Taking my route south from Binalong and the Bay of Fires, I turned inland on a bright and promising Friday morning. Destination Hobart, and Mrs Motel had told me ‘it was gonna be a hot one’. She was right: By 11 the car temp gauge [which I was later told not rely on], was already showing 37C. An hour later and 100km later it was fixed on 41C and remained that way until I started the tortuous climb into the coastal mountains. I turned on the radio and got a broken signal from ABC where I learnt that most of South East Australia was in the grip of a heatwave. Attention was focused on the conditions predicted at the tennis Open being staged in Melbourne. 40 degrees plus, and how was that going to play out for the ‘Aussie interest…?’ NOT How was dear old Roger [Swiss cold-blooded] Federer going to cope? Or any of the others 100s still in the tournament.

Then I heard something odd – or at least unusual and incomprehensible. Aside from the widespread 40s predicted across South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales, there was a one-horse town called Mildura [sorry Mildura], in the boondocks of Victoria that was to experience a possible high of 45+, but, [wait for it] the temperature at night was not expected to drop below 35C. Oh, and this weather pattern was set to last on or off for 5 days – and there was a worry about power cuts in the state because of the high demand. Would poor old Mildura be expected to do without Aircon in this freak event? What would a Milduran look like having spent 5 days living on the equivalent of planet Mercury?

Rural scene en route…

Probably the most abundant sign in Bonorong

A small zoo/refuge/intake centre – Miss Tggywinkles if you like, all set in a place called Brighton, on the Lindisfarne road.

I remembered from the guide book and myriad of fliers available everywhere you go that these places are legion in Tasmania – and rightly so. They’re not zoos – no-one wants that tag these days; they are self-funded recovery centres for indigenous species that have been brought in by do-gooders or just the general public. We were told by the guide in Bonorong that unfortunately Tasmania has the unwelcome title of ‘Roadkill Capital’.

Wombat baby – docile in the right arms

Wombat sibling

These ones were rescued from a burrow and had withstood the constant attacks of a dog. There are many Aussie stories about the qualities of these creatures. Basically they are tough, hard and thick skinned.

Red Eared Rogue?

The animal that punches above its weight – in so many ways. The Devil. Tasmanian Devil. Our keeper told us about all the myths that surround this poor proud creature and consequently why it is so endangered. It’s not scurrilous nor devil-like, but it is a keen scavenger.

Basically, although the largest marsupial carnivore; it can’t see too well, it can’t run faster than a chicken; and it is easy [ish] prey for large dogs. But it can hear things from miles away, and can smell with extraordinary precision. Its jaws are more powerful than that of a bull terrier, and it eats large bones for a pastime. Unfortunately the Devil has been driven from the Australian mainland and now only survives in enclaves in Tasmania. Here, its numbers are ‘robust’, but it doesn’t do well on roads and is practically invisible to drivers after dark. They are killed in alarming numbers.

We moved on to the next animal zone. The one that got whoops of delight from the Chinese hordes with selfie sticks. It was Koala time – probably the equivalent of Panda Time in another time and place. We were introduced to the 3 inmates clinging doggedly to their shoulder-high perches and given the usual stories about them not being ‘bears’, not being ‘drunk’; and a new one on me, having a brain the size of a walnut. I know people who are in the frame for the last 2 characteristics I thought.

Yes, it’s real; and no; a Chinese person didn’t take it for me

Other parts of the ‘zoo’ held kangaroos in copiosity. Dozens all loafing around, presumably, too, refugees from the roads of Tasmania. The Eastern Grey, is a mid-sized beast that again doesn’t do well on the road.

Kangaroos may not bite, but they can scratch

Emu. Better seen in the Flinders!

Bettong not on show today… in its box

I said earlier that the car told me it was 41C; by the time I left the animal sanctuary I was in a jacket and the temperature was an easy 19C.

5 hours in a car and it had dropped by at least 20 degrees [car gauge being accurate or not]. Apparently that’s Tasmania. Bush fires in the North and snow in the South.

The day that started at 41 degrees and ended in a Jersey