Well, after yesterday's rain, we were delighted to wake this morning, wet, but with some confidence that the rain had departed, at least for a short while. We were left with clouds, but during the day we were blessed with occasional sun.
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| 250415 Morning after the rain. Same shot as in yesterday's blog |
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| 250415 The clouds went that way |
We headed off south but took the right hand turn over the Batman Bridge to the western side of the Tamar River. We passed Anzac services being held at Georgetown and Beaconsfield.
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| 250415 Anzac ceremony at Georgetown |
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| 240415 Batman Bridge |
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| 240415 Batman Bridge |
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| 250415 Looking south from the Batman Bridge |
We did stop to photograph the infamous Beaconsfield Mine.
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| 250415 Beaconsfield Mine |
Beauty Point followed Beaconsfield. There we spent an unlikely three hours looking at platypodes, echidnas, sea horses and other sea creatures. It was our good fortune to see a baby platypus just received today by the Platypus House. It was found on a nearby farm, some distance from the water and apparently lost. It was less than six months old and this meant seeing it and patting it was a rare experience, even for the staff at the venue. What an unusual mammal a platypus is. We really enjoyed renewing our acquaintance with, and knowledge of, this wonderful animal. There were two other platypodes in the display and they performed as if they knew we were watching.
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| 250415 Female platypus at the Platypus House |
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| 250415 Male platypus at the Platypus House |
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| 250415 The baby platypus |
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| 250415 The baby platypus |
The Platypus House also had a display of echidnas. What funny creatures they are too. Most interesting was the manner in which they eat their food. An echidna has an extremely long tongue which it "whips" backwards and forwards, collecting food along its length as it goes. Fascinating.
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| 250415 The echidnas and their handler |
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| 250415 The long pink tongue of the echidna |
Across the wharf was an underwater display which concentrated on, but was not limited to, sea horses and dragons. It is a business and it exports sea horses, sea monkeys and other unique fish throughout the world.
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| 250415 Contrasting colours in the display |
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| 250415 The prehensile tails at work |
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| 250415 There's a dragon in there |
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| 250415 The sea dragons head dress |
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| 250415 Am I not beautiful? |
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| 250415 Tank of baby sea horses |
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| 250415 Slightly older babies |
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| 240514 Juveniles |
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| 250415 Sea dragons |
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| 250415 Up close and personal |
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| 250415 Four of the best |
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| 250415 Giant Tasmanian crab - carapace was about 40cm across |
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| 240415 This one came out of his shell to see the visitors |
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250415 Moray Eel. Note the blocks over the nostrils
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| 250415 Warty Prowfish |
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| 250415 Where the sea horses are exported |
We went to Greens Beach at the northern end of the western side of the Tamar Estuary, returning via the Batman Bridge and the Georgetown Lookout.
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250415 Greens Beach with Low Head in the background
and the Tamar River mouth in between |
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| 250415 Georgetown from the Georgetown Lookout |
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| 250415 The mouth of the Tamar River from Georgetown Lookout |
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| 250415 Pacific Aluminium's smelter taken from the Georgetown Lookout |
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250415 Temco BHPB's manganese smelter, with wood chips
in the background, from the Georgetown Lookout |
Our day finished at Low Head, where an old lighthouse guards the entrance to the Tamar River.
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| 250415 Low Head Lighthouse |
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| 250415 Low Head |
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| 250415 The pilot boat harbour |
This was a most interesting day and we surprised ourselves that we could spend so much time looking at platypodes, echidnas and sea horses. The sunset capped off this unusual but wonderful day.
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| 250415 Early in the sunset |
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| 250415 Later in the sunset |
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