Where to See the Tasmanian Devil

Sarcophilus harrisii

The Tasmanian Devil is a nocturnal scavenger only found in the wild in Tasmania. Usually coming out at night,  it is difficult to see in the wild.

There are a number of stories about how it got its name and ferocious reputation. When I was a lad growing up and camping out in the Tassie bush, we would often be woken in the middle of the night by an incredible howling and hissing. We never found the source of the noise, but were told it was Tasmanian Devils fighting over food.
The first settlers in Tasmania in the early 1800s heard the same sounds in the night. It is said they were more creative and said there was a “Devil in the bush”.
The Devil eats dead animal carcasses – it rarely kills for itself – and is almost entirely a meat eater, crunching up the bones and leaving almost nothing but hooves and horns. It really is “Nature’s dead animal vacuum cleaner”.
So, if they are hard to find, how do you find where to see the Tasmanian Devil, alive and kicking? The best place to see the Tasmanian Devil live and up close is in one of the excellent Animal parks in Tasmania.

Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park – Taranna, Tasman Peninsula.

One of the best in Tasmania. Situated on the Tasman Peninsula near Port Arthur.
> Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park
> Full-Day Tasman Peninsula Tour from Hobart (Includes Devil Park)

Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary – Near Hobart

Just north of Hobart, Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary has an interactive Tasmanian Devil Pen.
It also features a great Koala display and wallabies, kangaroos and emus in an open range environment.
Hand feed the local wildlife. Make sure to be there for the presentation by the resident wildlife expert
> Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary
> Bonorong Wildlife Park, Derwent River Cruise and Cadbury Chocolate Factory Tour from Hobart

Trowunna Wildlife Park – Mole Creek – Near Deloraine

About 30 minutes drive to the west of Launceston. You can stop in either coming or going to Cradle Mountain.
> Trowunna Wildlife Park

Devils@Cradle – Wildlife Park at Cradle Mountain

The Tasmanian Devil Sanctuary at Cradle Mountain. Guided, interactive tours.
> DevilsatCradle

East Coast Natureworld – Bicheno

Tasmanian Devils and a particularly good Bird Display.150 acres of natural parklands and lagoons.
> East Coast Natureworld

While this list is not everywhere you can see the Tasmanian Devil, the places I have mentioned offer a quality experience and are located near places you will probably be visiting while in Tassie.
More Information: > Tasmanian Devil – Wikipedia

Arriving at Hobart Airport

Arriving at Hobart Airport – Be ready for a treat

The trip from the Mainland of Australia will take just over an hour from Melbourne, 1 hour and 40 minutes from Sydney or about 2 hours from Brisbane. Arriving at Hobart Airport is a bit of a step back in time – no jetways here.

The flight will either fly down the Coal River Valley – the views of Hobart will be on the right hand side of the plane – or will circle around over Frederick Henry Bay and Seven Mile Beach to land from the south.

You can get out of the front or rear of the plane – down the steps and walk across to the Arrivals Building. If it is raining, umbrellas are available at the foot of the stairs. If it is windy – more likely than not – be ready to hang on tight.

The arrivals area is not large and is dominated by people waiting to meet the passengers, drivers with signs and racks of promotional brochures. The luggage will arrive onto the single carousel. There are regulations regarding bringing fruit and vegetables into Tasmania and the cute sniffer dog will give your hand luggage a going over before moving on to the checking the carousel.

The car rental offices are about 25 metres from the exit doors. The coach transfer to Hobart City meets every flight and you can buy tickets on board the bus. Taxis leave from in front of the building (turn right when you  go out the door – about 50 metres along). If you are picking up a Campervan rental, call the rental company from the arrivals area.

You will drive into Hobart by crossing the Tasman Bridge - you cannot see the City from the Airport .

A note on dropping a Rental Car on leaving from Hobart Airport:

It is OK to drop the car off about 1 hour 15 minutes before flight time. This will give you plenty of time to get into the departures building and check in.

