CRADLE MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK

This week we stayed at Cradle Mountain National Park. Or in my dads words, “The land of the “teddy bear pigs (wombats).” In my words “a portal to another world based on the jurassic period”. I say this because it is so different and a bit freaky at times. 

ANIMALS!

Throughout our stay we saw many animals. We saw a lot of 

wallabies (small kangaroos), and paddamelons (small wallabies) hopping around in fields, some wombats (teddy bear pigs?), SO MANY LEECHES (sucks your blood), billions everywhere. My advice: stay on the boardwalk! Plus, we even saw a Tasmanian devil (creepy screechy thing)! Zoom in on each animal, (trust me)!

Wombats!

SLEEPING IN THE PARK

Sleeping in the park was very cool. We had to boil our water, dry and wash our own clothes! My favorite part of staying in the park overnight was that we got to see and learn about all sorts of nocturnal animals, like wombats and Tasmanian devils. I learned a lot throughout Tasmania about the early aboriginal people and their interactions with the Europeans there. I can imagine the Aboriginal people having infinite food. The wallabies are more curious than scared and the wombats will come right up and sniff you! I also learned about Gustav Weindorfer. He was the lodge keeper and protector of the park, even before it was a park. We got to see all the different ecosystems of Tasmania, like eucalyptus forests, grass hills fit for a hobbit, and even windy mountain tops.

WALKING EARLY IN THE MORNING

When we took a walk through the park at 4:00 AM we saw and heard more wildlife than I had ever seen. We saw many many many many many many many many wallabies, many many many many many many many many wombats, and a couple pademelons. The sunrise is very beautiful.

WALKING LATE AT NIGHT

The difference between Cradle Mountain and the northeastern United States is unexplainable. I will try my best anyway though! In short, the birds there sound like dinosaurs, there are teddy bear pigs with iron butts, and there are mysterious creatures in trees that scream when you point a light at them! When we took a walk in the evening, we saw many wombats, some wallabies, and of course, scary mysterious creatures in trees that scream when you point a light at them, like the Tassie devil! All these animals are so different from what we have in NJ. 

ABOUT THE WALLABY

Wallabies are marsupials just a bit smaller than a kangaroo, basically the same. It has a pouch and everything too. They are social, but we did see them fight once!

ABOUT THE WOMBAT

The Teddy Bear Pig (the wombat) is a fluffy, furry, brown pig with lots of fur! They are bigger than a tassie devil but still less tall than my knees, and about as long as from my toe to my thigh. Their main defense is blocking up their den with their steel like butts to keep predators from eating their offspring! When a snake or devil tries to sneak in, they crush their skulls with their butts.
ABOUT THE DEVIL

The Tasmanian Devil is a small animal,  but it is the apex pretetor in tasmania. Having a bite force and muscles up to 40 times stronger than the average human, they can take down anywhere from pademelons to wallabies. By the way, wallabies are as tall as Max, and Tasmanian Devils are only up to my knees! Hearing them at night is one of the scariest things ever! Especially when you forget your headlamps. I learned that one the hard way!

ABOUT THE scary mysterious creatures in trees that scream when you point a light at them

Don’t know a lot about them as they are mysterious creatures.

Hiking to Maryanns lookout

On our first day we hiked up to Maryanns lookout! Sadly we had bad weather so we couldn’t see much. It was foggy, wet and cold. Although it was fun. The wind at the peak was crazy. We had to hold Finn so he didn’t blow away! Going down, we went down holding on to chains, it was really steep. By the end though everybody just wanted a hot shower.