So Tasmania wasn't off to the greatest start, though thankfully the worst of my stomach pains were over. We arrived at the airport, gathered our bags, and then tried to figure out where our rental car company was located. We used a smaller, cheaper company than the ones located at the airport like Hertz, Avis, and Thrifty, so we had to ask an attendant where to find them. I told John that I should just get their number from the information desk and give them a call, but he, for whatever reason, insisted we walk there ourselves. So we gathered our stuff and made the 20 minute walk, with our packs, and my stomach issues, along the highway with cars whizzing past us, to the rental depot. Not a happy camper at this point. When we arrive the lady said they had been expecting a call from us as they usually collect people at the airport. (THANKS, John). Anywho, we get our little car, load it up, and head into Launceston to get groceries for the next couple of days. As we won't have a cooker or anything since we intend to sleep in the car to save money, it's PBJ sandwiches, fruit, and muesli bars for the next several days (and would subsequently be the case for the next 5 weeks).
We do, however, make a nice stopover in town at a place called Cataract Gorge. It was a beautiful sunny, warm day so we made use of the sunshine and went for a little walk around the place.
We had planned to do a tour of the wineries in the area, but there was no way I could possibly imbibe alcohol at that point and John wasn't feeling up to it either so we gave it a miss.
Our first stop that night was along at the east coast at a place called the Bay of Fires. It was a beautiful coastal area, with really interesting orange-colored rocks dotting the coastline (which is where I assume the name comes from).
There was a little campsite there right next to the beach with some shade and a toilet. We went for a nice walk along the beach, at this point my stomach feeling much better, and enjoyed the setting sun with a nice juicy orange--the first real food I had had in about 2 days and the vitamin C was much needed. Now, in preparation for the fact that I knew we would be "roughing it" around Australia, I went out and bought a cheap solar shower, as that was the one thing I could not give up while on the road. Not showering for days is just . . gross. That night was the first test run and it actually worked pretty well. I didn't leave it in the sun quite long enough for the water to get nice and warm, but it did the job and I was able to get to sleep that night (in the back seat of the car) feeling nice and clean.
Our first morning in Tassie we awoke to a beautiful sunrise on the beach and my stomach finally feeling back to normal!
We packed up and headed out to our first walk of the trip in Freycinet National Park called Wineglass Bay. We arrived quite early and so had much of the track to ourselves which was nice, as we passed a lot of people on the return trip to the car park. It was a rather steep and rocky trail at places, but it gave nice views out over the bay.
And since I was feeling better, we even went all the way down to the beach.
After that we headed another two hours south to the major town of Hobart for the afternoon. We didn't spend too much time in the city, which was just a frustrating maze of one-way streets. Once we finally made our way to the information center, we were ready to get out! We headed up the highway to a famous museum called MONA or the Museum of Old and New Art. We had heard it was a must-see attraction in the Hobart area so we decided to give it a try. It was . . . interesting. And indeed, it had an eclectic mix of historic, old, and modern art. One piece was just a real person sitting on a couch staring at a computer screen holding an iPhone. It was kinda weird just staring at this person cause they were being very still so at first you couldn't tell if they were real or not, and after you ascertained they were real you kinda had to fight the urge to ask them, "What in the world are you doing? Do you actually get paid to sit here all day and do nothing?" But I resisted. They had some ancient Egyptian mummies there, which was really cool. But they also had a piece of "art" that was made up of industrial materials and simulated a human intestine. Each day there were "feeding times" and "pooping times", and yes the smell was horrible. I don't know where in the world people get these crazy ideas, but after the pooping machine we decided we had had enough modern art for the day and headed to another complex on the property where you could taste their locally made beer and wine. We decided on just the beer, which is called "MooBrew", and it was actually quite good.
After that it was time to head South on Highway 1 all the way to the end to a little summer escape town called Cockle Creek. It came recommended to us by our friends Chris and Thirza. It was a bit of a rainy, cloudy night on the drive down and part of the road was unsealed so we were a bit nervous, but we just took our time and got there right around sundown when the clouds were starting to clear. It was a much cooler night than the former, and my second cold shower did nothing to improve that, but hey--I was going bush! Our campsite that night was surrounded by little pademelons keeping us company so that was kind of cool. We were up with the sun the following morning and started on our 2nd major walk in Tasmania to South Cape Bay. It wasn't a particularly hard walk, mostly through some forest, open grassland, and coastal vegetation, but it took about 3 hours return just because of the distance. The views once we reached the coast, however, were quite beautiful and luckily the weather held out on us.
Our next stop on the journey was at another small national park about 40 kilometers outside Hobart called Mt. Field. This would turn out to be my favorite national park that we visited on the island. When we arrived in the early afternoon it was sunny with a light breeze, perfect jeans and t-shirt weather, and we enjoyed the short walks the area had to offer. One led to an area of towering Eucalyptus gums called the "Tall Trees" walk and another led to some really nice waterfalls.
We had reserved a proper campsite in this national park for the night since it was cheap and a good way to re-charge our phone and computers. We also decided, since there were free gas barbecues, to use the opportunity to make some real food for dinner. Burgers and grilled asparagus--and it was the most delicious meal I had had in days, and really, the first real food I had eaten since our Thai dinner on our last night in New Zealand. I don't know how vegetarians can do it--sometimes you just need a nice hunk of meat.
Besides enjoying a yummy dinner, a hot shower, electricity, and laundry--we were also able to enjoy some more glow worms! This national park had one of the few other areas in the Southern Hemisphere where glow worms occur. After dark we walked along the path to the glow worm grotto where you could see them (well their excrement) glowing blue in the darkness. On our way back to our car (where we were still sleeping) we saw an Eastern Spotted Quoll scurrying across the visitor information area. It was one native Australian animal that we hadn't seen in the wild yet--so that was kinda cool.
