Tasmanian Road Trip

I'm sitting in a fire station singing along to a man with a guitar currently, “King of the Road” is the song to be exact. It's a little ironic, because we are stranded right now on our current road trip, so I am feeling less than a king of the road. We rented a car for a week to drive around Tasmania from Hobart.

From Tassie Road Trip

Our first day we hiked around Lake Saint Claire and drove to our camp site for the night. We stayed at a site off the road. It seemed like a nondescript place, until we walked around a bit. Not far from the camp site was a big, gorgeous lake surrounded by big, beautiful mountains, with a handful of little islands of trees in the middle. It was like our own private lake. I sat next to the lake watching the waves roll until the sun sank below the mountains. Walking back to the tent I saw my first wallaby, it looked like a baby kangaroo.

The next day we drove to Cradle Mountain and went hiking there. It was an overcast day and rather chilly out. Cradle Mountain is surrounded by several lakes and heavy brush. It wasn't raining when we started our hike, but started about two hours into the hike. We got completely drenched and took cover in some huts. By the time we dried off, we decided not to continue to the top. The mountain was completely covered in clouds and we wouldn't have been able to see anything from the top. It was a really nice hike.

From Cradle Mountain we drove to Launceston. I was pleasantly surprised by Launceston. I didn't really have any expectations, but it turned out to be a great town. They have a free monkey exhibit in the middle of the park close to the hotel that we stayed at, which is enough to put the city at the top of my good list (high standards, I know). Matt and I spent quite awhile watching the monkeys. There's also a gorge on the outskirts of town. It was a nice hike around the gorge. Near the bottom of the gorge is a free public swimming pool.

After leaving Launceston, Matt and I went on a zip line tour. It was my first time on a zip line. It was way fun! I think the highest point was over 150 feet above the ground and you can reach speeds of 50 miles per hour in some places. It was raining the entire day we were out there, but let up a little bit once we got up in the trees. Standing on the platforms out in the trees and just looking at everything was a great part of the whole experience, it was so peaceful out there. There was a sea of green, and a river that flowed through some parts of the zip line tour. I felt adrenaline and nerves leading up to the tour, but wasn't frightened once we got out there.

We left the zip line tour place and drove straight to our camp site for the evening. We arrived to the Bay of Fires in the early evening. It rained all the way there and was far too wet to set up a tent once we got to the camp site. There was a torrential downpour all evening and we ended up sleeping in the car. The next morning it was still raining quite hard and Matt and I were reluctant to leave the dry car. We decided to head into town and figure out what our plan was. The main attraction of Bay of Fires is the beach, which can't be enjoyed as much in the rain. Once we got to the main road to town, we found it blocked off from being flooded over. We talked to some locals and found that all of the roads to town were flooded over, and we would be stuck here for several days! All the area had to offer was one cafe, no other restaurants, no gas stations, no grocery stores. We decided to go to the only cafe in town to get out of the car, and out of the rain. We got some coffees and read in the cafe for several hours. Someone at the cafe mentioned that the fire station was taking in campers and letting them stay there. By the time we left the cafe, the rain had stopped and Matt and I were able to walk along the beach. It was windy, with huge waves, and surprisingly warmer out. After our walk, Matt and I headed up to the fire station, and here we are. When we first heard the news about being flooded in, I was kind of bummed out. But, things have turned out great. We had someone playing the guitar and they just started serving us free barbaque. It's kind of a festive environment, people drinking and hanging out. Plus, they have a shower here! I'm about to take a warm shower, I'm so excited.

Later...

The fire station was so much fun. We ended up meeting these guys from Western Australia, and hung out with them all night. They tried to teach me how to play the ukulele. We spent one night at the fire station and the next day one of the fire fighters came rushing in with a status update early in the morning. He announced that if we wanted to get out of town that we could, but would need to leave immediately. The water had subsided and the tides had gone out, but for only a brief amount of time. The next opportunity to leave would be in several days time. As we had limited supplies and not much to do there in the rain, Matt and I decided quickly to head out.

