Down Under Down Under
AUSTRALIA | Thursday, 24 January 2008 | Views [655] | Comments [3]
I arrived in Tasmania on Saturday. It was a very last minute decision
to come and I hadn't booked ahead. When I arrived I soon discovered all
the rooms were full in the backpackers and I ended up sleeping in the
pub. (In Aus the traditional pubs are hotels and have a few rooms
upstairs for overnight guests.) There was the risk that it would be
noisy, but I was overjoyed to find a cosy wee Irish pub, a hot meal and
a pint, with a comfy wee room upstairs to crawl into when I was ready.
The people in Hobart are wonderful and friendly and I was soon feeling
very comfortable here. I booked some trips for the next few days so I
could see a little bit of Tas, but nowhere near all. It's similar in
size to Scotland and there is a lot to see.
Day 1
The first trip was to Freycinet National Park on the east coast. This
part for Tasmania has been in drought for the past two years and
it's usually very hot and sunny. Not today. It was cool and cloudy and
on the beaches the wind would cut you like a knife. I kept saying the
weather, if not the scenery, reminded me of home. The weather is Tas is
generally better than I'd imagined, but much more unpredictable that
the mainland. On the trip to the beautiful Wineglass Bay I needed SPF30 and a fleece, sunglasses and gloves, and my cagoule was
never far out of reach. And that was in the space of an hour! The
national park was gorgeous, even when it was cloudy, and the moments
when the sun shone gave me a clue to how perfect it usually is.
Day 2
The second day started with a visit to the top of Mt Wellington, which
gave an excellent view of Hobart, then on to the Mt Field National Park
to the Russell Falls and the Tall Trees. We took a stroll around the
lovely alpine Lake Dobson, where appropriately we stopped for a picnic
lunch. No better place for food than Lake Dobby! On the way back to
Hobart we stopped at an animal sanctuary that does some wonderful work
with indigenous animals. There are so many animals and plants in Tas
that can no longer be found on the mainland. The Tasmanian Devil is
tragically dying out and after seeing a baby devil cuddle into his
carer, it's impossible not to love these little beasts. I was lucky
enough to pet a young koala and a wombat, which I hadn't had a chance
to do at Australia Zoo. The wombats are my favourite and it seemed to
be mutual as the little fella started kissing my face while we posed
for photos. Unforgettable.
Day 3
The last of my three trips was to the historic site at Port Aurthur
where convicts were sent if they re offended. In order to to discourage
this it was a harsh and brutal place, although it was hard to imagine
as the unpredictable Tasmanian weather did it's thing again and we had
glorious sunshine.. It's located out on the Tasman Peninsula, with the
wilds of the Southern Ocean not far away and I'm told it can be very
cold and windy there, but on this day it was more like a holiday park.
However the grim inhumanity of place was easily seen in the solitary
confinement and punishment blocks, convicts often spent a year with
absolutely no human contact. The "Dumb Cells" were conveniently located
next to the asylum for easy transfer once the period of punishment was
over. Port Arthur has a tragic recent history also. it was the site of
the worst mass shooting ever, twelve years ago. It isn't talked about
at the historic site, but I'm thankful that the guide of the tour I
was on was willing and able to answer questions about it. It's a part
of the history that should never be forgotten.
Sadly I have only one day left here. I've enjoyed my short stay in Tas
and would love to come back and see the rest, but if I don't I'll have
happy memories of this wonderful island.
Tags: The Great Outdoors