Mt. Field lightened our sprits and we fell asleep clean, comfortable, and satiated!
Then the next day it rained. And rained. And then kinda took a break then rained again. And kept raining.
Our plan was to drive through Franklin Gordon Wild Rivers National Park and do the various walks along the way, but we ended up just driving right through to a town called Queenstown that kinda remind you of Queenstown in NZ in the way that you had to wind your way down this huge hill in order to get to the town but was actually NOTHING like Queenstown, NZ in the fact that all the hills were laid bare by a clearly evident past of rampant mining practices. We stopped briefly to get some food and chips and salsa as a little bonus to ourselves and head onward to our prospective campsite for the night.
I had searched online for free campsites in Tasmania and had planned to stay at one that was a bit rough, right off the highway near a river and no facilities whatsoever. However, as we drove around the area where the site was meant to be located and saw that the river was starting to flood from the torrential rain we decided to give our bush camp the axe and headed closer to Cradle Mountain--our destination for our last full day in Tassie. We headed up and up in elevation as we approached the park and the temperature dropped noticeably. We unfortunately found no free rest stops on the side of the road and were forced to stay the night at the overpriced holiday park just outside the entrance. It was $29 for an unpowered site usually, but c'mon we were sleeping in a freaking car. So when I went in I tried to tell the lady that it was just me by myself and so she said initially that the site would just cost $20, but I guess another guy saw me get out of the car with John in the driver's seat so he leaned over and whispered quietly to the girl that it was actually $29. Jerk. I was about to make stink considering we had been driving all day in the rain and were SLEEPING IN A CAR, and that I did not want to pay $30 for what was ultimately a glorified parking spot but I had no choice. But, I held my tongue like a good girl and paid the stupid $30 for the night.
The only upside to this was that they had hot showers. Now, when you go in the bathrooms there is a sign asking you to keep your showers to 5 minutes. HA. I just paid $30 to sleep in a CAR and the place was empty and it was freaking cold, so you best bet I took my freaking time in the hottest shower I could muster--both that night AND the next morning when John and I woke up to see it was SNOWING outside. We slept in a car in freezing temperatures all night long and now it was snowing.
But, we had made it this far and Cradle Mountain was the most popular National Park in Tasmania so we were determined to give it a go. We dressed in as many warm layers as our limited wardrobe would allow and headed to the visitors center to get the scoop on what was happening that day. The crazy thing is, despite the weather, there were actually a fair few people venturing out that day. We caught the park bus down to the main walk in the park--a circuit around Dove Lake that is supposed to provide excellent views of Cradle Mountain--on days when it's NOT snowing and the clouds aren't almost completely obscuring everything that is. We attempted the walk anyway, but after about 10 minutes of sleety snow and strong wind blowing it into my face I decided this was not fun and so we turned around.
There were other, shorter walks to enjoy in the park though--so we ventured onto those instead. It was still snowing, but there wasn't the strong wind coming off the lake so it made it seem much more pleasant and quaint--though I was still really cold. Exhibit A:
We even ventured up to a chalet called the Waldheim Chalet that was built in the national park by some Austrian guy named Gustav Weindorfer and his wife in the early 1900s because they liked the park so much, and lived there until they died. They also promoted visitation to the area and also encourage the establishment of the park as well. It was actually kinda cool, but the only bath/shower facility was a bathtub fed by existing rainwater which meant it was unreliable and very cold--so I definitely would NOT have wanted to live there--especially in the winter.
But yes, we braved the cold and snow for a good chunk of the day before finally returning back to our warm car and descending down to more comfortable altitudes. By that evening, as we prepped for one last night of sleeping in our little car, the clouds were gone and the sun was out.
It stayed that way all through the next morning and day as we headed back to Launceston and the airport. We were meant to drop off our rental car around 10:00, but were asked to bring it back clean--both inside and out. As you can imagine, eating and sleeping in a car for 5 days does not leave it in the cleanest state so we needed to find a carwash and vacuum. I suggested calling the rental company and asking them where the nearest place to them was, but John vetoed that idea and wanted to find one in downtown Launceston instead. So I'm making my way into the city along roads with very poor signage when I finally pull up to an intersection with a sign pointing towards city center. So I get into the turn lane, which apparently has it's own separate light from the lanes going straight. Their light turns green and I start to inch forward before John tells me our light is still red. I stop and look up to my immediate left to see the poorly placed traffic light right next to me still shining it's big red circle. So I look around to assess the situation and BAM!!! All of a sudden we are rear ended, HARD, by a giant ass Toyota Land Cruiser WITH Roo bars and she just absolutely smashes the back of our car--shattering the windshield and throwing John and I into a mini panic mode.
We pull over to the side of the road, shaken and minorly freaking out, and the lady does the same and gets out and immediately apologizes saying she thought we were going to move with the green light. We exchange all the necessary details and I call the rental car company to let them know so we don't roll up and surprise them with a smashed car and make our way back to the depot. We arrive, still a bit shaken, and go through all the paperwork for a vehicle accident report. Luckily, we had paid the excess reduction insurance so our bond on the car was only $100. The lady said the other woman's insurance company should cover the cost since it was her fault, but that the $100 is the only amount that would have to come out of our pocket. The lady was actually really nice and says a least we weren't hurt, we could drive the car still, and that it happened at the end of our vacation. Which is true, but I still tell John later that from now on we are ASKING for directions rather than wandering through city streets.
So, I started our Tasmanian adventure with food poisoning and ended it by getting rear ended and in a span of 5 days experienced all 4 seasons. It did not exactly live up to my expectations. We had a few nice excursions but still, we were ready to go. It was time to head to the Outback!
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