Join me on the second segment of my ecotourism trip to Tasmania, Australia (my unscientific, amateur, American, vegan, wombat-obsessed perspective) with all my own audio recordings from my June 2025 trip. This 58-minute (part 2) segment of the trip takes you along with me to my favorite part -- Maria Island National Park and its wombats, kangaroos and wallabies, stingrays, and ruby red anemones, and the culling issue of marsupial "overpopulation" -- through to Port Arthur Historic Convict Site, then on to the city of Hobart, with insights from my Conference on Communication and Environment #COCE2025 (at Univ of Tasmania), including compelling audio clips from Tassie Green Party pioneers who spoke to us -- Bob Brown and Christine Milne. As retired Members of Parliament, and forest/river and gender activists, Christine and Bob have refreshingly candid political advice for activists that also gives listeners insights into current Australian politics. Plus you get to hear their cool Aussie accents (much better than my one attempt early on to do an Aussie accent). "Bad Weather" pronounced "Beed Weeth-uh." (side note: I loved the cool weather there in their winter and the sunny days on the coast). If you like my ecotourist ramblings and low-tech audio, make sure you've listened to Tassie podcast part 1 in the previous podcast posting. And see photos and videos from my trip at https://www.facebook.com/InTunetoNature Idea: You can do a drinking game every time I talk about wombat poop, the ferry, and how adorable any marsupial is. Note: All the animal audio and photos here are of free-living/wild animals (no one was captive in a zoo or sanctuary), which did limit the number of other animal species I interacted with (no Tasmanian Devils or platypuses this time), but I felt it was a more natural and respectful way to interact (it was the animal individual's choice to get near me or allow me nearer to them). And I had an amazing time, and was elated for every wild animal I saw (like fairy wrens or swamp hens at outdoor bistro tables eating my chia pudding cup). As part of me compensating for the greenhouse gas emitted from my international trip, I made some donations to the Tasmanian Land Conservancy and the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania and the Friends of Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary. "In Tune to Nature" is a weekly radio show airing Wednesdays at 6pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming worldwide on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station) hosted by me, Carrie Freeman, or Melody Paris. The show's website and my contact info can be found at https://wrfg.org/intunetonature/ Tell me about wildlife experiences YOU have had in Australia or any comments on my Tasmania trip, and I might mention it on a future show. Thank you, friends! Take care of yourself and others, including other species, like wombats! Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on In Tune to Nature do not necessarily reflect those of WRFG, its board, staff or volunteers.
