Hey Guys!
Here’s what we got up to in Tassie:
Pictures from:
http://pics.livejournal.com/bazandtam/gallery/0003xp7rhttp://www.discovertasmania.com.auTotal mileage for Tasmania: 1966 KM
Day 1 - Hobart
- Boarded the Shuttle bus from our hotel to the airport ($15 each)
- Return flights from Melbourne to Tasmania via VirginBlue ($260 each)
http://www.virginblue.com.au/- Car hire via Europcar for 8 day ($300)
http://www.europcar.com.au/- At Melbourne airport, Tammy and I made friends with a friendly girl called Kelly (formerly from Perth but now studying, working and living in Hobart, Tasmania). Kelly kindly offered us some advice on sightseeing, etc.
- Collected our hire car from the airport and drove to Hobart
- Checked into Narrara Backpackers ($70); not a pleasant stay - amenities quite dreadful at the time!
http://www.hostels.com/en/hosteldetailsnobooking.php/RecordID.5668- Booked the tour of Cadburys for the following day (07:30!) to satisfy Tammy’s hunger for chocolate!
http://www.cadbury.com.au- Drove to Cascade brewery and booked a tour for the following day (11:00)
http://www.cascadebrewery.com.au/- Drove up to Mount Wellington for some fantastic views across Hobart
http://www.discovertasmania.com.au/home/index.cfm?SiteID=405- Dined in Salamanca (Hobart) at an excellent yet cheap Vietnamese restaurant, Vietnamese Kitchen ($8 each)
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/destinations/pacific/australia/hobart?poi=165294- Upon walking into a neighboring fruit and vegetable shop, I was confronted from behind by a screaming girl who flung her arms around me! Amazingly, it was Kelly that had seen us from a nearby Pub – I recall Tammy being relieved! :)
- We joined Kelly and her friends for the rest of the evening; Les (partner - UK), Geoff (NZ) and Lisa (Tas). They were so incredibly friendly and helpful – Geoff even wrote down a recommended itinerary for us touring around Tasmania. Lisa mentioned there may be a possibility of booking a famous boat trip in Strahan at a discounted rate since they worked for the company that owns the boat! We had a fantastic evening – with thanks to Kelly, Les, Geoff and Lisa.
Day 2 – Hobart > Strahan
- Awoke around 06:15 and arrived at Cadburys for 07:30 ($12.50 each with VIP discount). The tour was reasonably good though not as enjoyable as HQ in Birmingham, England! The tour lasted around an hour. Tammy was not impressed with the chocolate donations – only 5 small pieces each
http://www.cadbury.com.au- Arrived at Cascade brewery in time for our tour ($16 each with VIP discount). Had a great time and enjoyed a few free sips afterwards; though nothing significant as we had a long journey to Strahan ahead of us – pity!
http://www.cascadebrewery.com.au/- Departed for Strahan around 12:30 and the scenery was truly amazing. We stopped at a number of places en route including; Lake St Clair (deepest lake in Australia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_St_Clair_(Tasmania) and Queenstown. A fantastic drive it proved to be with stunning views that rival the Western Highlands, Scotland.
- Arrived in Strahan around 18:30 and booked into Cosy Cabins for 1 night ($66)
http://www.cosycabins.com.au/- Had Fish and Chips and witnessed a truly amazing sunset
- Contacted Lisa as planned to advise we would like to book the boat trip the following day if available. Later, we called Lisa back who confirmed the booking and to my astonishment said it was a gift to Tammy and me from Lisa, Kelly, Les and Geoff. I didn’t want to accept it but Lisa said it had already been paid for. The kindness and generosity was overwhelming – the boat trip was valued around $110 each! Thank you so much - Lisa, Kelly, Les and Geoff.
Day 3 – Strahan > Cradle Mountains
- Boarded the Gordon River Cruise boat and set off around 08:30. The trip included visiting the mouth of The Great Southern Ocean, trout farms, Heritage landing and Sarah Island. A high quality buffet lunch was provided and the reflections in the river were spectacular - an experience we’ll never forget
http://www.gordonrivercruises.com.au/- We left Strahan bound for Cradle Mountains around 14:30 and arrived at 16:30. The cheapest place was the Cosy Cabins for a 4-bed DORM ($70)
http://www.cosycabins.com.au/- Having bought our National Park pass ($20), we proceeded to drive towards Cradle Mountains; the view was incredible. We went for a few non-guided walks which took around 2 hours including Lake Lilla and Wombat Pool; where we actually saw a wombat! Lesson learnt – wear appropriate footwear (i.e., not flip-flops or ‘thongs’ as the Aussies call them!)
http://www.puretasmania.com.au/default.asp?pID=64 /
http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/natparks/cradle/- Visited Devils @ Cradle – a relatively new sanctuary that had 7 Tasmania Devils! We witnessed feeding time which was hilarious; the strongest Tasmanian devil would steel the piece of meat and the rest would then give chase – it was like watching The Conga Dance!
http://www.devilsatcradle.com/- Arrived back at the DORM to discover we had the room to ourselves – result!
