Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating today as we had on and off rain the whole drive down to Launceston airport. When we picked them up, Tim was kind enough to offer to drive which gave me a break for the weekend and probably some piece of mind for them.
Of course, I had to introduce Tim to Sheila. They seemed to hit it off right away as Sheila flawlessly navigated us to our first stop which was the RV park in Deloraine to look for platypus. Tim and Andrea had success here the year before and got great looks from above since there are some bridges over the river there.
The rain had let up a little as we parked and walked down to the river. Soon enough we spotted a platypus in the river. Our timing was perfect because this platypus was slowly going downstream and would be under one of the bridges soon. So, we hustled on top of the bridge and despite the light rain watched the platypus as it drifted beneath us. It really was a great angle.
After the 1st platypus moved away downstream we spotted a 2nd one that did the exact same thing. I got some pictures as it went under the bridge this time since the rain was even lighter at this point.
It was not great conditions for good photos however.
After a really nice eggs benedict and toastie lunch at The Deloraine Deli, we headed east. A place I had noted as an option for a quick stop was the Tamara Island Wetlands. So, Tim plugged the information into Sheila and once again she got us there without any incidents. Tim did experience her double beeping "too fast" warning a few times but it seemed subtler to me almost like a "love you" instead. Now, I don't want to say that Sheila liked Tim better than me but I was starting to get that feeling...
Anyway, when we arrived it was still raining. However, Tim braved the elements to go out and take a look to see if anything was around. Not much was but Tim did confirm that the area lived up to its name of "wet-lands". From here we continued east towards Scottsdale.
Of course, the conversation turned to the coronavirus today since Tim and Andrea were much more in tune with what was going on than we were. This was especially true for Karen who got to hear about everything for the first time. But, since it was all out of our control at this point, we didn't worry about it too much.
Since our next accommodations didn't offer a breakfast, we decided to stop in Scottsdale for some groceries to make our own breakfasts for a couple days. When we got to the Woolworth's in Scottsdale many of the shelves were picked clean of the same items that had been hoarded elsewhere in the world. So, Tasmania was obviously not going to be exempt from this. We did manage to find breakfast supplies with no difficulty however.
Since we were in Scottsdale, Tim thought it would be good to try some local beer. So, we stopped at a liquor store (you can't buy alcohol in grocery stores there) for some beer. After a lot of conversation with the owner we picked a local brew which we were looking forward to trying later that day.
We had almost reached Derby when we spotted an echidna on the side of the road. But, it was still raining and when we approached the echidna it pretty much hunkered down. Since we thought we might be disturbing it a little we moved on. But, it was nice to at least see one together since the four of us looked pretty hard in Victoria and had come up empty.
We arrived at the very nice Derby Cabins which are located in the woods outside of Derby. Since the weather was still iffy when we arrived I ended up taking my B-roll shots the next day.
They have 3 identical cabins all of which are very nice and comfortable.
After settling in, we met at the gazebo near our cabins which is a really nice place to socialize.
Tim and I tried a couple of the beers and the verdict was...blah. They were nothing special and Tim thought they were "flat" so we didn't even drink them all. In fact, I think we left them in the gazebo when we checked out.
The rain had let up by dinner time and we headed into Derby and ate at The Hub which is a nice pizza place. We all must have been pretty hungry because not only did we devour our individual pizzas (well, Karen didn't quite finish hers) but we also ordered and shared a huge dessert apple calzone. I think I still might be a little full from that meal...
After it got dark we decided to do a night drive and walk on the roads near the cabins. We saw 10 brushies and the usual pademelons and wallabies but nothing else. Overall, the night walk summed up the day pretty fittingly since they both were relatively quiet on the wildlife front.
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