Devils devils devils!

Today we did a walking tour of Port Arthur in the daytime. Port Arthur is one of the most infamous prisons in Australia, but the tour to tell the truth was kind of boring. The best part was that the guide looked a little bit like Colonel Sanders in a beret. We had a lot of fun together as a group, though, especially on the harbour cruise.






After Port Arthur, we were all excited to go to a wildlife park to see the Tasmanian Devils. These guys are disappearing at a shocking rate in the wild due to Devil Facial Tumour Disease, which is like an infectious cancer that causes facial tumours and death. Their wild population has fallen by something like 90% in just ten years. Fortunately, these devils seem to have a gene that makes them resistant to the tumours, and there is a breeding program in place. This is awesome, because they are just SO CUTE ALL THE TIME.

But first we met Oscar, a Tawny Frogmouth. The reason for the name is fairly obvious, I think. Also: coolest face ever? Perhaps!





SO CUTE. Also, that is not a ferocious growl, but a yawn because devils are sleepy. Check out the size of their heads! Their jaw pressure is only slightly less than that of a crocodile.







Being a devil is hard work, you know.



Then they were fed a bit of wallaby. That crunching sound you hear is them chewing through the bones. They eat everything: bones, fur, hooves... you can also see that their ears are all red, which happens when they get excited.





There was also kangaroo and wallaby feeding, which is always fun. All the wallabies had little joeys too; awww! They would get spooked occasionally and hop away, and the babies would be stuck with like their head or an arm or leg hanging out of the pouch. No wonder kangaroos are so dumb; they probably suffer brain damage.


My eyes are closed because that is the most awesome way to take pictures.


After the wildlife park it was back to Hobart. I went out for dinner with the people from the tour, and then we went out for a drink afterwards. I was sooo sad to say goodbye to them, but a few are going to be in Sydney when I'm there, so hopefully we'll be able to meet up again.

Now I'm off to Cairns tonight to finally get my diving certification. Woo!