However, it was not smooth sailing from there, unfortunately. We ran into more rain related problems just down the road. The route we were trying to go had a major road block. Literally, part of the road had been swept away by the rain. The road was beside itself.

From Tassie Road Trip

We ended up having to go over 300 km out of the way, what should have been a 15 minute drive turned into several hours. But, at least we were able to get out of the flooded area, I was expecting that we would be there for several days. We made it down to wineglass bay by the end of the day. It had been raining the entire drive down, but stopped not long after we ate dinner. We were able to walk on the beach and enjoy some sunlight. The next day we went on a five hour hike to wine glass bay, one of the most pristine beaches I've seen yet. The water was freezing, so we didn't do much swimming. We saw some of the most tame wallabies, most likely due to all of the tourists.

From Wineglass Bay, we journeyed to the southern part of Tasmania, down to Port Arthur. Port Arthur is an old prison compound with heaps of old buildings from the turn of the twentieth century. We got a walking tour of the property as well as a ferry tour of the surrounding islands that were also utilized as part of the prison. It was really interesting, I learned a lot about some of the history behind Australia's criminal past.

Bruny Island, Tasmania

A few weekends back Matt and I went to Bruny Island with one of our couch surfing hosts. Bruny Island is about an hour and a half drive and then ferry ride from Hobart. It was so beautiful and peaceful there! Upon arriving to the designated camping grounds, we found it to be overcrowded and there was an unexpected camping fee (which had just been instated). Contemplating sleeping in the open air on the beach, we decided to drive around a bit and see if we could find a better spot. What we ended up finding was off the beaten path, and a secluded, fee-free camping spot next to some gorgeous cliffs overlooking the ocean. There was a comfortable amount of room to set up our tents and campsite, trees to our backs, and a rock shelf leading down to the ocean. The rocks in front of our campsite were stepped in some places, so they made perfect spots for sitting, like natural chairs built into the cliffs.

From Bruny Island

Not long after setting up camp, a lone dolphin swam by in the ocean, almost welcoming us. We set up a fire and admired the thousands of visible stars in the sky, catching a glimpse of falling stars from time to time. At first glance, the milky way sat like a cloud in the sky, but upon further investigation you could distinguish its subtle nuances. Each morning we were woken by fishing boats pulling up lobsters hidden under the waves. It was too cold to swim, but we spent our days walking along the beaches, and our nights beneath the brilliant night sky. I would find myself sitting on the rocks at the end of our camp site, mesmerized by the rhythmic movement of the waves as they ebbed and flowed. The waves would sometimes reveal the sea weed close to the cliffs, giving the illusion of an animal moving about in the water. It was so peaceful and beautiful, I could spend hours in admiration and awe (and I think I did, it was easy to lose track of time). It was a great time to reflect and relax, and spend some time in silent appreciation.

From Bruny Island

At one point, we were all sitting around the camp fire and we noticed some strange behavior of the ants. We had our fire going and a giant ant (probably three times the size of a normal ant) threw a regularly sized ant off a big rock down close to our camp fire. It then proceeded to repeat this action, with different small ants, several more times. I guess the giant ants are highly territorial, which I learned later when I got bitten by one on a different occasion. As a side note, the ant bite was like a huge welt on my leg, it was slightly ridiculous. Anyways, we were entertained by the whole ant show, it was good times.

