The Road to Tassie...
From Sydney Jo, Del and I embarked on a road trip to Melbourne via Canberra which was interesting...! We thought it would be a nice coastal drive but apparently you only see the coast if you do the whole coastal route from Sydney! Instead we got a lot of barren countryside and a night in Cooma which believe me really isn't a place you want to spend that much time in!! But we made it in the end, and when we got to Melbourne we even managed to find Ramsay street which was really exciting!!
We spent a day in the Yarra Valley which was lovely, and then the next day I hopped on a plane to Tassie! The new year must be bringing some good luck to me, journey wise as I was sitting in between a lovely, although slightly crazy, Aussie couple on the flight which was quite entertaining! Then when we got to Hobart I hopped on a bus and found my way to the hostel and there was Aisling waiting for me!
Hobart
We went out to find some food - Tassie is known for it's fish and seafood, so we thought we'd go down to Constitution Dock and see what was happening there. Unfortunately as we crossed the road Ash managed to rip her skirt to an indecent way up her leg, so we had to run back to the hostel before too many people got to see her undies!! So that was a good start! And then it seems that Hobart is quite a busy place as everywhere we went you needed a reservation! So we ended up at an Indian, which I'm always a big fan of and anyway, you can get fish any time! As we walked back to our hostel we heard some music and saw lots of people sitting on some grass, so we decided to join them! There was a distillery with a bar and some live music outside the place so we sat there for a drink, listening to the girl and her guitar which was really good. It was such a nice atmosphere, really chilled out and relaxed.
The next day we hired a car and set off for the open road! For no apparent reason they gave us an upgrade so we got ourselves a Nissan Tiida, and I know nothing about cars but it seems quite a good one to me!! Our first stop was Richmond which was on the Convict Trail and was a lovely little town (I wonder how many times I'm going to say this over the next few weeks...?!). It has a famous bridge there too which wasn't as big as I thought it was going to be but it still looked nice!
From there we went onto Port Arthur. This was a big convict settlement in the 1800s and was quite an interesting place. We got a guided tour round the place and also went on a little boat tour round the islands which was good. Then I bumped into the mad couple from the plane which was bizarre but very funny to see them again! They greeted me like a long lost friend even though I had only met them the day before!!We spent the afternoon walking all around the area and going into all the buildings. They have little plays on in the courtyards too which are really interesting to see as it gives you a little taste of what life was like back then. We had booked to go on the ghost tour in the evening but it doesn't get dusk here until after 9pm and so wouldn't get back to Hobart until after 1am, and seeing as we had some annoying old women in our room who like to get up at 6am each morning we didn't want to get back too late. That and we were a little bit scared of the ghosts aswell...!
The next day we went out to Mount Wellington for some fantastic views of Hobart. Ash thought she had broken the central locking of the car, but for some reason it just didn't work up there which was a bit weird! Then from there we drove to the Moorilla Winery for some wine tasting, but weren't overly impressed so decided not to buy anything! And then we went to the Cascades
Brewery for a tour and some samples!! The tour was really interesting as they take you all around the factory, give you a lesson in how to make beer, and then you get to see everything going on and get in the way of all the men at work! And afterwards we went to the bar for our 3 free samples of their beer! They have a really nice beer garden too so it was great to sit in the sun and have a few cold beers!Tasmania is pretty busy at the moment, and it seems you have to be a bit organised and book things ahead! Well we hadn't and so were a bit stuck on the accommodation front. Eventually we managed to find a place in Bicheno up the east coast, so after our day in Hobart we moseyed on up the coast...
Bicheno
Things didn't start off so well in this place - we found the Seaview Holiday Park where we were supposed to be staying and it was a complete hole! We were the only people in the dorm of 10 but the beds were tiny and really manky and there was no bedding and it was really cold at night - all I had was my sarong! Also there was no key, the door just slid shut and in the night random people kept walking into our room and then walking out again!! We decided to spend as little time possible in the place and so went into town for some food. We soon realised that 'town' was little more than a road and a few shops, most of which were shut!! We eventually found a restaurant and even though it had 11 people in there (wohoo!) the waitress had to ask the chef if they could cope with another 2 people... Fortunately for us she said yes and so we spent a very nice evening eating good food and then had to go back to our little hell hole for a few hours kip! We did contemplate sleeping in the car but figured as we had paid for the beds we might as well use them...!!
