The Giant Hedgehog

---

From Hobart, I was headed back to Melbourne with a flight from Launceston. My plan to see Cradle Mountain fell apart when I realised it was the last weekend of school holidays, and all accomodation there was fully booked. When I had initially arrived on Tasmania it was beautiful weather - and looking out onto the rain swept streets of Hobart I could only visualise sunny Launceston. Even though all the weather reports showed it to be poor weather across the entire island, I had faith that the sun was shining in Launceston - and so bought a ticket back there. For once my instincts were right - I arrived and instantly the slightly depressed feelings that had been welling up in Hobart disappeared. It was great. 
Due to the previous weeks bad weather, the gently flowing river at Cataract Gorge had now become a raging torrent, consuming much of the grassy park and the outdoor swimming pool on its banks. The difference between my two visits could not have been greater. Here whilst walking the Zig-Zag track (named appropriately) I saw my first real life Echidna. The Echidna is like a large hedgehog, but has a really large snout. At first it just didn't look real - it was as though someone had placed a computer animation in front of me - and left me stunned as it desperately buried its head into the brush in the hope that I wouldn't see it. The amazing thing is that, after only two minutes of standing silently, its head reappeared. A truly stupid animal... although with spines like it has, it doesn't really need much else.

---

Photos

Where The Water Went
The massive downpour of rain during the previous week made a bit of a difference to the gorge...

I Can Still See You...
If only my camera took photos quietly...

Another shining example of how no-one litters in Australia!
Trust me, there are crisp packets, dog mess and used syringes just to the left of this shot...

Comments

[tango]

Fastastic
Wow! The places you're been. Great write-up. Do post your latest trips. Cheers!