More Information > Hobart International Airport – Wikipedia

Travel in Tasmania

Travel in Tasmania

I was born and raised in Hobart, and for the last 20 years have designed and delivered interesting trips to Tassie that show visitors its unique and unusual aspects.
In these Posts I will blend history, geography and current activities to help you gain some perspective on Tasmania before you arrive.
Tasmania has only matured as a destination over the last 10 years. Before this it was regarded as a bit of a backwater. Today it is enjoying a well earned reputation as a great place to spend a very interesting 10 days of your life (more or less is fine, too).
I will assume you are interested in visiting Tassie. Getting here is simple: you either fly (usually to Hobart or Launceston) or travel on the Spirit of Tasmania Ferry from Melbourne to Devonport. It is possible to ferry one way and fly the other if you are not taking your own car.

How Big is Tasmania?

It is 200 Kms from Hobart to Launceston and the drive takes about 2 1/2 hours without hurrying or stopping. Hobart to Cradle Mountain is about 300 Kms and takes about 4 1/2 hours.
Cradle Mountain to Strahan is about 4 hours, longer elapsed time if you stop and look around any of the old mining towns enroute. Allow about 5 hours to drive back to Hobart. These drive maps will help throw things into focus:

List of Tasmania Self Drive Itinerary Maps for Travel in Tasmania

> Drive Map Hobart to Port Arthur | > Drive Map Port Arthur to Freycinet
> Drive Map Freycinet to Launceston | > Drive Map Cradle Mountain to Strahan
> Drive Map Stanley to Cradle Mountain | > Drive Map Launceston to Stanley
> Drive Map Launceston to Cradle Mountain | > Drive Map Strahan to Hobart

While travel in Tasmania is not difficult, it is easy to misjudge the timing and find you still have 2 or 3 hours driving to your next accommodation at 6 in the evening.
If you are coming to Tasmania as an overseas visitor, please look at Australian.com

Tropical North Queensland

If you live in the Southern Hemisphere, do you feel that the winter temperatures are getting you...down? (pun intended :-) )  Take the edge off the cold by reading this post about Cairns and its tropical delights.  

In June of 1770, Captain James Cook and his crew were exploring the Australian coastline, and the Great Barrier Reef about 110 Kms (65 mi) to the north of where Cairns is today.  They turned seawards into what they thought was deeper water to avoid a large point of land. Bam!  They ran aground on the Endeavour Reef,  having just discovered it by punching a hole in the bottom of their boat.  They named it Endeavour Reef after their unfortunate ship -  It really ruined their day!  They managed to stay afloat and headed for shore to beach the Endeavour for repairs.  It took a while, but they fixed the hole, then sailed on. They named the cape that caused the whole incident Cape Tribulation.

Cape Tribulation

Cape Tribulation is at the northern end of the Daintree Rainforest.  The dark green of the rainforest runs straight into the blue of the Coral Sea. The Daintree Rainforest stretches from Mossman Gorge to Cape Tribulation. Check it out on the map.  It is a place of steep mountains, deep gorges, high rainfall, flood prone rivers, and incredible plant and animal bio-diversity. Walking along the nature trails is like being in a huge, leafy, green cathedral.  Moist air, everything drippy and wet, tall trees, jungle vines trailing, and a carpet of dead leaves and twigs.

Daintree Rainforest

The plant species in the Daintree are very ancient. They include types of ferns and trees that date back before the dinosaurs, up to 135 million years ago. The Daintree is home to 30% of the reptile, frog and marsupial species in Australia, 18% of the birds (over 400 species), 65% of the bats and butterflies and over 12,000 types of insects.  And all of this bio-diversity is crammed into an area under 1% of Australia. Now this is the place to go bird, bat and nature watching!

When Captain Cook ran aground in 1770, you can be sure the local Kuku Yulanji Aboriginal tribe who had been living in the Daintree River area for over 9,000 years knew about it.  They would also have seen the white man rush for gold in the 1870's as the Daintree Village was founded to supply the miners.  One of their descendants, Juan Williams, runs  Walkabout Cultural Adventures out of Daintree - his tours are worth checking out for an authentic experience. Another Aboriginal Cultural Daintree Rainforest Tour leaves Cairns and Port Douglas also.

As an alternative, to really discover the Daintree on your own, rent a car, then stay a few nights in the Daintree Village area and get to meet some of the locals.

Cheers,

Matt

>>> More Information on the Daintree Rainforest…  

>>> More Information on Cape Tribulation…