In the morning though we couldn't face showers there so we went round the corner to a hostel we had booked into for the following night, and after laughing at us for a while he let us in so we could use the showers and have some brekkie before we set off for the day! We got very excited when the guy gave us sheets for our beds - how the simple things please us!!!
In the morning though we couldn't face showers there so we went round the corner to a hostel we had booked into for the following night, and after laughing at us for a while he let us in so we could use the showers and have some brekkie before we set off for the day! We got very excited when the guy gave us sheets for our beds - how the simple things please us!!!
According to the good old Lonely Planet there are only 750 people in this town so that probably goes a long way to explaining why it is like it is...! We popped into the Tourist Information place and ended up talking to a crazy lady who gave us very little information apart from that fact there were 2 Chicken Feeds along the way to Launceston (which is handy when we don't have any chickens!) and a very nice place for Devonshire tea which she went to last year when some boat race was on but naturally that's only on once a year and it's not now!! How informative!!
Freycinet National Park
We drove down to the National Park and went on a little hike that the guy from the hostel recommended. It was 11 kms and took about 5 hours but the beauty of it not getting dark until after 9pm means you have so much more time to do stuff!! So we set off and the first thing we saw was a little wallaby sitting in the middle of the path! It didn't seem bothered by people though and I reckon it was happy to exchange photos for some food from the odd tourist! Anyway, we carried on upwards in the extreme heat until we got to a lookout of Wineglass Bay. 
It was an amazing sight. The sea was a gorgeous blue, the sand was white and behind all this was some lush green forest. We walked down to the Bay and sat on the beach to have lunch. It was so hot so it was quite nice to chill out there for half and hour and take in all the scenery. Then instead of going back the same way which looked a bit hard to us we carried on round to Hazards Beach. This was even more impressive than Wineglass Bay, more for the fact that it was pretty much deserted and so we had the place to ourselves. We walked along the beach, avoiding all the jellyfish and it was lovely! Then from there we went up some rocks and inland a bit back to the starting point. On the way back though we had some great views of the beach and the sea, but sometimes photos just don't do any justice!
After this trek we decided to go home via Friendly Beaches! Some more lovely white sand beaches that we strolled along for a while! And then back to Bicheno! Again we struggled to find somewhere to eat - I thought we'd go to the nice sounding Silver Sands but it wasn't so nice looking and was closed (in the busiest season too!) so we ended up at a French restaurant, again there were only 6 other people in the restaurant but the waiter had to get permission from the chef for another 2!! What is it round here, I don't get it!
Once dusk had fallen we were told to go and look for some little penguins down by the Blowhole. Other people went on $20 trips to a different part of town but we walked down to the Blowhole (without a torch which was very clever!) and after Ash nearly shat herself when she heard a noise we realised it was the little penguins making that noise!! They were so small and really cute! I didn't quite get what the deal was, we figured the parents were off getting the food and the babies were just running riot around the rocks but it was great to see them! I just hope the parents found enough food for them all!
It was an amazing sight. The sea was a gorgeous blue, the sand was white and behind all this was some lush green forest. We walked down to the Bay and sat on the beach to have lunch. It was so hot so it was quite nice to chill out there for half and hour and take in all the scenery. Then instead of going back the same way which looked a bit hard to us we carried on round to Hazards Beach. This was even more impressive than Wineglass Bay, more for the fact that it was pretty much deserted and so we had the place to ourselves. We walked along the beach, avoiding all the jellyfish and it was lovely! Then from there we went up some rocks and inland a bit back to the starting point. On the way back though we had some great views of the beach and the sea, but sometimes photos just don't do any justice!After this trek we decided to go home via Friendly Beaches! Some more lovely white sand beaches that we strolled along for a while! And then back to Bicheno! Again we struggled to find somewhere to eat - I thought we'd go to the nice sounding Silver Sands but it wasn't so nice looking and was closed (in the busiest season too!) so we ended up at a French restaurant, again there were only 6 other people in the restaurant but the waiter had to get permission from the chef for another 2!! What is it round here, I don't get it!
