Today was earmarked as a buffer day in case we were not able to do Cradle Mountain the day before. Of course we know that turned out just fine, so we spent the day doing some things on the backup plan like seeing some Tassie Devils and doing laundry at Devonport. From now to the end of the trip, there will be no more hiking and things will be more laidback (and not as exciting to be honest).

For breakfast, the host of our accommodation (Barrington Church B&B) cooked for us, which was included as part of the stay. He made toast, mushrooms tomatoes, bacon and eggs on his BBQ outside. We also had a chat about Cradle Mountain, Tassie and some other things. It turned out he was from Victoria and had relocated to Tasmania. He was a dirty mainlander (just like we were) but the people were okay, you just had to try a lot harder than the locals. He had a part time job at a distillery down the road as well.

Trowunna Wildlife Sanctuary

First stop was Trowunna Wildlife Sanctuary where we planned to see some Tasmanian devils, which are now an endangered species. We turned up just before 11:00 am for a guided tour, led by a woman who worked with the animals at the Sanctuary. On the way in, we purchased some pellets for the animals. This turned out to be a good idea.

First, we saw a stubborn wombat who perferred not to eat but cosy up in her home. She was supposed to eat what she was fed to demonstrate her eating abilities but she kept going back to her little pile of hay.

Next we saw some Eastern quolls and Spotted Tailed Quolls in their enclosures. I have to say, it was a little sad to see them like this.

Then we walked over to the Tassie Devil enclosure, where the lady whipped out a dead pademelon from a bucket. Apparently it was road kill

The Devils took their time to come out of their hidey holes but once they did, it was lunch time. They were quite vicious with the Pademelon to be honest. It was interesting to see these youngster Devils hang out.

After that, the tour was over and we walked around the grounds ourselves. There was animal poo everywhere. It wasn't a big place but we still enjoyed ourselves.

There was a big mob of kangaroos who were very friendly and tame. There was a big boi who chilled out on his own. We were able to feed and give everyone pets. They were soooo fluffy and soft, they felt quite luxurious actually. And very cute. Some of the roos were quite demanding and would grab your hand with their scary looking paws.

We moved on and found some Wedge Tailed Eagles all in an enclosure together. It was sad they had to live like this but I suppose they were not capable of living in the wild. Usually they are solitary creatures so this was interesting to see.

There were lots of other birds including a Tawny Frogmouth which I had never seen in real life before. I remember reading a Childrens book called “The Hunt” way back when which features a Tawny Frogmouth on the hunt. It was a really captivating story with fantastic illustrations. Sad how my “interactions” with nature are through stories and books and not amongst nature. This reminds me of a Grab driver in Malaysia who said there was a time in his youth when Hornbills would rarely land in his backyard. Now you would never see a wild one in the flesh.

After doing the rounds, we went back to the Kangaroo area and found the courage to approach and feed the big boi with the rest of the pellets we had. Turns out he was chill and welcomed the food.

Alum Cliffs

Next stop was Alum cliffs which was nearby. This was recommended to us by our host. It was a very easy 20 min walk to the edge of the cliff where you would see the flowing Mersey River. We were treated to this view:

This area was important to the Aboriginals for its availability of ochre and there were signs dotted around the walk explaining its significance.

Melita Honey Farm

Back in the car we went and we drove up the road to Melita Honey Farm, a cheery looking storefront and museum dedicated to all things Honey. Tasmania is famous for its Leatherwood honey which intrigued me a little. I found I did not really enjoy honey as much as most people, but I did know there were lots and lots of varieties. A however, loves honey.

There were lots of different honey products, ranging from edible to not edible such as skincare and cosmetics. They sold lots of different types of honey and there were samples! I found that I did not like Leatherwood honey but found that a light Orange Blossom suited my tastebuds.

We spent a good amount of time browsing and in the end we purchased some honey nougat, orange blossom honey and a scoop of Mallee flavoured ice cream. The latter was quite nice and not too strong!

Unfortuntely I later did a bit of searching online and found that the founders and previously owners were a bunch of crazies who went to the freaking Supreme Court to literally defend themselves (with the genius argument that it was “against Gods will”) after failing to pay $2 million in taxes in 2019. Since then, they have sold the business (presumably to someone who knows how to run it) but are still involved in its management. Ick. One of the ex-owners was literally working at the shop today!

Deloraine Town Cafe

For a late lunch/arvo tea we popped into Deloraine for its bakery. I had read about the famous Tassie Scallop pie which doesn't exist on the mainland and was keen to have one. I walked in, literally heard a man at the counter order one and waited until he had finished his transaction. I ordered a scallop pie and was told that was the last one. Booooooo. So we had to settle for other pies - beef and mushroom, and lamb and mint (AUD 12.80 for both).

The pies were quite good and had a nice flakey pastry. The filling was decent and not stingy, you could see chunky bits of protein.

Mount Roland

The most intersting thing in the Sheffield area was undeniably Mount Roland. In many ways it reminded me of Uluru, this seemingly random, large bit of rock that protrudes from the ground that demands your attention. It is quite visible in the nearby towns including from our accommodation in Barrington.

There was a public lookout at Sheffield, so we decided to go check it out. It was in the middle of suburbia and looked like someone that lived there constructed it. Unfortunately the view was not the greatest today as the weather was not ideal:

After this I really needed to pee so I found a public toilet in Sheffield. It was surprisingly very very clean and had soap. Well maintained. It also had free tampons and pads, which I thought was such a great initiative.

We went back to our accommodation to pick up our dirty laundry and drove all the way to Devonport. This seems like a strange decision. The host did offer to let us to our laundry except he did not have a dryer and the weather was not reliable, so off to Devonport we went.

Devonport

Firstly we dropped into Eastside Laundromat to get the clothes washing. Afterwards, we went to an upmarket super market, Hill St Grocer to have a browse. I was looking for nice honey and Tassie pepperberries. In the end I only bought a fancy jar of Tasmanian honey (Blue Hills honey).

Then we went back to the laundromat and the clothes needed drying. I had to pee so went to the public toilet in nearby Pioneer Park, which was surprisingly also not decrepit.

Whilst we waiting for the dryer to do its thing, we had a look at the Spirit of Tasmania as I had never seen it before. It was, as I had anticipated, a very big boat.

For dinner, we took up the host's dinner offering of Lasagne and salad. It was of course not free and cost $45 for two. It tasted decent albiet pricey, as he had just defrosted the Lasagne and heated it up. He even told us he makes a huge batch for guests that he stashes away.