In a tent with 2 Korean's - Tassie Road trip!!

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I decided after all to finish work a week early providing i could find people to travel with so that i could see more of Tasmania. I still hadn't been to the East Coast and everybody was telling me i had to go there. So, once again i put an ad on gumtree and waited. I immediately got a reply from a German guy but only ever got as far as planning on meeting for a beer in Hobart and then he just seemed to disappear, but we would have needed more people to split the costs of hiring a car anyway. At the last minute i got a call from 2 German girls (Ines and Steph) who had a few spare days and they'd just met 2 Koreans (Sehee and Lee Jung hyun - also known as Elly). At this point it was already Thursday evening and we wanted to set off first thing on Saturday. So, i set about frantically calling every campervan company in Tassie. Everything was booked except for one place that had a couple of 5 seater cars left. A quick discussion with German1 (i still didn't know their names at this point) and we decided to go for it and so booked what turned out to be the last car.

We'd leave Hobart at 9.30am on the Saturday and return Tuesday night as both the German girls were flying back to the mainland the next day. As we knew absolutely nothing about each other we met on Friday night for a chat and to make some sort of rough plan. Thankfully for me, both the Germans spoke excellent English as did Elly, meaning i could again do the typical english thing and not have to attempt to learn a language. I asked Sehee if she spoke much English and her response was 'no, too lazy'!! That night we came up with a rough route and decided camping would be more adventurous as well as cheaper. The Koreans had a 2-man tent, but as they were so small we figured 3 people could sleep in there with 2 in the car.

Things didn't go quite to plan on the first day. We'd aimed to pick the car up at 9.30am and head straight off to the East Coast. Instead, we spent the morning shopping for food, spare sleeping bags, maps and picking up half the clothes that i'd forgotten to pack the night before, resulting in us not leaving Hobart until near midday. Once we were finally on the road our first destination was Freycinet National Park. The weather on this day was superb so at one point we decided to make the most of it and go for a swim. It was cold. Very cold. And we soon discovered large groups of huge crabs in the sea and that was enough to cut our time in the water short. We drove on further up the coast to Wineglass Bay, and around this area some of the scenery was breathtaking. We've got pictures but you really have to go there to appreciate the views. Part of our original plan was to try and get some hiking done on this trip, but as we'd left Hobart so late by the time we were ready to hike it was getting dark so we kept it short. The first night we found a spot and set up camp in the dark alongside the beach. It was almost a perfect night as we sat drinking beer under the stars on the beach. All we were missing was a campfire but we didn't have a lighter or it seemed a brain between us as we only realised the next day that we could have used the cigarette lighter from the car.

For Day 2 we planned on an early start. We overslept by about 2 hours and i was shattered after having to take toilet breaks throughout the night after drinking too much. Being drunk i'd convinced myself that i was sneaking in and out of the tent but i managed to wake up Elly everytime. Sehee somehow slept through but as time went on we soon discovered that she had the ability to sleep whenever and wherever she wanted.

After spending far too long trying to coax myself into a cold shower we packed up and were on our way. Again we headed north up the East Coast towards Mount William National Park where we intended to camp again. Along the way we passed Natureworld, where we stopped to feed Wallabies, and saw Deer, Snakes, Wombats and many other animals. Feeding the Wallabies was great but seeing one almost the size of you bound to towards you was a little bit intimidating as you'd just stand and pray that it'd stop once it reached you. We kept heading North and finally reached Binalong Bay and The Gardens. Again, there were great coastal views and beaches but the weather was not quite as appealing on this occasion. Once we reached the end of the road it was a further 43km of unmade road to get to Mt William Park. It took a good 45 minutes to get there and once we did we found there were no campsites or facilities in the area. For some reason a small town of people had decided to move here - perhaps they were in hiding - but there wasn't even a convenience store for them to use. Slightly disappointed we took a short break on the side of the road where i was amazed to discover that the crisp sandwich has not yet been introduced to Germany or Korea. It was here that i had a huge spider crawl up my back and onto my neck although i never actually saw it, i was informed in no uncertain terms by a screaming Steph. Once we'd calmed down and finished our food we drove back to Binalong bay and after another short hike (and a nervous few minutes where i thought our car battery had died) set up camp by the beach. This time we had a flame but a lack of wood so it was small and very smokey and before long we'd ditched the idea and sat in the dark playing cards and drinking by torchlight.

On Day 3 (Monday 23rd March), we set off on time and headed straught to Launceston in search of showers and internet access for the girls to book their flights. Along the way we passed through some great scenery on winding roads that never seemed to end. After finding hot showers at a nearby campsite we raced to Mole Creek and arrived at Marakoopa Caves with minutes to spare before the last tour. The tour lasted 45 minutes and was an intriguing if nippy look into caves. It was fairly similar to the ones i visited in China except on this occasion i was able to understand what the guide was saying. From here we drove on through the hills and set up camp at Cradle Mountain. We had to pay to camp but we somehow convinced the woman that we had 5 people in one tent and the cost was only about $60 between us. There were great facilities here and so we were able to enjoy our first hot meal of the journey consisting of pasta and tomato sauce, whilst playing cards and drinking games in the warmth of shelter and a fire.

The next morning, our last day, we visited Cradle Mountain and at last got to hike. We set off on a long hike towards the summit of Cradle Mountain. Hiking was almost replaced by climbing at one point but we soon reached 1000m. It was a further 500m to the top but being wary of the descent and the fact we were now in the clouds and couldn't really see anything we didn't venture any further. By the time we returned to the car we'd hiked for over 4 hours. All that was left for us to do now was to return to Hobart dropping the Koreans off in Ross along the way. Heading west and down would take too long, east and to the highway seemed dull, so we opted to drive straight down the middle of Tasmania on the smaller roads. Here the scenery changed again as everywhere was flat with nothing to see for miles around. We passed the Great Lake and stopped at a small bar for a proper meal before for some reason i decided that $25 of fuel would be more than enough to get us more than 200km. As we drove in the dark our full beam lights lit up so many moths it almost felt like it was snowing. I suppose i should mention also that everytime we drove, especially at dusk or night there was the constant threat of Wallabies crossing the road and a couple of near misses. We dropped Sehee and Elly off in Ross first. There i briefly met an Englishman who told me how he moved to Australia to escape England. I only mention him as i found it amusing that he left only to set up camp in quite possibly the place that most closely resembles an English village that you could find in Australia. The drive from Ross to Hobart was tense as we drove most of the way on near empty. Fortunately, after passing many closed stations we found one in Brighton just outside Hobart that we could use. I don't think we would have made it all the way back.

I decided to spend another night in Hobart and then grab a lift home with the J's the next day. So another trip to a bottleshop for beer supplies and off to our hostel. We'd pre-booked a 4 bed dorm between the 3 of us thinking we'd get some peace but arrived to discover possibly the most creepy looking middle-aged man ever and so vacated to the next hostel to drink our beer into the early hours.

I'm now back in Midway a little bit sad that the trip is over. Everybody got on well and i've met 4 of the coolest people so if any of you are reading this, then thanks for such a great time!!!!!!

Off to Sydney in two days.

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Photos

A Tassie Devil
Definitely NOT like the cartoon