Once dusk had fallen we were told to go and look for some little penguins down by the Blowhole. Other people went on $20 trips to a different part of town but we walked down to the Blowhole (without a torch which was very clever!) and after Ash nearly shat herself when she heard a noise we realised it was the little penguins making that noise!! They were so small and really cute! I didn't quite get what the deal was, we figured the parents were off getting the food and the babies were just running riot around the rocks but it was great to see them! I just hope the parents found enough food for them all!
In the morning I went back to see what the deal was with the blowhole as people were raving about it... It as basically a hole in some rocks and when a big wave came up water blows up into the air out of the hole!!! Marvellous! I then went for a bit of a walk round the bay just to see what everyone was raving about when they talk about Bicheno! I think maybe you need to have children here or perhaps just not have travelled as much so you have lower expectations of things, I'm not sure, but anyway a few days here was enough, the National Park was fantastic and it was time to move on...!!
St Helens & the Bay of Fires
We drove up to St Helens along the coast which was all very nice! St Helens has a population of 2,000 people so almost like civilisation!! It even had the internet, a cinema and a supermarket, wow!! But no phone reception so you can't have everything!! It seemed a nice enough place though, although as soon as we arrived we realised that one night was going to be enough here!!
In the afternoon we drove up to Binalong Bay and then the Bay of Fires. Just more beaches really, and all pretty stunning! From Garden Point you could see all the way up to Eddystone Point and the Lighthouse and it was all very lovely! We sat on one of the beaches for an hour or so but it was so hot that I couldn't cope for much longer than that! So I decided to chill back at the hostel for a few hours whilst Ash drove all the way back to Bicheno to get her phone - the owner of the hostel took the sheets off her bed with the phone still in them and put them in the washing machine! Personally I think Ash was just desperate to get back to Bicheno and so hid the phone there!!!
I met an Aussie and a Kiwi in the hostel who were friendly enough and so spent most of the evening with them, chatting and watching TV! They had gone out to find a pub and some place to eat but weren't overly impressed with the lack of options and the town was generally a bit dead so lucky for them they got our company instead!!! It was good to meet other people that had the same general opinion of Tassie - it's a beautiful place and it's all very nice etc etc but it's a little bit backwards at times and the pace of life is very slow!! We had started to think that there wasn't actually that much to do in Tassie and were struggling a bit to fill up our days but after talking to some people and going into an Information place that gives half decent information we realised that there is actually quite a lot to do here!!
We did realise though that the Chicken Feed place the crazy lady was talking about is not actually a pace for chicken feed but it's one of those discount shops that has everything you could ever need, as well as all those things you never will need! I don't know why they don't have them on the mainland as the adverts make them look like a great place to shop and so one of the activities for the next day was to find one!! Ha ha, we know how to live!!
The road to Launceston
On our way to Launceston we made a few pit stops along the way... First was Columba Falls. Unfortunately you could see it from the road so after driving ages to get there we already knew we were going to be disappointed by what we saw. But we walked up to the viewing platform just to make sure we were properly disappointed!! The waterfall wasn't the greatest but then again it is summer and there are severe water restrictions on so what could we expect?!! The walk through the woods was nice though!!
Next was the Pub in the Paddock. Here we met the guys from the hostel who had also come to visit the highlight of the area! In this pub they had 2 pigs and you could feed beer to them! Well
that was something everyone wanted to do!! So after a cup of proper tea in the pub we got a couple of bottles of home brew and bottle fed a pig!! I've never seen a pig drink so fast, but then again I don't think I have ever bottle fed a pig or seen it being done, so it was quite impressive!! I wondered how many bottles a pig could sink a day before it got completely plastered and fell over but apparently the home brew is pretty tame and so the chances of seeing a drunk pig was quite minimal!!
