one to five hectares and you won't see two of them as they live solitary lives and two bandicoots don't have overlapping ranges. Their digging is essential for the ecosystem and one bandicoot will turn over 3.9 tonnes of soil in a year!

Given their nocturnal habits, this was lucky spot but not a fleeting one. He was happy to forage while we watched and took photos. 

Poseidon climbing from the sea.

A big chunk of the middle of the day was finally catching up with unreported days on this blog and especially the photos. The job of gathering photos to publish is a lengthy one as we take shots on two phone cameras, two Canons and a waterproof Nikon. I am compelled to write on any day I'm breathing and more so when I am experiencing so many different things when on a tour. Catching up today was a relief.

This afternoon we crossed the Mersey via the Victoria Bridge (ferry across the Mersey no longer operates) and picked groceries and a work around for broken Fitbit wrist bands. Snagged parking sports both times. We drove up to Aikenhead Point, on the western opening of the Mersey to Bass Strait, to see the big statue of Poseidon standing on his plinth and threatening anyone silly enough with his sceptre. Lovely muscular definition. The intention of the sculptors was to highlight the land's importance to the sea ... or maybe it was the sea's importance to the land ... maybe it was both.

A little further west we visited the lighthouse with the vertical red stripes at Mersey Bluff. The stripes are only on the seaward side. It was original a kerosene powered light, then gas and finally electrical. Like all of these grand old structures, men with family once had the job of maintaining them but now they look after themselves. Sad in a way.

Click here to see today's photos

Weather forecasts don't look promising for our four day visit to Cradle Mountain but we'll take it as it comes.

Its just so great to be out here, the two of us, doing what we love so much.