Tazzie

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I arrived in Tasmania on a bleak day which unfortunately set the tone for the rest of my time in the State. Tasmania is approximatley the size of Ireland with less than half a million people. Traveling round the place it certainly feels that way. I arrived at Launceston airport which was the smallest airport I have ever been to im my life. The baggage reclaim was a shed made of corrigated iron through witch the baggage car merely drove into an stopped allowing you to collect your bag. After a short taxi ride I arrived at a hostel in the center of town. Bearing in mind Launcestion is the second city in Tasmania the place looked like a small town somewhere in Wales. The similarities were uncanny. The Welsh theme did not stop there either. The whole time I was there I could not get over how much the countryside resembled Wales or Scotland. Here I am, the furthest I have ever been from home and it looks the same. The world is a strange place I tells ya! The hostel was pretty nice but there was hardly anyone there. At night things picked up a bit as a few locals came to the bar to take advantage of the cheap food and drink. I spent the first night playing pool and talking to the locals about anything and everything. In the morning I was ready to head out and explore the state.

I had posted messages in Melbourne about my intentions to rent a car in Tasmania and travel round the state but no body had replied so I was destined to do a largely solo mission around Tazzie. The car rental was pretty expensive as well so a travel companion would have been welcomed. Undeterred, I set of from Launceston the along the east aka the sunshine coast. I drove pretty much the whole day. All along the roads were road kill, ranging from big kangaroos (the first one I saw had a broken neck whoo!) to big cat like creatures. Seeing this I made a mental note to only drive during the daylight hours so as to avoid killing Skippy 'n' co. During the first day i drove through the oldest rainforest in the world. It certainly looked prehistoric, with thick vines rapped around the trees and steam mixing in the air with fog. The undulating road through the forest in those weather conditions can only be described as suicidal. In the heart of the forest lies the tallest waterfall in Tasmania, standing at some 90 meters high. However, it didn't look to inviting for a quick swim like the one in Laos! From there It was all the way down the coast to the small town of Binchino. The coastline looked uncannly like the Merseyside coast line! In the hostel at Binchino I met a few people coming up the coast, we went penguin spotting at dusk which was pretty cool. The penguins come out of the sea and waddle up the beach into the bush to nest. I am pretty sure I shouldn't have used flash photography thinking about it!

The next day saw brilliant sunshine which was just as well as I had planned to do a bushwalk. Driving along in the sun taking in the views was really cool. The roads run dead straight for miles and you can go for half an hour at a time without seeing another car. The scenery was pretty cool as well, driving up to and passed mountain ranges basking in the warmth of the sun. After an hour or so I arrived at the national park I was headed to. My target Wineglass Bay which was voted one of the best beaches in the whole of Australia. The walk took me about 2 hours in total and it was during this that I realised how unfit I had become during 3.5 months of doing nothing! Alot of time in the gym is needed when I return! The bay is really pretty, but, despite the sun it was too cold to consider a swim. After the walk it was back in the car for another long journey to Port Aurthur the site of an old British penal colony one of the first to be established in Australia. Allong the coast there was a number of natural attractions to visit. Allong the coast there are a number of collapsed sea caves, one of which, called the devils playground, is really quite stunning. Unfortunately I cocked up in my planning at this point. There is nothing there no hostles or shops, nothing but the ruins of the penal colony! So I had driven 200km out of my way! In the dark I headed to the capital, Hobart for the night. En route a trie on lorry infront of me blew out scattering debry infront of me. Luckaly I saw it coming so I was able to avoid an accident.

Hobart in relation to the rest of the population centres in Tasmania is massive but It still manages to feel like a small town. I didn't do too much while I was there as the weather wasnt so hot. After two days in the capital i decided to drive all the way back to Launceston inland. By the time I arrived back where I had started I had clocked well over 1000 km! The annoying thing was the weather started to clear up on the last day! When I arrived back in Launceston I had a night out with the hostel staff which turned out to be quite a messy occasion. An the Ozzys reckon they can drink!

In short, Tasmania is Australias nautral state (to quote the tourist blurb). It's all about getting out in the bush and taking in the often stunning scenery. However, If the weather is bad like It was for the majority of the time I was there it kind of kills the mood. Nevertheless, I am glad I made the trip to Australias least visited state.

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