After this we had a bit of a windy drive up and down hills which was a bit hairy at times! So when we got to Derby we stopped for afternoon tea and scones (another recommendation by crazy lady at the Bicheno tourist place!)! Then we went for a bit of a stroll to see what Derby had to offer... Not much it seemed so we carried on!
Next stop was Scottsdale, home to a Chicken Feed store! We were so excited to finally see one after all the hype that we even took photos, much to the amusement of the locals! It was one of those shops that had everything and it was all really cheap - I bought a Bananarama CD for $10, bargain!! I don't think the people of Scottsdale had ever heard of them though as h they started taking the piss, I can't believe employees of Chicken Feed were laughing at me!!! Ash got a bit over excited and ended up buying CDs, DVDs and god knows what else as it was so cheap!!
Launceston
We finally in Launceston and after driving round the town a few times we ended up at the hostel! Didn't have too long here though, after a trip to the supermarket and then a fight with hundreds of Asians for stove space in the kitchen it was almost time for bed...!! Well that's what I thought anyway, but Ash wanted to check out the thriving night scene so we visited the local Irish bar for a few beers! In the north Boag's is the beer of choice as the brewery is in Launceston but we didn't know the first thing about it and so I had to embarrass myself and ask the barman to recommend me a type of Boag's to drink! We went for the draught and it was pretty good! However, unlike any other bar I've ever been to in Australia, this one had a closing time and we got kicked out sometime after midnight!! oh well, it wasn't exactly kicking but at least we'd tried!!!
Cradle Mountain
We drove to Cradle Mountain via some pretty hairy roads but we're starting to get used to them now!! We booked to stay in the most expensive hostel ever - $40 a night for a bed in a 4 bed dorm and then we had to pay an additional $6 for sheets! I'm so glad I left my sleeping bag in Melbourne as everywhere else I've been in Australia bedding is generally provided! Also the water in the cabins wasn't drinkable, lucky for me I had my purification tablets that I'd been carrying around with me for the last year and have only used once or twice - I'd expect to use them in the darkest depths of S America somewhere but certainly never expected to be using them in Australia! Oh well, good job I was prepared really!
We drove up to St Helens along the coast which was all very nice! St Helens has a population of 2,000 people so almost like civilisation!! It even had the internet, a cinema and a supermarket, wow!! But no phone reception so you can't have everything!! It seemed a nice enough place though, although as soon as we arrived we realised that one night was going to be enough here!!
In the afternoon we drove up to Binalong Bay and then the Bay of Fires. Just more beaches really, and all pretty stunning! From Garden Point you could see all the way up to Eddystone Point and the Lighthouse and it was all very lovely! We sat on one of the beaches for an hour or so but it was so hot that I couldn't cope for much longer than that! So I decided to chill back at the hostel for a few hours whilst Ash drove all the way back to Bicheno to get her phone - the owner of the hostel took the sheets off her bed with the phone still in them and put them in the washing machine! Personally I think Ash was just desperate to get back to Bicheno and so hid the phone there!!!
I met an Aussie and a Kiwi in the hostel who were friendly enough and so spent most of the evening with them, chatting and watching TV! They had gone out to find a pub and some place to eat but weren't overly impressed with the lack of options and the town was generally a bit dead so lucky for them they got our company instead!!! It was good to meet other people that had the same general opinion of Tassie - it's a beautiful place and it's all very nice etc etc but it's a little bit backwards at times and the pace of life is very slow!! We had started to think that there wasn't actually that much to do in Tassie and were struggling a bit to fill up our days but after talking to some people and going into an Information place that gives half decent information we realised that there is actually quite a lot to do here!!
We did realise though that the Chicken Feed place the crazy lady was talking about is not actually a pace for chicken feed but it's one of those discount shops that has everything you could ever need, as well as all those things you never will need! I don't know why they don't have them on the mainland as the adverts make them look like a great place to shop and so one of the activities for the next day was to find one!! Ha ha, we know how to live!!
