Posts tagged tasmanian devil
To Tasmanian Devils and Beyond
I learned a lot from Looney Tunes as a kid. For instance, if you accidentally fall off a cliff, you will just turn into a cloud at the bottom and then magically reappear in a few minutes. Or if you are a Tasmanian devil, you are about 6 ft. 3 and will violently spin around and destroy things.
Ever since I laid eyes on such a crazy cartoon character, I have always wondered what other mysteries that a place like Tasmania, with all its devils, could hold.
Although my time on this Australian island proved both of my Looney Tunes life lessons quite wrong, Casey and I discovered the adventure that awaits you around every corner of this exotic territory.
As we walked the colorful alley ways of the Saturday morning Salamanca Street market and inhaled the crisp 13 degree air, we sensed there was indeed a different spirit about this place. Something undiscovered and untamed lingered around us. Perhaps we were already psyching ourselves up for the ghost tour we had later, but whatever it was, the feel of adventure was unmistakable, and we were ready to explore.
After mountain biking down Mt. Wellington and feeling confident that my fingers, nose, and toes were absolutely going to fall off from the biting cold, we celebrated our survival by heading to a nightly safari at Bonarong Wildlife Sanctuary. It is here where Casey and I were properly introduced to the infamous Tassie Devil.
Was it 6 ft. 3 and twirled around like a tornado? I don’t think so. Casey resembled the cartoon character more than these guys did.
No, these animals were more of a muscular black cat with some rat-like facial features. However, their meow was something straight out of a Hitchcock film. Think screaming banshee plus growling demon.
Before we know it, our guide throws us each a huge leg of raw wallabee meat, and we are to hold it over the pit of these ferocious animals. Rupert, my favorite devil, latched on to the end of the leg, and we had ourselves a good ole fashion game of tug-o-war. I lifted the leg up in the air, and rupert held onto the other end solely with his strong bite. Shockingly enough, the devil won fair and square.
The next day, we embarked on a rather treacherous 4 hour hike up Mt. Amos. As I climbed up the 89.5 degree angle rock face, I thought to myself, “I wonder if I fell all the way down this thing, if I really would turn into a cloud at the bottom?” Gravity did not feel so gentle as I slid down over 4 times due to lack of proper treading and got a nice blue and purple bruise on my thigh to prove it. However, the view at the top was breathtakingly beautiful, and we even spotted a baby whale in Wine Glass Bay.
At the end of the day, we could not deny that Tasmania is a force to be reckoned with. From the Tassie devils and beyond, this island exudes adventure!