"The Serengeti of Tasmania" - Photos from Narawntapu NP and elsewhere in Australia
 

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...localeid=en_US

That links to 4 albums - Cairns, Tasmania, Adelaide & Kangaroo Island, and Sydney. With the exception of 2 sanctuaries on Tasmania, Trowunna and Devils@Cradle (labeled), the wildlife pics were taken in the wild.

Patty

So that's where you've been while cheating on old Africa...

i really enjoyed those Roo-Serengeti pics, though i couldn't always tell which were taken un the wild

Platypus !!! u r so lucky!

and those helicopter pics are so crisp!

where did you see The Echidna?

aby

Awesome photos Patty! Thanks for sharing, looks like a brilliant trip. Really enjoyed seeing the Tasmanian Devil and wedge-tailed eagles.

Great photos Patty, welcome back! Loved the one of you holding the devil!

Thanks, aby, Bill & Lynda!

aby,
The pics with "Trowunna Wildlife Park" or "Devils@Cradle" in the captions were the ones taken in sanctuaries.

We were very lucky to see platypus twice! Once in the Tablelands and once on Tasmania.

We saw an echidna in Narawntapu but it was too quick for me to get a photo. On Kangaroo Island we saw 5 or 6 echidnas (at different times) including one crossing the road in the middle of the day. The echidnas on KI seemed a lot less shy possibly because there are fewer predators?

Lynda,
That wasn't me holding the devil! That was one of the keepers. Patting yes, holding no.

Patty, those are great. I haven't seen too many (or any that I can recall) excellent sets of wildlife photos from Australia -- you saw everything. I've been to that country three times, all on business, and all I managed to see were two dingos when I managed to get to Uluru for a long weekend.

Michael

Oops, Patty, sorry - thought you looked a little different! :-)

You went, you're back! Welcome home. I'll be viewing the photos.

G'Day Patty!

Looks like you really enjoyed my home - Tasmania! Isn't it a beautiful place?! Thank you for capturing it so well! You've got a great eye for photography.

And yes, you were quite lucky to spot platypus. It took me a long time to see one in the wild. My first spot was also at Latrobe where we were lucky to view three.

I really enjoyed all your photos. Certainly looks like you had a wonderful Australian safari! Thanks so much for sharing!

Now...back to working on my Kenya trip report. This could take me awhile...

Cheers!

Platypus? (What's the plural?) echidnas? devils? LUMHOLTZ'S TREE KANGAROO? Looks like a really nice trip. Researched that one well by the look of the photos. Great!

Thanks, Michael, Lynn, somuch2c & Paul!

Michael,
Our trip was planned with wildlife viewing in mind so we tried to hit areas which would give us the best opportunities and also some diversity. We had Kakadu NP on the list at one point too and I'd love to visit western Australia some day but this was all we had time for this trip.

somuch2c,
I'm envious that you live on Tasmania! It was our favorite place. Welcome back and look forward to reading your Kenya report. Hope you had a fantastic time!

Paul,
I think it's platypuses. However, if you're in Australia, it's just platys or platies or maybe it's spelled platties. Is there any word that isn't shortened? ;)

Well that doesn't look at all fun or intriguing.



Just kidding! Beautiful.

Patty,

Thanks for sharring the great pictures!

After seeing them, I can hardly wait for our trip ... we leave Jan 9th for Sydney, Adelaide area, Kangaroo Island, Perth area, Darwin area and Cairns.
Unfortunately we will not get to Tasmania.

Did you do a private heli trip out to the GBR? It looks wonderful. Who did you arrange it with?

Hi Patty,

wonderful photos that make me realise that I really must go to Narawntapu this summer.

In our family we call multiple platypus plattercats :->

Its wonderful to hear there is another Tasmanian on the forum! somuch2c, whereabouts are you and do you think we should try to organise a Tasmanian GTG sometime?

Cheers,


Pol

Thanks again, everyone, for the additional nice comments!

cwn,
Yes, the heli trip was private. We booked the Sand Cay upgrade with Skysafari http://www.skysafari.com.au/solitary_sandcay.html I highly recommend it! There's one caveat with the sand cay trip in that only one party is allowed on the sand cay at any given time so if the cay is occupied, they take you to an alternate beach location but the snorkeling isn't as good http://www.skysafari.com.au/conditions.html We were told they had to use the alternate location once this season.

Where are you staying on KI? Did you book a tour or are you driving yourselves? We rented a car and stayed 2 nights at Hanson Bay to be close to their nocturnal walk and Flinders Chase NP and 1 night at Penneshaw for the penguins.

Have a great trip!

Pol,
I'll try to remember plattercats and resist the temptation to call them platypi :)

Thanks Patty!

SkySafari is exactly what I am looking for. I sent them an email.

We will get to Adlaide mid Feb and have arrangements to stay at Peter Walker's The Lookout B&B and do his Kangaroo Island Outlook Tour for two days. I wanted my husband to be able to enjoy our time on the Island too.

From your pictures, looks like we may have a mini safari experience...kinda a tiny taste of what is in store for us when we get to Africa in late March!

We will be coming to Adelaide from Darwin on the Ghan (my husband loves trains) rent a car, spend 2 days at a B&B in the Clare Valley then move to a house we rented in Adelaide Hills for 5 days. We both love wine! From there we will meet the ferry, go over to KI for two days, then back to the the mainland and Adelaide airport and on to Sydney and Cairns.

Thanks again for the information.

These were terrific, from your landscapes and sea scapes to the marsupials, even in the snow, to birds. What a fantastic itinerary you pieced together.

Did you feel you were especially lucky to see all these species or is that typical?

You really did have a Serengeti-type experience.

Could you also comment on the time of year you went. Did you choose it for a particular reason or did it coincide with your schedule? Do you have recommendations on the optimal time of year to visit the places you did?

Thanks again for the beautiful albums.

You've managed to live up to my expectations of you.

Thanks for sharing the other side of Australia that we normally don't see.

Love the Wombats and the smiling sheep!

Yay, Patty! What a great trip. I really enjoyed looking at your pictures -- thanks for posting them here, since I don't visit those "other" boards very often. :)