Tasmania

Life is so good! I am living the life of my dreams. I get up when I want to, do whatever I feel like doing each day, and every day is a new adventure waiting to happen. Some days I plan things, but the best bits are the unexpected treasures I find along the journey. I haven't written in a while because I've been doing so much lately. Sometimes I feel like it's unreal how lucky I am, just so incredibly blessed! Matt and I have been in Tasmania for weeks now and just going with the flow of life. We have so much freedom, I figured we'd get bored with so much free time, but somehow we've managed to fill the days with exciting new things and people. Part of our decision to come here was because the pricing for accommodations doubled over the holidays in Sydney, as well as most major cities in Australia. The capital city of Tasmania, Hobart, was an exception. Therefore, we booked some plane tickets, and here we are. The first week or so we stayed in a hostel and then the following weeks with hosts couch surfing (via the website aforementioned). Most of our time here has been spent in Hobart.

We've met so many awesome people, locals and fellow travelers alike. I've had the best time! One of our hosts and her boyfriend are so much fun, I laugh heaps when I'm hanging out with them. I feel like I could be in Antarctica with them, with nothing to do, and still have an amazing time hanging out with them. Which, speaking of Antarctica, one of our other hosts is currently traveling there for work (how cool is that?) for two months. Much of our experience has been enhanced by the people we've met and the friendships we've made. Makes me a little sad to leave next week.

Hobart is a great town. It's a small town that has a surprising amount of things to do (if you look close enough). It's super hilly here, reminiscent of San Francisco style hills, so some serious hill-age. The weather can be down right crap, especially for it being the summertime and all, I guess no one told mother nature that. It was freezing the first few weeks we were here, it felt like winter in Atlanta. It rains off and on and at completely unexpected intervals. So, it can be sunny one minute and pouring the next or vice versa. I remember one person telling me that the weather here will be shit no matter what, that we shouldn't wait for it to be perfect, we should just do what we want to do regardless, and deal with it. I thought the observation was rather enlightened and so analogous to life.

The hills and weather have definitely made me less than excited about pursuing running as a form of exercise (or pursuing anything that involves getting up from the couch and away from the warmth of blankets) while we've been here, but surprisingly we've been able to stay active. We hiked Mount Wellington (one of the highest mountains in Tasmania) despite the weather. It was raining off and on, and started to come down quite a bit near the top. By the time we did get to the top, the cloud cover was so thick that you couldn't see the view down of town. It was quite surreal, though, walking amongst the clouds on top of the mountain.

From Tasmania

One day we did some indoor rock climbing, which eliminated the dependency on the weather. It was my first time rock climbing, and I had a great time. My first time on the climbing wall was a bit of a scary experience, though. When I got to the top and looked down, the height was rather frightening. From the ground, it looked like nothing, but once I got up there, it was a totally different story (in more ways than one). It surprised me, because I've been sky diving before and haven't ever had a problem with heights. Thankfully, after a few climbs on the wall (and “successfully” falling a few times), I felt ok and the fear dissipated. I really began to enjoy the experience.

From Tasmania

The weather held up to go snorkeling one day. I borrowed a wet suit from one of my hosts (thank goodness for that, because it was freezing in the water) and one of my new Aussie friends agreed to take me out. We went to a town just outside of Hobart and went swimming close to some rocks and seaweed (I realize how incredibly descriptive that is, but I'm not knowledgeable enough in marine terms to better describe it). The water was cold, but I got used to it rather quickly in the wet suit. We saw a bunch of fish, including a puffer fish, star fish, and crabs. It was so peaceful just floating on the water and moving with the waves. I could hear the clicks of the ocean and I felt in awe of the immense amount of life and activity that lies just below the waves, unbeknownst to me in my daily life. When we got out of the water we had cheese, from a local cheese factory, and crackers and then we lay out on the beach in the sun's warming rays. It was a perfect Tassie (Tasmanian) day.

