Beauty Point to Scottsdale

First stop this morning was the Laundromat! While Mars packed up the camper I spent a few hours at the Laundromat while the kids spent some time playing cricket on the oval. 

Doing a bit of book swapping!

Once that was done we hooked up the camper and headed out of Devonport towards Beauty Point, taking the Batman Bridge across the Tamar River.  The bridge is one of the worlds first cable-stayed truss bridges (and I didn't even get a photo!).

Our destination was Seahorse World.  We booked a tour and enjoyed a very informative guided tour through the various stages of the life of a seahorse - from baby through to adulthood.  Seahorse World is a working farm where they breed the seahorse to sell - interstate and overseas.

Very young seahorses 

The males 'puff' their belly out to impress the girls!

Some of the facts that we learnt about the Seahorses were:-
* The Dad takes care of the babies in his belly until they hatch
* Their camouflage colours take 24 hours until it is fully camouflaged to its new surroundings.
* Their dorsal fin flaps 48 times a second!

Sea Dragons!

We were able to hold a seahorse and a starfish to feel their skin.  We also learnt about the Port Jackson Shark and could touch the 'egg' that they burrow into the reef.  It was really quite interesting.  In another tank was a huge clawed crab that could apparently crush its prey with the same pressure as a 1 tonne weight.

We left Seahorse World and headed out to Scottsdale where we camped for the night. As a 'free camp' this site was packed and looked like we were heading into a caravan park! We found a site which was actually a bit close to the road but we set up anyway.  We listened to the logging trucks come down the hill until late at night and then early in the morning.

Once dinner was finished we went for a walk to the ponds where a platypus lives.  We were lucky enough to be able to watch it for a while.  It's so special to be able to see them in their natural environment and not behind a glass window (at the zoo).

We headed back to the caravan for showers and bed!