We were met at the dock by members of Burnie's tourism office and the Mayor of Burnie, wearing a long burgundy robe with fur trim. His goal is to greet all the passengers from the average 16 cruise ships that stop in Tasmania annually. Do you think he would like to run for President of the United States? He seemed like a very nice man and a good public relations agent for his city of 20,000 people.
A free shuttle bus, manned by more tourism volunteers in colorful turquoise golf shirts, whisk us off to the Tasmania Travel and Information Center. There we spoke with a man who knew we were not natives of Florida because there are so few native Floridians. He was an American who had worked in San Francisco, traveled to Tasmania on a vacation and settled there permanently when he retired eight years ago. When I asked why he decided to retire there, he replied, "Did you breath the air here?" Tasmania has one of the best air qualities in the world and we arrived on the type to day hyped by the promotional brochures.
We were picked up at the center by Murray, our guide for a tour of Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park that was arranged by Antonia and Curt from Cruise Critic. Murray offered a wealth of information about Australia and its island province, including the following:
* Australia's flag had only two animals, the kangaroo and the emu, both of which cannot go backwards so that Australia is always seen as going forward.
* Tasmania has no predator animals but is home to the second or third world's most deadliest snake, the tiger snake.
* The average price for a house in Tasmania is $237,000. Most houses are built of wood because Tasmania has no termites.
* Tasmania exports tulips to the Netherlands, black truffles to France, ginseng to China and Wasawbi cheese to Japan.
* Tasmanians enjoy four seasons with snow not melting until October, the end of their spring.
* Because its a 3 1/2-hour drive to Hobart, many people in Burnie have never visited the capital of the province. Instead, they prefer to take the one-hour flight to Melbourne.
* Tasmania has 3,000 lakes with most residents enjoying fishing.
* The main tree is Tasmanian is the pencil pine, very tall and thin.
* Wombat dropping are square so they will not roll away and the animal can mark its territory with them. (I am not sure you really wanted to know this but these dropping are unique, and the wombat is very territorial.)
When we arrived at the park after a 90-minute drive, we were treated to some spectacular alpine scenery and mountain trails. Through much of the park are boardwalks that make the trail easier and more accessible while preventing visitors from tramping diseases through the park. The trails that we took had no boardwalks but provided us with a great reflection of the mountain peaks on Lake St. Clair and a view of two peaks that looked like a little girl lying on her back with her hands on her stomach. We also tours a dwelling built by an early explorer of the area who wrote how he was afraid that he could be killed by the wild animals in the mountains.
Our guide Murray had told us about the echidna or spiny ant eater. When the males smell a female in heat, they all line up so that she can pick the one with which she will mate. The other males then wander away. When an echidna crossed the road and Murray volunteered to pull the van off the highway so we could take pictures, he thought we were all either male echidnas or Japanese tourists with their pointer fingers snapping way photographs on their cameras. The echidna was so adorable while posing for our cameras. Now, if only we had seen the elusive Tasmanian devil, which some of our fellow passengers saw in a small zoo near Burnie.
We stopped in a small town outside the park for lunch but most of spent our time converting US dollars into Australian dollars for an $8 dollar fee. Then we traveled along the picturesque highway on the coast of Bass Strait through lovely small towns on our return trip to Burnie. A railroad track built along the northern coast of Tasmania is no longer in use. But it was fanciful to imagine what a trip on a train must have been like with the coastline on one side and the villages on the other.
When I researched our stop in Burnie, my first choice of things to do was to tour The Nut, a volcanic plug just outside the village of Stanley, which is Tasmania's version of Uluru or Ayers Rock. Photographs make it appear that the residents must walk out their back doors and immediately encounter The Nut. The ship's tour to Stanley was canceled because of lack of interest. However, if we ever visit the northwest coast of Tasmania again, I want to see The Nut. However, our destinations were probably much better.
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