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Published: November 29th 2011
My trip to Tasi was to be my first chance to experience backpacking and get organised for it before actually setting off for my big trip around the country. Rob and Emma (and newborn baby Jess) took me out for the day stopping of at a tech shop to look at SatNavs. Whilst in the shop I began to play with the cameras and almost bought one when I heard my dad's voice in the back of my head. I decided to leave it until after my week in Tasi to decide whether I actually needed one rather that just acting on impulse as per usual.
I was dropped at the train station with just my rucksack for the week, rather than my big pack, my sleeping bag dangling off the back. Once the perspex and steel doors of the carriage opened I resumed my usual crowd beating tactic I had learnt from my melbourne city experiences and pushed ahead of the river of people, found the tram and rode it to the ferry. As we pilled out the tram we caught sight of a titan of a vessel.
The huge red and white beached whale lay there swallowing the fish that dressed themselves as cars, trailers, bikes, vans and trucks. I made my way to the entrance of the pier and after telling the guards I was to board the Spirit of Tasmania I was given a personal escort right to the check-in desk. There, I was told that the reason for the escort was so I didn't try to stow away on the luxury liner boarding the other side of the pier. Once through check-in and boarding control, the metal scanners, then searching of every bag for food (and I mean every bag) we were finally permitted to climb aboard the ferry. The series of escelators and mirrored walls, wood panelling and fancy brass lights gave the boat a rather grand aura that wasn't dismissed until I found the Ocean Recliners I would be travelling on.
These were basically cheap aeroplane seats from the 1990s but they felt narrower. They also reclined to an almost horizontal position and had an irritatingly creaky panel that moved out to rest your legs on. I decided to ignore my uncomfortable residence by slipping in to the world of Salander and Blomkvist. I was wrenched from my parallel universe by the worlds most annoying man finding his seat in front of my own. After 10 minutes of groaning and fidgeting he finally decided to check that I was definitely distacted by him when he threw his pillow at me in an attempt to put it behind his head. I resisted the urge to smother him with it and passed it back, pulled my cap over my eyes and nodded off. I awoke once during the night because the air-con had dropped the temperature of the room so much that I was on the brink of shivering. I decided to use the supplied blanket and drifted off again.
I was awake to watch the docking process and climbed out on the deck to take some photos of Devonport, Tasmania. In a way it was a lot like Devonport, Plymouth, dockyards on oneside with a poor excuse for a town around it. I left the ferry and made my way to the town, returning to the ferry depo. after 10 minutes and realising I had to get to the other side of the river. They explained the route and after giving my coins to Charon we decended into Hades. To be perfectly honest is was nowhere near that bad but I'm not the type to shy away from the possibility of a dramatic metaphor, bloggetic license. After all, the town had a cinema (on stilts!), with parking underneath, a Rivers store, a Tourist Information Centre filled with lovely senior ladies and cafe's that complained when you actually ordered food.
Fed up and 'fed up' I booked my bus transfer to my next stop of Launceston or, 'Lawn-ses-ton' here, rather than 'Lawn-ston' or 'Lan-son' back home (and I corrected EVERYBODY!). I collected my things and booked a night in Lloyds pub and went off to explore. My trip took me to Cataract Gorge, THE highlight of Launceston Tasmania. Once used as a power station, abandoned in the 1950's the gorge was cut deep into the rocky hillside through years of erosion that now supplies kilometers of walking routes around the edge to joggers, hikers and walkers. The path on one side, my route in, was relatively flat with optional steep rock cut steps up to lookout points. As First Basin came in to view I was awe struck, the wide rocky crevice gave way to a lagoon that was truly epic. I regretted not buying a camera instantly.
On one side there was a cafe, surrounded by Peacocks that cicrled the grounds, stealing food if you were foolish eough to leave it unguarded on your plate. From there you can continue around, over a suspension bridge, yes I had to rock it, no the other people on the bridge weren't amused. The path then split, either up and around Second Basin where the old power station and dam that controlled the flow down river were or back around towards the town. Feeling that Second Basin couldn't live up to the awe for the first I made my way back around and down towards the 'fun area'. Beside the lagoon, raised just a couple of meters from water level was a grassed sunbathing and BBQ area with a swimming pool within it. A cable car stretched from here up and around the cafe on the other side at $10 a ride. The instant I saw it I thought about jumping off it into the water... maybe next visit. The whole basin itself had a very beachy theme and I can see why people of Launceston and the surrounding area flock here in the summer. I tore myself away and headed back.
The route back on the other side was more adventurous than the one I took in. Covered in 'Hikers Only' signs I made my way along the rocky terrain, stopping to test the capability of my phone's camera at every view point, sometimes making my own by climbing. Opting for a route off the beaten track I soon became lost in a housing estate. Getting my bearings I made it back to Lloyds and bedded in for the night. It was then that I realised the mattress above my bed had a hole torn in the underneath and a brown stain all around it. I wriggled into my sleeping bag and blocked out the party downstairs. In the morning I noticed my sleeping bag had moved and my face was on the pillow, my eye itched for the next two days.
I collected my things and headed to the bus station to move to Hobart hoping the rest of my Tasmania experience would treat me better. I was however glad that i had made the stop in Launceston, Cataract gorge made it for me...
and for the people back home... Minions aint shit!...
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Foss
non-member comment
no camera?
Didn't you at least have your phone on you for pictures? "fed up and 'fed up'" is brilliant.