RE: HYB:Sad Days -Tasmania

---

Hi Betty

And to think we’re excited because we’ve had an inch of rain overnight. I doubt that it is drought breaking but at least it’s a help. Most of south eastern Australia (South Aust, Victoria and Tasmania) are still severely drought affected.

We’ve recently arrived back from a week in Tasmania (our island state). Most Australians think of Tasmania as very wet and cold, however this is only the western side. The eastern half is in a considerable rain shadow and currently, frighteningly dry.

We attended a very large field days there, usually 70-80,000 visitors over the three days. Sales went very well. We also had a couple of days off for exploring.

We went to a local wildlife park, where they do research into the Tasmania Devil. These are the size of a large cat/small dog and  are very aggressive and have the most spine-chillingly ferocious growl , especially coming from such a small animal. Our daughter got to hold an orphaned baby wombat (fully grown they are the size of a small pig) and the wallabies (small kangaroo-like animal) know how to look cute so they can get fed.

The killer part of the trip is the 11 hours from here to Melbourne with a large caravan, infrastructure and stock and then the 12 hour overnight ferry crossing to Tasmania and the return. Interesting challenge also is how to prepare and keep the stock beforehand so it still looks good for sale 1-2 weeks after being dug.

Colleen Modra

Adelaide Hills

South Australia

www.impressiveirises.com.au