Blogs from West Coast, Tasmania, Australia, Oceania

Hallo, liebe Leute, das wichtigste zuerst: wir haben sie ueberlebt, unsere acht Tage auf dem South Coast Track fern der Zivilisation. Und es war toll. Aber beginnen wir doch einfach mal von vorn... Am 08.12. sind wir hier in Hobart auf Tasmanien angekommen und haben fuer 2 Tage unseren Backpacker bezogen. Hobart ist hier die groesste Stadt, aber dennoch irgendwie klein und sehr sehr nett. Als wir im Hostel ausgecheckt haben, fragte der Receptionist, ob wir den Overland Track machen wollen. Als wir meinten, dass wir auf den South Coast Track gehen, antwortete er: "Gee, you are tough!" Aha??? Na gut, schauen wir mal. Jedenfalls, um die Sache nicht zu einfach zu machen, haben wir noch ein paar zusaetzliche Herausforderungen eingebaut: Handicap 1: auf dem Flughafen fuer den Transfer in die Wildnis wurde unser Gepaeck gewogen. ... read more

WELCOME FRIENDS! Just wanted something to be here when you all come looking! Its now 6.30 am Tuesday February 26th, the last day before we leave.... Who said going on holiday was fun? The amount of things to remember to do or pack so you CAN go on holiday is amazing! And that doesn't count the things that have to be as 'up to date as possible', last instructions for our house sitter and the girl filling in for me at work! At this point I just want to thank Lizzy for house sitting for us, she said "its no trouble at all, and the spa will be well used" LOL and I bet it will be too! Anyway come along with us and enjoy our trip to Sydney and Norfolk Island, I know we will... ... read more

Wow. Ten days in Tasmania was certainly not enough. It is a beautiful state full of national parks with stunning scenery. Sarah and I met in Hobart, and our Tassie adventures started. We spent the day wandering around Hobart, finding the harbour and the botanical gardens. We had a lovely dinner down at Salamanca Square and got lost on little side streets in the area. The next morning we saw an Antarctic exhibition at the museum near our hostel, which made me wonder about the Lonely Planet on Antarctica. I must discover why it's so thick! On the way to Mt Wellington for the views, we were introduced to the Tassie definition of small, windy roads. Which made for fun, challenging and slow driving! Afterwards we explored the Tasman Peninsula, stopping at Remarkable Cave, Devil's Kitchen, ... read more

A day walk in the west coast of Tasmania.... read more

It's been a while since the last bulletin and as usual we have covered quite a bit of ground, as you can see we are now in Tasmania and have been for the past 2 weeks - one week to go before we head back to the mainland. Before the 11hr crossing to Tassie we crossed the bottom half of South Australia and Victoria, highlights being: Yorke Peninsula, SA... MOONTA, Australia's 'Little Cornwall'! because of the early copper miners who emigrated to the district who were of Cornish descent. Moonta mines produced 170,000 tonnes of copper, closure 1923. Very fascinating place to roam around especially for Mike, engine houses, school of mines, miners cottage, pioneers cemetry with Cornish folk etc.. a lot of the engineering of the mines, was constructed in Hayle and shipped out, but ... read more