The road to Launceston
On our way to Launceston we made a few pit stops along the way... First was Columba Falls. Unfortunately you could see it from the road so after driving ages to get there we already knew we were going to be disappointed by what we saw. But we walked up to the viewing platform just to make sure we were properly disappointed!! The waterfall wasn't the greatest but then again it is summer and there are severe water restrictions on so what could we expect?!! The walk through the woods was nice though!!
Next was the Pub in the Paddock. Here we met the guys from the hostel who had also come to visit the highlight of the area! In this pub they had 2 pigs and you could feed beer to them! Well
that was something everyone wanted to do!! So after a cup of proper tea in the pub we got a couple of bottles of home brew and bottle fed a pig!! I've never seen a pig drink so fast, but then again I don't think I have ever bottle fed a pig or seen it being done, so it was quite impressive!! I wondered how many bottles a pig could sink a day before it got completely plastered and fell over but apparently the home brew is pretty tame and so the chances of seeing a drunk pig was quite minimal!!After this we had a bit of a windy drive up and down hills which was a bit hairy at times! So when we got to Derby we stopped for afternoon tea and scones (another recommendation by crazy lady at the Bicheno tourist place!)! Then we went for a bit of a stroll to see what Derby had to offer... Not much it seemed so we carried on!
Next stop was Scottsdale, home to a Chicken Feed store! We were so excited to finally see one after all the hype that we even took photos, much to the amusement of the locals! It was one of those shops that had everything and it was all really cheap - I bought a Bananarama CD for $10, bargain!! I don't think the people of Scottsdale had ever heard of them though as h they started taking the piss, I can't believe employees of Chicken Feed were laughing at me!!! Ash got a bit over excited and ended up buying CDs, DVDs and god knows what else as it was so cheap!!
Launceston
We finally in Launceston and after driving round the town a few times we ended up at the hostel! Didn't have too long here though, after a trip to the supermarket and then a fight with hundreds of Asians for stove space in the kitchen it was almost time for bed...!! Well that's what I thought anyway, but Ash wanted to check out the thriving night scene so we visited the local Irish bar for a few beers! In the north Boag's is the beer of choice as the brewery is in Launceston but we didn't know the first thing about it and so I had to embarrass myself and ask the barman to recommend me a type of Boag's to drink! We went for the draught and it was pretty good! However, unlike any other bar I've ever been to in Australia, this one had a closing time and we got kicked out sometime after midnight!! oh well, it wasn't exactly kicking but at least we'd tried!!!
Cradle Mountain
We drove to Cradle Mountain via some pretty hairy roads but we're starting to get used to them now!! We booked to stay in the most expensive hostel ever - $40 a night for a bed in a 4 bed dorm and then we had to pay an additional $6 for sheets! I'm so glad I left my sleeping bag in Melbourne as everywhere else I've been in Australia bedding is generally provided! Also the water in the cabins wasn't drinkable, lucky for me I had my purification tablets that I'd been carrying around with me for the last year and have only used once or twice - I'd expect to use them in the darkest depths of S America somewhere but certainly never expected to be using them in Australia! Oh well, good job I was prepared really!
We spent the afternoon walking round Dove Lake, which was a really pretty walk, quite easy too!, and the backdrop was Cradle Mountain! It was a lovely day and the views were great.After a little afternoon nap we went into the kitchen to cook dinner and were surrounded by raucous Germans! Not what I was expecting at all! Most places we have been we are the youngest by a long way and this was no exception! Then they all kept making speeches and wouldn't shut up, and there was so many of them they had used all the forks so we were scrabbling around for something to eat our dinner with! Then as our culinary skills only extended to jacket potatoes that night they all kept staring as us whilst we ate which was really nice!
Fortunately we had planned a little night safari so managed to escape the craziness in the kitchen!! We went to a Tasmanian Devil centre where we got a pat a Devil and then watched them being fed. It was really good to watch them fight over the bit of meat and play and growl at each other!! But the guy who was running to show had a clear dislike of people generally, and more specifically every one's generally lack of knowledge of the Devils and other animals! He seemed quite pissed off most of the time, going on about how he gets so annoyed when people believe rumours or myths about the Devil... So that was an interesting hour or so, although he did have some interesting things to say when he wasn't being so condescending to everyone!!