Day 4 – Cradle Mountain > Launceston
- Got up early and drove back to Cradle Mountain to do the Dove Lake Walk (6 KM) – highly recommended!
http://www.puretasmania.com.au/default.asp?pID=64- Set off for Launceston around lunch time; stopped at various places including Sheffield (interesting murals)
http://www.sheffieldmurals.com.au/ and Ashgrove Cheese Factory (k-wlaity Wasabi cheese!)
http://www.ashgrovecheese.com.au/ - Unfortunately, we were unable to visit Stanley due to dreadful weather!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley,_Tasmania- Arrived in Launcestion around 16:00 and eventually found reasonable accommodation at Centennial Hotel ($75)
http://www.centennial-hotel.com.au/Day 5 - Launceston > St Helens
- Visited Launceston's Basin Chairlift at Cataract Gorge - World's Longest Single-Chairlift span! Had a great time exploring the area and the chairlift was great!
http://www.launcestoncataractgorge.com.au/- Much to my disappointment, we were recommended a Lavender Farm - Bridestowe Estate and yes of course, Tammy wanted to visit it! It was an experience in itself trying to locate the farm - in the middle of no where springs to mind. We eventually located it with the help of a farmer who was transporting cattle at the time... In summary, the farm met my expectations but Tammy enjoyed herself which made it worthwhile – can you believe we paid for a tour?! Lavender = awful (aroma)!
http://www.bridestoweestates.com.au/- We arrived in St Helens around 17:30 and found accommodation at St Helen's Backpacker's. A good hostel it proved to be - one of the best hostel rooms so far!
- Had dinner at Pasta Resistance - reasonable value at $25 for two!
- Decided to book another fishing charter - particularly due to my disappointing performance on Philip Island! Eventually booked Barefoot Adventures through a guy called Simon - at the negotiated cost of $150 (for 4 hours - just the 3 of us).
Day 6 - St Helens > Coles Bay (plus Freycinet)
- Got up early for our fishing expedition - around 05:30! We departed from Binalong Bay and within minutes, Tammy started to feel sick! What a nightmare, the next thing was, I was playing a fish in and trying to console Tammy whilst she was sick - nice! All's well, ends well - I ended up catching a reasonably sized Australian Salmon. After two hours of sickness and tears, Tammy could not take anymore, so we dropped her off at the car and Simon and I went out for one last attempt. Unfortunately, with half an hour, I succumb - yes I was surprisingly sick. Though I must say, the Great Ocean was fairly rough that day! In summary, we spent most of the time trawler fishing and just the one fish was caught but we had a number of bites that unfortunately got away.
- We then set off for Coles Bay and booked into a hostel come caravan at Big 4 Holiday Park
- Drove to Freycinet National Park and paid the park fee of $20. We ended doing the Wineglass Bay Beach walk; stopping off at the Wineglass Bay Lookout - such incredible scenery. The beach was amazing - such fine sand; probably the best beach we'd encountered so far
http://www.discovertasmania.com.au/home/index.cfm?SiteID=357 /
http://www.freycinet.com.au/walks.html- Had dinner at the Oyster Catcher - delightful Fish n Chips!
- Spent the evening watching the Aus Open Tennis and Andy Murray eventually losing to Nadal!
Day 7 - Coles Bay > Hobart
- Arrived in Hobart around 14:00 and checked into The Pickled Frog ($55)
http://www.thepickledfrog.com/- Picked up some fruit at down town Salamanca and in doing so almost picked up a parking ticket. I spotted him from afar and having ran over, managed to convince him that I was getting some change for the ticket machine! ;)
- Went up Mount Wellington again since it was a fine day - the views over Hobart were spectacular
- Had dinner at Vietnamese Kitchen again - great value food
- Met up with Lisa and had a great evening at a local pub - unfortunately the other guys couldn't make it.
Day 8 - Hobart > Port Arthur > Airport
- Departed around 08:30 and 10 minutes into the journey, Tammy discovered she’d left the (essential) Lonely Planet Australia book at the hostel! Thankfully, no one had taken it and we continued our journey to Port Arthur.
- The Port Arthur Historic Site cost $25 each; included a 40 min walking tour and 20 min Harbour Cruise around the harbour
http://www.portarthur.org.au/- It was sad reflecting on those that had died in the 1996 shooting at Port Arthur
http://www.portarthur.org.au/pashow.php?ACTION=Public&menu_code=400.300 - We then departed for the airport where we dropped the car off
- Upon going through security, Tammy was randomly selected to be searched. Tammy noted that this could be undertaken in a private room so asked the question "Can I keep my clothes on?!".
Next installment - more from Melbourne...
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