It seems like we haven't had trouble finding things to do in Hobart. We went kayaking one day just outside the city. Another day we visited a snake shaped skate park. We watched as others played, and then just laid in the grass of the park, watching the clouds go by (until they became rain clouds that rained on us and forced us to move along). On yet another day we went to the Taste festival. Taste is a festival in Hobart where a bunch of restaurants and wine and beer companies come together and put on a big music and food event down by the harbor. The food and drinks you have to pay for, but we partook in listening to the free music and hanging out. On New Year's we were down by the Taste festival and then went to a free spirits (or liquor) tasting at a local brewery (separate from the festival). That night we went to a house party that included an epic dance off (I'm exaggerating here, but I had tons of fun dancing until the wee hours of the morning). Practically every night there is something going on or something to do. There's always a drink special somewhere every night of the week and fun people to hang out with. I've probably had more to drink in the past few weeks than the entire past year, it will be nice to give my liver a rest once we head out of town. But, all in all, we've been having a grand old time!

The Blue Mountains

When we first arrived in Sydney, our plan was to stay in a hostel for a few days, get settled in, and then try a few different ways of traveling. One thing we wanted to try was couch surfing (via the website – couchsurfing.org), and meet some people that live in the areas we are visiting. We really enjoy staying in hostels. It's easy to meet fellow travelers and like minded people, much easier than say a hotel. There's definitely a community feel to them. However, mainly they are filled with other foreigners. It's not bad, but it is nice to interact with the locals. If you're not working among them, though, it can be challenging to meet the natives. Ultimately, we thought couch surfing might be a good way to meet the locals and see how they live. After sending out many requests on couch surfing, we got many “nos” and many no responses. Turns out that this time of year in Sydney is a very popular time for visitors. It's the summertime in Australia, and being in the Southern hemisphere means that northern areas here are hotter and southern areas are colder (the opposite of how it is in the States, it's colder in the north and hotter in the south), so during the summer everyone goes down south to escape the heat.

Feeling a bit discouraged by all of the rejection, and a little anxiety on what exactly our plans would be, we decided to expand our search for places to stay just outside of Sydney, which we probably wouldn't have considered before. We had heard from other people staying in our hostel that the Blue Mountains nearby were really beautiful. Matt and I love hiking, so we messaged someone on couch surfing that lived close to the Blue Mountains. I'm so glad we did! We finally got a yes response, from a couple living close to the mountains. Things work out, given enough time and patience.

Our hosts were so nice, and we learned a lot about little cultural nuances. We asked them all sorts of silly questions about Australia and Australian culture that we normally wouldn't feel comfortable asking, or wouldn't remember to ask. Little things we would notice, and then ask about. I felt like a young, inquisitive child. Our hosts had several videos of Australian comedians that we ended up watching, which was a bit of a learning experience in itself. I'm a fan of the sarcastic sense of humor the comedians had. It was fun, but I felt like I learned a lot as well.

The day before we left, we went on a hike of the Blue Mountains. It was about a four hour hike through one of the most beautiful areas I've ever been to in my life. It was filled with amazing water falls and dynamic views down into the valley. There were times I felt like I was in an isolated jungle, or land of the lost, expecting to find dinosaurs around the corner (because there are dinosaurs in every jungle, of course). I jumped at the sight of something moving in the bushes, I thought it was a snake, but thankfully it ended up being a lizard.

From Sydney & Blue Mtns

After our long hike, we went to see the “Three Sisters” rock formation and did a little more hiking there. It was a cloudy day, that kept threatening to rain, but it stayed clear and the clouds made for some beautiful views on the overlook to the Three Sisters.

From Sydney & Blue Mtns

The following day we flew from Sydney to the next leg of our journey in Tasmania.

Sydney, Bondi Beach and Manly

We had a great time in Sydney. Here is the long and the short of our time in Sydney. We ran to the Opera house from our hostel every other day and did a ton of walking around the city. We ate savory pies from food carts with charming names like “veggie tiger pie” (no tigers were injured in the making of my pie), we walked across the Harbor bridge, visited Luna park briefly, saw eels in the ponds of the botanical gardens, and rushed to get out of the botanical gardens at dusk when all of the bats awaken. We wandered the older part of Sydney known at the “Rocks.” We learned that the best place for free wireless internet in Sydney is the library, and that they have free lockers at the library big enough for our big packs (information that came in handy later when we checked out of our hostel one morning, but wanted to sight see in Sydney before we left). We spent a day at Bondi beach, the closest beach to Sydney, and got a little burned. Giant, painful sunburns appeared where we had carelessly missed spraying our sunblock on.