After that we went animal spotting! We drove around the National Park with spotlights (could we be any more touristy!) and then oohed and aahed every time we saw something! It was pretty cool though as we saw Wallabies, Devils, Wombats, Possums, and Quolls. But it was nearly midnight by the time we got back and I was pretty knackered so had started to lose enthusiasm by the time I saw my 20th Possum...!!
In the morning we were up bright and early ish, ready for our walk up to Cradle Mountain. It was about a 12km walk and was to take 6-8hours. I had read loads of stuff about how hard it was and how you needed to be prepared etc etc, and was a little concerned seeing as most of my hiking gear was sitting in Melbourne! But it was a beautiful day and I could survive with what I had so off we went! I soon realised anyway, that I was more experienced and prepared than about 75% of the other hikers who rocked up in jeans, shoes with no grip, no food or waterproofs etc so I don't know what I was worrying about!
We got to the first signpost and had the option of going up to Marion's lookout via a steep and rough trail (1hr) or an uphill trail (1hr 10). After a bit of debate we figured we were still warming up and so the uphill trail won! It went via Lake Lilla, Wombat Peak and Wombat Pool and we got a view of the Crater Lake aswell. It was a bit steep though with lots of steps up and the old heart rate went through the roof but the view from Marion's lookout towards Cradle Mountain and over Dove Lake was great. After a quick stop for a banana and a photo we carried on over an easy trail to the bottom of the mountain. It was sunny and hot during the day, but the wind was quite strong at times which made the ascent to the summit a bit more of a challenge at times!
The only way to the top of the mountain was basically over lots of big rocks and was supposed to take about 2 1/2hrs return. The bit before the rocks was pretty bloody steep and hard work and it just went on forever!! But then we got the the rocks! It was a bit tricky at times working out where the best route was but they had markers so you could figure out where you were heading for and in a perverse way it was easier as you were concentrating so hard on where to go next that progress was slower and you forgot about the fact you were going up and up... Until we hit a traffic jam as some stupid girl was coming back down and started panicking and crying as she couldn't get down one of the rocks. I felt sorry for her but when you go up you know you have to come back down again and as there was only one route at this particular point she was holding people up in both directions. But eventually she made it down! Only problem was this girl, and an English guy who was above her coming down freaked Ash out and she decided to not go that much further. I was starting to have second thoughts too but carried on for a bit longer, just to see how far away we were. I went to stop but then met a couple and the guy kept telling me we weren't that far from the summit and you can't come all this way and not go to the top! Fair point really! So I carried on upwards over more bloody rocks! This is when it sucks to have little legs sometimes as a couple of times my legs weren't long enough to get up onto the next rock so I had to pull myself up with my arms and hope for the best!!! And I made it in the end which
was excellent! I got some photos taken to prove I was up there, marvelled at the views for a while and then realised I was starving and Ash had lunch so I'd better head back down to her before she thought I'd fallen off the side of the mountain...!!As I was almost back to where she had been waiting she popped up over one of the rocks and said lots of people had told her it wasn't that bad and she should go up to the top...!! So I turned round and back we went to the top again!! At least this time we could sit up there and have lunch and we went to the other side of the summit for a different view!
We eventually started the descent back down as we were starting to get tired and knew it was
going to take a while! I don't find getting down too hard as at least you can jump when your legs aren't long enough to reach, but after a while your legs start to feel like Bambi's!! Coming down we saw a few women going up who were with their partner and they were holding their hands and putting their feet where they needed to go! They looked terrified too so I have no idea what they were doing up there as it was going to take them hours!! And then I thought of Ash and me - we didn't need to try and impress a bloke and go up with them, we were actually mad enough to do it just for fun!!!We got back down the hard bit and then just needed to get back to the car park and then we could collapse!! I didn't really want to go back the way we had come and saw another path other people were taking so hoped it would lead right down to the Lake and then we could go round the Lake back to the car park. Unfortunately that wasn't the case and we had to go round for quite a while (away from our final destination!) and then down a 'rough and steep' path and then we ended up pretty much at the opposite end of the Lake to where we wanted to be so had to walk around it to get back to the car park and then shuttle bus to take us back to our cabin! It took quite a while but we got there in the end and I have never been so happy to see a car park in all my life!! I think people thought we were mad as we started jumping up and down but we didn't care!!
