Tales from Tasmania volume 1

G'day

OK, so I did finally make it to Tasmania (and back) and what a fantastic time I had - despite a bit of an injury (more in a future post). First though there was the carry-on of just getting there. Melbourne had some wild weather the night before (see the photo below of my flooded street) and the day I was due to fly there was a problem with the trams (due to the weather the night before!) and then the flight was delayed an hour (people had warned me about Jetstar and they were right), but finally I was in Hobart (capital of Tassie) and I loved it from the start.

Summer in Melbourne

Hobart
It might be a small state capital but Hobart's got loads (heaps as the Aussies would say) of character. Built in the early 19th century it retains several beautiful buildings from that period, including a whole series of Georgian warehouses along the harbour and a whole hillside neighbourhood, Battery Point, which has some wonderful cottages and houses - all on the wide Derwent river and with Mount Wellington providing a dramatic backdrop.

Hobart harbour with Mount Wellington

Old grave stones - if you look closely there's a Wilkinson mentioned on the bottom left slab (obviously a free settler not a convict)

Lovely Arthur Circus

Lovely Battery Point house

After one night in Hobart it was an early start (5.45am!!) to meet the rest of the group with whom I would be spending the next six days. I'm never that keen on meeting new people at the best of times, never mind so early on a Sunday morning, but they turned out to be an ok bunch - some Germans, a couple of Israelis, a few French and quite a lot of Japanese and Chinese. 

  

The Adventure (tours) begins

 The Wild West

Hobart and the Derwent Valley give a false sense of Tasmania being a civilised, farm-dotted island and it's only when you start heading west that you realise that this is a pretty wild and unexplored place. We were heading to a place called Strahan on the west coast and travelled through some spectacular countryside on the way.

Russell Falls

Me at some waterfall in the rainforest

 

 

 

Lake St Clair - the deepest lake in Australia

What the ...? Some of the snakes you might see include Australia's second most deadly one - but luckily we didn't see any

Secret Valley (or maybe Surprise Valley, can't quite remember) - either way it's pretty remote and unspoilt

Frenchman's Cap (??!!) mountain - our guide was heading off to climb it when he'd finished the trip

Every chav's favourite lake - Lake Burbury

And so after our long day on the bus, but with great views to keep us entertained, we arrived at Strahan (pronounced Storn) for the night. Sharing a dorm was something I wasn't looking forward to (what to wear?) but it turned out to be better than anticipated - except for the British guy whose snoring was so loud it kept everyone awake. The next day everyone felt pretty tired but there was no time to rest or moan as we were off on the next leg of our adventure - covered in Tales of Tasmania volume 2 (coming soon)!

G'bye for now 

Cliff