TASMANIA – MOLE CREEK

NOVEMBER 9-11, 2025

The favorite part of our Tasmanian trip was Mole Creek. A humble little name for a humble little area. But packed with adventures!

When we arrived at the campsite the host said there were platypus in the creek that ran a meter from where we were parked. He said they come out just about every evening. There was another couple camped nearby. We stood on the edge of the creek, chatting, when suddenly a little platypus came swimming by. It was much smaller than I expected. It was only about 30 cm (1 ft) long.

He was a busy little thing, rooting along the shore, looking for worms. We watched him for several minutes before he disappeared up a small tributary. I never saw him again for the remaining time we were there. That said, the remainder of our stay was bloody cold and standing next to the creek was not a pleasant experience. We read on the news that Tasmania was experiencing the coldest weather in 80 years. Lucky us

The next day we went to TROWUNNA WILDLIFE SANCTUARY. They have been caring for wildlife since 1979, releasing what they can back into the wild. They also have a breeding program for the Tasmanian devil.

There are free roaming kangaroos. One of the males was huge!

They have wicked claws on their feet.

There was an area where the females seemed to be lounging.

Many had joeys either suckling from the outside

or were hiding inside the pouch.

I managed to video a small joey crawling back into the pouch. Momma was scratching her belly but I guess I got too close and scared the little fellow. He hopped up to her, put his front paws and head inside the pouch. She then leaned forward and he crawled in the rest of the way. To exit, he just seemed to fall out.

I spent a great deal of time watching them.

There was a guide who held a junior wombat and explained about them. They have a pouch that faces backwards, so they don’t get dirt in it when they dig. Little ones have been found by people and raised as a pet. However, when they reach about 2 years old their wild instinct kicks in and they disappear. Some have been known to return to their human foster parents from time to time, but never permanently.

We got to pet this little guy. Its fur was more wiry than I expected. But I could see myself having one as a pet. It is so cute.

She then brought out a young Tasmanian devil. Contrary to the Bugs Bunny version, these little guys are quite shy. They are about the size of a small dog. It has a powerful bite of 100 psi and can chew through bones. It is a scavenger not a hunter, and is nature’s cleaning crew. However, they have recently seen a huge decline in population due to Devil facial tumour disease. It is a cancer that is transmissible. It is estimated that the devil population has decreased by up to 80% because of the disease. Their breeding program is to ensure the devil does not go extinct. They release the healthy ones to an area that is not affected by the disease.

They are another marsupial that has its pouch backwards. They can have as many as 4 joeys. The one we saw was taken from its mother because she was showing signs of stress in raising all 4. Therefore it was familiar with the handlers and quite calm. We were able to pet this one, too. It had very soft hair.

Then we got to watch them eat. Again, contrary to Bugs Bunny, the mother was gentle with her babies and not hogging all the food for herself.

There were black swans, tasmanian nativehens, baron geese and other birds running free. There were also birds of prey in cages.

We went to MARAKOOPA GLOW WORM CAVE. Although the Aboriginals knew of the cave, it was officially “discovered” by 2 teenage boys in 1906. They obviously had no social media to be absorbed in and went exploring instead.

The tour took about 45 minutes. We saw magnificent stalagmites and stalactites, glittering in the glow of our guide’s torch. She said some of the larger drapes weighed 500 kg. I don’t know how they figure that out, but considering the size of them, I don’t doubt it. It was amazing that single drips of water trickling down through the limestone can create such beautiful wonders. Some drips are as frequent as every few seconds, others are every few minutes. How many years did it take to create this?

The acoustics are so good inside the cave, that musicians have recorded music down there.

The water was so crystal clear and calm, it did not look like there was water at all, until we saw the reflection of the hanging crystals.

The end of the tour was the glow worms. It was easy to see hundreds of tiny blue dots all over the ceiling in the pitch darkness. It was magical! I tried to capture a picture after she turned the dim lights back on for us to see our way out. There are not many seen here.

The path leading to the caves was amazing in itself. There were little creeks and bridges surrounded by a dense forest of trees and ferns.

The absolute highlight of this stay, and Tasmania in general, was a group of grade 9 students who were also camped with us. We were in the kitchen preparing our dinner when two girls, Amelia & Matilda, came over to talk with us. They were so friendly, curious, intelligent and funny that our dinner got cold and we did not care. Before long two boys joined us. The teacher came to tell them it was time for their dinner, but before she could pry them away, 4 more kids showed up. They were amazing! The next day we bought them a tin of chocolates because one of the girls said she missed chocolate while camping. We had another evening of chatting and enjoying each other’s company. I gave the teacher my contact information in the hopes that she and the kids will keep in touch with us. Although we took several photos, I cannot publish them due to privacy.

It was time to move along….