Tasmania, the hitch-hiking experience.

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What about Tasmania?

Going to Tasmania directly after NZ, I was a bit afraid to be a bit disappointed because NZ put the level so high.

Nonetheless, it was everything but disappointing!!! To sum up, Tasmania is kind of in between NZ and Australia. Not as dramatic with mountains, big lakes and fjords like NZ, but still lots of good national parks with mountains (even with snow), beautiful coast from rocky to sandy. And especially really beautiful water.

The people also really nice, helpful and friendly.

Lets describe a bit more my week to get a better feeling of all that is said above.

Because my trip in NZ costed me a bit more than expected, I wanted to try to travel cheap for this week in Tasmania. Moreover, having tried to hitch-hike in NZ one day, which happened to be a good experience, I wanted to repeat this experience for real, for the whole time in Tasmania. And I really do not regret that. That has been maybe the best personal experience of these 6 months.

Before taking off for the island, I had a brief idea of what I wanted to do and see. But it mostly came all along the road through the meetings I had. I had found a couchsurfing place for my first night. For the rest, I had my tent 😊 For my first day hitch-hiking I found an old adventurer lady who took almost the whole way from the north to the south of the island, through small but beautiful roads. She told me her story, her engagement in sustainability, saving nature etc, a really interesting person. At the end she offered me to sleep at her place instead of using my tent under the rain. So I ended up in a big house and comfy home, she cooked me dinner and breakfast. What a good start. Then meet another couchsurfer for one night in Hobart. Then hitch-hike until Tasman national park and did a walk to the cape Raoul with an overnight there (the first with the tent). Then hitch-hiked again to Freycinet Nat. Park and went to really pretty beach, 5 hours walk with 25kg on the back 😊

Then a ex-chef (managing now a one star Michelin sea-food restaurant near Melbourne) picked me up on a long distance again until bay of fires, all along the east coast, beautiful way. And ended up going to the same free camping as him and I was offered some Tasmanian champagne and dinner and breakfast with salmon. What else??

So each time, I got so “lucky” to be picked up and drove to place where there might but only two cars a day sometimes, and rapidely and always to destination and always with awesome, open and friendly people. That was such a pleasure to travel this way because it is a really good balance of loneliness and socialism,lots of nature, as well as good for the wallet, and pushing you in trusting your feelings, intuition and the people, and so yourself.

What a good week, and it was hard to come back to the big city of Melbourne.

One more step done. Next the great ocean road and it is almost the end!!!

But I'll keep this wonderful week in mind for sure!!

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