Blogs from Tasmania, Australia, Oceania - page 134

From Hobart, I was headed back to Melbourne with a flight from Launceston. My plan to see Cradle Mountain fell apart when I realised it was the last weekend of school holidays, and all accomodation there was fully booked. When I had initially arrived on Tasmania it was beautiful weather - and looking out onto the rain swept streets of Hobart I could only visualise sunny Launceston. Even though all the weather reports showed it to be poor weather across the entire island, I had faith that the sun was shining in Launceston - and so bought a ticket back there. For once my instincts were right - I arrived and instantly the slightly depressed feelings that had been welling up in Hobart disappeared. It was great.  Due to the previous weeks bad weather, the gently ... read more

My next destination was to be the uninhabited island of Maria, just off the East Coast of Tasmania. After an overnight stop in Triabunna, eating home-baked biscuits in front of a log fire in the hostel, I took the ferry to the island. Maria once held a number of convicts, and the accomodation available on the island was a tent or the old penetentiary. The choice was easy to make. The room in the penetentiary was around 3 by 4 metres and held six bunks,although in the days of the convicts there would have been around fifty men sleeping in hammocks strung across the room. Far from the luxury of the hostels I had been staying in, the penetentiary only had a table, complete with beer bottle and candle for light, and an old wood stove ... read more

Tasmania is only a short flight away from Melbourne, yet when you arrive it feels like another country completely. Launceston Airport consists of a runway and a small building housing a check in desk and one cafe. Stepping out of the aeroplane, out into the open air and having to walk across the runway was a new experience for me, and made the airport that much more 'local' - something I would soon find was a feature of Tasmania. Launceston itself, referred to as a city, seemed little more than a small town, and was totally deserted by 8 o' clock in the evening, except for one or two pubgoers (usually tourists). Cataract Gorge, just outside of the town provided the only attraction for several miles, yet was fairly impressive. A scenic river passing through rocks ... read more

2002/02 Entry 2 These three Tasmanian entries will not include an actual travel journal as I don't have the time to go through my notes. What I think are the best pictures have been posted and a few comments here and there kind of tell the story:) ....feel free to ask questions about any part of the trip. Basically DV and myself rode from Launceston to Hobart through the centre of Tassy, then back up to Launceston via the east coast.... read more

There is stunning natural scenery covering the length and breadth of Tasmania, in this magical tourist island below the east coast of Australia. We drove our cars onto the ferry for the journey across the Bass Strait, with a plan to rendezvous with another brother after he flew direct into Hobart. Tasmania was a first time travel destination for all of us, and my eldest brother hatched the plan to visit the Apple Isle when he was posted in Melbourne temporarily for work. The ferry trip from Melbourne was a relatively calm overnighter and we were lucky considering the reputation of the Bass Strait for wild seas. When we arrived in Devonport we disembarked the ferry in our cars, and hit the road to commence our Tasmanian adventure. We headed south in convoy, dear reader, for ... read more