After breakfast we walked through the city in route to a walk through the Cascades Gorge. Located at the edge of town it is a lovely walk along the riverbank of the Tamar River. At the end of the walk is a lovely park and a sports center. There were a number of other walkers on the path and the majority of them were locals out for their daily exercise.
Then we boarded the bus for a drive through the Tamar Valley to Beauty Point to visit Platypus House where research is being conducted on the platypus and echidna
. These are the only two species of egg laying mammals, and are known as Monotremes. Although they appear to be quite different they are considered to be related. The platypus are air breathing but spend much of their time underwater although they sleep and lay their eggs in land burrows. It was very difficult to get pictures of the platypus, the room light was dim and they tended to hide in the corners or swim very quickly across the tanks. The echidna were much more photo friendly and it was fun watching them lap up the food.
Our final stop of the tour was at Ninth Island Winery where we tasted 10 wines. The location was lovely and the wines were very good, but I was too busy tasting to take any photos.
Once we returned to Launceston, we had a little time to explore the city with stops at the City Park to see the Macaque Monkeys and visit the Conservatory, and a visit to the design center to see exhibits of local woodwork.
It was a long and busy day and so it was an early bedtime.
The Cascade Gorge, Platapus, Echidna, and Wine
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
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Comments

2025-02-08
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Dee Hearle
2013-10-19
Hi Marylea,
It sounds like the weather is improving and yes I would love to see the platypus etc. You probably know that Sydney is experiencing the worst forest fires in years. We even get coverage on our local station. Enjoy ad say "Gooday" to Mimi.
maryleabyrd
2013-10-19
The fires near Sydney have been the top story on the local news. We are a long way from there and hopefully things will improve by the time we get there. However, it looks like Mimi's plan to visit the Blue Montains is on hold because that is where the worst fires have been.