We collapsed in our seats on the shuttle and then got back to our cabin. I didn't want to go to sleep straight away as I knew I wouldn't get up again so we had hot showers, cooked dinner (in a nice quiet kitchen this time which was bliss!) and then chilled out in our room listening to music, reading etc before passing out! What a way to spend a Saturday night!!!
Back to Launceston
We woke up in the morning and every muscle in my body ached! I can't remember the last time I have been in this much pain!! There wasn't even much chance of a lie in either as we had to be out the room by 9.30!! We packed up, drove back to Launceston (but missed the turning so it took about an hour longer than it should've done!) and then collapsed in the hostel for a while!
We checked out the sights of Launceston in the afternoon, only to realise there weren't any! We found another Chicken Feed but the novelty had quickly worn off and we saw it as how most people prob saw it - a shop full of tat!! Anyway, we ended up (along with half of Launceston or the tourists at least!) going to the cinema and saw 27 Dresses which was really good!! We were still pretty knackered after yesterday's exploits and were in quite a lot of pain so had our last dinner together and then just chilled out at the hostel before having another earlyish night!
I'm quite surprised by the number of older people staying in hostels, in dorm rooms too! In St Helens this woman who on first glance looked about 90 but when I spoke to her I think she was probably in her 70s was staying in our room (and snored REALLY loudly all night!) and then in Launceston there was another one who was probably in her 60s but she did a lot of travelling so she suited the place a bit better. At Cradle Mountain there was another oldie too who didn't seem that capable of too much but plodded along quite happily! As much as I admire them I'd like to think that when I'm their age I'll be able to afford more than a room to share with some random strangers!!!
Abandoned and all by myself - Launceston to Queenstown
I dropped Ash off at the airport on Mon morning and all of a sudden I was by myself and had no idea what to do!! It's wierd sometimes, I don't mind travelling by myself but when I've been travelling with someone else and then find myself alone again I'm not very good at adapting!!
Anyway, I drove up to Devonport to see what was happening up there... Not a lot so it turned out! The most exciting thing that happened was someone asking me if I was over 21! I saw they were going to try and sell me something so said no I wasn't!! Ha ha, the first time looking young has been a good thing!
From here I went on up to Penguin and then Burnie. Wasn't much going on in either of those places too! I was going to go up to Stanley to see The Nut, but then decided a few hundred kilometres wasn't really justified by a 10 min walk up The Nut so decided to head straight for Queenstown via Strahan, and then get to Hobart a day early as there's quite a lot down there to do. Sorted! I went into the Information place in Burnie to find some accommodation for Queenstown and the people were falling over themselves to help me! One woman had relatives in Dorking and the other was born in Redhill, both of which are nearish my gran! Anyway, they sorted me out some accommodation and off I went!
I went via Strahan, which was a really nice little place, although not much happening there, and then carried onto Queenstown. As soon as I got there I thought maybe I had got it completely wrong and should've stayed in Strahan as Queenstown looked a not very nice place for a girl on her own to spend the night...! It was a mining town and there was a bit of a strange feel to the place. I stayed in a motel and their 'dorm' room was actually a single room but for $20 I wasn't going to complain! It has a funny smell though and I decided straight away there was no way I was going to have a shower there - there was just a curtain for a shower door (and there was no door into the women's bathroom either), and there were quite a few odd men around...!
I resisted the urge to sit in my room and mope and went for a wander instead to see what there was in the town. It looked a bit like a town out of a western movie and it was pretty deserted, apart from a bit of a racket in one of the local bars, as well as the odd car load of men coming back from a day's work and looking at me as if I had 2 heads...!
