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Tasmania
Cold Snap Hits Tasmania
Species Spotlight: Tasmanian Devil
Devil by Name, Not by Nature. Shelly Lord takes a look at one of Australia’s most misunderstood and endangered marsupials. The Tasmanian Devil is possibly one of our more misunderstood native animals. Early European settlers named them “The Devil” after hearing screeches and growl’s coming from the bush at night. Then later being portrayed as a ferocious, spinning cartoon character called “Taz” that would eat anything in his path. There seem to be many people out there who are fearful of the Tassie Devil, believing it is an aggressive and evil animal. Tassie Devils have the most powerful bite for the weight of any animal, strong enough to crush bones. However, these nocturnal carnivorous marsupials are shy and prefer to run away. Tasmanian Devils have coarse black fur, and most have a white stripe on their chest. Some devils have white markings on their rump, with no two markings on a devil being the same. They are pretty small, stocky animals, with the males being larger than the females. A healthy male devil can weigh between 8-and 14kg while the female will weigh between 5-and 9kg. Although not a very big animal, standing up to 30cm at the shoulders, a Tassie Devil can eat up to 40% of its body weight in one day. Tassie Devils are not fussy eaters,…
Tasmania: North-East Explore
By Kevin Smith Tasmania is full of stunning scenery, has an array of history and some bloody great 4WDing to boot. I wanted to try and get to the North-East corner on this trip from Hobart totally off-road, and with a few snippets of local info, I did just that. My main starting point was Sorell just out of Hobart where there are plenty of decent supply shops for food and fuel. I was given a tip that if I headed 20 km up the Tasman Highway and found Woodsdale Road that’s where I could hit the dirt and stay there to the cape. An easy and scenic run up to the bitumen to the turning point and this got me into the groove for the trip. Woodsdale Rd is a well-used dirt road to farms, a few wineries and into the forest, nether the less I was on the dirt for the journey. Passing alongside Prossers Ridgeline and turning across towards Mount Hobbs it was typical bush I was used to on the mainland with great views and the anticipation of what was in store for the next few days. A local told me about the Swanston Track and where it followed the northern side of the Buckland Military training area. It’s an easy track to find at the…
Tasmania – Be Tempted
That was the slogan for promoting travel to the Apple Isle back in 1987. 35 years on and Tasmania is still a top 4WD destination. Tasmania is full of stunning scenery, has an array of history and some bloody great 4WDing to boot. I wanted to try and get to the North-East corner on this trip from Hobart totally off-road, and with a few snippets of local info, I did just that. My main starting point was Sorell just out of Hobart where there are plenty of decent supply shops for food and fuel. I was given a tip that if I headed 20 km up the Tasman Highway and found Woodsdale Road that’s where I could hit the dirt and stay there to the cape. An easy and scenic run-up to the bitumen to the turning point got me into the groove for the trip. Woodsdale Rd is a well-used dirt road to farms, a few wineries and into the forest, nether the less I was on the dirt for the journey. Passing alongside Prossers Ridgeline and turning across towards Mount Hobbs it was typical bush I was used to on the mainland with great views and the anticipation of what was in store for the next few days. A local told me about the Swanston Track and where…