From Oz First Days

We learned that they have Domino's here, and while ordering a vegetarian pizza I saw an unusual ingredient - capsicum. I asked the cashier what it was, and he said a vegetable, I countered with “what does it taste like?” He replied, “I dunno, it tastes like... capsicum.” Fair enough, I guess I wouldn't really be able to describe what broccoli, for example, tastes like to a foreigner. When the pizza came out, I figured out that it was bell pepper. We found further evidence in the super market when we found more bell peppers labeled as red and green “capsicums.” I felt proud to have learned a new word.

We visited Manly, a 45 minute ferry ride from Sydney. Apparently they have a very small, around fifty, endangered population of small penguins that live on Manly. Our quest was to find them. We took the ferry over in the afternoon and spent the next four hours hiking to the top of some very dramatic cliffs. I should specify, we took the gradually inclining road to the top and once at the top, there were dramatic cliffs (we didn't do any cliff climbing). We got swarmed by biting flies and mosquitoes, on the way up and down, but it was definitely worth it to see the view from the top. You could see all the way to Sydney from the top, and the view down was a steep cliff that ended in big rocks in the ocean. The surrounding areas were green and lush and in the distance you could see a lighthouse. It was absolutely breathtaking.

From Manly

There wasn't an obvious way down the cliff face to the rocks, and Matt and I weren't even sure if that's where the penguins could be found. We headed back to the harbor where we were to meet with a group of locals, without accomplishing our mission. The group we met up with was great, and we ended up spending a lot longer there than we had planned. It wasn't until later that we learned from one of the locals that the penguins come out around dusk (which had been hours past, by that point) and congregate a matter of feet from where we had been hanging out! They come on the beach and run to safety under the boardwalk. Matt and I rushed over, but alas, we did not see any. You weren't allowed on the sand to see them under the boardwalk, but we could hear them cooing under the planks. Matt had read that a few penguins had been attacked by dogs recently, and that a conservation group had hired sharp shooters to protect the group of them, so Matt and I stayed clear of the prohibited areas.

Well, no penguins that night, but on the ferry ride back to Sydney, I did notice some interesting behavior of other birds. It was around eleven by the time we got on the ferry home, and a small group of seagulls flew at eye level, and at the same speed as the ferry. I'm not sure if it was the small amount of light that emanated from the ferry, thereby illuminating their prey, or if the ferry somehow attracted the fish, or a combination of both, but the seagulls were using the ferry to help them find dinner. I would see them swoop down in the wake of the ferry and come back up with a small silver fish in their mouths, eating as they rushed to catch up with the ferry once again, and repeat the process over. They did not seem perturbed by the human onlookers only a few feet away. At one point, a seagull flew so close, I had to move away from the railing to avoid making contact with it. It was really cool to observe, especially in the otherwise still of the night, as we glided past serene mountains dotted with lights from suburbs of Sydney. Pulling in to the harbor at night, with Sydney and the Opera House aglow was beautiful. The top of the Opera House was filled with seagulls circling above like flies around honey. That was our last night in Sydney before moving on to our next destination.   

Pictures - Sydney

A picture is worth a thousand words, I just uploaded a bunch of pictures from our trip so far (under "Oz First Days").  Check them out, I added captions!