I went for a minimal dinner as there were other people trying to cook in the 'kitchen' and limited things like cutlery and plates etc so just had my bowl of soup (once i had robbed a bowl from another deserted kitchen!) and managed to get through the evening avoiding talking to any strange men! I opted for an early night so that I could get up early and leave as soon as I could in the morning!!
I guess it wasn't that bad a place really, I just was a bit shell shocked to be back by myself again and wanted to stay in a nice welcoming town in a friendly hostel where I had people to talk to! Not too much to ask generally but Tassie is a bit of a strange place sometimes...! Oh well, it's all part of the experience!!
Queenstown to Hobart
So I was up pretty early and on my way at 8am. First stop was Lake St Clair, which is the end of the Overland Track which starts up by Cradle Mountain. I went for a walk by the Lake for a
couple of hours and on my way back I saw an echidna which I've never seen before so that was quite exciting!! It was lovely round by the Lake and it was a lovely day, so after all my aimless driving yesterday it was good to get out and stretch the legs! It was tempting to do another long walk now that my legs had recovered from the expedition up the mountain but didn't really have the time as had to be in Hobart that night...From there I carried on towards Hobart, stopping off at Mt Field National Park. I walked to Russell Falls, then up to Horsehoe Falls. Both were quite nice but not overly impressive. I carried on up to the Tall Trees walk were yes there were lots of tall trees and on my way I came across a wallaby who bounded across the path in front of me, and then another echidna. I walked amongst these huge trees, which were pretty impressive and then decided to carry on to Lady Baron Falls. On my way a snake decided to slither across my path! It was completely uninterested in me and went along on its merry way but did give me a bit of a scare, especially as there was no one else around! So after that I was slightly paranoid about what else was going to be in the forest but fortunately they all stayed away and so the rest of my walk was fairly unadventurous!!
From here I continued the drive to Hobart. The Cadbury factory tours were all booked up so I couldn't go on one of those which I was a bit disappointed about, so just went straight into town and headed for the hostel. I decided to stay at a different one this time, which was fine, although there was no bedding, the rooms were tiny, you had to fight over the hot plates in the kitchen and at night one of the girls in my room made some sort of whistling sound which kept me awake for hours!!! But apart from that it was fine!!!
Hobart
My last day in Hobart/Tassie and the last day with the car so I decided to go on a final road trip! I headed off to Bruny Island as I had heard good things about it and it was supposed to be quite nice there. I caught the ferry over and drove around for a while. It's quite a small island - made up of North and South Bruny Island with a strip of land joining them, and the tarmac roads suddenly give way to gravel roads with no warning. Which is a bit bizarre! Although most cars seemed to be able to cope with the bumpy roads, mine seemed to spray stones everywhere and made a horrible noise and I was a bit concerned the car was going to end up with scratched everywhere and we were going to get charged so I kept driving REALLY slowly on these roads, good job there was no one else around as I might have caused some road rage!!!
I headed down towards Adventure Bay and went for a walk round the coast to Penguin Island which was part of the South Bruny National Park. It was a nice walk along the coast although it started to rain for a bit. After that I wasn't sure what else to do. It seemed there wasn't much to do, apart from walks that were 4+ hours and I didn't really have the time... So I drove round
a bit, ended up on a very steep, windy, gravel road for 10kms which wasn't a pleasant experience!, and after all the fuss and panic it didn't really take me anywhere either!! So in the end I headed back towards the ferry. I stopped at a lookout where you had fantastic views of the North and South Island and even though it was bloody windy and took ages to climb up to the lookout, the views were amazing. So in the end this island was definately worht the visit!
a bit, ended up on a very steep, windy, gravel road for 10kms which wasn't a pleasant experience!, and after all the fuss and panic it didn't really take me anywhere either!! So in the end I headed back towards the ferry. I stopped at a lookout where you had fantastic views of the North and South Island and even though it was bloody windy and took ages to climb up to the lookout, the views were amazing. So in the end this island was definately worht the visit!So after that bit of excitement, I caught the ferry back, drove back to Hobart and dropped the car off, had my last fish and chips by the water and then the next day hopped back on a plane to Melbourne. Holiday time is over now and it's back to the real world and the job hunt, how marvellous!!!
