After an unfulfilling day previously, we were out to make amends.
Christine had organised an additional hire car, just for the day, so that later on we could split into two parties. (Ahhh the serenity... so much serenity... a car ride without the kids for once!)
Both vehicles headed out to Zoo Doo Wildlife Park at Richmond. Zoo Doo was home to an Animal Nursery (very cool – with the kids being able to touch baby goats, pick up the cutest little bunny rabbits ever, and refresh their memories of what their guinea pigs look like back home), plus check out a mummy duck with her ducklings, a ferret and her babies suckling, piglets, rats, mice, baby chicks, parrots and other birds, and the most amazing coloured bantam hens ever! They were multicoloured and had been dyed with food colouring (PERFECTLY safe for the animal activists out there!) in time for the local show.
After inspecting the nursery for positively ages and saying goodbye to the babies and a biligerent pig or two, we headed off to the Wildlife Park pens. This area was home to a few tasmanian devils, heaps of emus, some cool emu chicks that are as fast as all heck, ostriches, wallabies, white peacocks, koalas, possums, wombats, deer, kangaroos and all kinds of water birds. We hand fed some animals as we went around, and the kids loved it. Next we headed to the Monkey cages and watched them swing around and eat fruit for awhile whilst we waited for the Safari Bus that “ribbetted” like a frog whenever it reversed!
The young guys driving the bus were very funny and kept us all amused. Before we started they handed out paper bags of day-old bread chopped up and mixed with barley, seeds and hay. First stop on the bus was hungry emu-ville. Everyone was given a bag of emu food and the emus were bent on taking everyone's bag and eating it all in one mouthful. They were very fast and many were successful in their quest.
Next were the ostriches who were just as eager and many even ate the paper bag as well.
Finally, came the camel and water buffalo. The guide was sure to move around the bus feeding the camel, so that most people got a camel neck rub. Christine and Harrison virtually got trapped under the camel's neck.
Then it was off to the races to watch ponies with toy monkeys on their back race around a very small race track. Everyone was given a ticket, and winners got a lolly from the shop.
After that we ate the lunch we'd brought with us, drank our coffees that were masquerading as warm milk, took in one final horse race and then left to check out Richmond.
We stopped to see another convict build bridge in Richmond and went our separate ways.
Mum, Dad and the Kids headed back to Hobart to watch a Wallace and Gromit video, while Mark and Christine headed to Port Philip.
Mark and Chris arrived at Port Philip at around 3:30, stopping briefly on the way to check out the Tesselated Pavement.
Port Phliip was very interesting with a lot of old buildings to check out, some well restored. There were a few interpretive displays to check out and at around 7pm, dinner was at Felons Restaurant. Dinner was very nice and very pleasant once the bus-load of children next door had left. We had grilled pide, chilli salted squid and herb crusted scallops for entree. Mains consisted of smoked chicken and sundried tomato pasta in a parmesan sauce and cajun grilled trevally on a bacon and mushroom mash with a lemon butter sauce...mmm... delicious! Due to our utter exhaustion, we refrained from alcohol with dinner and instead ordered 3 coffees each before the tour. That perked us up a little, and by the third coffee, our waiter thought we were obviously addicts as he brought us our a whole tray of fudge and sugars instead of just the one each! We applauded him on his coffee making skills and can honestly say it was the best we've ever tasted (or are we just deprived of Zaraffas at the moment??!)
After dinner and a brief rest in the car, came the ghost tour. We were guided around the ruins to various locations and told stories of ghost appearances and the people who they were supposed to be. It was quite interesting and enjoyable.
After about 90 minutes of ghost storied, we headed back to the unit and to bed.