First Days in Sydney

We ran to the Sydney Opera House this morning from our hostel. It was a little rainy and cooler but nice out. The Opera House was amazing, the architecture just unbelievable. Matt and I had a Rocky moment after running up the stairs of the Opera House. I learned my lesson on our road trip that not working out and eating poorly packs on the pounds (big surprise, right), way too quickly. Also, I end up feeling super sluggish with low energy. So, I'm trying this thing where I stick to my working out and don't overindulge in junky foods. The botanical gardens are on the way to the Opera House, and there are tons of parks and green space in Sydney. Running around the bay was beautiful and relaxing. We saw exotic birds and animals out in the parks, and the waves rhythmically crash against the walls just below the running path.

Though it's been raining the last few days, it's summer here in Australia. It was quite a nice change after flying in from snowy Minnesota. After a four hour flight to LA, and then a twelve hour flight to Sydney, we arrived early in the morning the other day. I'm not quite sure where a day went in our journey, but we lost it somewhere in the ether along the way (we left on a Wednesday and arrived on a Friday). Once we arrived, we spent several hours trying to get a prepaid sim card and getting it to work on Matt's phone. Because of the snow in Minnesota, we weren't sure if our flight would be delayed and decided against booking a place to stay our first night. We spent a long time on the sim card in order to call around for a place to stay, only to find free phones in the airport. I should specify that you can only call the businesses that are advertised on this big wall, but many of the hostels we had looked at before we left were on the wall. Turns out this weekend is a popular time to visit Sydney (due to the summertime), and most of the hostels were totally booked up. We ended up calling ten or fifteen places before we found a spot. They had free airport pick up if you booked for three nights or more, so we got a free ride from the airport. Matt and I got to the hostel, dropped our stuff off, grabbed a bite to eat, and walked around the nearby park and botanical gardens some. I slept very little on the plane, but was able to catch up on many of my movies for the year. I think I watched four movies, it was pretty sweet. I tried to stay up as late as I could in order to get in sync with the time change, but I only made it to 5 or 6 PM before completely passing out.

We made plans Saturday, but ended up doing completely different things. It was raining off and on, so we planned to visit a museum. On our way to the museum we saw a ferris wheel and decided to check it out. There was a fair we were going to take a look at, but got distracted by a fancy looking McDonald's. After getting cheap ice cream there, we saw a bunch of people coming from the pier, so we decided to take a look. When we got to the pier there was a big event going on. It was sponsored by a major credit card company and all of the activities were free. They had an area with painting (all of the supplies provided – paint, brushes, canvases, etc.), so Matt and I partook in the fun. The theme was to paint what makes you happy. Needless to say, Matt painted a kangaroo with pizza playing soccer with a koala beer playing the saxophone. It definitely made me happy. They also had dance lessons, Matt learned a dance to Thriller, and there was a big drum circle. It was totally random, but so much fun. After the festivities, we did more wandering, exploring the pier and then checking out a casino (no gambling, just took a look around). I guess making plans can be good to a point, but being flexible can allow for random adventures!

Last night was a similar situation, we made plans to walk around Sydney for a bit at night (after taking a three hour nap, it was wonderful), but ended up doing something else.  The roof of our hostel has a great view, and we went up to see the night skyline before going for our walk.  We ended up talking to some British guys staying in our hostel and they invited us to play a drinking game with them.  There's this thing called goon wine here that's cheap boxed wine, it's a conglomerate of all the leftover wine that wineries have a hard time selling, promising, right?  The guys bought a goon wine that said "white wine" on the box, but was definitely a very acidic red wine, it did not sit well.  After a few rounds, one of the guys had a hard time keeping the contents of his stomach down and needed to empty the tank.  As the night progressed, the rooftop became more and more crowded with people.  It was fun to hang out, but I'm not much of a drinker.  After awhile, Matt and I excused ourselves and decided to still go for our walk.  There's a large church nearby that has a giant projection screen doing a light show, I guess you would call it, at night right now.  The projector outlines the church and projects beams in different shapes on it.  For instance, it will project giant butterflies fluttering around, or star constellations, or just abstract art.  I'm guessing it's for the holidays, because they also have a manger scene set up out front.  We sat and watched the show, it was a nice way to end the evening.