Devil hunting
“I am not leaving until I have seen a Tasmanian Devil” said Jon as we boarded the ferry to Maria Island with Kerry, Erica and Corinne. We had all met in Hobart the night before in the Honey Badger, a dessert restaurant where we had eaten all our favourite treats. We had loaded our backpacks into the big tubs after checking in and found ourselves a spot on the upper deck in the sun. The crossing was smooth and soon we were loading our packs and food bags into a trolley, pulling it to the campsite in Darlington, the historical village on Maria Island.
Jude enjoying the nutella puff at the Honey Badger restaurant in Hobart
the team before heading over to Maria Island – Jon, Kerry, Corinne, Erica and Jude
Kerry, Corinne and Erica getting the luggage to our campsite
Kerry in our campsite at Darlington
As it was a super hot day, we didn’t see any wombats out on the open grass areas. But after a hike to the Fossil Cliffs it had cooled off enough and they started to appear everywhere. As well as the wombats, the pademelons and wallabies were also grazing everywhere. And once we moved to the kitchen area we noticed the little southern brown bandicoots had made it their habit to run around looking for crumbs underneath the tables. So cute.
Jon and Kerry hiking to the Fossil Cliffs on Maria Island
Corinne, Kerry, Jon and Erica taking a break on Maria Island
the wombats come out at the end of a hot day on Maria Island
a cute wombat and her even cuter baby
baby wombat!
Jude checking out the southern brown bandicoot going through the kitchen area around dinner time
southern brown bandicoot
We cooked dinner for the group in the kitchen area before heading out to look for devils. We walked around in the camping area, that’s where Jude had spotted one a few years ago when she was there with Jo. But unfortunately we weren’t lucky this time. We had dessert at our table in camp before we all went to bed in our tents. We’d have another shot at it the next night.
having dessert in the camping area on Maria Island
We split up the next morning. We rented bikes with Corinne to ride all the way to the isthmus, whilst Kerry and Erica went on a walk. The ride was fun, much hillier than Jude remembered, and after a quick stop at the Painted Cliffs we reached the soft sand of the isthmus track. We wanted to ride to the narrowest part and Jude also wanted to look for the rare 40 spotted pardalote. We had to push the bikes a few times, but we did make it to the beaches and had our lunch on Ocean Beach before checking out the beach at Riedle Bay. Jude was super happy as she managed to get quite a few good photos of the tiny pardalote in the white gums where they use their tiny stubby beaks to farm manna, a sugary secretion.
Jon and Kerry get comfy with a wombat on Maria Island
getting ready for a day of hiking and cycling
Jon and Corinne cycling on Maria Island, painted cliffs in the background
Corinne and Jude taking pictures of a wedge-tailed eagle
Jude and Corinne at the start of the isthmus on Maria Island
fourty-spotted pardalote at Maria Island
Corinne, Erica and Kerry cooked up a storm for dinner after we had gone for a swim in the ocean. The temperature of the water was very pleasant and we stayed in for a while. We even had a ridiculously rich dessert made on a Trangia before we went out again looking for devils. Jude saw a Tasmanian boobook, but wasn’t able to take a picture unfortunately, but that was all the exciting wildlife we saw that night until we returned to camp and we spotted a long-nosed potoroo. Whilst we were excited, it wasn’t the devil we were hoping to see.
wombat coming into camp, they sometimes ignore the 2 metre rule
Jude, Jon, Corinne and Erica enjoying a swim
starting dinner and dessert preparations on day 2 in the kitchen area
Kerry tasting her dessert
Corinne made an excellent risotto for dinner
a long-nosed potoroo on Maria Island
the wombats are so cute here
The next day Jon, Corinne and Erica hiked up Bischop and Clerk. Jude had already been up there last time with Jo, so she and Kerry walked the Reservoir Circuit, looking for more birds. We all met up on the return and soon it was already time for Erica, Corinne and Kerry to pack up their tents and take all their gear to the 4pm ferry back to the mainland. We said our goodbyes on the jetty as we had decided to stay another night to have another go at trying to see a Tasmanian Devil. Jon hadn’t seen a devil yet and was determined to find one before leaving the island.
Erica, Jon and Corinne heading to Bishop and Clerk
Erica and Corinne at the top of Bishop and Clerk
view from the top of Bishop and Clerk
We had an early, quiet dinner. We missed the company already. Before dark we walked out of the campsite. We had decided on a location where we could hang out and be quiet, instead of walking around. We explored some of the historical buildings before sitting down on a wooden bench just before dark. We chatted quietly, enjoying being surrounded by lots of pademelons and some wombats. And then, not long after the first stars had appeared in the sky, Jude spotted a devil nonchalantly walking past on the track in front of us. How exciting!
We followed quietly, trying to take the occasional photo. As it was about to disappear into the scrubs, it must have heard us. He stopped and looked back, and we managed to get a reasonable picture. So amazing, and so lucky. We stayed in the area a bit longer and we saw him twice more as he came out of the scrubs. We felt very privileged to have seen a Tasmanian Devil in the wild. And luckily we could now head back to the mainland on the morning ferry…
the Tassie devil we spotted on Maria Island, we could leave the island now