Tasmanian clouds

Tasmania is another name that has always evoked ideas of a far away foreign land, mysterious and full of strange creatures. The famous Tasmanian Devil and the quirky Platypus (once my favourite animal) inhabit the island, together with wallabies, wombats and other species.

Our trip to Tasmania started with a pretty tight schedule. After an almost sleepless night and a short flight we landed at Hobart Airport at 7:20am. We got into a rental car and rushed towards our CS hosts home, who we were meant to join for a hike in the mountains. I had a few troubles at the beginning driving manual gears car, be it for the lack of sleep, the early hour, or the partial loss of manual gears driving skills. At the first stop I actually panicked and let the car turn off with a few jumps, since I had forgotten that you had to use the clutch and shift down gears when stopping. Automatic cars are fantastic, but they surely give you bad habits.

We got to Julia and Ian's place a bit later than expected, but safe and sound. A couple of minutes to put on hiking shoes and gear, and we were all ready to go, headed towards the Hartz Mountain National Park. It would be the four of us, another CS, and two of Julia's friend. The walk wasn't particularly spectacular, due to the thick wall of white mist that surrounded us the whole time, but it was nice to get our legs going once again. It turns out that we are in a semi-decent shape after all, although we'll have to train more if we plan to do some serious hikes in New Zealand.

Great views from Hartz Mountain

On the way back we stopped at a gastronomic gathering, where we could taste some of the products of these lands. Everything was good, although perhaps a bit expensive. The apples were great though, the south of Tasmania is famous for them. The evening was really short for us, as we practically fell asleep as soon as we touched the bed.

At least we tried to get up early the next day, to make better use of our short time in Tasmania. We convinced Jacquie, the other CS that was staying at Julia and Ian's house, to join us for our trip to the Tasman Peninsula and Port Arthur. The whole area has suffered various fires in the last years, the most recent just a few weeks ago. Apparently when there is a fire the leaves of the trees turn red, giving an autumn-like atmosphere. It's a beautiful sight, and one often forgets that the cause of such beauty is a destructive fire.

Not autumn leaves

We have also learned that forest fires kill most of the trees, but constitute the best growing condition for eucalyptus trees. The oily seeds of this tree need high heat to open up and flourish. Large patches of young eucalyptus trees are a clear sign of a forest fire in the recent past.

The Tasman Peninsupa is famous for its panoramic views, but we could hardly see any of them due to the rain and the constantly cloudy sky. If the weather doesn't improve in the next days we won't see much of this island. We had planned another hike for the day, but the rain convinced us to give up and go back home. The good thing is that in the afternoon we had plenty of time to arrange a few things for the trip (booking a flight and a hostel) and prepare dinner for everybody.

Still pretty, even if overcast

Tasmanian traffic signs. Watch out for Devils!

CS dinner

We woke up to a clear sky, but our days in Hobart were over. It was time to move north along the East coast route, but not before a stroll around the historic center of the city with Jacquie. We didn't have much time, but it was nice to walk under the sun... finally.

Hobart with a clear sky, from our CS home

Mt. Wellington as seen from downtown Hobart