Ryan's Journal

"My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?" — David Mitchell

Two Stars

Posted from Cradle Mountain National Park, Tasmania at 1:24 pm, May 4th, 2024

We returned to Narawntapu National Park early this morning, and the grasslands that last night were full of wallabies, pademelons and kangaroos were comparatively empty; dusk is apparently the magic time in Australia, and I can now understand why some of the online reviews from people who visited at other times of day weren’t wildly enthusiastic. It was still pretty awesome, with plenty of kangaroos out on the grass, and the wallabies and pademelons had simply retired to the nearby forest, so there was no shortage of unscared wildlife to enjoy during the two hours we visited today, even if it wasn’t quite the spectacle we encountered yesterday.

Audrey was bummed to have missed out on the glowworms in Waitomo, so following Narawntapu we booked a visit to Mole Creek Cave to see what Tasmania’s caves had on offer. The underground formations were impressive, and at the end the guide shut off the lights, revealing dots of light on the roof. New Zealand wins the award for best glowworms hands down, but since they are only found in New Zealand and Eastern Australia it was good to give Audrey a chance to see them, and neat for me to see them lighting up the darkness one more time.

We’re spending the next two nights in Cradle Mountain National Park, home to dramatic scenery and an abundance of wombats. The scenery is great because I’m ready to be out hiking again, and the wombats are great because they look like cute pig-sized stuffed animals and are the only creature with cube-shaped poo. The weather forecast calls for sun, so odds are high that tomorrow will be another good day.

Kangaroos, Narawntapu National Park

Kangaroos in Narawntapu National Park.

2 responses to “Two Stars”

  1. Kangaroos are funky looking when they are on all fours….I’m so used to seeing images of them upright on hind legs. So interesting to see them in a natural state on all fours.
    Had to read about cubed poop–had NO idea this was a thing that occurred in nature. I will be looking into this phenomenon more…so interesting.

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